SENATE BILL: Immigration Reform Act of 2020 (Passed)

[Former President tack50]

Thank you Mr. PPT.

This bill essencially tries to restructure Atlasia's immigration system. I based it mostly off modifying the Immigration Act of 1990 (not sure if that is the current US immigration law, but it seems to be?).

Section 2 establishes the main ways of immigration into Atlasia: family reunification, job immigration and "other". This also makes it clear that non-immigrant visas will remain as they currently exist (so temporary job visas; student visas, tourist visas, etc)

Section 3 deals with family reunification immigration. In this section, conditions for it are made harder to meet. The number of visas is cut from the current 480 000 to 300 000. The people who can apply is also reduced to merely spouses and unmarried children of permanent residents. I think it could be interesting to also allow unmarried brothers of citizens (but not permanent residents) to apply, not sure why I didn't, but that can be rectified if needed.

This section also adds a regulation that all things equal, citizens with no criminal records over the past 10 years shall be given priority on bringing their relatives to Atlasia

Section 4 deals with job immigration, and here the entire concept is reworked from the ground up. I basically copied and pased the points system that Canada uses in real life. The categories tested for points are:

English proficiency
Education
Job experience
Age
Having a job offer in Atlasia
Other miscellaneous stuff.

The job visa also allows applicants to bring their spouse if they have one, regardless of whether their spouse fulfills the needed requirements. Again it might be interesting to allow minor children as well.

Section 5 deals with the "other" section. This section keeps certain categories of immigration into Atlasia; most notably outstandingly skilled people (so like professional sports athletes), certain special categories of immigrant and investors. This also mandates the creation of a new "retiree" visa, so foreigners can retire in Atlasia if they so desire; but they would not be allowed to take jobs and would need to be self-sufficient.

Section 6 does some miscellaneous repeals that are needed for this bill to work. Most notably this repeals the Diversity lottery. This also repeals Section 5 from the Come Out of the Shadows Act, which increased the number of visas and allowed lower skilled applicants to come to Atlasia.

Section 6 also deals with the overall visa cap. I have set it at 1/500th of the Atlasian population in the last census (so as of 2010 that would mean 617491 applicants yearly; which I think is a very small cut?). Not sure if I should clarify that this refers to the actual US census just to avoid confusion with Peebs' player census?

This also allows the department for internal policy (so as of now, Truman; but could change if the SoIA is revived) to cut the number of visas in situations of high unemployment.

[Former President tack50]

If I am not allowed to post here since Im a member of the house Ill delete the post but here's my concern:

One concern I have of this bill is section 4.8 because what if people who are unable to pass the IELTS test decide to just apply to Puerto Rico then move to another state say a few months after being granted a visa. That Puerto Rico clause could be a loophole unless you limit how many people are allowed to apply for that specific visa .

Oh by all means do post here! Concerns from the House (and from everyday citizens of course) are more than welcome considering bills need to pass both Houses of Congress

I do agree with the criticism. Since I based it on Canadian law, I basically did a French = Spanish equivalence of sorts but I figure that is not exactly accurate.

I agree that capping the number of visas might be a good idea. Alternatively maybe they can be restricted to only living in Puerto Rico somehow? I am not sure if that would be constitutional or not, but if it is it would be an interesting idea.

Or we could get rid of the exception entirely I suppose.

[Former President tack50]

Introducing the following amendment to get rid of the PR "loophole" as well as to do other minor amendments.

SENATE BILL

To reform the immigration system into Atlasia

Be it enacted in both Houses of Congress Assembled,

Section 1: Name
1. This bill may be referred to as the "Immigration Reform Act of 2020"

Section 2: Categories of legal immigration to Atlasia
1. The following categories of legal permanent immigration to the Republic of Atlasia are hereby established:
a) Family Reunification
b) Job based immigration
c) Other immigration
2. This act shall not alter the composition or requirements for non-immigrant visas or for visas intended for temporary workers or students

Section 3: Family Reunification immigration
1. Family reunification visas may only be issued to the unmarried children or to the spouse of an Atlasian citizen or permanent resident; or to the unmarried brothers of an Atlasian citizen; who has been living in the Republic of Atlasia for no less than 5 years.
2. Family reunification visas shall be capped at no more than 300 000 per year.
3. During the application process for family reunification, priority shall be given to the foreign relatives of Atlasian citizens that have had no criminal records in the Republic of Atlasia for the past 10 years

Section 4: Job immigration
1. Job immigration into the Republic of Atlasia shall be based on a points based system. All applicants who score 67 or more points shall be awarded a job immigration visa.

2. People awarded a Job immigration visa may also award another job immigration visa to their spouse, regardless of whether their spouse fulfills the necessary requirements or not

3a. Up to 24 points may be awarded for proficiency in the English language; 6 each for Reading comprehension, Writing, Listening and Speaking.
3b. Immigrants scoring below an IELTS level of 5.5 (or equivalent) many not apply for a job immigration visa.
3c. Points shall be awarded for scoring 5.5 or above in each of the 4 categories described in section 2.3a; with 2 points for scoring between 5.5 and 5.99; 4 points for scoring between 6 and 6.99, 5 points for scoring between 7 and 7.99 and 6 points for scoring 8 or more points
3d. Prospective immigrants with a job offer in the state of Puerto Rico may be waived from this requirement if they so desire, but if so it shall be replaced with equivalent requirements of proficiency in the Spanish language

4. Up to 25 points may be awarded for education proficiency, according to the following equivalency list:
a) High School diploma: 5 points
b) 2 year apprenticeship after high school: 10 points
c) 3 year college degree after high school: 15 points
d) 4 year Bachelor's degree: 20 points
e) Double Bachelor: 22 points
f) Master's degree: 23 points
g) PHD: 25 points

5a. Up to 15 points may be awarded for prior job experience on an skilled job:
a) Less than 1 year of job experience: 0 points
b) Between 1 and 2 years of job experience: 9 points
c) Between 2 and 3 years of job experience: 11 points
d) Between 3 and 6 years of job experience: 13 points
e) 6 or more years of job experience: 15 points
5b. Skilled job shall be defined as a management job; a professional job that usually calls for a college degree (for example doctors or architects) or a technical job that usually calls for a college diploma or apprenticeship (for example plumbers or electricians)
5c. Part time jobs, defined as jobs comprising less than 30 hours per week of work; shall count as half for the purposes of counting the years from section 3.5a

6a. Up to 12 points may be awarded for an applicant's age. Applicants between the ages of 18 and 35 shall be awarded the full 12 points. For each year after that, the number of points awarded shall be reduced by 1 per year, until reaching 0 at age 47.
6b. No persons under the age of 18 may apply for a job immigration visa to the Republic of Atlasia

7. Up to 15 extra points shall be awarded to any workers who attempt to immigrate to the Republic of Atlasia with a job offer for a job that is full time and skilled. These immigrants shall receive the full 15 points, everyone else shall receive 0 points

8. Up to 10 points may be awarded for extra requirements. Each of these requirements shall give the applicant an extra 5 points unless specified otherwise:
-Their spouse having a 5.5 level of competence in an IELTS English test. This requirement may be swapped by an equivalent Spanish requirement for applicants intending to immigrate to the state of Puerto Rico
-The applicant or their spouse having completed high school or a college degree in Atlasia
-Having any sort of legal job experience in Atlasia for at least one year shall award 10 points in this section
-Having a relative living legally in the Republic of Atlasia. Relative shall be defined as the applicant's sibling, parent, grandparent, child or grandchild.

9. If the number of applicants surpasses the maximum amount of people who may apply for an immigrant visa, priority shall be given to the highest scoring applicants. In the case of a score tie; the applicants with job offers shall be admitted first.

Section 5. Other immigration
1. The following extra categories of permanent immigration to the Republic of Atlasia are hereby retained, with their current requirements:
a) Outstandingly skilled people, as currently immigrating through the EB1 visa program
b) Certain special categories of immigrants, as currently immigrating through the EB4 visa program
c) Investors, as currently immigrating through the EB5 visa program
2. A new immigration visa shall be created, targeted at retirees who desire to move to the Republic of Atlasia. People immigrating through this visa shall prove that they are financially independent, able to afford their retirement in Atlasia and may not be allowed to take any job offers in Atlasia. The details of this visa shall be devised by the department in charge of internal policy in Atlasia

Section 6: Miscellaneous repeals and adjustments
1. Section 5 of the Come Out of the Shadows Act is hereby repealed
2. The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is hereby repealed
3. The total number of immigrant visas issued per year by the Atlasian government may not be more than 1/500th of the Atlasian population, as established in the last decennial census  available. This section shall refer to the census of NPCs made by the Atlasian Census bureau; and not to the census of active players in Atlasia done by the Registrar General.
4. At the discretion of the department responsible for internal policy, the total number of visas available may be reduced by 10% for every year the unemployment rate stays above 5%. Any reduction in the total number of visas shall be accompanied by a proportional reduction in the number of family reunification visas.

Section 7: Enactment
1. This bill shall become enacted on July 1st, 2020

[Former President tack50]

Moving away from the diversity lottery and to a merit-based system definitely makes sense to me.  That way we can prioritize individuals hoping to enter the country who have skills that we can use, and that will increase our supply of high-skilled workers, such as doctors, which many parts of the country are short on supply.

Would the sponsor support adding a clause that gives priority to prospective immigrant doctors (especially PCPs) who are willing to work in rural and impoverished areas of the country?

Sure, I would be fine with that. I imagine it would include adding it as something giving points to propsective immigrants?

unmarried brothers and not sisters? why?

Also I generally really don't like this "unmarried" qualification lol. I do believe in the current system marriage is only used as a line to end dependency before the age of 21 (when the system "normally" considered dependancy to have been cut off).

Lol I intended for both to be able to get in; I should have used siblings there.

As for using marriage as a line; I also intended for this to be able to include a group of people who would be adults, but who are young adults in like their 20s. Though I am open to changing this qualification to something else (or to removing it like Jimmy wants).

No objections.

I would like to see "or to the unmarried brothers of an Atlasian citizen" removed from Section 3 in the next amendment.

I'm also not really supportive of "People awarded a Job immigration visa may also award another job immigration visa to their spouse, regardless of whether their spouse fulfills the necessary requirements or not" in Section 4.

Any reason for removing the brothers clause?

Also, that part is intended so that people who get a job in Atlasia and are married can bring over their spouse and children. If for some reason my parents had wanted to move, they should have been able to bring along them their kids. In fact I should also add a clause protecting kids under 18 as well if anything.

[Former President tack50]

5a. Up to 15 points may be awarded for prior job experience on an skilled job:
a) Less than 1 year of job experience: 0 points
b) Between 1 and 2 years of job experience: 9 points
c) Between 2 and 3 years of job experience: 11 points
d) Between 3 and 6 years of job experience: 13 points
e) 6 or more years of job experience: 15 points
5b. Skilled job shall be defined as a management job; a professional job that usually calls for a college degree (for example doctors or architects) or a technical job that usually calls for a college diploma or apprenticeship (for example plumbers or electricians)
5c. Part time jobs, defined as jobs comprising less than 30 hours per week of work; shall count as half for the purposes of counting the years from section 3.5a
5d. Medical doctors who have work or intend to work in an area, as determined by the Atlasian Census Bureau, to be rural or impoverished, shall be awarded an additional 7 points.

How's this?

Seems good to me, though I'd remove the "intend to work in an area" part as it is hard to enforce? Alternatively we could just give them a separate visa.

[Former President tack50]

Revised:

5a. Up to 15 points may be awarded for prior job experience on an skilled job:
a) Less than 1 year of job experience: 0 points
b) Between 1 and 2 years of job experience: 9 points
c) Between 2 and 3 years of job experience: 11 points
d) Between 3 and 6 years of job experience: 13 points
e) 6 or more years of job experience: 15 points
5b. Skilled job shall be defined as a management job; a professional job that usually calls for a college degree (for example doctors or architects) or a technical job that usually calls for a college diploma or apprenticeship (for example plumbers or electricians)
5c. Part time jobs, defined as jobs comprising less than 30 hours per week of work; shall count as half for the purposes of counting the years from section 3.5a
5d. Medical doctors who have work or intend to work within 90 days after arrival in an area, as determined by the Atlasian Census Bureau, to be rural or impoverished, shall be awarded an additional 7 points.

So far this is my preferred proposal, but I am open to further refinement. This would serve the double purpose of both revitalizing dying rural areas and bringing them services like doctors.

[Former President tack50]

Revised:

5a. Up to 15 points may be awarded for prior job experience on an skilled job:
a) Less than 1 year of job experience: 0 points
b) Between 1 and 2 years of job experience: 9 points
c) Between 2 and 3 years of job experience: 11 points
d) Between 3 and 6 years of job experience: 13 points
e) 6 or more years of job experience: 15 points
5b. Skilled job shall be defined as a management job; a professional job that usually calls for a college degree (for example doctors or architects) or a technical job that usually calls for a college diploma or apprenticeship (for example plumbers or electricians)
5c. Part time jobs, defined as jobs comprising less than 30 hours per week of work; shall count as half for the purposes of counting the years from section 3.5a
5d. Medical doctors who have work or intend to work within 90 days after arrival in an area, as determined by the Atlasian Census Bureau, to be rural or impoverished, shall be awarded an additional 7 points.

So far this is my preferred proposal, but I am open to further refinement. This would serve the double purpose of both revitalizing dying rural areas and bringing them services like doctors.

So is that friendly or hostile?

Friendly

[Former President tack50]

So uh can I pick and choose which parts are friendly and which are not? Or is it an all or nothing deal?

[Former President tack50]

Well with YE objecting in full I will not bother doing a partial objection though I may take the parts from Jimmy's amendment that I agree with and compiling them into a counterproposal.

As for the bill itself, I may have more of a problem of letting large tech companies have larger control on our immigration system but I also understand the economic need for it to a certain extent.

Also family reunification visas are limited to 480,000 per year per this and is about 65% of immigrants in total. This would drop it down to 300,000. Not on board with this probably.

Could you elaborate on how this would let "large tech companies have larger control on our immigration system"?

As for that, yeah; that is (part of) the point of the bill; this would shift Atlasia's focus on immigration from family reunification to skills-based immigration. I think overall the numbers actually expand the number of visas by a very small amount if I am doing my math correctly

Popping in to the old chamber to advocate against repealing section 5 of Come out of the Shadows.

Those visas are specific to Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador. They are part of a program combined with 5 years of high priority foreign development assistance to discourage illegal immigration by improving living conditions there, improving Atlasia's relationship with their governments, and creating a culture of legal immigration between Atlasia and those three countries. It doesn't impact immigration from other countries.

I'd like to ask Senators to reconsider repealing that.

Given that section has a sunset provision and how it has been in place for a long time already, I suppose we could just make it expire a year earlier (so in 2020 instead of 2021); and possibly amend the start of this bill to January 1st 2021.

[Former President tack50]

Abstain

[Former President tack50]

Thanks for clarifying that, Siren.

On behalf of the original sponsor of Come Out of the Shadows, I move to amend that we strike Section 6.1.

Section 6: Miscellaneous repeals and adjustments
1. Section 5 of the Come Out of the Shadows Act is hereby repealed
1. The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is hereby repealed
2. The total number of immigrant visas issued per year by the Atlasian government may not be more than 1/500th of the Atlasian population, as established in the last decennial census  available. This section shall refer to the census of NPCs made by the Atlasian Census bureau; and not to the census of active players in Atlasia done by the Registrar General.
3. At the discretion of the department responsible for internal policy, the total number of visas available may be reduced by 10% for every year the unemployment rate stays above 5%. Any reduction in the total number of visas shall be accompanied by a proportional reduction in the number of family reunification visas.

The program that section 5 establishes is definitely a temporary one, and we'll likely (hopefully) be reviewing its status in 2021.

Tack, this still needs feedback.

Oh I missed it sorry!

Anyways, hostile only because I prefer to sunset the program,

[Former President tack50]

Nay Aye

[Former President tack50]

Switching to Aye only to get Scott on board with the final product (though I would vote against the extension in 2021, but honestly by that time I wonder how many of us will even be in the Senate in the first place.)

[Former President tack50]

Friendly I suppose though I plan on counter-amending a couple sections (specifically the changes to section 3 and to section 4.1)

[Former President tack50]

As promised, here is my partial counteramentment:

SENATE BILL

To reform the immigration system into Atlasia

Be it enacted in both Houses of Congress Assembled,

Section 1: Name
1. This bill may be referred to as the "Immigration Reform Act of 2020"

Section 2: Categories of legal immigration to Atlasia
1. The following categories of legal permanent immigration to the Republic of Atlasia are hereby established:
a) Family Reunification
b) Job based immigration
c) Other immigration
2. This act shall not alter the composition or requirements for non-immigrant visas or for visas intended for temporary workers or students

Section 3: Family Reunification immigration
1. Family reunification visas may only be issued to the unmarried children, parents above the age of 65, unmarried siblings or to the spouse of an Atlasian citizen or permanent resident who has been living in the Republic of Atlasia for no less than 5 years.
2. Family reunification visas shall be capped at no more than 300 000 per year.
3. During the application process for family reunification, priority shall be given to the foreign relatives of Atlasian citizens that have had no criminal records in the Republic of Atlasia for the past 10 years

Section 4: Job immigration
1a. Job immigration into the Republic of Atlasia shall be based on a points based system. All applicants who score 67 or more points shall be awarded a job immigration visa.
1b. Job immigration visas may be revoked in the event of a failure to meet any continuing requirements as described in this Section.
1b. Immigrants receiving a job visa may be able to bring with them to Atlasia as permanent residents their spouse as well as any children below 18 years of age.


2a. Up to 24 points may be awarded for proficiency in the English language; 6 each for Reading comprehension, Writing, Listening and Speaking.
2b. Immigrants scoring below an IELTS level of 5.5 (or equivalent) many not apply for a job immigration visa.
2c. Points shall be awarded for scoring 5.5 or above in each of the 4 categories described in section 3a; with 2 points for scoring between 5.5 and 5.99; 4 points for scoring between 6 and 6.99, 5 points for scoring between 7 and 7.99 and 6 points for scoring 8 or more points.

3. Up to 25 points may be awarded for education proficiency, according to the following equivalency list:
a) High School diploma: 5 points
b) 2 year apprenticeship after high school: 10 points
c) 3 year college degree after high school: 15 points
d) 4 year Bachelor's degree: 20 points
e) Double Bachelor: 22 points
f) Master's degree: 23 points
g) PHD: 25 points

4a. Up to 15 points may be awarded for prior job experience on an skilled job:
a) Less than 1 year of job experience: 0 points
b) Between 1 and 2 years of job experience: 9 points
c) Between 2 and 3 years of job experience: 11 points
d) Between 3 and 6 years of job experience: 13 points
e) 6 or more years of job experience: 15 points
4b. Skilled job shall be defined as a management job; a professional job that usually calls for a college degree (for example doctors or architects) or a technical job that usually calls for a college diploma or apprenticeship (for example plumbers or electricians)
4c. Part time jobs, defined as jobs comprising less than 30 hours per week of work; shall count as half for the purposes of counting the years from sections 4a.(a-e).
4d. a) Medical doctors who intend to work in an area, as determined by the Atlasian Census Bureau, to be rural or impoverished, shall be awarded an additional 7 points.
)b Any person who is awarded a job visa because of meeting the requirement in 5d. a) shall have 90 days to gain employment, or to regain employment after a job loss, in such area, or the job visa shall be revoked.

5a. Up to 12 points may be awarded for an applicant's age. Applicants between the ages of 18 and 35 shall be awarded the full 12 points. For each year after that, the number of points awarded shall be reduced by 1 per year, until reaching 0 at age 47.
5b. No persons under the age of 18 may apply for a job immigration visa to the Republic of Atlasia

6. Up to 15 extra points shall be awarded to any workers who attempt to immigrate to the Republic of Atlasia with a job offer for a job that is full time and skilled. These immigrants shall receive the full 15 points, everyone else shall receive 0 points

7. Up to 15 points may be awarded for extra requirements:
-The applicant having completed high school or a college degree in Atlasia shall award 5 points in this section
-Having any sort of legal job experience in Atlasia for at least one year shall award 10 points in this section
-5 points shall be awarded for having a relative living legally in the Republic of Atlasia. Relative shall be defined as the applicant's sibling, parent, grandparent, child or grandchild.

8. If the number of applicants surpasses the maximum amount of people who may apply for an immigrant visa, priority shall be given to the highest scoring applicants. In the case of a score tie; the applicants with job offers shall be admitted first.

Section 5. Other immigration
1. The following extra categories of permanent immigration to the Republic of Atlasia are hereby retained, with their current requirements:
a) Outstandingly skilled people, as currently immigrating through the EB1 visa program
b) Certain special categories of immigrants, as currently immigrating through the EB4 visa program
c) Investors, as currently immigrating through the EB5 visa program
2. A new immigration visa shall be created, targeted at retirees who desire to move to the Republic of Atlasia. People immigrating through this visa shall prove that they are financially independent, able to afford their retirement in Atlasia and may not be allowed to take any job offers in Atlasia. The details of this visa shall be devised by the department in charge of internal policy in Atlasia.

Section 6: Miscellaneous repeals and adjustments
1. The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is hereby repealed.
2. The total number of immigrant visas issued per year by the Atlasian government may not be more than 1/500th of the Atlasian population, as established in the last decennial census  available. This section shall refer to the census of NPCs made by the Atlasian Census bureau; and not to the census of active players in Atlasia done by the Registrar General.
3. At the discretion of the department responsible for internal policy, the total number of visas available may be reduced by 10% for every year the unemployment rate stays above 5%. Any reduction in the total number of visas shall be accompanied by a proportional reduction in the number of family reunification visas.

Section 7: Enactment
1. This bill shall become enacted 90 days after the passage of this Act[/color].

[Former President tack50]

Not going to object, but I'll support another version of this amendment if the original 1b. is also kept.

What exactly do you have in mind?

[Former President tack50]

For what's worth I based this bill almost as a carbon copy of what Canada uses irl.

I still fail to see why merits based immigration is a giveaway to big Silicon Valley companies. Maybe I could see it as a giveaway to big business at large, but big corporations are the ones hiring foreign workers in the first place.

If anything, this will actually reduce the dependence on big corporations for merits based immigration, as a job contract will no longer be necessary.

Which makes me realize I should propose yet another amendment so that if you can't get a job in 3 months or so your visa gets revoked I suppose (no idea how it works in Canada actually).

[Former President tack50]

Oh I most certainly agree with the point made by YE regarding foreign workers harming Atlasian workers, that is why this bill actually very marginally cuts immigration (assuming I did my math correctly; might instead rise it by a minuscule amount) and why this bill gives the president the power to further cut immigration in situations of high unemployment.

I would also note that immigration generally harms unskilled workers more than skilled workers, so tuning our immigration system towards skilled workers would help with this issue.

[Former President tack50]

Introducing the following amendment to fix a minor oversight

SENATE BILL

To reform the immigration system into Atlasia

Be it enacted in both Houses of Congress Assembled,

Section 1: Name
1. This bill may be referred to as the "Immigration Reform Act of 2020"

Section 2: Categories of legal immigration to Atlasia
1. The following categories of legal permanent immigration to the Republic of Atlasia are hereby established:
a) Family Reunification
b) Job based immigration
c) Other immigration
2. This act shall not alter the composition or requirements for non-immigrant visas or for visas intended for temporary workers or students

Section 3: Family Reunification immigration
1. Family reunification visas may only be issued to the unmarried children, parents above the age of 65, unmarried siblings or to the spouse of an Atlasian citizen or permanent resident who has been living in the Republic of Atlasia for no less than 5 years.
2. Family reunification visas shall be capped at no more than 300 000 per year.
3. During the application process for family reunification, priority shall be given to the foreign relatives of Atlasian citizens that have had no criminal records in the Republic of Atlasia for the past 10 years

Section 4: Job immigration
1a. Job immigration into the Republic of Atlasia shall be based on a points based system. All applicants who score 67 or more points shall be awarded a job immigration visa.
1b. Immigrants receiving a job visa may be able to bring with them to Atlasia as permanent residents their spouse as well as any children below 18 years of age.
1c. Job immigration visas may be revoked in the event of a failure to meet any continuing requirements as described in this Section for longer than 6 months consecutively.

2a. Up to 24 points may be awarded for proficiency in the English language; 6 each for Reading comprehension, Writing, Listening and Speaking.
2b. Immigrants scoring below an IELTS level of 5.5 (or equivalent) many not apply for a job immigration visa.
2c. Points shall be awarded for scoring 5.5 or above in each of the 4 categories described in section 3a; with 2 points for scoring between 5.5 and 5.99; 4 points for scoring between 6 and 6.99, 5 points for scoring between 7 and 7.99 and 6 points for scoring 8 or more points.

3. Up to 25 points may be awarded for education proficiency, according to the following equivalency list:
a) High School diploma: 5 points
b) 2 year apprenticeship after high school: 10 points
c) 3 year college degree after high school: 15 points
d) 4 year Bachelor's degree: 20 points
e) Double Bachelor: 22 points
f) Master's degree: 23 points
g) PHD: 25 points

4a. Up to 15 points may be awarded for prior job experience on an skilled job:
a) Less than 1 year of job experience: 0 points
b) Between 1 and 2 years of job experience: 9 points
c) Between 2 and 3 years of job experience: 11 points
d) Between 3 and 6 years of job experience: 13 points
e) 6 or more years of job experience: 15 points
4b. Skilled job shall be defined as a management job; a professional job that usually calls for a college degree (for example doctors or architects) or a technical job that usually calls for a college diploma or apprenticeship (for example plumbers or electricians)
4c. Part time jobs, defined as jobs comprising less than 30 hours per week of work; shall count as half for the purposes of counting the years from sections 4a.(a-e).
4d. a) Medical doctors who intend to work in an area, as determined by the Atlasian Census Bureau, to be rural or impoverished, shall be awarded an additional 7 points.
)b Any person who is awarded a job visa because of meeting the requirement in 5d. a) shall have 90 days to gain employment, or to regain employment after a job loss, in such area, or the job visa shall be revoked.

5a. Up to 12 points may be awarded for an applicant's age. Applicants between the ages of 18 and 35 shall be awarded the full 12 points. For each year after that, the number of points awarded shall be reduced by 1 per year, until reaching 0 at age 47.
5b. No persons under the age of 18 may apply for a job immigration visa to the Republic of Atlasia

6. Up to 15 extra points shall be awarded to any workers who attempt to immigrate to the Republic of Atlasia with a job offer for a job that is full time and skilled. These immigrants shall receive the full 15 points, everyone else shall receive 0 points

7. Up to 15 points may be awarded for extra requirements:
-The applicant having completed high school or a college degree in Atlasia shall award 5 points in this section
-Having any sort of legal job experience in Atlasia for at least one year shall award 10 points in this section
-5 points shall be awarded for having a relative living legally in the Republic of Atlasia. Relative shall be defined as the applicant's sibling, parent, grandparent, child or grandchild.

8. If the number of applicants surpasses the maximum amount of people who may apply for an immigrant visa, priority shall be given to the highest scoring applicants. In the case of a score tie; the applicants with job offers shall be admitted first.

Section 5. Other immigration
1. The following extra categories of permanent immigration to the Republic of Atlasia are hereby retained, with their current requirements:
a) Outstandingly skilled people, as currently immigrating through the EB1 visa program
b) Certain special categories of immigrants, as currently immigrating through the EB4 visa program
c) Investors, as currently immigrating through the EB5 visa program
2. A new immigration visa shall be created, targeted at retirees who desire to move to the Republic of Atlasia. People immigrating through this visa shall prove that they are financially independent, able to afford their retirement in Atlasia and may not be allowed to take any job offers in Atlasia. The details of this visa shall be devised by the department in charge of internal policy in Atlasia.

Section 6: Miscellaneous repeals and adjustments
1. The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is hereby repealed.
2. The total number of immigrant visas issued per year by the Atlasian government may not be more than 1/500th of the Atlasian population, as established in the last decennial census  available. This section shall refer to the census of NPCs made by the Atlasian Census bureau; and not to the census of active players in Atlasia done by the Registrar General.
3. At the discretion of the department responsible for internal policy, the total number of visas available may be reduced by 10% for every year the unemployment rate stays above 5%. Any reduction in the total number of visas shall be accompanied by a proportional reduction in the number of family reunification visas.

Section 7: Enactment
1. This bill shall become enacted 90 days after the passage of this Act

[Former President tack50]

So how would these boards work, exactly?  Do they vote on who should be allowed in?  What if the business side overwhelmingly supports hiring certain workers and labor doesn't?

I second this question and I'd add, what would be their exact point? Just setting the quotas? Or would they be able to modify the requirements somehow?

[Former President tack50]

Ok, then I guess something like this is what everyone wanted? This is a non-binding board but I suppose it can be made binding as well.

SENATE BILL

To reform the immigration system into Atlasia

Be it enacted in both Houses of Congress Assembled,

Section 1: Name
1. This bill may be referred to as the "Immigration Reform Act of 2020"

Section 2: Categories of legal immigration to Atlasia
1. The following categories of legal permanent immigration to the Republic of Atlasia are hereby established:
a) Family Reunification
b) Job based immigration
c) Other immigration
2. This act shall not alter the composition or requirements for non-immigrant visas or for visas intended for temporary workers or students

Section 3: Family Reunification immigration
1. Family reunification visas may only be issued to the unmarried children, parents above the age of 65, unmarried siblings or to the spouse of an Atlasian citizen or permanent resident who has been living in the Republic of Atlasia for no less than 5 years.
2. Family reunification visas shall be capped at no more than 300 000 per year.
3. During the application process for family reunification, priority shall be given to the foreign relatives of Atlasian citizens that have had no criminal records in the Republic of Atlasia for the past 10 years

Section 4: Job immigration
1a. Job immigration into the Republic of Atlasia shall be based on a points based system. All applicants who score 67 or more points shall be awarded a job immigration visa.
1b. Immigrants receiving a job visa may be able to bring with them to Atlasia as permanent residents their spouse as well as any children below 18 years of age.
1c. Job immigration visas may be revoked in the event of a failure to meet any continuing requirements as described in this Section for longer than 6 months consecutively.

2a. Up to 24 points may be awarded for proficiency in the English language; 6 each for Reading comprehension, Writing, Listening and Speaking.
2b. Immigrants scoring below an IELTS level of 5.5 (or equivalent) many not apply for a job immigration visa.
2c. Points shall be awarded for scoring 5.5 or above in each of the 4 categories described in section 3a; with 2 points for scoring between 5.5 and 5.99; 4 points for scoring between 6 and 6.99, 5 points for scoring between 7 and 7.99 and 6 points for scoring 8 or more points.

3. Up to 25 points may be awarded for education proficiency, according to the following equivalency list:
a) High School diploma: 5 points
b) 2 year apprenticeship after high school: 10 points
c) 3 year college degree after high school: 15 points
d) 4 year Bachelor's degree: 20 points
e) Double Bachelor: 22 points
f) Master's degree: 23 points
g) PHD: 25 points

4a. Up to 15 points may be awarded for prior job experience on an skilled job:
a) Less than 1 year of job experience: 0 points
b) Between 1 and 2 years of job experience: 9 points
c) Between 2 and 3 years of job experience: 11 points
d) Between 3 and 6 years of job experience: 13 points
e) 6 or more years of job experience: 15 points
4b. Skilled job shall be defined as a management job; a professional job that usually calls for a college degree (for example doctors or architects) or a technical job that usually calls for a college diploma or apprenticeship (for example plumbers or electricians)
4c. Part time jobs, defined as jobs comprising less than 30 hours per week of work; shall count as half for the purposes of counting the years from sections 4a.(a-e).
4d. a) Medical doctors who intend to work in an area, as determined by the Atlasian Census Bureau, to be rural or impoverished, shall be awarded an additional 7 points.
)b Any person who is awarded a job visa because of meeting the requirement in 5d. a) shall have 90 days to gain employment, or to regain employment after a job loss, in such area, or the job visa shall be revoked.

5a. Up to 12 points may be awarded for an applicant's age. Applicants between the ages of 18 and 35 shall be awarded the full 12 points. For each year after that, the number of points awarded shall be reduced by 1 per year, until reaching 0 at age 47.
5b. No persons under the age of 18 may apply for a job immigration visa to the Republic of Atlasia

6. Up to 15 extra points shall be awarded to any workers who attempt to immigrate to the Republic of Atlasia with a job offer for a job that is full time and skilled. These immigrants shall receive the full 15 points, everyone else shall receive 0 points

7. Up to 15 points may be awarded for extra requirements:
-The applicant having completed high school or a college degree in Atlasia shall award 5 points in this section
-Having any sort of legal job experience in Atlasia for at least one year shall award 10 points in this section
-5 points shall be awarded for having a relative living legally in the Republic of Atlasia. Relative shall be defined as the applicant's sibling, parent, grandparent, child or grandchild.

8. If the number of applicants surpasses the maximum amount of people who may apply for an immigrant visa, priority shall be given to the highest scoring applicants. In the case of a score tie; the applicants with job offers shall be admitted first.

Section 5. Other immigration
1. The following extra categories of permanent immigration to the Republic of Atlasia are hereby retained, with their current requirements:
a) Outstandingly skilled people, as currently immigrating through the EB1 visa program
b) Certain special categories of immigrants, as currently immigrating through the EB4 visa program
c) Investors, as currently immigrating through the EB5 visa program
2. A new immigration visa shall be created, targeted at retirees who desire to move to the Republic of Atlasia. People immigrating through this visa shall prove that they are financially independent, able to afford their retirement in Atlasia and may not be allowed to take any job offers in Atlasia. The details of this visa shall be devised by the department in charge of internal policy in Atlasia.

Section 6: Miscellaneous repeals
1. The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is hereby repealed.

Section 7: Numbers of visas
1. Family reunification visas shall be capped at no more than 300 000 per year.
2. The total number of immigrant visas issued per year by the Atlasian government may not be more than 1/500th of the Atlasian population, as established in the last decennial census  available. This section shall refer to the census of NPCs made by the Atlasian Census bureau; and not to the census of active players in Atlasia done by the Registrar General.
3. At the discretion of the department responsible for internal policy, the total number of visas available may be reduced by 10% for every year the unemployment rate stays above 5%. Any reduction in the total number of visas shall be accompanied by a proportional reduction in the number of family reunification visas.
4. If the unemployment rate has stayed below 5% for at least 3 consecutive years, and wage growth has matched or surpassed the rate of inflation for the past 4 years; the Atlasian department for internal policy may increase the numbers in sections 7.1 and 7.2 by up to 30%, after a recommendation from the Immigration Analysis board
5. An Immigration Analysis board shall be established. This board shall have representatives from labor unions and small business associations and be in charge of making recommendations to the Atlasian department responsible for internal policy and to the Atlasian Congress with regards to the number of immigrants that should be allowed into Atlasia, as well as the requirements for said immigrants to fulfill.

Section 8: Enactment
1. This bill shall become enacted 90 days after the passage of this Act

[Former President tack50]

Well, parts are friendly and parts are unfriendly and parts I suppose can be solved by taking an average or something (the points changes)

Not sure what to do

[Former President tack50]

Nay

[Former President tack50]

So is that going to be pursued piecemeal? I recall Tack saying he support parts of it but not all of it?

After a 2nd read of the amendment, really other than the minor modifications on the points system I don't think I support anything else.

I suppose I could introduce an amendment to fix the points system if people want, though given this was borrowed from RL I am afraid to touch it too much.

[Former President tack50]

Ok, here is my compromise amendment to the points system

SENATE BILL

To reform the immigration system into Atlasia

Be it enacted in both Houses of Congress Assembled,

Section 1: Name
1. This bill may be referred to as the "Immigration Reform Act of 2020"

Section 2: Categories of legal immigration to Atlasia
1. The following categories of legal permanent immigration to the Republic of Atlasia are hereby established:
a) Family Reunification
b) Job based immigration
c) Other immigration
2. This act shall not alter the composition or requirements for non-immigrant visas or for visas intended for temporary workers or students

Section 3: Family Reunification immigration
1. Family reunification visas may only be issued to the unmarried children, parents above the age of 65, unmarried siblings or to the spouse of an Atlasian citizen or permanent resident who has been living in the Republic of Atlasia for no less than 5 years.
2. During the application process for family reunification, priority shall be given to the foreign relatives of Atlasian citizens that have had no criminal records in the Republic of Atlasia for the past 10 years

Section 4: Job immigration
1a. Job immigration into the Republic of Atlasia shall be based on a points based system. All applicants who score 67 or more points shall be awarded a job immigration visa.
1b. Immigrants receiving a job visa may be able to bring with them to Atlasia as permanent residents their spouse as well as any children below 18 years of age.
1c. Job immigration visas may be revoked in the event of a failure to meet any continuing requirements as described in this Section for longer than 6 months consecutively.

2a. Up to 24 points may be awarded for proficiency in the English language; 6 each for Reading comprehension, Writing, Listening and Speaking.
2b. Immigrants scoring below an IELTS level of 5.5 (or equivalent) many not apply for a job immigration visa.
2c. Points shall be awarded for scoring 5.5 or above in each of the 4 categories described in section 3a; with 2 points for scoring between 5.5 and 5.99; 4 points for scoring between 6 and 6.99, 5 points for scoring between 7 and 7.99 and 6 points for scoring 8 or more points.

3. Up to 25 points may be awarded for education proficiency, according to the following equivalency list:
a) High School diploma: 5 points
b) 2 year apprenticeship after high school: 10 points
c) 3 year college degree after high school: 15 points
d) 4 year Bachelor's degree: 20 points
e) Double Bachelor: 22 points
f) Master's degree: 23 25 points
g) PHD: 25 28 points

4a. Up to 15 points may be awarded for prior job experience on an skilled job:
a) Less than 1 year of job experience: 0 points
b) Between 1 and 2 years of job experience: 9 points
c) Between 2 and 3 years of job experience: 11 points
d) Between 3 and 6 years of job experience: 13 points
e) 6 or more years of job experience: 15 points
4b. Skilled job shall be defined as a management job; a professional job that usually calls for a college degree (for example doctors or architects) or a technical job that usually calls for a college diploma or apprenticeship (for example plumbers or electricians)
4c. Part time jobs, defined as jobs comprising less than 30 hours per week of work; shall count as half for the purposes of counting the years from sections 4a.(a-e).
4d. a) Medical doctors who intend to work in an area, as determined by the Atlasian Census Bureau, to be rural or impoverished, shall be awarded an additional 7 points.
b) Any person who is awarded a job visa because of meeting the requirement in 5d. a) shall have 90 days to gain employment, or to regain employment after a job loss, in such area, or the job visa shall be revoked.

5a. Up to 12 points may be awarded for an applicant's age. Applicants between the ages of 18 and 35 shall be awarded the full 12 points. For each year after that, the number of points awarded shall be reduced by 1 per year, until reaching 0 at age 47.
5b. No persons under the age of 18 may apply for a job immigration visa to the Republic of Atlasia

6. Up to 15 25 extra points shall be awarded to any workers who attempt to immigrate to the Republic of Atlasia with a job offer for a job that is full time and skilled. These immigrants shall receive the full 15 25 points, everyone else shall receive 0 points

7. Up to 15 points may be awarded for extra requirements:
-The applicant having completed high school or a college degree in Atlasia shall award 5 points in this section
-Having any sort of legal job experience in Atlasia for at least one year shall award 10 points in this section
-10 points shall be awarded for having a relative living legally in the Republic of Atlasia. Relative shall be defined as the applicant's sibling, parent, grandparent, child or grandchild.

8. If the number of applicants surpasses the maximum amount of people who may apply for an immigrant visa, priority shall be given to the highest scoring applicants. In the case of a score tie; the applicants with job offers shall be admitted first.

Section 5. Other immigration
1. The following extra categories of permanent immigration to the Republic of Atlasia are hereby retained, with their current requirements:
a) Outstandingly skilled people, as currently immigrating through the EB1 visa program
b) Certain special categories of immigrants, as currently immigrating through the EB4 visa program
c) Investors, as currently immigrating through the EB5 visa program
2. A new immigration visa shall be created, targeted at retirees who desire to move to the Republic of Atlasia. People immigrating through this visa shall prove that they are financially independent, able to afford their retirement in Atlasia and may not be allowed to take any job offers in Atlasia. The details of this visa shall be devised by the department in charge of internal policy in Atlasia.

Section 6: Miscellaneous repeals
1. The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program is hereby repealed.

Section 7: Numbers of visas
1. Family reunification visas shall be capped at no more than 300 000 per year.
2. The total number of immigrant visas issued per year by the Atlasian government may not be more than 1/500th of the Atlasian population, as established in the last decennial census  available. This section shall refer to the census of NPCs made by the Atlasian Census bureau; and not to the census of active players in Atlasia done by the Registrar General.
3. At the discretion of the department responsible for internal policy, the total number of visas available may be reduced by 10% for every year the unemployment rate stays above 5%. Any reduction in the total number of visas shall be accompanied by a proportional reduction in the number of family reunification visas.
4. If the unemployment rate has stayed below 5% for at least 3 consecutive years, and wage growth has matched or surpassed the rate of inflation for the past 4 years; the Atlasian department for internal policy may increase the numbers in sections 7.1 and 7.2 by up to 30%, after a recommendation from the Immigration Analysis board
5. An Immigration Analysis board shall be established. This board shall have representatives from labor unions and small business associations and be in charge of making recommendations to the Atlasian department responsible for internal policy and to the Atlasian Congress with regards to the number of immigrants that should be allowed into Atlasia, as well as the requirements for said immigrants to fulfill.

Section 8: Enactment
1. This bill shall become enacted 90 days after the passage of this Act