[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1409 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1409

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              July 8, 2009

 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 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.''.
                                 <all>