[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6210 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6210

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for additional 
  immigrant visas for certain entrepreneurs and job creators, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 26, 2012

  Mr. Conyers (for himself and Mr. Chaffetz) introduced the following 
       bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for additional 
  immigrant visas for certain entrepreneurs and job creators, 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 ``American Investment and Job Creation 
Act of 2012''.

SEC. 2. IMMIGRANT VISAS FOR ENTREPRENEURS AND JOB CREATORS.

    (a) Aliens Who Are Members of the Professions Holding Advanced 
Degrees.--Section 203(b)(2)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
(8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(2)(B)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``(B) (i) Subject to clause (ii)'' and 
        inserting the following: ``(B) National interest waivers.--''
                            ``(i) In general.--Subject to clauses (ii) 
                        and (iii)'';
            (2) in clause (ii)--
                    (A) by striking ``(ii) (I) The Attorney General'' 
                and inserting the following: ``(ii) Physicians working 
                in shortage areas or veterans facilities.--''
                                    ``(I) In general.--The Secretary of 
                                Homeland Security'';
                    (B) in subclause (II), by striking ``(II) No 
                permanent resident visa'' and inserting the following: 
                ``(II) Prohibition.--No permanent resident visa'';
                    (C) in subclause (III), by striking ``(III) Nothing 
                in this subparagraph'' and inserting the following: 
                ``(III) Statutory construction.--Nothing in this 
                subparagraph''; and
                    (D) in subclause (IV), by striking ``(IV) The 
                requirements of'' and inserting the following: ``(IV) 
                Effective date.--The requirements of''; and
            (3) by inserting after clause (ii) the following:
                            ``(iii) Entrepreneurs and job creators.--
                        The Secretary of Homeland Security shall grant 
                        a national interest waiver pursuant to clause 
                        (i) on behalf of any alien entrepreneur with 
                        respect to whom a petition for preference 
                        classification has been filed under 
                        subparagraph (A) if--
                                    ``(I) the alien has engaged in a 
                                new commercial enterprise (including a 
                                limited partnership or similar entity) 
                                in the United States; and
                                    ``(II) such enterprise has 
                                benefitted the United States economy 
                                and satisfied the employment creation 
                                requirements described in section 
                                204(m).''.
    (b) Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers.--Section 
203(b)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(3)) 
is amended by inserting after subparagraph (C) the following:
                    ``(D) National interest waiver for entrepreneurs 
                and job creators.--The Secretary of Homeland Security 
                shall waive application of subparagraph (C) on behalf 
                of any alien entrepreneur with respect to whom a 
                petition for preference classification has been filed 
                under subparagraph (A) if--
                            ``(i) the alien has engaged in a new 
                        commercial enterprise (including a limited 
                        partnership or similar entity) in the United 
                        States; and
                            ``(ii) such enterprise has benefitted the 
                        United States economy and satisfied the 
                        employment creation requirements described in 
                        section 204(m).''.
    (c) Requirements.--
            (1) In general.--Section 204 of the Immigration and 
        Nationality Act is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(m) Entrepreneurs and Job Creators.--
            ``(1) Job creation requirements.--For purposes of sections 
        203(b)(2)(B) and 203(b)(3)(D), a new commercial enterprise 
        shall be deemed to have benefitted the United States economy 
        and satisfied the employment creation requirements of this 
        subsection if the enterprise--
                    ``(A) has, during the period beginning 4 years 
                prior to the date that a petition for preference 
                classification with respect to the alien has been filed 
                under subparagraph (A), created direct, full-time 
                employment--
                            ``(i) for not less than 5 United States 
                        workers; or
                            ``(ii) in the case of an enterprise in a 
                        Distressed Area Development Zone, for not less 
                        than 3 United States workers; and
                    ``(B) the enterprise has received enough investment 
                or revenue during the period described in subparagraph 
                (A) to support the employment creation requirements 
                described in such subparagraph.
            ``(2) Definitions.--For purposes of sections 203(b)(2)(B) 
        and 203(b)(3)(D):
                    ``(A) Full-time employment.--The term `full-time 
                employment' means employment in a position that 
                requires at least 35 hours of service per week at any 
                time, regardless of who fills the position. Such 
                employment may be satisfied on a full-time equivalent 
                basis by calculating the number of full-time employees 
                that could have been employed if the reported number of 
                hours worked by part-time employees had been worked by 
                full-time employees. Full-time equivalent employment 
                shall be calculated by dividing the part-time hours 
                paid by the standard number of hours for full-time 
                employees.
                    ``(B) Investment or revenue.--The term `investment 
                or revenue' does not include any assets acquired, 
                directly or indirectly, by unlawful means. The term 
                `investment' includes assets provided by the alien 
                entrepreneur and may include assets, including venture 
                capital investments, provided pursuant to an investment 
                agreement with investors who are United States citizens 
                or aliens lawfully admitted to the United States for 
                permanent residence.
                    ``(C) United states worker.--The term `United 
                States worker' means an employee (other than the 
                immigrant or the immigrant's spouse, sons, or 
                daughters) who--
                            ``(i) is a citizen or national of the 
                        United States; or
                            ``(ii) is an alien who is lawfully admitted 
                        for permanent residence, is admitted as a 
                        refugee under section 207, is granted asylum 
                        under section 208, or is an immigrant otherwise 
                        authorized to be employed in the United States.
            ``(3) Priority date.--The priority date for any alien who 
        is adjusting status from any nonimmigrant classification 
        described in section 101(a)(15) and who receives a national 
        interest waiver under section 203(b)(2)(B) or 203(b)(3)(D) 
        shall be the date of the first petition or application for 
        status under section 101(a)(15) filed with respect to that 
        alien.''.
            (2) Distressed area development zones.--Section 101(a) of 
        the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)) is 
        amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(53) The term `Distressed Area Development Zone' means--
                    ``(A) a low-income geographic area, as such term is 
                defined in section 351 of the Small Business Investment 
                Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 689); or
                    ``(B) a city or county in the United States--
                            ``(i) that has experienced high 
                        unemployment (of not less than 150 percent of 
                        the national average, as determined by the 
                        Secretary of Labor) within the preceding 24 
                        months; or
                            ``(ii) has had a 20 percent or more 
                        decrease in population since 1970.''.
    (d) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Section 203 of the Immigration and Nationality Act is 
        amended by striking ``Attorney General'' each place such term 
        appears and inserting ``Secretary of Homeland Security''.
            (2) Section 204(a)(1)(E) of the Immigration and Nationality 
        Act is amended by inserting ``or under paragraph (2) or (3) of 
        section 203(b) if such alien is seeking a national interest 
        waiver under section 203(b)(2)(B) or 203(b)(3)(D),'' after 
        ``203(b)(1)(A)''.
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