Nuclear Family Priority Act
Bill: H.R.4050 | Sponsor: Rep. Hice, Jody B. (R-GA)
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
Nuclear Family Priority Act
This bill imposes limits on various types of family-sponsored immigration visas.
The alien parents of U.S. citizens shall not qualify for visas for immediate relatives, which are not subject to any direct numerical limits. Currently, the spouses, unmarried children under 21, and parents of citizens are considered immediate relatives.
The bill also creates a nonimmigrant visa for such parents of citizens. Such aliens shall not be eligible for employment or any public benefits.
The bill also reduces the baseline annual cap for family-sponsored visas from 480,000 to 88,000, and revises the methods for calculating the cap. Currently, the 480,000 cap may be adjusted depending on various factors but shall not be less than 226,000.
Preference allocations (visa categories subject to various annual caps) for various family-sponsored visas shall be eliminated, including those for the siblings and married children of citizens. The bill provides for a preference allocation for the unmarried children under 21 and spouses of permanent residents, subject to the 88,000 annual cap.

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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Nuclear Family Priority Act''.

SEC. 2. IMMEDIATE RELATIVE DEFINITION.

    Section 201(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality 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 CATEGORIES.

    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.--Qualified 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-SPONSORED 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--
                    ``(A) 88,000; minus
                    ``(B) the number computed under paragraph (2).'';
            (2) by striking paragraphs (2), (3), and (5); and
            (3) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (2).

SEC. 5. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Numerical Limitation to Any Single Foreign State.--Section 202 
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1152) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(4)--
                    (A) by amending subparagraphs (A) and (B) to read 
                as follows:
                    ``(A) 75 percent of family-sponsored immigrants not 
                subject to per country limitation.--Of the visa numbers 
                made available under section 203(a) in any fiscal year, 
                75 percent shall be issued without regard to the 
                numerical limitation under paragraph (2).
                    ``(B) Treatment of remaining 25 percent for 
                countries subject to subsection (e).--
                            ``(i) In general.--Of the visa numbers made 
                        available under section 203(a) in any fiscal 
                        year, the remaining 25 percent shall be 
                        available, in the case of a foreign state or 
                        dependent area that is subject to subsection 
                        (e) only to the extent that the total number of 
                        visas issued in accordance 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 defined.--In 
                        clause (i), the term `subsection (e) ceiling' 
                        means, for a foreign state or dependent area, 
                        77 percent of the maximum number of visas that 
                        may be made available under section 203(a) to 
                        immigrants 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 redesignating 
                paragraph (3) as paragraph (2); and
                    (C) in the final sentence, by striking 
                ``respectively,'' and all that follows through the 
                period at the end and inserting ``respectively.''.
    (b) Rules for Determining Whether Certain Aliens Are Children.--
Section 203(h) of the Immigration 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 Status.--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 described 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 paragraph (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 admission as an immediate relative 
                under section 201(b)(2)(A)(i) or a family-sponsored 
                immigrant under section 203(a), as appropriate, 
                notwithstanding the actual age of the individual.'';
            (2) in subsection (f)(1), by striking ``201(b), 203(a)(1), 
        or 203(a)(3), as appropriate.'' and inserting ``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 Daughters.--Section 216(h)(1)(C) of the Immigration and 
Nationality 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)''.

SEC. 6. NONIMMIGRANT STATUS FOR ALIEN PARENT OF ADULT UNITED STATES 
              CITIZENS.

    (a) In General.--Section 101(a)(15) of the Immigration 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 citizen 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 public 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 ineligible to be 
admitted into the United States as a nonimmigrant 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 coverage 
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 following shall be considered invalid:
            (1) Any petition under section 204 of the Immigration 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.
            (2) Any application for an immigrant visa based on a 
        petition described in paragraph (1).
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