Partner with Korea Act
Bill: S.1861 | Sponsor: Sen. Blunt, Roy (R-MO)
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
Partner with Korea Act
This bill creates an E-4 nonimmigrant visa category for up to 15,000 nationals of South Korea each fiscal year who are coming to the United States solely to perform specialty occupation services, subject to various requirements. The 15,000 limit shall only apply to principal aliens and not the spouses or children of such aliens.
A specialty occupation is one that requires the theoretical and practical application of highly specialized knowledge and a bachelor's degree or higher.

To provide high-skilled nonimmigrant visas for nationals of the 
               Republic of Korea, 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 ``Partner with Korea Act''.

SEC. 2. RECIPROCAL VISAS FOR NATIONALS OF SOUTH KOREA.

    (a) In General.--Section 101(a)(15)(E) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(E)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``join him: (i) solely to carry'' and 
        inserting the following: ``join him--
                    ``(i) solely to carry'';
            (2) by striking ``(ii) solely to develop'' and inserting 
        the following:
                    ``(ii) solely to develop'';
            (3) by striking ``or (iii) solely to perform'' and 
        inserting the following:
                    ``(iii) solely to perform''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following: ``or
                    ``(iv) solely to perform services in a specialty 
                occupation in the United States if the alien is a 
                national of the Republic of Korea and with respect to 
                whom the Secretary of Labor determines and certifies to 
                the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of 
                State that the intending employer has filed an 
                attestation with the Secretary of Labor under section 
                212(t)(1);''.
    (b) Attestation.--Section 212 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1182), is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (t), as added by section 402(b)(2) of the 
        United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act 
        (Public Law 108-77; 117 Stat. 941)--
                    (A) by striking ``section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b1) or 
                section 101(a)(15)(E)(iii)'' each place it appears and 
                inserting ``subparagraph (E)(iii), (E)(iv), or 
                (H)(i)(b1) of section 101(a)(15)''; and
                    (B) in clauses (i)(II), (ii)(II), and (iii)(II) of 
                paragraph (3)(C), by striking ``section 204, 214(c), 
                101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b1), or 101(a)(15)(E)(iii)'' each 
                place it appears and inserting ``subparagraph (E)(iii), 
                (E)(iv), or (H)(1)(b1) of section 101(a)(15) or section 
                204 or 214(c)''; and
            (2) by redesignating subsection (t), as added by section 
        1(b)(2)(B) of Public Law 108-449 (118 Stat. 3470), as 
        subsection (u).
    (c) Numerical Limitation.--Section 214(g) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 
1184(g)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(12)(A) The Secretary of State may not approve more than 15,000 
initial applications submitted for aliens described in section 
101(a)(15)(E)(iv) in any fiscal year.
    ``(B) The numerical limitation under subparagraph (A) shall only 
apply to principal aliens and shall not apply to the spouses or 
children of such aliens.''.
    (d) Specialty Occupation Defined.--Section 214(i)(1) of such Act (8 
U.S.C. 1184(i)(1)) is amended by striking ``section 
101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b), section 101(a)(15)(E)(iii), and paragraph (2),'' 
and inserting ``paragraph (2) of this subsection and subparagraphs 
(E)(iii), (E)(iv), and (H)(i)(b) of section 101(a)(15),''.
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