US Visa Dream Act passes House and now faces Senate

The Dream Act would offer a path to citizenship for young people who were brought to US illegally before age 16 and who have enrolled in college or entered the military. Many of these young people are American in every way except having a piece of paper confirming their citizenship. 

The act faces now the Senate as the Democrats try to pass the legislation in the final days of this Congress. 

Eight Republicans joined in approving the bill, 216 to 198 while thirty-eight Democrats voted no.

President Obama said the passage was historic and he called on the Senate to follow suit.

"This vote is not only the right thing to do for a group of talented young people who seek to serve a country they know as their own by continuing their education or serving in the military, but it is the right thing for the United States of America," he said in a statement.

However, the bill is unlikely to attract the necessary 60 votes to pass and republican senators have vowed to block all legislation until a stalemate over the George W. Bush-era tax cuts is resolved

Proponents called the Dream Act the most significant immigration legislation to pass the House in a decade. 

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The American Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people with their  ESTA applications to the US Embassy .