II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1684 

To establish the Return of Talent Program to allow aliens who are legally 

present in the United States to return temporarily to the country of 

citizenship of the alien if that country is engaged in post-conflict or 

natural disaster reconstruction, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 22, 2007 

Mr. BIDEN (for himself and Mr. LUGAR) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish the Return of Talent Program to allow aliens 

who are legally present in the United States to return 

temporarily to the country of citizenship of the alien 

if that country is engaged in post-conflict or natural 

disaster reconstruction, 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 ‘‘Return of Talent Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. RETURN OF TALENT PROGRAM. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Immigration and 

3 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.) is amended by 

4 inserting after section 317 the following: 

5 ‘‘TEMPORARY ABSENCE OF PERSONS PARTICIPATING IN

6 THE RETURN OF TALENT PROGRAM

7 ‘‘SEC. 317A. (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

8 Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of 

9 State, shall establish the Return of Talent Program to 

10 permit eligible aliens to temporarily return to the alien’s 

11 country of citizenship in order to make a material con12 tribution to that country if the country is engaged in post13 conflict or natural disaster reconstruction activities, for a 

14 period not exceeding 24 months, unless an exception is 

15 granted under subsection (d). 

16 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ALIEN.—An alien is eligible to partici17 pate in the Return of Talent Program established under 

18 subsection (a) if the alien meets the special immigrant de19 scription under section 101(a)(27)(N). 

20 ‘‘(c) FAMILY MEMBERS.—The spouse, parents, sib21 lings, and any minor children of an alien who participates 

22 in the Return of Talent Program established under sub23 section (a) may return to such alien’s country of citizen24 ship with the alien and reenter the United States with the 

25 alien. 


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1 ‘‘(d) EXTENSION OF TIME.—The Secretary of Home2 land Security may extend the 24-month period referred 

3 to in subsection (a) upon a showing that circumstances 

4 warrant that an extension is necessary for post-conflict or 

5 natural disaster reconstruction efforts. 

6 ‘‘(e) RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS.—An immigrant 

7 described in section 101(a)(27)(N) who participates in the 

8 Return of Talent Program established under subsection 

9 (a), and the spouse, parents, siblings, and any minor chil10 dren who accompany such immigrant to that immigrant’s 

11 country of citizenship, shall be considered, during such pe12 riod of participation in the program— 

13 ‘‘(1) for purposes of section 316(a), physically 

14 present and residing in the United States for pur15 poses of naturalization within the meaning of that 

16 section; and 

17 ‘‘(2) for purposes of section 316(b), to meet the 

18 continuous residency requirements in that section. 

19 ‘‘(f) OVERSIGHT AND ENFORCEMENT.—The Sec20 retary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Sec21 retary of State, shall oversee and enforce the requirements 

22 of this section.’’. 

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

24 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 


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1 seq.) is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

2 section 317 the following: 

‘‘317A. Temporary absence of persons participating in the Return of Talent 

Program.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. ELIGIBLE IMMIGRANTS. 

4 Section 101(a)(27) of the Immigration and Nation5 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)) is amended— 

6 (1) in subparagraph (L), by inserting a semi7 colon after ‘‘Improvement Act of 1998’’; 

8 (2) in subparagraph (M), by striking the period 

9 and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

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

11 ‘‘(N) an immigrant who— 

12 ‘‘(i) has been lawfully admitted to the 

13 United States for permanent residence; 

14 ‘‘(ii) demonstrates an ability and willing15 ness to make a material contribution to the 

16 post-conflict or natural disaster reconstruction 

17 in the alien’s country of citizenship; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) as determined by the Secretary of 

19 State in consultation with the Secretary of 

20 Homeland Security— 

21 ‘‘(I) is a citizen of a country in which 

22 Armed Forces of the United States are en23 gaged, or have engaged in the 10 years 


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1 preceding such determination, in combat or 

2 peacekeeping operations; 

3 ‘‘(II) is a citizen of a country where 

4 authorization for United Nations peace5 keeping operations was initiated by the 

6 United Nations Security Council during 

7 the 10 years preceding such determination; 

8 or 

9 ‘‘(III) is a citizen of a country which 

10 received, during the preceding 2 years, 

11 funding from the Office of Foreign Dis12 aster Assistance of the United States 

13 Agency for International Development in 

14 response to a declared disaster in such 

15 country by the United States Ambassador, 

16 the Chief of the U.S. Mission, or the ap17 propriate Assistant Secretary of State, that 

18 is beyond the ability of such country’s re19 sponse capacity and warrants a response 

20 by the United States Government.’’. 

21 SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

22 Not later than 2 years after the date of the enact23 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in 

24 consultation with the Secretary of State, shall submit a 

25 report to Congress that describes— 


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1 (1) the countries of citizenship of the partici2 pants in the Return of Talent Program established 

3 under section 317A of the Immigration and Nation4 ality Act, as added by section 2; 

5 (2) the post-conflict or natural disaster recon6 struction efforts that benefitted, or were made pos7 sible, through participation in the program; and 

8 (3) any other information that the Secretary of 

9 Homeland Security determines to be appropriate. 

10 SEC. 5. REGULATIONS. 

11 Not later than 6 months after the date of the enact12 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

13 promulgate regulations to carry out this Act and the 

14 amendments made by this Act. 

15 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

16 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Bu17 reau of Citizenship and Immigration Services for fiscal 

18 year 2008, such sums as may be necessary to carry out 

19 this Act and the amendments made by this Act. 

Æ 


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