On Tuesday, November 29, 2012, the House passed HR 3012, the ‘‘Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2011’’ passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 389 to 15. The bill has now moved to the Senate for consideration by that body.

 Sen. Chuck Grassley has placed a "hold" on this legislation in the Senate. He has also introduced a legislation killing amendment (if adopted). There has been quite a bit of optimistic buzz about how an amendment by Sen. Scott Brown that would add up to 10,000 Irish citizens to the E-3 nonimmigrant visa program might somehow result in HR 3012 coming up for a vote in the Senate. This is unlikely. Senator Grassley wants to eliminate the H1B program. It is difficult to understand why adding 10,000 new "H1B clones" would somehow persuade him to drop his opposition.