I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3120 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to require accreditation of 

certain educational institutions for purposes of a nonimmigrant student 

visa, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 6, 2011 

Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to require 

accreditation of certain educational institutions for purposes of a nonimmigrant student visa, 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 ‘‘Student Visa Reform 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ACCREDITATION REQUIREMENT FOR COLLEGES 

2 AND UNIVERSITIES. 

3 Section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 

4 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)) is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (15)(F)(i)— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘section 214(l) at an estab7 lished college, university, seminary, conserv8 atory, academic high school, elementary school, 

9 or other academic institution or in an accred10 ited language training program in the United 

11 States’’ and inserting ‘‘section 214(m) at an ac12 credited college, university, or language training 

13 program, or at an established seminary, con14 servatory, academic high school, elementary 

15 school, or other academic institution in the 

16 United States’’; and 

17 (B) by striking ‘‘Attorney General’’ each 

18 place such term appears and inserting ‘‘Sec19 retary of Homeland Security’’; and 

20 (2) by amending paragraph (52) to read as fol21 lows: 

22 ‘‘(52) The term ‘accredited college, university, 

23 or language training program’ means a college, uni24 versity, or language training program that is accred25 ited by an accrediting agency recognized by the Sec26 retary of Education.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. ACCREDITATION OF OTHER ACADEMIC INSTITU2 TIONS. 

3 Section 214(m) of the Immigration and Nationality 

4 Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(m)) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘(3) The Secretary of Homeland Security, in 

7 the Secretary’s discretion, may require accreditation 

8 of an academic institution (except for seminaries or 

9 other religious institutions) for purposes of section 

10 101(a)(15)(F) if— 

11 ‘‘(A) that institution is not already re12 quired to be accredited under section 

13 101(a)(15)(F)(i); 

14 ‘‘(B) an appropriate accrediting agency 

15 recognized by the Secretary of Education is 

16 able to provide such accreditation; and 

17 ‘‘(C) the institution has or will have 25 or 

18 more alien students accorded status as non19 immigrants under clause (i) or (iii) of section 

20 101(a)(15)(F) pursuing a course of study at 

21 that institution.’’. 

22 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

24 (b), the amendments made by sections 2, 3, and 5 shall— 

25 (1) take effect on the date that is 180 days 

26 after the date of the enactment of this Act; and 


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1 (2) apply with respect to applications for a non2 immigrant visa under section 101(a)(15)(F)(i) of the 

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

4 1101(a)(15)(F)(i)) that are filed on or after the ef5 fective date described in paragraph (1). 

6 (b) TEMPORARY EXCEPTION.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—During the 3-year period be8 ginning on the date of enactment of this Act, an 

9 alien seeking to enter the United States to pursue 

10 a course of study at a college or university that has 

11 been certified by the Secretary of Homeland Secu12 rity may be granted a nonimmigrant visa under 

13 clause (i) or clause (iii) of section 101(a)(15)(F) of 

14 the Immigration and Nationality Act without regard 

15 to whether or not that college or university has been 

16 accredited or been denied accreditation by an entity 

17 described in section 101(a)(52) of such Act. 

18 (2) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—An alien may 

19 not be granted a nonimmigrant visa under para20 graph (1) if the college or university to which the 

21 alien seeks to enroll does not— 

22 (A) submit an application for the accredi23 tation of such institution to a regional or na24 tional accrediting agency recognized by the SecVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:43 Oct 08, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3120.IH H3120

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1 retary of Education within 1 year after the date 

2 of the enactment of this Act; and 

3 (B) comply with the applicable accrediting 

4 requirements of such agency. 

5 SEC. 5. CONFORMING AMENDMENT. 

6 Section 212(a)(6)(G) of the Immigration and Nation7 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(6)(G)) is amended by striking 

8 ‘‘section 214(l)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 214(m)’’. 

Æ 


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