II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1983 

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 

DECEMBER 13, 2011 

Mr. SCHUMER (for himself, Mr. LEAHY, and Mr. DURBIN) 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 of 2011’’. 


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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 


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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 year 2012 and each 

24 subsequent fiscal year. 


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1 (e) TRANSITION RULES FOR EMPLOYMENT-BASED

2 IMMIGRANTS.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2) 

4 through (4), and notwithstanding title II of the Im5 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151 et 

6 seq.), the following rules shall apply: 

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

8 immigrant visas made available under each of 

9 paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 203(b) of 

10 such Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)) shall be allotted to 

11 immigrants who are natives of a foreign state 

12 or dependent area that was not 1 of the 2 

13 States with the largest aggregate numbers of 

14 natives obtaining immigrant visas during fiscal 

15 year 2010 under such paragraphs. 

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

17 immigrant visas made available under each of 

18 such paragraphs shall be allotted to immigrants 

19 who are natives of a foreign state or dependent 

20 area that was not 1 of the 2 States with the 

21 largest aggregate numbers of natives obtaining 

22 immigrant visas during fiscal year 2011 under 

23 such paragraphs. 

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

25 immigrant visas made available under each of 


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1 such paragraphs shall be allotted to immigrants 

2 who are natives of a foreign state or dependent 

3 area that was not 1 of the 2 States with the 

4 largest aggregate numbers of natives obtaining 

5 immigrant visas during fiscal year 2012 under 

6 such paragraphs. 

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.—With respect to 

18 the immigrant visas made available under each 

19 of paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 203(b) of 

20 such Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)) and not reserved 

21 under paragraph (1), for each of fiscal years 

22 2012, 2013, and 2014, not more than 85 per23 cent shall be allotted to immigrants who are na24 tives of any single foreign state. 


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1 (3) SPECIAL RULE TO PREVENT UNUSED

2 VISAS.—If, with respect to fiscal year 2012, 2013, or 

3 2014, the application of paragraphs (1) and (2) 

4 would prevent the total number of immigrant visas 

5 made available under paragraph (2) or (3) of section 

6 203(b) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)) from being 

7 issued, such visas may be issued during the remain8 der of such fiscal year without regard to paragraphs 

9 (1) and (2). 

10 (4) RULES FOR CHARGEABILITY.—Section 

11 202(b) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1152(b)) shall apply 

12 in determining the foreign state to which an alien is 

13 chargeable for purposes of this subsection. 

14 SEC. 3. E–VISA REFORM. 

15 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 101(a)(15)(E)(iii) of the 

16 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

17 1101(a)(15)(E)(iii)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, or solely 

18 to perform services as an employee who meets the require19 ments under section 203(d)(2) if the alien is a national 

20 of the Republic of Ireland,’’ after ‘‘Australia’’. 

21 (b) TEMPORARY ADMISSION.—Section 212(d)(3)(A) 

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

23 1182(d)(3)(A)) is amended to read as follows: 

24 ‘‘(A) Except as otherwise provided in this sub25 section— 


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1 ‘‘(i) an alien who is applying for a non2 immigrant visa and who the consular officer 

3 knows or believes to be ineligible for such visa 

4 under subsection (a) (other than subparagraphs 

5 (A)(i)(I), (A)(ii), (A)(iii), (C), (E)(i), and 

6 (E)(ii) of paragraph (3) of such subsection)— 

7 ‘‘(I) after approval by the Secretary of 

8 Homeland Security of a recommendation 

9 by the Secretary of State or by the con10 sular officer that the alien be admitted 

11 temporarily despite the alien’s inadmis12 sibility, may be granted such a visa and 

13 may be admitted into the United States 

14 temporarily as a nonimmigrant, in the dis15 cretion of the Secretary of Homeland Secu16 rity; or 

17 ‘‘(II) absent such recommendation 

18 and approval, be granted a nonimmigrant 

19 visa pursuant to section 101(a)(15)(E) if 

20 such ineligibility is based solely on conduct 

21 in violation of paragraph (6), (7), or (9) of 

22 section 212(a) that occurred before the 

23 date of the enactment of the Fairness for 

24 High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2011; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) an alien who is inadmissible under 

2 subsection (a) (other than subparagraphs 

3 (A)(i)(I), (A)(ii), (A)(iii), (C), (E)(i), and 

4 (E)(ii) of paragraph (3) of such subsection), is 

5 in possession of appropriate documents or was 

6 granted a waiver from such document require7 ment, and is seeking admission, may be admit8 ted into the United States temporarily as a 

9 nonimmigrant, in the discretion of the Sec10 retary of Homeland Security, who shall pre11 scribe conditions, including exaction of such 

12 bonds as may be necessary, to control and regu13 late the admission and return of inadmissible 

14 aliens applying for temporary admission under 

15 this paragraph.’’. 

16 (c) NUMERICAL LIMITATION.—Section 

17 214(g)(11)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

18 U.S.C. 1184(g)(11)(B)) is amended by inserting ‘‘for each 

19 of the nationalities identified under section 

20 101(a)(15)(E)(iii)’’ before the period at the end. 

Æ 


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