Two bills that would remove per-country caps for employment-based green cards were introduced last month in the US House and Senate. The bills would make it easier for highly skilled workers such as those from India and China holding H-1B visas to get employment-based permanent green cards.

Currently, federal law provides no more than 7% of green cards can go to nationals of any one country, according to the office of Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., a sponsor of the House bill. But some countries are more populous than others, meaning highly skilled workers from larger countries such as China and India may have to wait a decade or more for green cards.

The bill introduced in the house by Lofgren and Ken Buck, R-Colo., is the “Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act,” or HR 1044.

“We all know that our immigration system is severely broken, and it has been broken for decades,” Lofgren said in a statement. “At the heart of this broken system are the outdated employment- and family-based immigration systems, which suffer under decades-long backlogs.

Similar legislation was introduced in the Senate by Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Mike Lee, R-Utah.

“Immigrants should not be penalized due to their country of origin,” Lee said. “Treating people fairly and equally is part of our founding creed and the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act reflects that belief.”

The bills were endorsed by several in the business community.

“There is consensus that reforms to fix the nation’s immigration laws for high-skilled workers are long overdue,” said Andy Halataei, senior VP of government affairs at the Information Technology Industry Council. “The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act would allow US employers to attract and retain the world’s best and highly-educated employees, enabling highly-skilled workers who are committed to the United States to propel American innovation, grow the economy, and help create jobs in America.”