House Passes Two Immigration Bills before Recess

Monday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed two immigration bills: H.R. 398 and H.R. 1933. (See Roll Call Votes 684 and 685) The first bill, H.R. 398, is sponsored by Immigration Subcommittee ranking chair Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA). H.R. 398 would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to toll (stop from running) the 90-day period in which an alien and petitioning spouse must file a petition and complete an interview to remove the alien’s conditional legal permanent resident status while either the alien or petitioning spouse is a member of the U.S. military serving abroad. (H.R. 398 at § 1(a)) Under current law, when a legal resident marries a foreign national, the alien spouse is granted lawful permanent residence on a conditional basis for the first two years they are in the country. (INA § 216(a)(1)) The Attorney General removes this conditional status only after he makes a favorable determination that the marriage between the alien spouse and petitioner is legitimate. (INA § 216(c))

The second bill, H.R. 1933, is sponsored by Judiciary Chair Lamar Smith (R-TX). H.R. 1933 would reinstate an expired program that admits nonimmigrant nurses to work in “health professional shortage areas.” The expired program, which terminated in 2009, provided for 500 nonimmigrant visas each fiscal year to aliens who obtained a nursing license, passed the requisite exam, and were otherwise eligible. (See the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act of 1999, Public Law 106-95) Each alien was granted an admission period of three years under the prior Act. Similarly, H.R. 1933 would allow the government to issue 300 visas to eligible foreign nurses each year for the next three years. (H.R. 1933 at §§ 1(a)-(b)) At the end of this initial period, admitted nurses can extend their stay for an additional three-years. (Id. at § 1(a)) Under the bill, visa recipients may also accept new employment as a nurse upon the successful petition of a new hospital employer. (Id. at § 1(c))

Both bills have been sent over to the Senate for action. Stay tuned to FAIR for updates… http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer