An advance meme received by NBC lays out the blueprint for the comprehensive immigration reform proposal.

Some key highlights:

The bill provides a path to citizenship for the nation’s approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants as long as they entered the country before December 31, 2011. Undocumented immigrants without serious criminal convictions have one year – though that may be extended – to apply for Registered Provisional Immigrant Status (RPI). This would allow them to be in this country legally, work for any employer and travel outside of the United States. While RPI confers legal status, it does not make individuals eligible for public benefits, including healthcare under the Affordable Care Act. The costs to apply for RPI status are a $500 fine, assessed taxes and application fees.

After 10 years, a person with RPI status will be eligible for a green card provided they have worked regularly, paid taxes, learned English and civics, and paid a $1,000 penalty. After three years with a green card, they can apply for citizenship.

Dreamers can get their green cards in 5 years, and will be eligible for citizenship immediately after that. Under a new AgJOBS Act, undocumented farm workers who have been working in the U.S. would be eligible for an Agricultural Card, and if they pay taxes and a $400 fine they and their spouses and minor children can adjust to legal permanent resident status.

The bill addresses the issue of families who have been separated through deportation. Undocumented immigrants who had been deported for non-criminal reasons but who had been in the U.S. before the end of 2011 can reapply to re-enter and apply for RPI status, if they are the spouse of or parent to a child who is a U.S. citizen or legal resident, or a Dreamer eligible for the DREAM Act.

No security triggers. That’s good.

The bill eliminates the backlog for family and employment-based immigration, which for some amounted to more than a 20-year wait.

But a big shift is the transition from a family-based unification system to a merit-based immigration system. For example, 18 months after the legislation is enacted, a legal resident or citizen can no longer sponsor adult siblings. The new bill would restrict “immediate relative” to children and spouses of those allowed to become lawful permanent residents.

These changes to the H1B program aren’t good. Advertising and paying more than the prevailing wage for a position? Silly.

The bill calls for increasing the skilled worker H-1B visas from 65,000 to 110,000 and the number may increase to 180,000 depending on labor demands and the unemployment rate. To ensure that increased skilled immigrants do not displace American workers, the bill requires that employers pay higher wages to H-1B workers and also requires that jobs first be advertised before hiring H-1B workers. It also allows these skilled immigrant workers to change jobs.

To ensure the country has enough low-skilled workers, the bill creates a new type of visa, the W-visa. The bill calls for a formation of an independent agency, the Bureau of Immigration and Labor Market Research, to decide the annual changes in the visa caps depending on market and labor conditions.