Something else to consider before the United States discards both our current family and employment-based system in favor of a points system.  Maybe we should look at our Canadian neighbors and see how their points system is working? 

In a hearing held on May 1st by the House Immigration Subcommittee, Canadian immigration attorney Howard Greenberg testified that "Our system is broken." Due to the points system, Canada has developed a huge backlog of potential immigrants.  Isn?t this one of problems the Senate Bill is supposed to eliminate?

The following is the breakdown of the point allocations under the new points system.   It comes from a draft copy of the legislation and may not be complete.  But does give us an idea of how those working on the legislation are looking at the different areas and how they plan on assessing the points.

Employment: 47 maximum total points can be earned. Areas where you can earn points are the following:

• U.S. employment in a specialty occupation (20 points);
• U.S. employment in a high demand occupation (16 points);
• U.S. employment in a science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) or health-related field, current for at least one year (8 points)
• From employer willing to pay 50% of LPR application fee: U.S. job offer or U.S. employer attestation for current employee (6 points)
• U.S. work experience (2 points per year/10 points max)
• Age of worker between 25-39 (3 points)

Education: 28 maximum total points can be earned for:

• Advanced Graduate degree (20 points)
• Bachelor's degree (16 points)
• Associate's degree (10 points)
• High School diploma/GED (6 points)
• Certified vocational degree (5 points)
• DOL registered apprenticeship (8 points)
• Associate's degree or above in STEM field (8 points)

English/Civics: 15 total points can be earned for:

• Native English speaker or TOEFL score 75 or above (15 points)
• TOEFL score 60-75 (10 points)
• Pass USCIS Citizenship test in English and civics (6 points)

Extended Family: for those with total of 55 points or more in above categories, 10 total points can be earned for:

• Adult (21 or over) child of USC (8 points)
• Adult (21 or over) child of LPR (6 points)
• Sibling of USC or LPR (4 points)
• Visa application in any category above after May 1, 2005 (2 points)

In addition, the following allocation has been set aside for the new Z visa category:

Agricultural Work: 25 total points can be earned for:

• Agricultural work for 3 years, 150 days/year (21 points)
• Agricultural work for 4 years, 150 days for 3 years, plus 100 days for 1 year
• Agricultural work for 5 years, 100 days per year

U.S. Employment: 15 total points can be earned for:

• 1 point per year of lawful U.S. employment

Home Ownership: 5 total points can be earned for:

• 1 point per year of ownership of place of residence in U.S.

Medical Insurance: 5 points total can be earned for:

• Current medical insurance for entire family (5 points)