II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4301 

To grant States and Indian Tribes the authority to waive the 2-year foreign 

residence requirement for educators in rural and Tribal areas, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 9, 2024 

Mr. THUNE (for himself, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. ROUNDS, and Mr. LUJA ́N) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To grant States and Indian Tribes the authority to waive 

the 2-year foreign residence requirement for educators 

in rural and Tribal areas, 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. MODIFICATION OF DEFINITIONS TO INCLUDE 

4 INDIAN TRIBES. 

5 Section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 

6 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)) is amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (36), by striking ‘‘and the 

8 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands’’ 


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1 and inserting ‘‘the Commonwealth of the Northern 

2 Mariana Islands, and each Indian Tribe’’; and 

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

4 ‘‘(53) The term ‘Indian Tribe’ has the meaning 

5 given that term in section 4(e) of the Indian Self6 Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 

7 U.S.C. 5304(e)). 

8 ‘‘(54) The terms ‘Tribal government’ and ‘Trib9 al entity’ mean the recognized governing body of an 

10 Indian Tribe. 

11 ‘‘(55) The term ‘State educational agency’ has 

12 the meaning given that term in section 8101(49) of 

13 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

14 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801(49))’’. 

15 SEC. 2. EXCHANGE VISITOR VISA EXTENSION FOR EDU16 CATORS IN RURAL AND TRIBAL AREAS. 

17 Section 214 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

18 (8 U.S.C. 1184) is amended by adding at the end the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(s)(1) If the Governor of a State or a Tribal govern21 ment requests a waiver of the 2-year foreign residence re22 quirement under section 212(e) on behalf of an alien de23 scribed in clause (i) or (ii) of that section who is a primary 

24 or secondary school teacher or an education specialist in 


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1 that State, the Secretary of Homeland Security may not 

2 grant such a waiver unless— 

3 ‘‘(A) in the case of an alien who is otherwise 

4 contractually obligated to return to a foreign coun5 try, the government of such country furnishes the 

6 Director of the United States Information Agency 

7 with a statement in writing that it has no objection 

8 to such waiver; 

9 ‘‘(B) the grant of such waiver would not cause 

10 the number of waivers allotted for that State for 

11 that fiscal year to exceed 30; 

12 ‘‘(C) the alien demonstrates a bona fide offer of 

13 full-time employment as a teacher or an education 

14 specialist at a primary or secondary school in a rural 

15 or Tribal area in that State; and 

16 ‘‘(D)(i) in the case of a request made by a Gov17 ernor, the alien agrees to begin employment with 

18 such a primary or secondary school not later than 

19 90 days after receiving such waiver, and agrees to 

20 continue to work for a total of not less than 3 years 

21 (unless the Secretary of Homeland Security deter22 mines that extenuating circumstances exist, such as 

23 closure of the school or hardship to the alien, which 

24 would justify a lesser period of employment at the 

25 school, in which case the alien must demonstrate anVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:13 Jun 11, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4301.IS S4301

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1 other bona fide offer of employment at a primary or 

2 secondary school for the remainder of such 3-year 

3 period), in rural and underserved area (as defined by 

4 the State educational agency); or 

5 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a request made by a Tribal 

6 government, the alien— 

7 ‘‘(I) agrees to begin employment with such 

8 a primary or secondary school of an Indian 

9 Tribe, including any Bureau of Indian Edu10 cation funded school operated pursuant to a 

11 grant under the Tribally Controlled Schools Act 

12 of 1988 (25 U.S.C. 2501 et seq.) or a contract 

13 under the Indian Self-Determination and Edu14 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.), 

15 not later than 90 days after receiving such 

16 waiver; and 

17 ‘‘(II) agrees to continue to work for a total 

18 of not less than 3 years (unless the Secretary 

19 of Homeland Security determines that extenu20 ating circumstances exist, such as closure of the 

21 school or hardship to the alien, which would 

22 justify a lesser period of employment at the 

23 school, in which case the alien must dem24 onstrate another bona fide offer of employment 


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1 at a primary or secondary school for the re2 mainder of such 3-year period). 

3 ‘‘(2)(A) Notwithstanding section 248(a)(2), the Sec4 retary of Homeland Security may change the status of an 

5 alien who qualifies under this subsection and section 

6 212(e) to that of an alien described in section 

7 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b). The numerical limitations contained 

8 in subsection (g)(1)(A) shall not apply to any alien whose 

9 status is changed pursuant to this subparagraph, if the 

10 alien obtained a waiver of the 2-year foreign residence re11 quirement upon a request by an interested Federal agency 

12 or an interested State agency. 

13 ‘‘(B) No person who has obtained a change of status 

14 under subparagraph (A) and who has failed to fulfill the 

15 terms of the contract with the primary or secondary school 

16 named in the waiver application shall be eligible to apply 

17 for an immigrant visa, for permanent residence, or for any 

18 other change of nonimmigrant status, until such person 

19 has resided and been physically present in the country of 

20 his or her nationality or his or her last residence for an 

21 aggregate of at least 2 years following his or here depar22 ture from the United States. 

23 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this sub24 section, the 2-year foreign residence requirement under 

25 section 212(e) shall apply with respect to an alien deVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:13 Jun 11, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4301.IS S4301

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1 scribed in clause (i) or (ii) of such section who has not 

2 otherwise been accorded status under section 

3 101(a)(27)(H), if at any time the alien ceases to comply 

4 with any agreement entered into under pursuant to para5 graph (1)(C). 

6 ‘‘(4) Any spouse or children of an alien granted a 

7 waiver under this subsection shall be included in such 

8 waiver. 

9 ‘‘(5) In the case of a request submitted under para10 graph (1) by a Tribal entity, the Governor of the State 

11 in which the Tribal entity is located may endorse such re12 quest.’’. 

Æ 


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