Partner with Korea Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1861 To provide high-skilled nonimmigrant visas for nationals of the Republic of Korea, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 26, 2021 Mr. BLUNT (for himself and Ms. HIRONO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To provide high-skilled nonimmigrant visas for nationals of the Republic of Korea, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Partner with Korea 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. RECIPROCAL VISAS FOR NATIONALS OF SOUTH 6 KOREA. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 101(a)(15)(E) of the Im- 8 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(E)) 9 is amended— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1861.IS S1861 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1861 IS (1) by striking ‘‘join him: (i) solely to carry’’ 1 and inserting the following: ‘‘join him— 2 ‘‘(i) solely to carry’’; 3 (2) by striking ‘‘(ii) solely to develop’’ and in- 4 serting the following: 5 ‘‘(ii) solely to develop’’; 6 (3) by striking ‘‘or (iii) solely to perform’’ and 7 inserting the following: 8 ‘‘(iii) solely to perform’’; and 9 (4) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘or 10 ‘‘(iv) solely to perform services in a spe- 11 cialty occupation in the United States if the 12 alien is a national of the Republic of Korea and 13 with respect to whom the Secretary of Labor 14 determines and certifies to the Secretary of 15 Homeland Security and the Secretary of State 16 that the intending employer has filed an attes- 17 tation with the Secretary of Labor under sec- 18 tion 212(t)(1);’’. 19 (b) ATTESTATION.—Section 212 of such Act (8 20 U.S.C. 1182), is amended— 21 (1) in subsection (t), as added by section 22 402(b)(2) of the United States-Chile Free Trade 23 Agreement Implementation Act (Public Law 108– 24 77; 117 Stat. 941)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1861.IS S1861 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1861 IS (A) by striking ‘‘section 1 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b1) or section 2 101(a)(15)(E)(iii)’’ each place it appears and 3 inserting ‘‘subparagraph (E)(iii), (E)(iv), or 4 (H)(i)(b1) of section 101(a)(15)’’; and 5 (B) in clauses (i)(II), (ii)(II), and (iii)(II) 6 of paragraph (3)(C), by striking ‘‘section 204, 7 214(c), 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b1), or 8 101(a)(15)(E)(iii)’’ each place it appears and 9 inserting ‘‘subparagraph (E)(iii), (E)(iv), or 10 (H)(1)(b1) of section 101(a)(15) or section 204 11 or 214(c)’’; and 12 (2) by redesignating subsection (t), as added by 13 section 1(b)(2)(B) of Public Law 108–449 (118 14 Stat. 3470), as subsection (u). 15 (c) NUMERICAL LIMITATION.—Section 214(g) of 16 such Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(g)) is amended by adding at the 17 end the following: 18 ‘‘(12)(A) The Secretary of State may not approve 19 more than 15,000 initial applications submitted for aliens 20 described in section 101(a)(15)(E)(iv) in any fiscal year. 21 ‘‘(B) The numerical limitation under subparagraph 22 (A) shall only apply to principal aliens and shall not apply 23 to the spouses or children of such aliens.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1861.IS S1861 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1861 IS (d) SPECIALTY OCCUPATION DEFINED.—Section 1 214(i)(1) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(i)(1)) is amended 2 by striking ‘‘section 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b), section 3 101(a)(15)(E)(iii), and paragraph (2),’’ and inserting 4 ‘‘paragraph (2) of this subsection and subparagraphs 5 (E)(iii), (E)(iv), and (H)(i)(b) of section 101(a)(15),’’. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:49 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1861.IS S1861 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS