II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2691 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to increase competitiveness 

in the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 2, 2006 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. ENZI, Mr. LOTT, Mr. ALLARD, and 

Mr. BENNETT) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to increase 

competitiveness in the United States, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Securing Knowledge, Innovation, and Leadership Act of 

6 2006’’ or the ‘‘SKIL Act of 2006’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—ACCESS TO HIGH SKILLED FOREIGN WORKERS 


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Sec. 101. H–1B visa holders. 

Sec. 102. Market-based visa limits. 

TITLE II—RETAINING FOREIGN WORKERS EDUCATED IN THE 

UNITED STATES 

Sec. 201. United States educated immigrants. 

Sec. 202. Immigrant visa backlog reduction. 

Sec. 203. Student visa reform. 

Sec. 204. L–1 visa holders subject to visa backlog. 

Sec. 205. Retaining workers subject to green card backlog. 

TITLE III—BUSINESS FACILITATION THROUGH IMMIGRATION 

REFORM 

Sec. 301. Streamlining the adjudication process for established employers. 

Sec. 302. Providing premium processing of employment-based visa petitions. 

Sec. 303. Eliminating procedural delays in labor certification process. 

TITLE IV—MISCELLANEOUS 

Sec. 401. Completion of background and security checks. 

Sec. 402. Visa revalidation. 

Sec. 403. Severability. 

1 TITLE I—ACCESS TO HIGH 

2 SKILLED FOREIGN WORKERS 

3 SEC. 101. H–1B VISA HOLDERS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 214(g)(5) of the Immi5 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(g)(5)) is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) in subparagraph (B)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘nonprofit research’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘nonprofit’’; 

10 (B) by inserting ‘‘Federal, State, or local’’ 

11 before ‘‘governmental’’; and 

12 (C) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

13 (2) in subparagraph (C)— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘a United States institu15 tion of higher education (as defined in section 


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1 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

2 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a))),’’ and inserting ‘‘an insti3 tution of higher education in a foreign coun4 try,’’; and 

5 (B) by striking the period at the end and 

6 inserting a semicolon; 

7 (3) by adding at the end, the following new sub8 paragraphs: 

9 ‘‘(D) has earned a master’s or higher degree 

10 from a United States institution of higher education 

11 (as defined in section 101(a) of the Higher Edu12 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a))); 

13 ‘‘(E) has been awarded medical specialty certifi14 cation based on post-doctoral training and experi15 ence in the United States; or’’. 

16 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by sub17 section (a) shall apply to any petition or visa application 

18 pending on the date of enactment of this Act and any peti19 tion or visa application filed on or after such date. 

20 SEC. 102. MARKET-BASED VISA LIMITS. 

21 Section 214(g) of the Immigration and Nationality 

22 Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(g)) is amended— 

23 (1) in paragraph (1)— 


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1 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

2 (A), by striking ‘‘(beginning with fiscal year 

3 1992)’’; and 

4 (B) in subparagraph (A)— 

5 (i) in clause (vi) by striking ‘‘and’’; 

6 (ii) in clause (vii), by striking ‘‘each 

7 succeeding fiscal year; or’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘each of fiscal years 2004, 2005, and 

9 2006;’’; and 

10 (iii) by adding after clause (vii) the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(viii) 115,000 in the first fiscal year 

13 beginning after the date of the enactment 

14 of the Securing Knowledge, Innovation, 

15 and Leadership Act of 2006; and 

16 ‘‘(ix) the number calculated under 

17 paragraph (9) in each fiscal year after the 

18 year described in clause (viii); or’’; 

19 (2) in paragraph (5), as amended by section 

20 101(a), in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 

21 by inserting ‘‘101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b1) or section’’ after 

22 ‘‘under section’’; 

23 (3) in paragraph (8), by striking subparagraphs 

24 (B)(iv) and (D); 


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1 (4) by redesignating paragraphs (9), (10), and 

2 (11) as paragraphs (10), (11), and (12), respec3 tively; and 

4 (5) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(9) If the numerical limitation in paragraph 

7 (1)(A)— 

8 ‘‘(A) is reached during a given fiscal year, 

9 the numerical limitation under paragraph 

10 (1)(A)(ix) for the subsequent fiscal year shall 

11 be equal to 120 percent of the numerical limita12 tion of the given fiscal year; or 

13 ‘‘(B) is not reached during a given fiscal 

14 year, the numerical limitation under paragraph 

15 (1)(A)(ix) for the subsequent fiscal year shall 

16 be equal to the numerical limitation of the given 

17 fiscal year.’’. 

18 TITLE II—RETAINING FOREIGN 

19 WORKERS EDUCATED IN THE 

20 UNITED STATES 

21 SEC. 201. UNITED STATES EDUCATED IMMIGRANTS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 201(b)(1) of the Immi23 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(b)(1)) is 

24 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(F) Aliens who have earned a master’s or 

2 higher degree from an accredited United States 

3 university. 

4 ‘‘(G) Aliens who have been awarded med5 ical specialty certification based on post-doc6 toral training and experience in the United 

7 States preceding their application for an immi8 grant visa under section 203(b). 

9 ‘‘(H) Aliens who will perform labor in 

10 shortage occupations designated by the Sec11 retary of Labor for blanket certification under 

12 section 212(a)(5)(A) as lacking sufficient 

13 United States workers able, willing, qualified, 

14 and available for such occupations and for 

15 which the employment of aliens will not ad16 versely affect the terms and conditions of simi17 larly employed United States workers. 

18 ‘‘(I) Aliens who have earned a master’s de19 gree or higher in science, technology, engineer20 ing, or math and have been working in a re21 lated field in the United States in a non22 immigrant status during the 3-year period pre23 ceding their application for an immigrant visa 

24 under section 203(b). 


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1 ‘‘(J) Aliens described in subparagraph (A) 

2 or (B) of section 203(b)(1) or who have re3 ceived a national interest waiver under section 

4 203(b)(2)(B). 

5 ‘‘(K) The spouse and minor children of an 

6 alien who is admitted as an employment-based 

7 immigrant under section 203(b).’’. 

8 (b) LABOR CERTIFICATIONS.—Section 

9 212(a)(5)(A)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

10 (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(5)(A)(ii)) is amended— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subclause (I); 

12 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub13 clause (II) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

14 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(I) is a member of the profes16 sions and has a master’s degree or 

17 higher from an accredited United 

18 States university or has been awarded 

19 medical specialty certification based 

20 on post-doctoral training and experi21 ence in the United States.’’. 

22 SEC. 202. IMMIGRANT VISA BACKLOG REDUCTION. 

23 Section 201(d) of the Immigration and Nationality 

24 Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(d)) is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(d) WORLDWIDE LEVEL OF EMPLOYMENT-BASED

2 IMMIGRANTS.—The worldwide level of employment-based 

3 immigrants under this subsection for a fiscal year is equal 

4 to the sum of— 

5 ‘‘(1) 290,000; 

6 ‘‘(2) the difference between— 

7 ‘‘(A) the maximum number of visas au8 thorized to be issued under this subsection dur9 ing the previous fiscal year; and 

10 ‘‘(B) the number of such visas issued dur11 ing the previous fiscal year; and 

12 ‘‘(3) the difference between— 

13 ‘‘(A) the maximum number of visas au14 thorized to be issued under this subsection dur15 ing fiscal years 2001 through 2005 and the 

16 number of visa numbers issued under this sub17 section during those fiscal years; and 

18 ‘‘(B) the number of visas calculated under 

19 clause (i) that were issued after fiscal year 

20 2005.’’. 

21 SEC. 203. STUDENT VISA REFORM. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 101(a)(15)(F) of the Im23 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(F)) 

24 is amended to read as follows: 

25 ‘‘(F) an alien— 


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1 ‘‘(i) who— 

2 ‘‘(I) is a bona fide student qualified to 

3 pursue a full course of study in mathe4 matics, engineering, technology, or the 

5 sciences leading to a bachelors or graduate 

6 degree and who seeks to enter the United 

7 States for the purpose of pursuing such a 

8 course of study consistent with section 

9 214(m) at an institution of higher edu10 cation (as defined by section 101(a) of the 

11 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

12 1001(a))) in the United States, particu13 larly designated by the alien and approved 

14 by the Secretary of Homeland Security, 

15 after consultation with the Secretary of 

16 Education, which institution or place of 

17 study shall have agreed to report to the 

18 Secretary the termination of attendance of 

19 each nonimmigrant student, and if any 

20 such institution of learning or place of 

21 study fails to make reports promptly the 

22 approval shall be withdrawn; or 

23 ‘‘(II) is engaged in temporary employ24 ment for optional practical training related 

25 to such alien’s area of study following comVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:26 May 03, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2691.IS S2691

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1 pletion of the course of study described in 

2 subclause (I) for a period or periods of not 

3 more than 24 months; 

4 ‘‘(ii) who— 

5 ‘‘(I) has a residence in a foreign coun6 try which the alien has no intention of 

7 abandoning, who is a bona fide student 

8 qualified to pursue a full course of study, 

9 and who seeks to enter the United States 

10 temporarily and solely for the purpose of 

11 pursuing such a course of study consistent 

12 with section 214(m) at an established col13 lege, university, seminary, conservatory, 

14 academic high school, elementary school, or 

15 other academic institution or in a language 

16 training program in the United States, 

17 particularly designated by the alien and 

18 approved by the Secretary of Homeland 

19 Security, after consultation with the Sec20 retary of Education, which institution or 

21 place of study shall have agreed to report 

22 to the Secretary the termination of attend23 ance of each nonimmigrant student, and if 

24 any such institution of learning or place of 


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1 study fails to make reports promptly the 

2 approval shall be withdrawn; or 

3 ‘‘(II) is engaged in temporary employ4 ment for optional practical training related 

5 to such alien’s area of study following com6 pletion of the course of study described in 

7 subclause (I) for a period or periods of not 

8 more than 24 months; 

9 ‘‘(iii) who is the spouse or minor child of 

10 an alien described in clause (i) or (ii) if accom11 panying or following to join such an alien; or 

12 ‘‘(iv) who— 

13 ‘‘(I) is a national of Canada or Mex14 ico, who maintains actual residence and 

15 place of abode in the country of nation16 ality, who is described in clause (i) or (ii) 

17 except that the alien’s qualifications for 

18 and actual course of study may be full or 

19 part-time, and who commutes to the 

20 United States institution or place of study 

21 from Canada or Mexico; or 

22 ‘‘(II) is engaged in temporary employ23 ment for optional practical training related 

24 to such the student’s area of study fol25 lowing completion of the course of study 


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1 described in subclause (I) for a period or 

2 periods of not more than 24 months;’’. 

3 (b) ADMISSION.—Section 214(b) of the Immigration 

4 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(b)) is amended by in5 serting ‘‘(F)(i),’’ before ‘‘(L) or (V)’’. 

6 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 214(m)(1) 

7 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

8 1184(m)(1)) is amended, in the matter preceding subpara9 graph (A), by striking ‘‘(i) or’’ and inserting ‘‘(i), (ii), or 

10 (iv)’’. 

11 SEC. 204. L–1 VISA HOLDERS SUBJECT TO VISA BACKLOG. 

12 Section 214(c)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality 

13 Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(c)(2)) is amended by adding at the 

14 end the following new subparagraph: 

15 ‘‘(G) The limitations contained in subparagraph (D) 

16 with respect to the duration of authorized stay shall not 

17 apply to any nonimmigrant alien previously issued a visa 

18 or otherwise provided nonimmigrant status under section 

19 101(a)(15)(L) on whose behalf a petition under section 

20 204(b) to accord the alien immigrant status under section 

21 203(b), or an application for labor certification (if such 

22 certification is required for the alien to obtain status 

23 under such section 203(b)) has been filed, if 365 days or 

24 more have elapsed since such filing. The Secretary of 

25 Homeland Security shall extend the stay of an alien who 


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1 qualifies for an exemption under this subparagraph until 

2 such time as a final decision is made on the alien’s lawful 

3 permanent residence.’’. 

4 SEC. 205. RETAINING WORKERS SUBJECT TO GREEN CARD 

5 BACKLOG. 

6 (a) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 245(a) of the Immi8 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1255(a)) is 

9 amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(a) ELIGIBILITY.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The status of an alien who 

12 was inspected and admitted or paroled into the 

13 United States or the status of any other alien having 

14 an approved petition for classification under sub15 paragraph (A)(iii), (A)(iv), (B)(ii), or (B)(iii) of sec16 tion 204(a)(1) may be adjusted by the Secretary of 

17 Homeland Security or the Attorney General, in the 

18 discretion of the Secretary or the Attorney General 

19 under such regulations as the Secretary or Attorney 

20 General may prescribe, to that of an alien lawfully 

21 admitted for permanent residence if— 

22 ‘‘(A) the alien makes an application for 

23 such adjustment; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the alien is eligible to receive an im2 migrant visa and is admissible to the United 

3 States for permanent residence; and 

4 ‘‘(C) an immigrant visa is immediately 

5 available to the alien at the time the application 

6 is filed. 

7 ‘‘(2) SUPPLEMENTAL FEE.—An application 

8 under paragraph (1) that is based on a petition ap9 proved or approvable under subparagraph (E) or (F) 

10 of section 204(a)(1) may be filed without regard to 

11 the limitation set forth in paragraph (1)(C) if a sup12 plemental fee of $500 is paid by the principal alien 

13 at the time the application is filed. A supplemental 

14 fee may not be required for any dependent alien ac15 companying or following to join the principal alien. 

16 ‘‘(3) VISA AVAILABILITY.—An application for 

17 adjustment filed under this paragraph may not be 

18 approved until such time as an immigrant visa be19 come available.’’. 

20 (b) USE OF FEES.—Section 286(v)(1) (8 U.S.C. 

21 1356(v)(1)) is amended by inserting before the period at 

22 the end ‘‘and the fees collected under section 245(a)(2).’’. 


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1 TITLE III—BUSINESS FACILITA2 TION THROUGH IMMIGRA3 TION REFORM 

4 SEC. 301. STREAMLINING THE ADJUDICATION PROCESS 

5 FOR ESTABLISHED EMPLOYERS. 

6 Section 214(c) of the Immigration and Nationality 

7 Act (8. U.S.C. 1184) is amended by adding at the end 

8 the following new paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(1) Not later than 180 days after the date of the 

10 enactment of the Securing Knowledge, Innovation, and 

11 Leadership Act of 2006, the Secretary of Homeland Secu12 rity shall establish a pre-certification procedure for em13 ployers who file multiple petitions described in this sub14 section or section 203(b). Such precertification procedure 

15 shall enable an employer to avoid repeatedly submitting 

16 documentation that is common to multiple petitions and 

17 establish through a single filing criteria relating to the em18 ployer and the offered employment opportunity.’’. 

19 SEC. 302. PROVIDING PREMIUM PROCESSING OF EMPLOY20 MENT-BASED VISA PETITIONS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Pursuant to section 286(u) of the 

22 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1356(u)), the 

23 Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish and collect 

24 a fee for premium processing of employment-based immi25 grant petitions. 


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1 (b) APPEALS.—Pursuant to such section 286(u), the 

2 Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish and collect 

3 a fee for premium processing of an administrative appeal 

4 of any decision on a permanent employment-based immi5 grant petition. 

6 SEC. 303. ELIMINATING PROCEDURAL DELAYS IN LABOR 

7 CERTIFICATION PROCESS. 

8 (a) PREVAILING WAGE RATE.— 

9 (1) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE.—The Sec10 retary of Labor shall provide prevailing wage deter11 minations to employers seeking a labor certification 

12 for aliens pursuant to part 656 of title 20, Code of 

13 Federal Regulation (or any successor regulation). 

14 The Secretary may not delegate this function to any 

15 agency of a State. 

16 (2) SCHEDULE FOR DETERMINATION.—Except 

17 as provided in paragraph (3), the Secretary of Labor 

18 shall provide a response to an employer’s request for 

19 a prevailing wage determination in no more than 20 

20 calendar days from the date of receipt of such re21 quest. If the Secretary fails to reply during such 20- 

22 day period, then the wage proposed by the employer 

23 shall be the valid prevailing wage rate. 

24 (3) USE OF SURVEYS.—The Secretary of Labor 

25 shall accept an alternative wage survey provided by 


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1 the employer unless the Secretary determines that 

2 the wage component of the Occupational Employ3 ment Statistics Survey is more accurate for the oc4 cupation in the labor market area. 

5 (b) PLACEMENT OF JOB ORDER.—The Secretary of 

6 Labor shall maintain a website with links to the official 

7 website of each workforce agency of a State, and such offi8 cial website shall contain instructions on the filing of a 

9 job order in order to satisfy the job order requirements 

10 of section 656.17(e)(1) of title 20, Code of Federal Regu11 lation (or any successor regulation). 

12 (c) TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.—The Secretary of 

13 Labor shall establish a process by which employers seeking 

14 certification under section 212(a)(5) of the Immigration 

15 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(5)), as amended 

16 by section 201(b), may make technical corrections to ap17 plications in order to avoid requiring employers to conduct 

18 additional recruitment to correct an initial technical error. 

19 A technical error shall include any error that would not 

20 have a material effect on the validity of the employer’s 

21 recruitment of able, willing, and qualified United States 

22 workers. 

23 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS.—Motions to recon24 sider, and administrative appeals of, a denial of a perma25 nent labor certification application, shall be decided by the 


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1 Secretary of Labor not later than 60 days after the date 

2 of the filing of such motion or such appeal. 

3 (e) APPLICATIONS UNDER PREVIOUS SYSTEM.—Not 

4 later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 

5 this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall process and issue 

6 decisions on all applications for permanent alien labor cer7 tification that were filed prior to March 28, 2005. 

8 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The provisions of this section 

9 shall take effect 90 days after the date of enactment of 

10 this Act, whether or not the Secretary of Labor has 

11 amended the regulations at part 656 of title 20, Code of 

12 Federal Regulation to implement such changes. 

13 TITLE IV—MISCELLANEOUS 

14 SEC. 401. COMPLETION OF BACKGROUND AND SECURITY 

15 CHECKS. 

16 Section 103 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

17 (8 U.S.C. 1103) is amended by adding at the end the fol18 lowing new subsection: 

19 ‘‘(i) REQUIREMENT FOR BACKGROUND CHECKS.— 

20 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, until appro21 priate background and security checks, as determined by 

22 the Secretary of Homeland Security, have been completed, 

23 and the information provided to and assessed by the offi24 cial with jurisdiction to grant or issue the benefit or docu25 mentation, on an in camera basis as may be necessary 


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1 with respect to classified, law enforcement, or other infor2 mation that cannot be disclosed publicly, the Secretary of 

3 Homeland Security, the Attorney General, or any court 

4 may not— 

5 ‘‘(1) grant or order the grant of adjustment of 

6 status of an alien to that of an alien lawfully admit7 ted for permanent residence; 

8 ‘‘(2) grant or order the grant of any other sta9 tus, relief, protection from removal, or other benefit 

10 under the immigration laws; or 

11 ‘‘(3) issue any documentation evidencing or re12 lated to such grant by the Secretary, the Attorney 

13 General, or any court. 

14 ‘‘(j) REQUIREMENT TO RESOLVE FRAUD ALLEGA15 TIONS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, until 

16 any suspected or alleged fraud relating to the granting of 

17 any status (including the granting of adjustment of sta18 tus), relief, protection from removal, or other benefit 

19 under this Act has been investigated and resolved, the Sec20 retary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General 

21 may not be required to— 

22 ‘‘(1) grant or order the grant of adjustment of 

23 status of an alien to that of an alien lawfully admit24 ted for permanent residence; 


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1 ‘‘(2) grant or order the grant of any other sta2 tus, relief, protection from removal, or other benefit 

3 under the immigration laws; or 

4 ‘‘(3) issue any documentation evidencing or re5 lated to such grant by the Secretary, the Attorney 

6 General, or any court. 

7 ‘‘(k) PROHIBITION OF JUDICIAL ENFORCEMENT.— 

8 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no court may 

9 require any act described in subsection (i) or (j) to be com10 pleted by a certain time or award any relief for the failure 

11 to complete such acts.’’. 

12 SEC. 402. VISA REVALIDATION. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 222 of the Immigration 

14 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1202) is amended by add15 ing at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(i) The Secretary of State shall permit an alien 

17 granted a nonimmigrant visa under subparagraph E, H, 

18 I, L, O, or P of section 101(a)(15) to apply for a renewal 

19 of such visa within the United States if— 

20 ‘‘(1) such visa expired during the 12-month pe21 riod ending on the date of such application; 

22 ‘‘(2) the alien is seeking a nonimmigrant visa 

23 under the same subparagraph under which the alien 

24 had previously received a visa; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) the alien has complied with the immigra2 tion laws and regulations of the United States.’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 222(h) of 

4 such Act is amended, in the matter preceding subpara5 graph (1), by inserting ‘‘and except as provided under sub6 section (i),’’ after ‘‘Act’’. 

7 SEC. 403. SEVERABILITY. 

8 If any provision of this Act, any amendment by this 

9 Act, or the application of such provision or amendment 

10 to any person or circumstance is held to be invalid for 

11 any reason, the remainder of this Act, the amendments 

12 made by this Act, and the applications of such to any 

13 other person or circumstance shall not be affected by such 

14 holding. 

Æ 


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