[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2998 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2998

   To temporarily expand the V nonimmigrant visa category to include 
   Haitians whose petition for a family-sponsored immigrant visa was 
                approved on or before January 12, 2010.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 4, 2010

Mrs. Gillibrand (for herself and Mr. Menendez) introduced the following 
    bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To temporarily expand the V nonimmigrant visa category to include 
   Haitians whose petition for a family-sponsored immigrant visa was 
                approved on or before January 12, 2010.

    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 ``Haitian Emergency Life Protection 
Act of 2010'' or the ``H.E.L.P. Act''.

SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF V VISA CATEGORY FOR HAITIAN IMMIGRANTS.

    Section 101(a)(15)(V) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(V)) is amended--
            (1) in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking 
        ``section 203(a)(2)(A) that'' and inserting ``section 203(a) 
        that, except as provided under clause (iii),'';
            (2) by amending clause (i) to read as follows:
                            ``(i) the petition is for status under 
                        section 203(a)(2)(A) and has been pending for 
                        at least 3 years;'';
            (3) in clause (ii)--
                    (A) by amending the matter preceding subclause (I) 
                to read as follows:
                            ``(ii) the petition is for status under 
                        section 203(a)(2)(A), has been approved, and 
                        was filed at least 3 years previously, and''; 
                        and
                    (B) in subclause (ii), by striking the period at 
                the end and inserting ``; or''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(iii)(I) such petition was approved on or before 
                January 12, 2010; and
                    ``(II) the alien is a national and resident of 
                Haiti.''.

SEC. 3. USE OF SECONDARY EVIDENCE FOR ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION.

    The Department of State, in coordination with United States 
Citizenship and Immigration Services, may issue travel documents 
(including a nonimmigrant visa) to any alien in Haiti--
            (1) who is described in--
                    (A) section 101(a)(15)(V)(iii) of the Immigration 
                and Nationality Act, as added by this Act; or
                    (B) section 201(b)(2)(A) of such Act;
            (2) whose eligibility for such documents has been evaluated 
        by a consular officer after reviewing the best available 
        evidence of such eligibility, including secondary evidence, if 
        necessary; and
            (3) who meets all criteria required for--
                    (A) a family-sponsored immigrant visa under section 
                203(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
                1153(a)); or
                    (B) admission into the United States as an 
                immediate relative of a United States citizen (as 
                defined in section 203(b)(2)(A)(i) of such Act).

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary for each of the fiscal years 2010 through 2012 to process--
            (1) nonimmigrant visa applications authorized under section 
        101(a)(15)(V)(iii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as 
        added by this Act; and
            (2) immigrant visa applications for immediate relatives (as 
        defined in section 203(b)(2)(A)(i) of such Act).

SEC. 5. SUNSET PROVISION.

    This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall be effective 
during the 2-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this 
Act.
                                 <all>