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(9) an individual intending to employ in the United States an alien
entitled to be classified under section 4104(b)(1)(B) or (C), (c), or (d)
of this title.
(10) an alien (except a special immigrant as defined in section
134(a)(4) of this title) desiring to be classified under section 4104(e)
of this title, or a person for the alien.
(11) an alien desiring to be classified under section 4104(f) of this
title.
(b) PETITIONS TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE.—(1) An alien claiming
status as a special immigrant as defined in section 134(a)(4) of this title
may petition the Secretary of State to be classified under section 4104(e)
of this title. The alien may file the petition only after being notified by the
Secretary that special immigrant status under section 134(a)(4) has been
recommended and approved as provided in section 134(a)(4).
(2)(A) An alien desiring to be classified under section 4105 of this title
may petition the Secretary of State to be classified under section 4105.
(B) The alien shall file the petition at the place and time the Secretary
of State decides by regulation. Only one petition may be filed during a peti-
tioning period established by the Secretary. If more than one petition is filed
during a period, all petitions filed by the alien during that period are void.
(C)(i) The Secretary of State shall designate a period during which a pe-
tition for a visa that may be issued under section 4105 of this title for the
fiscal year beginning after the end of the period may be filed.
(ii) An alien who qualifies, through random selection, for a visa under
section 4105 of this title remains eligible to receive the visa through the end
of the fiscal year for which the alien was selected.
(iii) The Secretary of State shall prescribe regulations necessary to carry
out this subparagraph.
(D) A petition under this paragraph shall—
(i) be in a form the Secretary of State prescribes by regulation; and
(ii) contain information and documentary evidence the Secretary re-
quires.
(c) APPROVING PETITIONS.—(1) After investigating the facts about a pe-
tition, and after consulting with the Secretary of Labor about a petition to
classify an alien under section 4104(c) or (d) of this title, the Attorney Gen-
eral shall approve the petition if the Attorney General decides the facts stat-
ed in the petition are true and the alien is an immediate relative or entitled
to be classified as requested under section 4103 or 4104 of this title.
(2) When acting on a petition under subsection (a)(3), (4), (6), or (7)
of this section, the Attorney General shall consider any credible evidence rel-
122
evant to the petition. Only the Attorney General may decide what evidence
is credible and the weight to be given that evidence.
(3) After approving the petition, the Attorney General shall submit one
copy to the Secretary of State. The Secretary then shall authorize the ap-
propriate consular officer to classify the alien as approved.
(d) 
NONDISCRIMINATION.—Except 
as 
provided 
in 
sections 
134,
4102(d)(6), 4103–4107, and 4110(a)(1) of this title, an alien may not re-
ceive a preference or priority or be discriminated against in issuing an im-
migrant visa under section 4313 of this title because of the alien’s race, sex,
nationality, place of birth, or place of residence.
(e) NO ENTITLEMENT TO ENTER
THE UNITED STATES.—This sub-
chapter does not entitle an immigrant for whom a petition is approved
under this subchapter to enter the United States if found not to be entitled
to the classification on arrival in the United States.
§ 4302. Approving petitions for children
(a) FAVORABLE HOME STUDY REQUIREMENT.—Notwithstanding section
4301 of this section, a petition for a child as defined in section 108(a)(6)
of this title may be approved only if a valid home study has been rec-
ommended favorably—
(1) by an agency of the State of the proposed residence of the child;
(2) by an agency that the State of the proposed residence of the
child authorizes to conduct the study; or
(3) for a child adopted outside the United States, by an appropriate
adoption agency licensed in the United States.
(b) PETITIONS FOR CERTAIN CHILDREN FATHERED BY CITIZENS OF
THE UNITED STATES.—(1) An alien claiming to be an alien described in
paragraph (2)(A) of this subsection, or a person for the alien, may petition
the Attorney General to be classified as an immediate relative or under sec-
tion 4103(b) or (d) of this title, as appropriate.
(2) After investigating the facts about a petition, the Attorney General
shall approve the petition if—
(A) the Attorney General has reason to believe that the alien was
born in Kampuchea, Korea, Laos, Thailand, or Vietnam after Decem-
ber 31, 1950, and before October 22, 1982, and was fathered by a citi-
zen of the United States;
(B) the Attorney General has received an acceptable guarantee of
legal custody and financial responsibility described in paragraph (5) of
this subsection; and
(C) for an alien less than 18 years of age—
(i) an appropriate child welfare agency licensed in the United
States and actively involved in the intercountry placement of chil-
123
dren arranged the placement of the alien with a sponsor in the
United States; and
(ii) the mother or guardian of the alien, in writing, irrevocably
released the alien for emigration.
(3) In considering a petition filed under this subsection, the Attorney
General shall—
(A) consult with appropriate government officials and officials of pri-
vate voluntary organizations in the foreign country in which the alien
was born in making the findings described in paragraphs (2)(A) and
(C)(i) of this subsection; and
(B) consider the physical appearance of the alien and evidence pro-
vided by the petitioner, including—
(i) birth and baptismal certificates;
(ii) local civil records;
(iii) photographs of, and letters or proof of financial support
from, a putative father who is a citizen of the United States; and
(iv) relevant or probative testimony of witnesses.
(4) After approving the petition, the Attorney General shall submit one
copy to the Secretary of State.
(5) A guarantee of legal custody and financial responsibility for an alien
required by paragraph (2) of this subsection must—
(A) be signed in the presence of a consular officer or an immigration
officer by a sponsor who is—
(i) at least 21 years of age;
(ii) of good moral character; and
(iii) a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted
for permanent residence; and
(B) provide that the sponsor agrees—
(i) for an alien less than 18 years of age, to assume legal cus-
tody for the alien when the alien departs for the United States
and until the alien becomes 18 years of age, as provided under the
laws of the State in which the alien and the sponsor will reside;
and
(ii) to provide, during the longer of the 5-year period beginning
on the date the alien acquires the status of an alien lawfully ad-
mitted for permanent residence or the period beginning on that
date and ending on the date the alien becomes 21 years of age,
financial support necessary to maintain the family in the United
States of which the alien is a member at a level equal to at least
125 percent of the current official poverty line (established by the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget under section
124
673(2) of the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C.
9902(2) and revised by the Secretary of Health and Human Serv-
ices under section 673(2)) for a family the same size as that of
the family of the alien.
(6) The Attorney General may bring a civil action against the sponsor
in the district court of the United States for the judicial district in which
the sponsor resides to enforce a guarantee of legal custody and financial re-
sponsibility made under paragraph (5) of this subsection. However, a spon-
sor or the estate of the sponsor is not liable under the guarantee if the
sponsor dies or is adjudicated a bankrupt under title 11.
§ 4303. Petitions for married aliens
(a) LIMITATIONS ON APPROVING PETITIONS FOR CERTAIN SPOUSES.—
(1) The Attorney General may approve a spousal petition under section
4103(c) of this title for the classification of the spouse of an alien if the
alien, because of a prior marriage, had become an alien lawfully admitted
for permanent residence as the spouse of a citizen of the United States or
an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence only if—
(A) 5 years have passed since the alien had become an alien lawfully
admitted for permanent residence; or
(B) the alien, by clear and convincing evidence, satisfies the Attorney
General that the prior marriage was not entered into to evade the im-
migration laws.
(2) Paragraph (1) of this subsection does not apply to a petition for the
classification of the spouse of an alien if the prior marriage of the alien was
ended by the death of the alien’s spouse.
(b) PROHIBITION ON APPROVING PETITIONS BECAUSE OF MARRIAGES
TO EVADE IMMIGRATION LAWS.—Notwithstanding section 4301(c) of this
title, a petition may not be approved if—
(1) an alien previously acquired, or sought to acquire, immediate rel-
ative status or previously was classified, or sought to be classified,
under section 4103(c) of this title as a spouse of an alien lawfully ad-
mitted for permanent residence, because of a marriage the Attorney
General decides was entered into to evade the immigration laws; or
(2) the Attorney General decides the alien has attempted or con-
spired to enter into a marriage to evade the immigration laws.
(c) REQUIRED RESIDENCE OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES FOR CERTAIN
ALIENS INVOLVED IN PROCEEDINGS.—(1) Notwithstanding section 4301(a)
and (b) of this title, a petition to grant immediate relative status or to clas-
sify an alien under section 4103, 4104, or 4105 of this title because of a
marriage entered into after November 9, 1986, and during the period de-