| 1 | 1 | | II |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 1233 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To provide lawful permanent resident status for certain advanced STEM |
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| 6 | 6 | | degree holders, and for other purposes. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 8 | 8 | | APRIL1 (legislative day, MARCH31), 2025 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Mr. D |
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| 10 | 10 | | URBIN(for himself, Mr. ROUNDS, and Mr. KING) introduced the fol- |
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| 11 | 11 | | lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the |
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| 12 | 12 | | Judiciary |
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| 13 | 13 | | A BILL |
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| 14 | 14 | | To provide lawful permanent resident status for certain |
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| 15 | 15 | | advanced STEM degree holders, and for other purposes. |
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| 16 | 16 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 17 | 17 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 18 | 18 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 19 | 19 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Keep STEM Talent 4 |
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| 20 | 20 | | Act of 2025’’. 5 |
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| 21 | 21 | | SEC. 2. VISA REQUIREMENTS. 6 |
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| 22 | 22 | | (a) G |
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| 23 | 23 | | RADUATEDEGREEVISAREQUIREMENTS.—To 7 |
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| 24 | 24 | | be approved for or maintain nonimmigrant status under 8 |
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| 25 | 25 | | section 101(a)(15)(F) of the Immigration and Nationality 9 |
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| 26 | 26 | | Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(F)), a student seeking to pur-10 |
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| 28 | 28 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 29 | 29 | | •S 1233 IS |
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| 30 | 30 | | sue an advanced degree in a STEM field (as defined in 1 |
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| 31 | 31 | | section 201(b)(1)(F)(ii) of the Immigration and Nation-2 |
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| 32 | 32 | | ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(b)(1)(F)(ii))) (as amended by 3 |
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| 33 | 33 | | section 3(a)) for a degree at the master’s level or higher 4 |
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| 34 | 34 | | at a United States institution of higher education (as de-5 |
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| 35 | 35 | | fined in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 6 |
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| 36 | 36 | | 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)) must apply for admission prior 7 |
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| 37 | 37 | | to beginning such advanced degree program. 8 |
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| 38 | 38 | | (b) S |
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| 39 | 39 | | TRENGTHENED VETTINGPROCESS.—The Sec-9 |
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| 40 | 40 | | retary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of State 10 |
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| 41 | 41 | | shall establish procedures to ensure that aliens described 11 |
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| 42 | 42 | | in subsection (a) are admissible pursuant to section 12 |
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| 43 | 43 | | 212(a)(3)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 13 |
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| 44 | 44 | | U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)(A)). Such procedures shall ensure that 14 |
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| 45 | 45 | | such aliens seeking admission from within the United 15 |
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| 46 | 46 | | States undergo verification of academic credentials, com-16 |
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| 47 | 47 | | prehensive background checks, and interviews in a manner 17 |
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| 48 | 48 | | equivalent to that of an alien seeking admission from out-18 |
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| 49 | 49 | | side of the United States. To the greatest extent prac-19 |
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| 50 | 50 | | ticable, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Sec-20 |
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| 51 | 51 | | retary of State shall also take steps to ensure that such 21 |
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| 52 | 52 | | applications for admission are processed in a timely man-22 |
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| 53 | 53 | | ner to allow the pursuit of graduate education. 23 |
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| 54 | 54 | | (c) R |
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| 55 | 55 | | EPORTINGREQUIREMENT.—The Secretary of 24 |
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| 56 | 56 | | Homeland Security and the Secretary of State shall sub-25 |
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| 58 | 58 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 59 | 59 | | •S 1233 IS |
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| 60 | 60 | | mit an annual report to the Committee on the Judiciary 1 |
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| 61 | 61 | | of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the 2 |
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| 62 | 62 | | House of Representatives detailing the implementation 3 |
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| 63 | 63 | | and effectiveness of the requirement for foreign graduate 4 |
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| 64 | 64 | | students pursuing advanced degrees in STEM fields to 5 |
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| 65 | 65 | | seek admission prior to pursuing a graduate degree pro-6 |
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| 66 | 66 | | gram. The report shall include data on visa application 7 |
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| 67 | 67 | | volumes, processing times, security outcomes, and eco-8 |
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| 68 | 68 | | nomic impacts. 9 |
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| 69 | 69 | | SEC. 3. LAWFUL PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS FOR CER-10 |
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| 70 | 70 | | TAIN ADVANCED STEM DEGREE HOLDERS. 11 |
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| 71 | 71 | | (a) A |
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| 72 | 72 | | LIENSNOTSUBJECT TODIRECTNUMERICAL 12 |
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| 73 | 73 | | L |
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| 74 | 74 | | IMITATIONS.—Section 201(b)(1) of the Immigration and 13 |
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| 75 | 75 | | Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(b)(1)) is amended by add-14 |
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| 76 | 76 | | ing at the end the following: 15 |
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| 77 | 77 | | ‘‘(F)(i) Aliens who— 16 |
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| 78 | 78 | | ‘‘(I) have earned a degree in a STEM 17 |
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| 79 | 79 | | field at the master’s level or higher while 18 |
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| 80 | 80 | | physically present in the United States 19 |
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| 81 | 81 | | from a United States institution of higher 20 |
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| 82 | 82 | | education (as defined in section 101(a) of 21 |
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| 83 | 83 | | the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 22 |
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| 84 | 84 | | U.S.C. 1001(a))) accredited by an accred-23 |
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| 85 | 85 | | iting entity recognized by the Department 24 |
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| 86 | 86 | | of Education; 25 |
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| 88 | 88 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 |
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| 89 | 89 | | •S 1233 IS |
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| 90 | 90 | | ‘‘(II) have an offer of employment 1 |
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| 91 | 91 | | from, or are employed by, a United States 2 |
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| 92 | 92 | | employer to perform work that is directly 3 |
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| 93 | 93 | | related to such degree at a rate of pay that 4 |
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| 94 | 94 | | is higher than the median wage level for 5 |
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| 95 | 95 | | the occupational classification in the area 6 |
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| 96 | 96 | | of employment, as determined by the Sec-7 |
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| 97 | 97 | | retary of Labor; 8 |
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| 98 | 98 | | ‘‘(III) have an approved labor certifi-9 |
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| 99 | 99 | | cation under section 212(a)(5)(A)(i); or 10 |
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| 100 | 100 | | ‘‘(IV) are the spouses and children of 11 |
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| 101 | 101 | | aliens described in subclauses (I) through 12 |
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| 102 | 102 | | (III) who are accompanying or following to 13 |
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| 103 | 103 | | join such aliens. 14 |
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| 104 | 104 | | ‘‘(ii) In this subparagraph, the term 15 |
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| 105 | 105 | | ‘STEM field’ means a field of science, 16 |
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| 106 | 106 | | technology, engineering, or mathematics 17 |
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| 107 | 107 | | described in the most recent version of the 18 |
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| 108 | 108 | | Classification of Instructional Programs of 19 |
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| 109 | 109 | | the Department of Education taxonomy 20 |
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| 110 | 110 | | under the summary group of— 21 |
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| 111 | 111 | | ‘‘(I) computer and information 22 |
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| 112 | 112 | | sciences and support services; 23 |
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| 113 | 113 | | ‘‘(II) engineering; 24 |
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| 114 | 114 | | ‘‘(III) mathematics and statistics; 25 |
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| 116 | 116 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 |
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| 117 | 117 | | •S 1233 IS |
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| 118 | 118 | | ‘‘(IV) biological and biomedical 1 |
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| 119 | 119 | | sciences; 2 |
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| 120 | 120 | | ‘‘(V) physical sciences; 3 |
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| 121 | 121 | | ‘‘(VI) agriculture sciences; or 4 |
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| 122 | 122 | | ‘‘(VII) natural resources and con-5 |
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| 123 | 123 | | servation sciences.’’. 6 |
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| 124 | 124 | | (b) P |
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| 125 | 125 | | ROCEDURE FOR GRANTINGIMMIGRATIONSTA-7 |
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| 126 | 126 | | TUS.—Section 204(a)(1)(F) of the Immigration and Na-8 |
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| 127 | 127 | | tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1)(F)) is amended by 9 |
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| 128 | 128 | | striking ‘‘203(b)(2)’’ and all that follows through ‘‘Attor-10 |
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| 129 | 129 | | ney General’’ and inserting ‘‘203(b)(2), 203(b)(3), or 11 |
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| 130 | 130 | | 201(b)(1)(F) may file a petition with the Secretary of 12 |
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| 131 | 131 | | Homeland Security’’. 13 |
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| 132 | 132 | | (c) L |
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| 133 | 133 | | ABORCERTIFICATION.—Section 212(a)(5)(D) 14 |
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| 134 | 134 | | of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 15 |
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| 135 | 135 | | 1182(a)(5)(D)) is amended by inserting ‘‘section 16 |
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| 136 | 136 | | 201(b)(1)(F) or under’’ after ‘‘adjustment of status 17 |
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| 137 | 137 | | under’’. 18 |
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| 138 | 138 | | (d) D |
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| 139 | 139 | | UALINTENT FORF NONIMMIGRANTSSEEKING 19 |
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| 140 | 140 | | A |
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| 141 | 141 | | DVANCEDSTEM DEGREES ATUNITEDSTATESINSTI-20 |
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| 142 | 142 | | TUTIONS OFHIGHEREDUCATION.— 21 |
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| 143 | 143 | | (1) I |
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| 144 | 144 | | N GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sections 22 |
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| 145 | 145 | | 101(a)(15)(F)(i) and 214(b) of the Immigration and 23 |
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| 146 | 146 | | Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(F)(i) and 24 |
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| 147 | 147 | | 1184(b)), an alien who is a bona fide student admit-25 |
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| 150 | 150 | | •S 1233 IS |
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| 151 | 151 | | ted to a program in a STEM field (as defined in 1 |
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| 152 | 152 | | subparagraph (F)(ii) of section 201(b)(1) of the Im-2 |
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| 153 | 153 | | migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 3 |
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| 154 | 154 | | 1151(b)(1))) for a degree at the master’s level or 4 |
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| 155 | 155 | | higher at a United States institution of higher edu-5 |
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| 156 | 156 | | cation (as defined in section 101(a) of the Higher 6 |
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| 157 | 157 | | Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a))) accred-7 |
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| 158 | 158 | | ited by an accrediting entity recognized by the De-8 |
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| 159 | 159 | | partment of Education may obtain a student visa, be 9 |
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| 160 | 160 | | admitted to the United States as a nonimmigrant 10 |
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| 161 | 161 | | student, or extend or change nonimmigrant status to 11 |
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| 162 | 162 | | pursue such degree even if such alien seeks lawful 12 |
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| 163 | 163 | | permanent resident status in the United States. 13 |
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| 164 | 164 | | (2) R |
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| 165 | 165 | | ULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—Nothing in this 14 |
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| 166 | 166 | | subsection may be construed to modify or amend 15 |
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| 167 | 167 | | section 101(a)(15)(F)(i) or 214(b) of the Immigra-16 |
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| 168 | 168 | | tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 17 |
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| 169 | 169 | | 1101(a)(15)(F)(i) or 1184(b)), or any regulation in-18 |
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| 170 | 170 | | terpreting such authorities for an alien who is not 19 |
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| 171 | 171 | | described in this subsection. 20 |
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| 172 | 172 | | Æ |
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