I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1149 
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to make changes related 
to family-sponsored immigrants and to reduce the number of such immi-
grants, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 16, 2017 
Mr. JODY B. HICE of Georgia (for himself, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. 
FARENTHOLD, Mr. CARTER of Georgia, Mr. JONES, Mr. ROE of Ten-
nessee, Mr. BRAT, and Mr. MARCHANT) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to make 
changes related to family-sponsored immigrants and to 
reduce the number of such immigrants, 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 ‘‘Nuclear Family Pri-
ority Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. IMMEDIATE RELATIVE DEFINITION. 
Section 201(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Immigration and Na-
tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(b)(2)(A)(i)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘children, spouses, and parents’’ 
and inserting ‘‘children and spouses’’; and 
(2) by striking ‘‘States, except that’’ and all 
that follows through ‘‘of age.’’ and inserting 
‘‘States.’’. 
SEC. 3. CHANGE IN FAMILY-SPONSORED IMMIGRANT CAT-
EGORIES. 
Section 203(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(a)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(a) PREFERENCE ALLOCATION FOR SPOUSES AND 
CHILDREN OF PERMANENT RESIDENT ALIENS.—Quali-
fied immigrants who are the spouses or children of an 
alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence shall be 
allotted visas in a number not to exceed the worldwide 
level specified in section 201(c).’’. 
SEC. 4. CHANGE IN WORLDWIDE LEVEL OF FAMILY-SPON-
SORED IMMIGRANTS. 
Section 201(c) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(c)) is amended— 
(1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows: 
‘‘(1) The worldwide level of family-sponsored 
immigrants under this subsection for a fiscal year is 
equal to— 
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in any fiscal year, the remaining 25 per-
cent shall be available, in the case of a for-
eign state or dependent area that is sub-
ject to subsection (e) only to the extent 
that the total number of visas issued in ac-
cordance with subsection (A) to natives of 
the foreign state or dependent area is less 
than the subsection (e) ceiling (as defined 
in clause (ii)). 
‘‘(ii) SUBSECTION (e) CEILING
DE-
FINED.—In clause (i), the term ‘subsection 
(e) ceiling’ means, for a foreign state or 
dependent area, 77 percent of the max-
imum number of visas that may be made 
available under section 203(a) to immi-
grants who are natives of the state or area 
consistent with subsection (e).’’; and 
(B) by striking subparagraphs (C) and 
(D); and 
(2) in subsection (e)— 
(A) in paragraph (1), by adding ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(B) by striking paragraph (2) and redesig-
nating paragraph (3) as paragraph (2); and 
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(C) in the final sentence, by striking ‘‘re-
spectively,’’ and all that follows through the pe-
riod at the end and inserting ‘‘respectively.’’. 
(b) RULES FOR DETERMINING WHETHER CERTAIN 
ALIENS ARE CHILDREN.—Section 203(h) of the Immigra-
tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(h)) is amended 
by striking ‘‘(a)(2)(A)’’ each place such term appears and 
inserting ‘‘(a)’’. 
(c) PROCEDURE FOR GRANTING IMMIGRANT STA-
TUS.—Section 204 of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1154) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(1)— 
(A) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking ‘‘to 
classification by reason of a relationship de-
scribed in paragraph (1), (3), or (4) of section 
203(a) or’’; 
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking 
‘‘203(a)(2)(A)’’ and ‘‘203(a)(2)’’ each place 
such terms appear and inserting ‘‘203(a)’’; and 
(C) in subparagraph (D)(i)(I), by striking 
‘‘a petitioner for preference status under para-
graph (1), (2), or (3)’’ and all that follows 
through the period at the end and inserting ‘‘an 
individual under 21 years of age for purposes of 
adjudicating such petition and for purposes of 
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admission as an immediate relative under sec-
tion 201(b)(2)(A)(i) or a family-sponsored im-
migrant under section 203(a), as appropriate, 
notwithstanding the actual age of the indi-
vidual.’’; 
(2) in subsection (f)(1), by striking ‘‘201(b), 
203(a)(1), or 203(a)(3), as appropriate.’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘201(b).’’; and 
(3) by striking subsection (k). 
(d) 
WAIVERS
OF
INADMISSIBILITY.—Section 
212(d)(11) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1182(d)(11)) is amended by striking ‘‘(other than 
paragraph (4) thereof)’’. 
(e) CONDITIONAL PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS 
FOR CERTAIN ALIEN SPOUSES AND SONS AND DAUGH-
TERS.—Section 216(h)(1)(C) of the Immigration and Na-
tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1186a(h)(1)(C)) is amended by 
striking ‘‘203(a)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘203(a)’’. 
(f) CLASSES
OF
DEPORTABLE
ALIENS.—Section 
237(a)(1)(E)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
(8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(1)(E)(ii)) is amended by striking 
‘‘203(a)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘203(a)’’. 
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SEC. 6. NONIMMIGRANT STATUS FOR ALIEN PARENT OF 
ADULT UNITED STATES CITIZENS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 101(a)(15) of the Immi-
gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)) is 
amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (U), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 
the end; 
(2) in subparagraph (V), by striking the period 
at the end and inserting ‘‘or’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(W) Subject to section 214(s), an alien who is 
a parent of a citizen of the United States, if the cit-
izen is at least 21 years of age.’’. 
(b) CONDITIONS ON ADMISSION.—Section 214 of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(s)(1) The initial period of authorized admission for 
a nonimmigrant described in section 101(a)(15)(W) shall 
be 5 years. Such period may be extended by the Secretary 
of Homeland Security so long as the United States citizen 
son or daughter of the nonimmigrant is residing in the 
United States. 
‘‘(2) 
A 
nonimmigrant 
described 
in 
section 
101(a)(15)(W) is not authorized to be employed in the 
United States and is not eligible, notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, for any Federal, State, or local pub-
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lic benefit. In the case of such a nonimmigrant, the United 
States citizen son or daughter shall be responsible for the 
support of the nonimmigrant, regardless of the resources 
of the nonimmigrant. 
‘‘(3) An alien is ineligible to receive a visa and ineli-
gible to be admitted into the United States as a non-
immigrant described in section 101(a)(15)(W) unless the 
alien provides satisfactory proof that the United States 
citizen son or daughter has arranged for the provision to 
the alien, at no cost to the alien, of health insurance cov-
erage applicable during the period of the alien’s presence 
in the United States.’’. 
SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY. 
The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 
on the first day of the second fiscal year that begins after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, except that the fol-
lowing shall be considered invalid: 
(1) Any petition under section 204 of the Immi-
gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1154) seeking 
classification of an alien under a family-sponsored 
immigrant category eliminated by the amendments 
made by this Act that is filed after the date of the 
introduction of this Act. 
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(2) Any application for an immigrant visa based 
on a petition described in paragraph (1). 
Æ 
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