I 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6497 
To authorize the cancellation of removal and adjustment of status of certain 
alien students who are long-term United States residents and who en-
tered the United States as children, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 7, 2010 
Mr. BERMAN (for himself and Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju-
diciary, and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, Ways and 
Means, Education and Labor, and Homeland Security, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con-
cerned 
A BILL 
To authorize the cancellation of removal and adjustment 
of status of certain alien students who are long-term 
United States residents and who entered the United 
States as children, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Development, Relief, 
and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2010’’ or the 
‘‘DREAM Act of 2010’’. 
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SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title. 
Sec. 2. Table of contents. 
Sec. 3. Definitions. 
Sec. 4. Cancellation of removal of certain long-term residents who entered the 
United States as children. 
Sec. 5. Conditional nonimmigrant status. 
Sec. 6. Adjustment of status. 
Sec. 7. Treatment of aliens meeting requirements for extension of conditional 
nonimmigrant status. 
Sec. 8. Exclusive jurisdiction. 
Sec. 9. Penalties for false statements. 
Sec. 10. Confidentiality of information. 
Sec. 11. Higher education assistance. 
Sec. 12. Treatment of conditional nonimmigrants for certain purposes. 
Sec. 13. Military enlistment. 
Sec. 14. GAO report. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise specifi-
cally provided, a term used in this Act that is used 
in the immigration laws shall have the meaning 
given such term in the immigration laws. 
(2) 
ARMED
FORCES.—The 
term 
‘‘Armed 
Forces’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘armed 
forces’’ in section 101(a) of title 10, United States 
Code. 
(3) CONDITIONAL NONIMMIGRANT.— 
(A) DEFINITION.—The term ‘‘conditional 
nonimmigrant’’ means an alien who is granted 
conditional nonimmigrant status under this Act. 
(B) DESCRIPTION.—A conditional non-
immigrant— 
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(i) shall be considered to be an alien 
within a nonimmigrant class for purposes 
of the immigration laws; 
(ii) may have the intention perma-
nently to reside in the United States; and 
(iii) is not required to have a foreign 
residence which the alien has no intention 
of abandoning. 
(4) IMMIGRATION LAWS.—The term ‘‘immigra-
tion laws’’ has the meaning given such term in sec-
tion 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17)). 
(5) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 
term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 102 of the High-
er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002), except 
that the term does not include an institution of high-
er education outside the United States. 
SEC. 4. CANCELLATION OF REMOVAL OF CERTAIN LONG- 
TERM 
RESIDENTS 
WHO 
ENTERED 
THE 
UNITED STATES AS CHILDREN. 
(a) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN LONG-TERM RESI-
DENTS WHO ENTERED THE UNITED STATES AS CHIL-
DREN.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law and except as otherwise provided in 
this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security may 
cancel removal of an alien who is inadmissible or de-
portable from the United States, and grant the alien 
conditional nonimmigrant status, if the alien dem-
onstrates by a preponderance of the evidence that— 
(A) the alien has been physically present in 
the United States for a continuous period of 
not less than 5 years immediately preceding the 
date of the enactment of this Act and was 
younger than 16 years of age on the date the 
alien initially entered the United States; 
(B) the alien has been a person of good 
moral character since the date the alien initially 
entered the United States; 
(C) subject to paragraph (2), the alien— 
(i) is not inadmissible under para-
graph (1), (2), (3), (4), (6)(E), (6)(G), (8), 
(10)(A), (10)(C), or (10)(D) of section 
212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)); 
(ii) is not deportable under paragraph 
(1)(E), (1)(G), (2), (4), (5), or (6) of sec-
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tion 237(a) of the Immigration and Na-
tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1227(a)); 
(iii) has not ordered, incited, assisted, 
or otherwise participated in the persecution 
of any person on account of race, religion, 
nationality, membership in a particular so-
cial group, or political opinion; and 
(iv) has not been convicted of— 
(I) any offense under Federal or 
State law punishable by a maximum 
term of imprisonment of more than 1 
year; or 
(II) 3 or more offenses under 
Federal or State law, for which the 
alien was convicted on different dates 
for each of the 3 offenses and sen-
tenced to imprisonment for an aggre-
gate of 90 days or more; 
(D) the alien— 
(i) has been admitted to an institution 
of higher education in the United States; 
or 
(ii) has earned a high school diploma 
or obtained a general education develop-
ment certificate in the United States; 
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(4) SURCHARGE.—The Secretary of Homeland 
Security shall charge and collect a surcharge of 
$525 per application on all applications for relief 
under this subsection. Such surcharge shall be in ad-
dition to the otherwise applicable application fee im-
posed for the purpose of recovering the full costs of 
providing adjudication and processing services. Not-
withstanding any other provision of law, including 
section 286 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
(8 U.S.C. 1356), any surcharge collected under this 
paragraph shall be deposited as offsetting receipts in 
the General Fund of the Treasury and shall not be 
available for obligation or expenditure. 
(5) DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF APPLICA-
TION.—An alien shall submit an application for can-
cellation of removal and conditional nonimmigrant 
status under this subsection no later than the date 
that is 1 year after the later of— 
(A) the date the alien earned a high school 
diploma or obtained a general education devel-
opment certificate in the United States; or 
(B) the effective date of the interim regu-
lations under subsection (d). 
(6) SUBMISSION
OF
BIOMETRIC
AND
BIO-
GRAPHIC DATA.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu-
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rity may not cancel the removal of an alien or grant 
conditional nonimmigrant status to the alien under 
this subsection unless the alien submits biometric 
and biographic data, in accordance with procedures 
established by the Secretary. The Secretary shall 
provide an alternative procedure for applicants who 
are unable to provide such biometric or biographic 
data because of a physical impairment. 
(7) BACKGROUND CHECKS.— 
(A) 
REQUIREMENT
FOR
BACKGROUND 
CHECKS.—The Secretary of Homeland Security 
shall utilize biometric, biographic, and other 
data that the Secretary determines is appro-
priate— 
(i) to conduct security and law en-
forcement background checks of an alien 
seeking relief available under this sub-
section; and 
(ii) to determine whether there is any 
criminal, national security, or other factor 
that would render the alien ineligible for 
such relief. 
(B) 
COMPLETION
OF
BACKGROUND 
CHECKS.—The security and law enforcement 
background checks required by subparagraph 
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(A) shall be completed, to the satisfaction of the 
Secretary, prior to the date the Secretary can-
cels the removal of the alien under this sub-
section. 
(8) MEDICAL EXAMINATION.—An alien applying 
for relief available under this subsection shall under-
go a medical observation and examination. The Sec-
retary of Homeland Security, with the concurrence 
of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 
shall prescribe policies and procedures for the nature 
and timing of such observation and examination. 
(9) MILITARY SELECTIVE SERVICE.—An alien 
applying for relief available under this subsection 
shall establish that the alien has registered under 
the Military Selective Service Act (50 U.S.C. App. 
451 et seq.), if the alien is subject to such registra-
tion under that Act. 
(b) TERMINATION OF CONTINUOUS PERIOD.—For 
purposes of this section, any period of continuous resi-
dence or continuous physical presence in the United States 
of an alien who applies for cancellation of removal under 
subsection (a) shall not terminate when the alien is served 
a notice to appear under section 239(a) of the Immigra-
tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229(a)). 
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(c) TREATMENT
OF CERTAIN BREAKS
IN PRES-
ENCE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—An alien shall be considered 
to have failed to maintain continuous physical pres-
ence in the United States under subsection (a) if the 
alien has departed from the United States for any 
period in excess of 90 days or for any periods in the 
aggregate exceeding 180 days. 
(2) 
EXTENSIONS
FOR
EXCEPTIONAL
CIR-
CUMSTANCES.—The Secretary of Homeland Security 
may extend the time periods described in paragraph 
(1) if the alien demonstrates that the failure to time-
ly return to the United States was due to excep-
tional circumstances. The exceptional circumstances 
determined sufficient to justify an extension should 
be no less compelling than serious illness of the 
alien, or death or serious illness of a parent, grand-
parent, sibling, or child. 
(d) REGULATIONS.— 
(1) INITIAL PUBLICATION.—Not later than 180 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Homeland Security shall publish regula-
tions implementing this section. 
(2) INTERIM
REGULATIONS.—Notwithstanding 
section 553 of title 5, United States Code, the regu-
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lations required by paragraph (1) shall be effective, 
on an interim basis, immediately upon publication 
but may be subject to change and revision after pub-
lic notice and opportunity for a period of public com-
ment. 
(3) FINAL REGULATIONS.—Within a reasonable 
time after publication of the interim regulations in 
accordance with paragraph (1), the Secretary of 
Homeland Security shall publish final regulations 
implementing this section. 
(e) REMOVAL OF ALIEN.—The Secretary of Home-
land Security may not remove any alien who— 
(1) has a pending application for conditional 
nonimmigrant status under this Act; and 
(2) establishes prima facie eligibility for can-
cellation of removal and conditional nonimmigrant 
status under subsection (a). 
SEC. 5. CONDITIONAL NONIMMIGRANT STATUS. 
(a) LENGTH OF STATUS.—Conditional nonimmigrant 
status granted under section 4 shall be valid for an initial 
period of 5 years, subject to termination under subsection 
(c) of this section. 
(b) TERMS OF CONDITIONAL NONIMMIGRANT STA-
TUS.— 
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