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gram does not meet the requirements of sub-
paragraph (A), or an equivalent degree; and
‘‘(ii) has not more than 3 years of aca-
demic credits remaining in the program.
‘‘(C) $966 for each full-time or part-time
student who is enrolled at the school in a pro-
gram in nursing leading to an associate degree
in nursing or an equivalent degree.
‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—In calculating the amount of
a grant to a school under paragraph (1), the Sec-
retary may not make a payment with respect to a
particular student—
‘‘(A) for more than 2 fiscal years in the case
of a student described in paragraph (1)(A) who
is enrolled in a graduate program in nursing
leading to a master’s degree or an equivalent de-
gree;
‘‘(B) for more than 4 fiscal years in the
case of a student described in paragraph (1)(A)
who is enrolled in a graduate program in nurs-
ing leading to a doctoral degree or an equivalent
degree;
‘‘(C) for more than 3 fiscal years in the case
of a student described in paragraph (1)(B); or
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‘‘(D) for more than 2 fiscal years in the
case of a student described in paragraph (1)(C).
‘‘(d) ELIGIBILITY.—In this section, the term ‘eligible
school of nursing’ means a school of nursing that—
‘‘(1) is accredited by a nursing accrediting agen-
cy recognized by the Secretary of Education;
‘‘(2) has a passage rate on the National Council
Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses of not
less than 80 percent for each of the 3 academic years
preceding submission of the grant application; and
‘‘(3) has a graduation rate (based on the number
of students in a class who graduate relative to, for a
baccalaureate program, the number of students who
were enrolled in the class at the beginning of junior
year or, for an associate degree program, the number
of students who were enrolled in the class at the end
of the first year) of not less than 80 percent for each
of the 3 academic years preceding submission of the
grant application.
‘‘(e) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary may award a
grant under this section to an eligible school of nursing only
if the school gives assurances satisfactory to the Secretary
that, for each academic year for which the grant is awarded,
the school will comply with the following:
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‘‘(1) The school will maintain a passage rate on
the National Council Licensure Examination for Reg-
istered Nurses of not less than 80 percent.
‘‘(2) The school will maintain a graduation rate
(as described in subsection (d)(3)) of not less than 80
percent.
‘‘(3)(A) Subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C),
the first-year enrollment of full-time nursing students
in the school will exceed such enrollment for the pre-
ceding academic year by 5 percent or 5 students,
whichever is greater.
‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to the
first academic year for which a school receives a
grant under this section.
‘‘(C) With respect to any academic year, the Sec-
retary may waive application of subparagraph (A)
if—
‘‘(i) the physical facilities at the school in-
volved limit the school from enrolling additional
students; or
‘‘(ii) the school has increased enrollment in
the school (as described in subparagraph (A)) for
each of the 2 preceding academic years.
‘‘(4) Not later than 1 year after receiving a
grant under this section, the school will formulate and
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implement a plan to accomplish at least 2 of the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(A) Establishing or significantly expand-
ing an accelerated baccalaureate degree nursing
program designed to graduate new nurses in 12
to 18 months.
‘‘(B) 
Establishing 
cooperative
intradisciplinary education among schools of
nursing with a view toward shared use of techno-
logical resources, including information tech-
nology.
‘‘(C) Establishing cooperative interdiscipli-
nary training between schools of nursing and
schools of allied health, medicine, dentistry, oste-
opathy, optometry, podiatry, pharmacy, public
health, or veterinary medicine, including train-
ing for the use of the interdisciplinary team ap-
proach to the delivery of health services.
‘‘(D) Integrating core competencies on evi-
dence-based practice, quality improvements, and
patient-centered care.
‘‘(E) Increasing admissions, enrollment,
and retention of qualified individuals who are fi-
nancially disadvantaged.
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‘‘(F) Increasing enrollment of minority and
diverse student populations.
‘‘(G) Increasing enrollment of new graduate
baccalaureate nursing students in graduate pro-
grams that educate nurse faculty members.
‘‘(H) Developing post-baccalaureate resi-
dency programs to prepare nurses for practice in
specialty areas where nursing shortages are most
severe.
‘‘(I) Increasing integration of geriatric con-
tent into the core curriculum.
‘‘(J) Partnering with economically dis-
advantaged communities to provide nursing edu-
cation.
‘‘(K) Expanding the ability of nurse man-
aged health centers to provide clinical education
training sites to nursing students.
‘‘(5) The school will submit an annual report to
the Secretary that includes updated information on
the school with respect to student enrollment, student
retention, graduation rates, passage rates on the Na-
tional Council Licensure Examination for Registered
Nurses, the number of graduates employed as nursing
faculty or nursing care providers within 12 months
of graduation, and the number of students who are
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accepted into graduate programs for further nursing
education.
‘‘(6) The school will allow the Secretary to make
on-site inspections, and will comply with the Sec-
retary’s requests for information, to determine the ex-
tent to which the school is complying with the re-
quirements of this section.
‘‘(f) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall
evaluate the results of grants under this section and submit
to Congress—
‘‘(1) not later than 18 months after the date of
the enactment of this section, an interim report on
such results; and
‘‘(2) not later than September 30, 2010, a final
report on such results.
‘‘(g) APPLICATION.—An eligible school of nursing seek-
ing a grant under this section shall submit an application
to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con-
taining such information and assurances as the Secretary
may require.
‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi-
tion to the amounts in the Domestic Nursing Enhancement
Account, established under section 833, there are authorized
to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry
out this section.
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‘‘SEC. 833. DOMESTIC NURSING ENHANCEMENT ACCOUNT.
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the
general fund of the Treasury a separate account which shall
be known as the ‘Domestic Nursing Enhancement Account.’
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, there shall be
deposited as offsetting receipts into the account all fees col-
lected under section 106(d)(5) of the American Competitive-
ness in the Twenty-first Century Act of 2000 (Public Law
106–313; 8 U.S.C. 1153 note). Nothing in this subsection
shall prohibit the depositing of other moneys into the ac-
count established under this section.
‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts collected under section
106(d)(5) of the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-
first Century Act of 2000, and deposited into the account
established under subsection (a) shall be used by the Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services to carry out section
832. Such amounts shall be available for obligation only
to the extent, and in the amount, provided in advance in
appropriations Acts. Such amounts are authorized to re-
main available until expended.’’.
(c) GLOBAL HEALTH CARE COOPERATION.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Immigration
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.) is amend-
ed by inserting after section 317 the following:
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‘‘SEC. 317A. TEMPORARY ABSENCE OF ALIENS PROVIDING
HEALTH CARE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall
allow an eligible alien and the spouse or child of such alien
to reside in a candidate country during the period that the
eligible alien is working as a physician or other health care
worker in a candidate country. During such period the eli-
gible alien and such spouse or child shall be considered—
‘‘(1) to be physically present and residing in the
United States for purposes of naturalization under
section 316(a); and
‘‘(2) to meet the continuous residency require-
ments under section 316(b).
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
‘‘(1) CANDIDATE COUNTRY.—The term ‘candidate
country’ means a country that the Secretary of State
determines to be—
‘‘(A) eligible for assistance from the Inter-
national Development Association, in which the
per capita income of the country is equal to or
less than the historical ceiling of the Inter-
national Development Association for the appli-
cable fiscal year, as defined by the International
Bank for Reconstruction and Development;
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‘‘(B) classified as a lower middle income
country in the then most recent edition of the
World Development Report for Reconstruction
and Development published by the International
Bank for Reconstruction and Development and
having an income greater than the historical
ceiling for International Development Associa-
tion eligibility for the applicable fiscal year; or
‘‘(C) qualified to be a candidate country
due to special circumstances, including natural
disasters or public health emergencies.
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ALIEN.—The term ‘eligible alien’
means an alien who—
‘‘(A) has been lawfully admitted to the
United States for permanent residence; and
‘‘(B) is a physician or other healthcare
worker.
‘‘(c) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary of Homeland Se-
curity shall consult with the Secretary of State in carrying
out this section.
‘‘(d) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary of State shall
publish—
‘‘(1) not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this section, a list of candidate coun-
tries;
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‘‘(2) an updated version of the list required by
paragraph (1) not less often than once each year; and
‘‘(3) an amendment to the list required by para-
graph (1) at the time any country qualifies as a can-
didate country due to special circumstances under
subsection (b)(1)(C).’’.
(2) RULEMAKING.—
(A) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 180
days after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Secretary of Homeland Security shall pro-
mulgate regulations to carry out the amendments
made by this subsection.
(B) CONTENT.—The regulations promul-
gated pursuant to paragraph (1) shall—
(i) permit an eligible alien (as defined
in section 317A of the Immigration and
Nationality Act, as added by paragraph
(1)) and the spouse or child of the eligible
alien to reside in a foreign country to work
as a physician or other healthcare worker as
described in subsection (a) of such section
317A for not less than a 12-month period
and not more than a 24-month period, and
shall permit the Secretary to extend such
period for an additional period not to ex-
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ceed 12 months, if the Secretary determines
that such country has a continuing need for
such a physician or other healthcare worker;
(ii) provide for the issuance of docu-
ments by the Secretary to such eligible
alien, and such spouse or child, if appro-
priate, to demonstrate that such eligible
alien, and such spouse or child, if appro-
priate, is authorized to reside in such coun-
try under such section 317A; and
(iii) provide for an expedited process
through which the Secretary shall review
applications for such an eligible alien to re-
side in a foreign country pursuant to sub-
section (a) of such section 317A if the Sec-
retary of State determines a country is a
candidate country pursuant to subsection
(b)(1)(C) of such section 317A.
(3) 
TECHNICAL
AND
CONFORMING
AMEND-
MENTS.—
(A) DEFINITION.—Section 101(a)(13)(C)(ii)
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1101(a)(13)(C)(ii)) is amended by adding
at the end the following: ‘‘except in the case of
an eligible alien, or the spouse or child of such
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alien, who is authorized to be absent from the
United States under section 317A,’’.
(B) DOCUMENTARY
REQUIREMENTS.—Sec-
tion 211(b) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1181(b)) is
amended by inserting ‘‘, including an eligible
alien authorized to reside in a foreign country
under section 317A and the spouse or child of
such 
eligible 
alien, 
if 
appropriate,’’ 
after
‘‘101(a)(27)(A),’’.
(C) 
INELIGIBLE
ALIENS.—Section
212(a)(7)(A)(i)(I) 
of 
such 
Act 
(8 
U.S.C.
1182(a)(7)(A)(i)(I)) is amended by inserting
‘‘other than an eligible alien authorized to reside
in a foreign country under section 317A and the
spouse or child of such eligible alien, if appro-
priate,’’ after ‘‘Act,’’.
(D) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of
contents of such Act is amended by inserting
after the item relating to section 317 the fol-
lowing:
‘‘Sec. 317A. Temporary absence of aliens providing health care in developing
countries.’’.
(4) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—
There are authorized to be appropriated to U.S. Citi-
zenship and Immigration Services such sums as may