Immigration Law

30 DAY O-1 PROCESSING BILL PASSES IN HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

By Greg Siskind

HR 1312, a bill that mandates O-1 visas be adjudicated in 30 days or less (or be automatically converted at no cost to the applicant to premium processing), has passed the House. The bill also mandates USCIS adjudicate a premium-processed case within 30 days of documentation being supplied in response to a request for evidence.

S.2178 is the Senate version of the bill. It was introduced by Senator John Kerry (D-MA) last October, but has not been heard in committee yet.

The bill reads as follows:

AN ACT

To expedite adjudication of employer petitions for aliens of 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 (ARTS) Act'.

SEC. 2. EXPEDITED ADJUDICATION OF EMPLOYER PETITIONS FOR ALIENS OF 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' and inserting `(D)(i) Any';

                  (B) by striking `Once the' and inserting `Except as provided in clause (ii), once the'; and

                  (C) by adding at the end the following:

`(ii) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall adjudicate each petition for an alien with 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) (other than an alien described in section 214(c)(4)(A) (relating to athletes)) 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 opportunity, as appropriate, 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.'.

Passed the House of Representatives April 1, 2008.

Attest:

Clerk.

Full post as published by Greg Siskind's Blog on April 02, 2008 (boomark / email).