H. R. 4818—544
‘‘(F) An alien who will serve in a capacity involving specialized
knowledge with respect to an employer for purposes of section
101(a)(15)(L) and will be stationed primarily at the worksite of
an employer other than the petitioning employer or its affiliate,
subsidiary, or parent shall not be eligible for classification under
section 101(a)(15)(L) if—
‘‘(i) the alien will be controlled and supervised principally
by such unaffiliated employer; or
‘‘(ii) the placement of the alien at the worksite of the
unaffiliated employer is essentially an arrangement to provide
labor for hire for the unaffiliated employer, rather than a
placement in connection with the provision of a product or
service for which specialized knowledge specific to the peti-
tioning employer is necessary.’’.
(b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by subsection (a)
shall apply to petitions filed on or after the effective date of this
subtitle, whether for initial, extended, or amended classification.
SEC. 413. REQUIREMENT FOR PRIOR CONTINUOUS EMPLOYMENT FOR
CERTAIN INTRACOMPANY TRANSFEREES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 214(c)(2)(A) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(c)(2)(A)) is amended by striking
the last sentence (relating to reduction of the 1-year period of
continuous employment abroad to 6 months).
(b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by subsection (a)
shall apply only to petitions for initial classification filed on or
after the effective date of this subtitle.
SEC. 414. MAINTENANCE OF STATISTICS BY THE DEPARTMENT OF
HOMELAND SECURITY.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Department of Homeland Security shall
maintain statistics regarding petitions filed, approved, extended,
and amended with respect to nonimmigrants described in section
101(a)(15)(L) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1101(a)(15)(L)), including the number of such nonimmigrants who
are classified on the basis of specialized knowledge and the number
of nonimmigrants who are classified on the basis of specialized
knowledge in order to work primarily at offsite locations.
(b) APPLICABILITY.—Subsection (a) shall apply to petitions filed
on or after the effective date of this subtitle.
SEC. 415. INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT ON L VISA PROGRAM.
Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this
Act, the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security
shall, consistent with the authority granted the Department under
section 428 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 236),
examine and report to the Committees on the Judiciary of the
House of Representatives and the Senate on the vulnerabilities
and potential abuses in the visa program carried out under section
214(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(c))
with respect to nonimmigrants described in section 101(a)(15)(L)
of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(L)).
SEC. 416. ESTABLISHMENT OF TASK FORCE.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 6 months after the date
of enactment of this Act, there shall be established an L Visa
Interagency Task Force that consists of representatives from the
Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and
H. R. 4818—545
the Department of State. The Secretaries of each Department and
each relevant bureau of the Department of Homeland Security
shall appoint designees to the L Visa Interagency Task Force.
The L Visa Interagency Task Force shall consult with other agencies
deemed appropriate.
(b) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after the submission
of the report by the Inspector General of the Department of Home-
land Security in accordance with section 6, the L Visa Interagency
Task Force shall report to the Committees on the Judiciary of
the House of Representatives and the Senate on the efforts to
implement the recommendations set forth by the Inspector General’s
report. The L Visa Interagency Task Force shall note specific areas
of agreement and disagreement, and make recommendations to
Congress on the findings of the Task Force, including any sugges-
tions for legislation. The Task Force shall also review other addi-
tional issues as may be raised by the Inspector General’s report
or by the Task Force’s own deliberations regarding the policies
and purposes of the visa program relative to national goals and
transnational commerce.
SEC. 417. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This subtitle and the amendments made by this subtitle shall
take effect 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
Subtitle B—H–1B Visa Reform
SEC. 421. SHORT TITLE.
This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘H–1B Visa Reform Act
of 2004’’.
SEC. 422. TEMPORARY WORKER PROVISIONS.
(a) ATTESTATION REQUIREMENTS FOR H–1B WORKERS.—Section
212(n)(1)(E)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1182(n)(1)(E)(ii)) is amended by striking ‘‘October 1, 2003,’’.
(b) H–1B EMPLOYER
PETITIONS.—Section 214(c)(9) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(c)(9)) is amended—
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘October 1, 2003’’;
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘$1,000’’ and inserting
‘‘$1,500’’; and
(3) in subparagraph (B), by inserting before the period
‘‘except that the fee shall be half the amount for each such
petition by any employer with not more than 25 full-time
equivalent employees who are employed in the United States
(determined by including any affiliate or subsidiary of such
employer)’’.
SEC. 423. H–1B PREVAILING WAGE LEVEL.
Section 212(p) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1182(p)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(3) The prevailing wage required to be paid pursuant to sub-
sections (a)(5)(A), (n)(1)(A)(i)(II), and (t)(1)(A)(i)(II) shall be 100
percent of the wage determined pursuant to those sections.
‘‘(4) Where the Secretary of Labor uses, or makes available
to employers, a governmental survey to determine the prevailing
wage, such survey shall provide at least 4 levels of wages commen-
surate with experience, education, and the level of supervision.
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Where an existing government survey has only 2 levels, 2 inter-
mediate levels may be created by dividing by 3, the difference
between the 2 levels offered, adding the quotient thus obtained
to the first level and subtracting that quotient from the second
level.’’.
SEC. 424. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR INVESTIGATIVE AUTHORITIES.
(a) SECRETARY OF LABOR INVESTIGATIVE AUTHORITY.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 212(n)(2) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(n)(2)) is amended by inserting
after subparagraph (F) the following:
‘‘(G)(i) The Secretary of Labor may initiate an investigation
of any employer that employs nonimmigrants described in section
101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) if the Secretary of Labor has reasonable cause
to believe that the employer is not in compliance with this sub-
section. In the case of an investigation under this clause, the
Secretary of Labor (or the acting Secretary in the case of the
absence of disability of the Secretary of Labor) shall personally
certify that reasonable cause exists and shall approve commence-
ment of the investigation. The investigation may be initiated for
reasons other than completeness and obvious inaccuracies by the
employer in complying with this subsection.
‘‘(ii) If the Secretary of Labor receives specific credible informa-
tion from a source who is likely to have knowledge of an employer’s
practices or employment conditions, or an employer’s compliance
with the employer’s labor condition application under paragraph
(1), and whose identity is known to the Secretary of Labor, and
such information provides reasonable cause to believe that the
employer has committed a willful failure to meet a condition of
paragraph (1)(A), (1)(B), (1)(C), (1)(E), (1)(F), or (1)(G)(i)(I), has
engaged in a pattern or practice of failures to meet such a condition,
or has committed a substantial failure to meet such a condition
that affects multiple employees, the Secretary of Labor may conduct
an investigation into the alleged failure or failures. The Secretary
of Labor may withhold the identity of the source from the employer,
and the source’s identity shall not be subject to disclosure under
section 552 of title 5, United States Code.
‘‘(iii) The Secretary of Labor shall establish a procedure for
any person desiring to provide to the Secretary of Labor information
described in clause (ii) that may be used, in whole or in part,
as the basis for the commencement of an investigation described
in such clause, to provide the information in writing on a form
developed and provided by the Secretary of Labor and completed
by or on behalf of the person. The person may not be an officer
or employee of the Department of Labor, unless the information
satisfies the requirement of clause (iv)(II) (although an officer or
employee of the Department of Labor may complete the form on
behalf of the person).
‘‘(iv) Any investigation initiated or approved by the Secretary
of Labor under clause (ii) shall be based on information that satisfies
the requirements of such clause and that—
‘‘(I) originates from a source other than an officer or
employee of the Department of Labor; or
‘‘(II) was lawfully obtained by the Secretary of Labor in
the course of lawfully conducting another Department of Labor
investigation under this Act of any other Act.