I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4097 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for visas for 

certain advanced STEM graduates, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2015 

Mr. CAPUANO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide 

for visas for certain advanced STEM graduates, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as— 

5 (1) the ‘‘Best Return on America’s Investment 

6 Now Act’’; or 

7 (2) the ‘‘BRAIN Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. IMMIGRANT VISAS FOR CERTAIN ADVANCED STEM 

2 GRADUATES. 

3 (a) PREFERENCE ALLOCATION FOR EMPLOYMENT4 BASED IMMIGRANTS.—Section 203(b) of the Immigration 

5 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)) is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating paragraph (6) as para7 graph (7); and 

8 (2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(6) ALIENS HOLDING DOCTORATE DEGREES

11 FROM U.S. DOCTORAL INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER

12 EDUCATION IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEER13 ING, OR MATHEMATICS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Visas shall be made 

15 available, in a number not to exceed 10 percent 

16 of such worldwide level, to qualified immigrants 

17 who— 

18 ‘‘(i) hold a doctorate degree in a field 

19 of science, technology, engineering, or 

20 mathematics from a United States doctoral 

21 institution of higher education; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) have taken all doctoral courses in 

23 a field of science, technology, engineering, 

24 or mathematics, including all courses taken 

25 by correspondence (including courses of26 fered by telecommunications) or by disVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:02 Nov 25, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4097.IH H4097

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1 tance education, while physically present in 

2 the United States. 

3 ‘‘(B) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 

4 paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(i) The term ‘distance education’ has 

6 the meaning given such term in section 

7 103 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

8 (20 U.S.C. 1003). 

9 ‘‘(ii) The term ‘field of science, tech10 nology, engineering, or mathematics’ 

11 means a field included in the Department 

12 of Education’s Classification of Instruc13 tional Programs taxonomy within the sum14 mary groups of computer and information 

15 sciences and support services, engineering, 

16 mathematics and statistics, and physical 

17 sciences. 

18 ‘‘(iii) The term ‘United States doc19 toral institution of higher education’ means 

20 an institution that— 

21 ‘‘(I) is described in section 

22 101(a) of the Higher Education Act 

23 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)) or is a 

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1 cation (as defined in section 102(b) of 

2 such Act (20 U.S.C. 1002(b))); and 

3 ‘‘(II) was classified by the Car4 negie Foundation for the Advance5 ment of Teaching on January 1, 

6 2012, as a doctorate-granting univer7 sity with a very high or high level of 

8 research activity or classified by the 

9 National Science Foundation after the 

10 date of enactment of this paragraph, 

11 pursuant to an application by the in12 stitution, as having equivalent re13 search activity to those institutions 

14 that had been classified by the Car15 negie Foundation as being doctorate16 granting universities with a very high 

17 or high level of research activity.’’. 

18 (b) PROCEDURE FOR GRANTING IMMIGRANT STA19 TUS.—Section 204(a)(1)(E) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 

20 1154(a)(1)(E)) is amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘(E)’’ and inserting ‘‘(E)(i)’’; 

22 (2) by striking ‘‘203(b)(1)(A),’’ and inserting 

23 ‘‘203(b)(1)(A) or 203(b)(6),’’; 

24 (3) by striking ‘‘Attorney General’’ and insert25 ing ‘‘Secretary of Homeland Security’’; and 


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1 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(ii) The following processing standards 

3 shall apply with respect to petitions under 

4 clause (i) relating to alien beneficiaries quali5 fying under section 203(b)(6): 

6 ‘‘(I) The Secretary of Homeland Secu7 rity shall adjudicate such petitions not 

8 later than 60 days after the date on which 

9 the petition is filed. In the event that addi10 tional information or documentation is re11 quested by the Secretary during such 60- 

12 day period, the Secretary shall adjudicate 

13 the petition not later than 30 days after 

14 the date on which such information or doc15 umentation is received. 

16 ‘‘(II) The petitioner shall be notified 

17 in writing within 30 days of the date of fil18 ing if the petition does not meet the stand19 ards for approval. If the petition does not 

20 meet such standards, the notice shall in21 clude the reasons therefore and the Sec22 retary shall provide an opportunity for the 

23 prompt resubmission of a modified peti24 tion.’’. 


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1 (c) SKILLED WORKERS, PROFESSIONALS, AND

2 OTHER WORKERS.—Section 203(b)(3)(A) of such Act (8 

3 U.S.C. 1153(b)(3)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘28.6’’ and 

4 inserting ‘‘25.74’’. 

5 (d) GAO STUDY.—Not later than June 30, 2018, the 

6 Comptroller General of the United States shall provide to 

7 the Congress the results of a study on the use by the Na8 tional Science Foundation of the classification authority 

9 provided under section 203(b)(6)(B)(iii)(II) of the Immi10 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

11 1153(b)(6)(B)(iii)(II)), as added by this section. 

12 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

13 this section shall take effect on October 1, 2016, and shall 

14 apply with respect to fiscal years beginning on or after 

15 such date. Nothing in the preceding sentence shall be con16 strued to prohibit the Secretary of Homeland Security 

17 from accepting before such date petitions under section 

18 204(a)(1)(E) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

19 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1)(E)) relating to alien beneficiaries quali20 fying under section 203(b)(6) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 

21 1153(b)(6)) (as added by this section). 


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1 SEC. 3. NUMERICAL LIMITATION TO ANY SINGLE FOREIGN 

2 STATE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 202(a)(2) of the Immi4 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1152(a)(2)) is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘subsections (a) and (b)’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘subsection (a), and paragraphs (3), (4), 

8 and (5) of subsection (b),’’; 

9 (2) by striking ‘‘such subsections’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘such provisions’’. 

11 (b) RULES FOR EMPLOYMENT-BASED IMMI12 GRANTS.—Section 202(a)(5) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 

13 1152(a)(5)) is amended— 

14 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘(1), (2), 

15 (3), (4), or (5)’’ and inserting ‘‘(3), (4), or (5)’’; and 

16 (2) in subparagraph (B)— 

17 (A) by inserting ‘‘paragraphs (3), (4), and 

18 (5) of’’ before ‘‘section 203(b) exceeds’’; and 

19 (B) by striking ‘‘section 203(b) consistent’’ 

20 and inserting ‘‘such paragraphs consistent’’. 

21 (c) SPECIAL RULES FOR COUNTRIES AT CEILING.— 

22 Section 202(e) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1152(e)) is amend23 ed— 

24 (1) by striking ‘‘subsections (a) and (b)’’ each 

25 place such term appears and inserting ‘‘subsection 


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1 (a), and paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) of subsection 

2 (b),’’; and 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘(1) through (5)’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘(3), (4), and (5)’’. 

5 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

6 this section shall take effect on October 1, 2016, and shall 

7 apply with respect to fiscal years beginning on or after 

8 such date. 

9 SEC. 4. PERMANENT PRIORITY DATES. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 203 of the Immigration 

11 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153) is amended by add12 ing at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(i) PERMANENT PRIORITY DATES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection 

15 (h)(3) and paragraph (2), the priority date for any 

16 employment-based petition shall be the date of filing 

17 of the petition with the Secretary of Homeland Secu18 rity (or the Secretary of State, if applicable), unless 

19 the filing of the petition was preceded by the filing 

20 of a labor certification with the Secretary of Labor, 

21 in which case that date shall constitute the priority 

22 date. 

23 ‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT EMPLOYMENT-BASED PETI24 TIONS.—Subject to subsection (h)(3), an alien who 

25 is the beneficiary of any employment-based petition 


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1 that was approvable when filed (including self-peti2 tioners) shall retain the priority date assigned with 

3 respect to that petition in the consideration of any 

4 subsequently filed employment-based petition (in5 cluding self-petitions).’’. 

6 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

7 subsection (a) shall take effect on October 1, 2016, and 

8 shall apply to aliens who are a beneficiary of a classifica9 tion petition pending on or after such date. 

Æ 


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