[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2171 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2171

   To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to waive the foreign 
     country residence requirement with respect to foreign medical 
                               graduates.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                 June 9 (legislative day, June 7), 1994

  Mr. Conrad introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to waive the foreign 
     country residence requirement with respect to foreign medical 
                               graduates.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. WAIVER OF FOREIGN COUNTRY RESIDENCE REQUIREMENT WITH RESPECT 
              TO FOREIGN MEDICAL GRADUATES.

    (a) Waiver.--Section 212(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
(8 U.S.C. 1182(e)) is amended--
            (1) in the first proviso by inserting ``(or, in the case of 
        an alien described in clause (iii), pursuant to the request of 
        an interested State agency)'' after ``interested United States 
        Government agency''; and
            (2) by inserting after ``public interest'' the following: 
        ``except that in the case of a waiver requested by an 
        interested State agency the waiver shall be subject to the 
        requirements of section 214(k)''.
    (b) Restrictions on Waiver.--Section 214 of that Act (8 U.S.C. 
1184) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(k)(1) In the case of a request by an interested State agency for 
a waiver of the two-year foreign residence requirement under section 
212(e) with respect to an alien described in clause (iii) of that 
section, the Attorney General shall not grant such waiver unless--
            ``(A) in the case of an alien whose education or training 
        is financed, in whole or in part, by the foreign country of the 
        alien's nationality or last residence or by United States 
        foreign assistance funds or in the case of an alien who is 
        otherwise contractually obligated to return to such country, 
        the foreign country furnishes the Director a statement in 
        writing that it has no objection to such waiver;
            ``(B) the alien agrees to continue to work in accordance 
        with paragraph (2) at the health care facility in which the 
        alien is employed for a total of not less than 3 years (unless 
        the Attorney General determines that extenuating circumstances 
        such as the closure of the facility or hardship to the alien 
        would justify a lesser period of time);
            ``(C) the alien agrees to practice medicine in accordance 
        with paragraph 2) for a total of not less than 3 years only in 
        the geographic area or areas which are designated by the 
        Secretary of Health and Human Services as having a shortage of 
        health care professionals, unless the interested State agency 
        determines that the alien is a health care professional who is 
        needed in an area that has not been so designated; and
            ``(D) the grant of such waiver would not cause the number 
        of waivers allotted for that State for that fiscal year to 
        exceed twenty.
    ``(2) Whenever an interested State agency requests the waiver of 
the two years residence requirement under section 212(e) with respect 
to an alien described in clause (iii) of that section, the Attorney 
General shall adjust the status of the alien to that of an alien 
described in section 101(a)(15)(H)(b).
    ``(3) If an alien whose status was adjusted under paragraph (2) 
demonstrates that the alien has worked for a period of three years in a 
health professional shortage area (or an area otherwise designated by a 
State agency), then the Attorney General shall approve a petition filed 
on the alien's behalf by the health care facility in which the alien is 
employed seeking adjustment of the alien's status to that of a special 
immigrant described in section 101(a)(27)(L).''.
    (c) Special Immigrant Status.--Section 101(a)(27) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subparagraph:
                    ``(L) immigrants whose status have been adjusted 
                from that of an alien described in paragraph (15)(H)(b) 
                pursuant to section 214(k)(2), except that not more 
                than 1,000 immigrants may be admitted in any fiscal 
                year under this subparagraph.''.
    (d) Grounds for Deportation.--Section 241(a) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1251(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subparagraph:
                    ``(I) Failure to maintain employment as a health 
                care professional.--Any alien described in section 
                212(e)(iii) who fails to maintain employment in 
                accordance with subparagraphs (B) and (C) of section 
                212(k)(1).''.
    (e) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to aliens admitted to the United States under section 
101(a)(15)(J) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, or acquiring such 
status after admission to the United States, before, on, or after the 
date of enactment of this Act.

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