[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2178 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2178

  To expedite the adjudication of employer petitions for aliens with 
                    extraordinary artistic ability.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 17, 2007

 Mr. Kerry (for himself and Mr. Hatch) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To expedite the adjudication of employer petitions for aliens with 
                    extraordinary artistic ability.

    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 ``Arts Require Timely Service Act'' or 
the ``ARTS Act''.

SEC. 2. EXPEDITED ADJUDICATION OF EMPLOYER PETITIONS FOR ALIENS WITH 
              EXTRAORDINARY ARTISTIC ABILITY.

    Section 214(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1184(c)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Attorney General'' each place it appears 
        and inserting ``Secretary of Homeland Security''; and
            (2) in paragraph (6)(D)--
                    (A) by striking ``(D) Any person'' and inserting 
                the following:
            ``(D)(i) Except as provided under clause (ii), any 
        person''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(ii) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall adjudicate 
        each petition for an alien who has extraordinary ability in the 
        arts (as described in section 101(a)(15)(O)(i)), an alien 
        accompanying such an alien (as described in clauses (ii) and 
        (iii) of section 101(a)(15)(O)), or an alien described in 
        section 101(a)(15)(P) not later than 30 days after--
                    ``(I) the date on which the petitioner submits the 
                petition with a written advisory opinion, letter of no 
                objection, or request for a waiver; or
                    ``(II) the date on which the 15-day period 
                described in clause (i) has expired, if the petitioner 
                has had an appropriate opportunity to supply rebuttal 
                evidence.
            ``(iii) If a petition described in clause (ii) is not 
        adjudicated before the end of the 30-day period described in 
        clause (ii) and the petitioner is a qualified nonprofit 
        organization or an individual or entity petitioning primarily 
        on behalf of a qualified nonprofit organization, the Secretary 
        of Homeland Security shall provide the petitioner with the 
        premium-processing services referred to in section 286(u), 
        without a fee.''.
                                 <all>