[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3508 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3508

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide status in each 
  of fiscal years 2000 through 2002 for 65,000 H-1B nonimmigrants who 
  have a master's or Ph.D. degree and meet the requirements for such 
status and whose employers make scholarship payments to institutions of 
     higher education for undergraduate and postgraduate education.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 18, 1999

 Mr. Wu (for himself, Mr. Davis of Virginia, and Mr. Stark) introduced 
    the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide status in each 
  of fiscal years 2000 through 2002 for 65,000 H-1B nonimmigrants who 
  have a master's or Ph.D. degree and meet the requirements for such 
status and whose employers make scholarship payments to institutions of 
     higher education for undergraduate and postgraduate education.

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

SECTION 1. H-1B NONIMMIGRANT STATUS FOR CERTAIN ALIENS WHOSE EMPLOYERS 
              MAKE SCHOLARSHIP DONATIONS FOR UNDERGRADUATE AND POST-
              GRADUATE EDUCATION.

    (a) In General.--The Immigration and Nationality Act is amended by 
inserting after section 218 the following new section:

  ``h-1b nonimmigrant status for certain aliens whose employers make 
   scholarship payments for undergraduate and postgraduate education

    ``Sec. 218A. (a) H-1B Status.--Notwithstanding section 214(g)(1)(A) 
and subject to subsection (c), during the period beginning on the date 
of the enactment of this Act and ending on September 30, 2002, the 
Attorney General may provide nonimmigrant status under section 
101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b) to an alien who meets the requirements under 
subsection (b), if the employer petitioning under section 214(c) for 
the provision of such status makes a qualified scholarship payment for 
each year in which such status is held.
    ``(b) Eligibility.--An alien shall be eligible for a visa or the 
provision of H-1B nonimmigrant status under this section if the alien--
            ``(1) disregarding section 214(g)(1)(A), meets all the 
        requirements for an H-1B nonimmigrant; and
            ``(2) possesses a master's or Ph.D. degree from an 
        institution of higher education in the United States (or an 
        equivalent degree from an educational institution in a foreign 
        country).
    ``(c) Numerical Limitation.--The total number of aliens who may be 
issued a visa or otherwise provided nonimmigrant status under this 
section may not exceed 65,000 during any fiscal year (beginning with 
fiscal year 2000 and ending with fiscal year 2002). Aliens issued a 
visa or otherwise provided nonimmigrant status under this section shall 
not be counted in applying the numerical limitations under section 
214(g)(1)(A).
    ``(d) Use of Scholarship Funds by Institutions of Higher 
Education.--An institution of higher education that receives funds 
under subsection (a) shall use such funds only to provide scholarships 
administered by such institution to students enrolled full-time in 
programs of undergraduate and postgraduate study. Priority 
consideration in the award of such scholarships shall be given to 
citizens and permanent resident aliens.
    ``(e) Certification.--Not later than 15 days after receipt of a 
payment pursuant to this section, an institution of higher education 
shall certify the receipt of such payment to the Attorney General.
    ``(f) Deadlines.--A visa (or other appropriate documentation of 
status) under this section shall be issued--
            ``(1) within 30 days of receipt of certification under 
        subsection (e); and
            ``(2) in the case of an alien who received a degree 
        described in subsection (b)(2) from an educational institution 
        in a foreign country, within 30 days of receipt of a completed 
        application and certification under subsection (e).
    ``(g) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            ``(1) H-1B nonimmigrant.--The term `H-1B nonimmigrant' has 
        the meaning given such term in section 212(n)(4).
            ``(2) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        `institution of higher education' means an educational 
        institution in any State that meets all of the following 
        criteria:
                    ``(A) Admits as regular students only persons who 
                have a certificate of graduation from a school 
                providing secondary education or the recognized 
                equivalent of such a certificate.
                    ``(B) Is legally authorized within such State to 
                provide a program of education beyond secondary 
                education.
                    ``(C) Is accredited by a nationally recognized 
                accrediting agency or association, or if not so 
                accredited, is an institution that has been granted 
                preaccreditation status by such an agency or 
                association that has been recognized by the Secretary 
                of Education for the granting of preaccreditation 
                status, and the Secretary has determined that there are 
                satisfactory assurances that the institution will meet 
                the accreditation standards of such an agency or 
                association within a reasonable time.
                    ``(D) Provides an educational program for which the 
                institution awards a bachelor's degree or provides a 
                program that requires a bachelor's degree for 
                admission.
                    ``(E) Is a public or other nonprofit institution.
            ``(3) Qualified scholarship payment.--The term `qualified 
        scholarship' payment means a payment to an institution of 
        higher education in the United States in an amount which is 
        equal to the then current maximum authorized Pell Grant award 
        for each year under the Federal Pell Grants program authorized 
        under subpart 1 of part A of title IV of the Higher Education 
        Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a et seq.).''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act is amended by inserting after the item relating to 
section 218 the following:

``Sec. 218A.  H-1B nonimmigrant status for certain aliens whose 
                            employers make scholarship payments for 
                            undergraduate and postgraduate 
                            education.''.
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