II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2974 

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 

FEBRUARY 2, 2010 

Mr. LUGAR (for himself and Mr. LEAHY) 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 to make a material contribution to 

12 that country if the country is engaged in post-conflict or 

13 natural disaster reconstruction activities, for a period not 

14 exceeding 24 months, unless an extension of time is grant15 ed 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 requirements for a 

19 special immigrant 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.—A special immi7 grant described in section 101(a)(27)(N) who participates 

8 in the Return of Talent Program, and the spouse, parents, 

9 siblings, and any minor children who accompany such im10 migrant to that immigrant’s country of citizenship, shall 

11 be considered, during such period of participation in the 

12 program— 

13 ‘‘(1) to be physically present and residing in the 

14 United States for purposes of naturalization under 

15 section 316(a); and 

16 ‘‘(2) to meet the continuous residency require17 ments under section 316(b). 

18 ‘‘(f) OVERSIGHT AND ENFORCEMENT.—The Sec19 retary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Sec20 retary of State, shall oversee and enforce the requirements 

21 of this section.’’. 

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

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

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

25 section 317 the following: 


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

Program.’’. 

1 SEC. 3. ELIGIBLE IMMIGRANTS. 

2 Section 101(a)(27) of the Immigration and Nation3 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)) is amended— 

4 (1) in subparagraph (L), by inserting a semi5 colon after ‘‘Improvement Act of 1998’’; 

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

7 and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

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

9 ‘‘(N) an immigrant who— 

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

11 United States for permanent residence; 

12 ‘‘(ii) demonstrates an ability and willing13 ness to make a material contribution to the 

14 post-conflict or natural disaster reconstruction 

15 in the alien’s country of citizenship; and 

16 ‘‘(iii) has been determined by the Secretary 

17 of State, in consultation with the Secretary of 

18 Homeland Security, to be a citizen of— 

19 ‘‘(I) a country in which the Armed 

20 Forces of the United States are engaged, 

21 or have been engaged during the 10-year 

22 period preceding such determination, in 

23 combat or peacekeeping operations; 


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1 ‘‘(II) a country in which authorization 

2 for United Nations peacekeeping oper3 ations was initiated by the United Nations 

4 Security Council during the 10-year period 

5 preceding such determination; or 

6 ‘‘(III) a country which received, dur7 ing the preceding 2 years, financial assist8 ance from the Office of Foreign Disaster 

9 Assistance of the United States Agency for 

10 International Development in response to a 

11 disaster in such country that is beyond the 

12 ability of such country’s response capacity 

13 and warrants a response by the United 

14 States Government.’’. 

15 SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

16 Not later than 2 years after the date of the enact17 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in 

18 consultation with the Secretary of State, shall submit a 

19 report to Congress that describes— 

20 (1) the countries of citizenship of the partici21 pants in the Return of Talent Program established 

22 under section 317A of the Immigration and Nation23 ality Act, as added by section 2; 


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1 (2) the post-conflict or natural disaster recon2 struction efforts that benefitted, or were made pos3 sible, through participation in the program; and 

4 (3) any other information that the Secretary of 

5 Homeland Security determines to be appropriate. 

6 SEC. 5. REGULATIONS. 

7 Not later than 6 months after the date of the enact8 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

9 promulgate regulations to carry out this Act and the 

10 amendments made by this Act. 

11 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

12 There are authorized to be appropriated to United 

13 States Citizenship and Immigration Services such sums as 

14 may be necessary for fiscal year 2011 to carry out this 

15 Act and the amendments made by this Act. 

Æ 


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