[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1785 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1785

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 30, 2009

   Mr. Berman (for himself, Mr. Daniel E. Lungren of California, Mr. 
Nadler of New York, Mr. McCaul, Mr. Schiff, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Coble, 
  Mr. Weiner, and Ms. Linda T. Sanchez of California) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To expedite adjudication of employer petitions for aliens of 
                    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 (ARTS) 
Act''.

SEC. 2. EXPEDITED ADJUDICATION OF EMPLOYER PETITIONS FOR ALIENS OF 
              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'' and inserting ``(D)(i) 
                Any'';
                    (B) by striking ``Once the'' and inserting ``Except 
                as provided in clause (ii), once the''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(ii) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall adjudicate each 
petition for an alien with 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) (other 
than an alien described in section 214(c)(4)(A) (relating to athletes)) 
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 
        opportunity, as appropriate, 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 an arts organization described in paragraph (3), (5), or 
(6) of section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt 
from tax under section 501(a) of such Code for the taxable year 
preceding the calendar year in which the petition is submitted, or an 
individual or entity petitioning primarily on behalf of such an 
organization, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide the 
petitioner with the premium-processing services referred to in section 
286(u), without a fee.''.
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