IIB 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1044 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
JULY 11, 2019 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
AN ACT 
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate 
the per-country numerical limitation for employment- 
based immigrants, to increase the per-country numerical 
limitation for family-sponsored 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, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fairness for High- 
Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. NUMERICAL LIMITATION TO ANY SINGLE FOREIGN 
STATE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 202(a)(2) of the Immi-
gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1152(a)(2)) is 
amended— 
(1) in the paragraph heading, by striking ‘‘AND 
EMPLOYMENT-BASED’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘(3), (4), and (5),’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘(3) and (4),’’; 
(3) by striking ‘‘subsections (a) and (b) of sec-
tion 203’’ and inserting ‘‘section 203(a)’’; 
(4) by striking ‘‘7’’ and inserting ‘‘15’’; and 
(5) by striking ‘‘such subsections’’ and inserting 
‘‘such section’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 202 of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1152) is 
amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(3), by striking ‘‘both sub-
sections (a) and (b) of section 203’’ and inserting 
‘‘section 203(a)’’; 
(2) by striking subsection (a)(5); and 
(3) by amending subsection (e) to read as fol-
lows: 
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‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULES FOR COUNTRIES AT CEILING.— 
If it is determined that the total number of immigrant 
visas made available under section 203(a) to natives of 
any single foreign state or dependent area will exceed the 
numerical limitation specified in subsection (a)(2) in any 
fiscal year, in determining the allotment of immigrant visa 
numbers to natives under section 203(a), visa numbers 
with respect to natives of that state or area shall be allo-
cated (to the extent practicable and otherwise consistent 
with this section and section 203) in a manner so that, 
except as provided in subsection (a)(4), the proportion of 
the visa numbers made available under each of paragraphs 
(1) through (4) of section 203(a) is equal to the ratio of 
the total number of visas made available under the respec-
tive paragraph to the total number of visas made available 
under section 203(a).’’. 
(c) COUNTRY-SPECIFIC OFFSET.—Section 2 of the 
Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992 (8 U.S.C. 1255 
note) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘subsection 
(e))’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (d))’’; and 
(2) by striking subsection (d) and redesignating 
subsection (e) as subsection (d). 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall take effect as if enacted on September 
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30, 2019, and shall apply to fiscal years beginning with 
fiscal year 2020. 
(e) TRANSITION RULES FOR EMPLOYMENT-BASED 
IMMIGRANTS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to the succeeding 
paragraphs of this subsection and notwithstanding 
title II of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1151 et seq.), the following rules shall apply: 
(A) For fiscal year 2020, 15 percent of the 
immigrant visas made available under each of 
paragraphs (2), (3), and (5) of section 203(b) 
of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)) shall be allotted 
to immigrants who are natives of a foreign 
state or dependent area that is not one of the 
two states with the largest aggregate numbers 
of natives who are beneficiaries of approved pe-
titions for immigrant status under such para-
graphs. 
(B) For fiscal year 2021, 10 percent of the 
immigrant visas made available under each of 
such paragraphs shall be allotted to immigrants 
who are natives of a foreign state or dependent 
area that is not one of the two states with the 
largest aggregate numbers of natives who are 
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years 2020, 2021, and 2022, not more than 85 
percent shall be allotted to immigrants who are 
natives of any single foreign state. 
(3) SPECIAL
RULE
TO
PREVENT
UNUSED 
VISAS.—If, with respect to fiscal year 2020, 2021, or 
2022, the operation of paragraphs (1) and (2) of 
this subsection would prevent the total number of 
immigrant visas made available under paragraph (2) 
or (3) of section 203(b) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 
1153(b)) from being issued, such visas may be 
issued during the remainder of such fiscal year with-
out regard to paragraphs (1) and (2) of this sub-
section. 
(4) TRANSITION
RULE
FOR
CURRENTLY
AP-
PROVED BENEFICIARIES.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sec-
tion 202 of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act, as amended by this Act, immigrant visas 
under section 203(b) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)) shall be al-
located such that no alien described in subpara-
graph (B) receives a visa later than the alien 
otherwise would have received said visa had this 
Act not been enacted. 
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(B) ALIEN DESCRIBED.—An alien is de-
scribed in this subparagraph if the alien is the 
beneficiary of a petition for an immigrant visa 
under section 203(b) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)) that was 
approved prior to the date of enactment of this 
Act. 
(5) 
RULES
FOR
CHARGEABILITY.—Section 
202(b) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1152(b)) shall apply 
in determining the foreign state to which an alien is 
chargeable for purposes of this subsection. 
SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 
The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 
complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 
shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 
titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 
Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 
by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro-
vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 
vote on passage. 
Passed the House of Representatives July 10, 2019. 
Attest: 
CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 
Clerk. 
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