II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3012 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 30, 2011 

Received 

DECEMBER 17, 2011 

Read the first time 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fairness for High3 Skilled Immigrants Act of 2011’’. 

4 SEC. 2. NUMERICAL LIMITATION TO ANY SINGLE FOREIGN 

5 STATE. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 202(a)(2) of the Immi7 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1152(a)(2)) is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) in the paragraph heading, by striking ‘‘AND

10 EMPLOYMENT-BASED’’; 

11 (2) by striking ‘‘(3), (4), and (5),’’ and insert12 ing ‘‘(3) and (4),’’; 

13 (3) by striking ‘‘subsections (a) and (b) of sec14 tion 203’’ and inserting ‘‘section 203(a)’’; 

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

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

17 ‘‘such section’’. 

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

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

20 amended— 

21 (1) in subsection (a)(3), by striking ‘‘both sub22 sections (a) and (b) of section 203’’ and inserting 

23 ‘‘section 203(a)’’; 

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

25 (3) by amending subsection (e) to read as fol26 lows: 


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

2 If it is determined that the total number of immigrant 

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

4 any single foreign state or dependent area will exceed the 

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

6 fiscal year, in determining the allotment of immigrant visa 

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

8 with respect to natives of that state or area shall be allo9 cated (to the extent practicable and otherwise consistent 

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

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

12 the visa numbers made available under each of paragraphs 

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

14 the total number of visas made available under the respec15 tive paragraph to the total number of visas made available 

16 under section 203(a).’’. 

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

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

19 note) is amended— 

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

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

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

23 subsection (e) as subsection (d). 

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

25 this section shall take effect as if enacted on September 


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1 30, 2011, and shall apply to fiscal years beginning with 

2 fiscal year 2012. 

3 (e) TRANSITION RULES FOR EMPLOYMENT-BASED

4 IMMIGRANTS.— 

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

6 paragraphs of this subsection and notwithstanding 

7 title II of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

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

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

10 immigrant visas made available under each of 

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

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

13 immigrants who are natives of a foreign state 

14 or dependent area that was not one of the two 

15 states with the largest aggregate numbers of 

16 natives obtaining immigrant visas during fiscal 

17 year 2010 under such paragraphs. 

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

19 immigrant visas made available under each of 

20 such paragraphs shall be allotted to immigrants 

21 who are natives of a foreign state or dependent 

22 area that was not one of the two states with the 

23 largest aggregate numbers of natives obtaining 

24 immigrant visas during fiscal year 2011 under 

25 such paragraphs. 


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

2 immigrant visas made available under each of 

3 such paragraphs shall be allotted to immigrants 

4 who are natives of a foreign state or dependent 

5 area that was not one of the two states with the 

6 largest aggregate numbers of natives obtaining 

7 immigrant visas during fiscal year 2012 under 

8 such paragraphs. 

9 (2) PER-COUNTRY LEVELS.— 

10 (A) RESERVED VISAS.—With respect to 

11 the visas reserved under each of subparagraphs 

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

13 of such visas made available to natives of any 

14 single foreign state or dependent area in the ap15 propriate fiscal year may not exceed 25 percent 

16 (in the case of a single foreign state) or 2 per17 cent (in the case of a dependent area) of the 

18 total number of such visas. 

19 (B) UNRESERVED VISAS.—With respect to 

20 the immigrant visas made available under each 

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

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

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

24 2012, 2013, and 2014, not more than 85 perVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:06 Dec 18, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3012.RDS H3012

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1 cent shall be allotted to immigrants who are na2 tives of any single foreign state. 

3 (3) SPECIAL RULE TO PREVENT UNUSED

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

5 2014, the operation of paragraphs (1) and (2) of 

6 this subsection would prevent the total number of 

7 immigrant visas made available under paragraph (2) 

8 or (3) of section 203(b) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 

9 1153(b)) from being issued, such visas may be 

10 issued during the remainder of such fiscal year with11 out regard to paragraphs (1) and (2) of this sub12 section. 

13 (4) RULES FOR CHARGEABILITY.—Section 

14 202(b) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1152(b)) shall apply 

15 in determining the foreign state to which an alien is 

16 chargeable for purposes of this subsection. 

Passed the House of Representatives November 29, 

2011. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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