High-skilled Immigration Reform for Employment Act

This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to expand H-1B visa availability and creates a grant program for STEM education. It increases the annual H-1B cap and adjusts employer dependency thresholds, while authorizing a new Education Department grant program for science, math, engineering, and technology education.

Sec. 2, H-1B nonimmigrant reform: The annual cap on H-1B visas is raised from 65,000 to 130,000. The exemption for certain aliens from the numerical limit is expanded by removing the 20,000 cap on such exemptions. The definition of H-1B-dependent employer is updated: for employers with 25 or fewer employees, the H-1B worker threshold rises from 7 to 12; for those with 26-50 employees, the threshold rises from 12 to 24; and the upper employee count for dependency classification increases from 51 to 101.

Sec. 3, Promoting American ingenuity grant program: The Secretary of Education is authorized to award competitive grants to states to strengthen K-12 STEM education, retain STEM teachers, and assist higher education institutions in STEM degree programs. States must submit applications as required by the Secretary. $25 million per year is authorized for fiscal years 2026 through 2030. Definitions reference existing education laws.