II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1857 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate the per-country 

numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants, to increase the 

per-country numerical limitation for family-sponsored immigrants, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 10, 2011 

Mr. LEE 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 eliminate 

the per-country numerical limitation for employmentbased immigrants, to increase the per-country numerical 

limitation for family-sponsored immigrants, 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 the ‘‘Fairness for High5 Skilled Immigrants Act’’. 


jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1857 IS

1 SEC. 2. 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) in the paragraph heading, by striking ‘‘AND

7 EMPLOYMENT-BASED’’; 

8 (2) by striking ‘‘(3), (4), and (5),’’ and insert9 ing ‘‘(3) and (4),’’; 

10 (3) by striking ‘‘subsections (a) and (b) of sec11 tion 203’’ and inserting ‘‘section 203(a)’’; 

12 (4) by striking ‘‘7’’ and inserting ‘‘15’’; and 

13 (5) by striking ‘‘such subsections’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘such section’’. 

15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 202 of the 

16 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1152) is 

17 amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (a)(3), by striking ‘‘both sub19 sections (a) and (b) of section 203’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘section 203(a)’’; 

21 (2) by striking subsection (a)(5); and 

22 (3) by amending subsection (e) to read as fol23 lows: 

24 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULES FOR COUNTRIES AT CEILING.— 

25 If it is determined that the total number of immigrant 

26 visas made available under section 203(a) to natives of 


jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1857 IS

1 any single foreign state or dependent area will exceed the 

2 numerical limitation specified in subsection (a)(2) in any 

3 fiscal year, in determining the allotment of immigrant visa 

4 numbers to natives under section 203(a), visa numbers 

5 with respect to natives of that state or area shall be allo6 cated (to the extent practicable and otherwise consistent 

7 with this section and section 203) in a manner so that, 

8 except as provided in subsection (a)(4), the proportion of 

9 the visa numbers made available under each of paragraphs 

10 (1) through (4) of section 203(a) is equal to the ratio of 

11 the total number of visas made available under the respec12 tive paragraph to the total number of visas made available 

13 under section 203(a).’’. 

14 (c) COUNTRY-SPECIFIC OFFSET.—Section 2 of the 

15 Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992 (8 U.S.C. 1255 

16 note) is amended— 

17 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘subsection 

18 (e))’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (d))’’; and 

19 (2) by striking subsection (d) and redesignating 

20 subsection (e) as subsection (d). 

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

22 this section shall take effect as if enacted on September 

23 30, 2011, and shall apply to fiscal years beginning with 

24 fiscal year 2012. 


jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1857 IS

1 (e) TRANSITION RULES FOR EMPLOYMENT-BASED

2 IMMIGRANTS.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the succeeding 

4 paragraphs of this subsection and notwithstanding 

5 title II of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

6 U.S.C. 1151 et seq.), the following rules shall apply: 

7 (A) For fiscal year 2012, 15 percent of the 

8 total number of immigrant visas made available 

9 under section 203(b) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 

10 1153(b)) shall be allotted to immigrants who 

11 are natives of a foreign state or dependent area 

12 that was not one of the two states with the 

13 largest numbers of natives obtaining lawful per14 manent resident status during fiscal year 2010 

15 under such section 203(b). 

16 (B) For fiscal year 2013, 10 percent of the 

17 total number of immigrant visas made available 

18 under such section 203(b) shall be allotted to 

19 immigrants who are natives of a foreign state 

20 or dependent area that was not one of the two 

21 states with the largest numbers of natives ob22 taining lawful permanent resident status during 

23 fiscal year 2011 under such section 203(b). 

24 (C) For fiscal year 2014, 10 percent of the 

25 total number of immigrant visas made available 


jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1857 IS

1 under such section 203(b) shall be allotted to 

2 immigrants who are natives of a foreign state 

3 or dependent area that was not one of the two 

4 states with the largest numbers of natives ob5 taining lawful permanent resident status during 

6 fiscal year 2012 under such section 203(b). 

7 (2) PER-COUNTRY LEVELS.— 

8 (A) RESERVED VISAS.—With respect to 

9 the visas reserved under each of subparagraphs 

10 (A) through (C) of paragraph (1), the number 

11 of such visas made available to natives of any 

12 single foreign state or dependent area in the ap13 propriate fiscal year may not exceed 25 percent 

14 (in the case of a single foreign state) or 2 per15 cent (in the case of a dependent area) of the 

16 total number of such visas. 

17 (B) UNRESERVED VISAS.— 

18 (i) IN GENERAL.—With respect to the 

19 immigrant visas made available under such 

20 section 203(b) and not reserved under 

21 paragraph (1), for each of fiscal years 

22 2012, 2013, and 2014, not more than the 

23 number of such visas calculated under 

24 clause (ii) shall be allotted to immigrants 

25 who are natives of any single foreign state. 


jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1857 IS

1 (ii) CALCULATION OF NUMBER.—The 

2 numbers of visas calculated under this 

3 clause for a fiscal year is the number that 

4 is equal to 70 percent of the total number 

5 of immigrant visas made available under 

6 such section 203(b) for such fiscal year. 

7 (3) RULES FOR CHARGEABILITY.—Section 

8 202(b) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1152(b)) shall apply 

9 in determining the foreign state to which an alien is 

10 chargeable for purposes of this subsection. 

Æ 


jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS