[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3120 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3120

 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to require accreditation 
  of certain educational institutions for purposes of a nonimmigrant 
                 student visa, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 6, 2011

Ms. Zoe Lofgren of California introduced the following bill; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to require accreditation 
  of certain educational institutions for purposes of a nonimmigrant 
                 student visa, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Student Visa Reform Act''.

SEC. 2. ACCREDITATION REQUIREMENT FOR COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES.

    Section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1101(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (15)(F)(i)--
                    (A) by striking ``section 214(l) at an established 
                college, university, seminary, conservatory, academic 
                high school, elementary school, or other academic 
                institution or in an accredited language training 
                program in the United States'' and inserting ``section 
                214(m) at an accredited college, university, or 
                language training program, or at an established 
                seminary, conservatory, academic high school, 
                elementary school, or other academic institution in the 
                United States''; and
                    (B) by striking ``Attorney General'' each place 
                such term appears and inserting ``Secretary of Homeland 
                Security''; and
            (2) by amending paragraph (52) to read as follows:
            ``(52) The term `accredited college, university, or 
        language training program' means a college, university, or 
        language training program that is accredited by an accrediting 
        agency recognized by the Secretary of Education.''.

SEC. 3. ACCREDITATION OF OTHER ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS.

    Section 214(m) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1184(m)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) The Secretary of Homeland Security, in the 
        Secretary's discretion, may require accreditation of an 
        academic institution (except for seminaries or other religious 
        institutions) for purposes of section 101(a)(15)(F) if--
                    ``(A) that institution is not already required to 
                be accredited under section 101(a)(15)(F)(i);
                    ``(B) an appropriate accrediting agency recognized 
                by the Secretary of Education is able to provide such 
                accreditation; and
                    ``(C) the institution has or will have 25 or more 
                alien students accorded status as nonimmigrants under 
                clause (i) or (iii) of section 101(a)(15)(F) pursuing a 
                course of study at that institution.''.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), the 
amendments made by sections 2, 3, and 5 shall--
            (1) take effect on the date that is 180 days after the date 
        of the enactment of this Act; and
            (2) apply with respect to applications for a nonimmigrant 
        visa under section 101(a)(15)(F)(i) of the Immigration and 
        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(F)(i)) that are filed on 
        or after the effective date described in paragraph (1).
    (b) Temporary Exception.--
            (1) In general.--During the 3-year period beginning on the 
        date of enactment of this Act, an alien seeking to enter the 
        United States to pursue a course of study at a college or 
        university that has been certified by the Secretary of Homeland 
        Security may be granted a nonimmigrant visa under clause (i) or 
        clause (iii) of section 101(a)(15)(F) of the Immigration and 
        Nationality Act without regard to whether or not that college 
        or university has been accredited or been denied accreditation 
        by an entity described in section 101(a)(52) of such Act.
            (2) Additional requirement.--An alien may not be granted a 
        nonimmigrant visa under paragraph (1) if the college or 
        university to which the alien seeks to enroll does not--
                    (A) submit an application for the accreditation of 
                such institution to a regional or national accrediting 
                agency recognized by the Secretary of Education within 
                1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act; and
                    (B) comply with the applicable accrediting 
                requirements of such agency.

SEC. 5. CONFORMING AMENDMENT.

    Section 212(a)(6)(G) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1182(a)(6)(G)) is amended by striking ``section 214(l)'' and 
inserting ``section 214(m)''.
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