H.E.L.P. Act

Haitian Emergency Life Protection Act of 2011 or the H.E.L.P. Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act with respect to V-visa nonimmigrants (spouses and minor children of lawful permanent residents who come to the United States to wait for completion of the immigrant visa process) to include certain Haitian nationals whose petition for a family-sponsored immigrant visa was approved on or before January 12, 2010.

Authorizes the Secretary of State to use secondary evidence to verify eligibility for such status or for immediate relative status.

Sunsets the provisions of this Act two years after its enactment.

[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3297 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3297

  To temporarily expand the (V) nonimmigrant visa category to include 
   Haitians whose petition for a family-sponsored immigrant visa was 
                approved on or before January 12, 2010.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 1, 2011

    Ms. Clarke of New York (for herself, Ms. Brown of Florida, Mrs. 
 Christensen, Mr. Filner, Mr. Gutierrez, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Hastings of 
 Florida, Ms. Norton, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Ms. Lee of California, 
 Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Payne, Mr. Polis, Mr. Rangel, 
Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Stark, Mr. Towns, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. Clay, 
and Ms. Zoe Lofgren of California) introduced the following bill; which 
             was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To temporarily expand the (V) nonimmigrant visa category to include 
   Haitians whose petition for a family-sponsored immigrant visa was 
                approved on or before January 12, 2010.

    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 ``Haitian Emergency Life Protection 
Act of 2011'' or the ``H.E.L.P. Act''.

SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF V VISA CATEGORY FOR HAITIAN IMMIGRANTS.

    Section 101(a)(15)(V) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(V)) is amended--
            (1) in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking 
        ``section 203(a)(2)(A) that'' and inserting ``section 203(a) 
        that, except as provided under clause (iii),'';
            (2) by amending clause (i) to read as follows:
                            ``(i) the petition is for status under 
                        section 203(a)(2)(A) and has been pending for 
                        at least 3 years;'';
            (3) in clause (ii)--
                    (A) by amending the matter preceding subclause (I) 
                to read as follows:
                            ``(ii) the petition is for status under 
                        section 203(a)(2)(A), has been approved, and 
                        was filed at least 3 years previously, and''; 
                        and
                    (B) in subclause (ii), by striking the period at 
                the end and inserting ``; or''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(iii)(I) such petition was approved on or before 
                January 12, 2010; and
                    ``(II) the alien is a national and resident of 
                Haiti.''.

SEC. 3. USE OF SECONDARY EVIDENCE FOR ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION.

    The Department of State, in coordination with United States 
Citizenship and Immigration Services, may issue travel documents 
(including a nonimmigrant visa) to any alien in Haiti--
            (1) who is described in--
                    (A) section 101(a)(15)(V)(iii) of the Immigration 
                and Nationality Act, as added by this Act; or
                    (B) section 201(b)(2)(A) of such Act;
            (2) whose eligibility for such documents has been evaluated 
        by a consular officer after reviewing the best available 
        evidence of such eligibility, including secondary evidence, if 
        necessary; and
            (3) who meets all criteria required for--
                    (A) a family-sponsored immigrant visa under section 
                203(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
                1153(a)); or
                    (B) admission into the United States as an 
                immediate relative of a United States citizen (as 
                defined in section 203(b)(2)(A)(i) of such Act).

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary for each of fiscal years 2012 through 2014 to process--
            (1) nonimmigrant visa applications authorized under section 
        101(a)(15)(V)(iii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as 
        added by this Act; and
            (2) immigrant visa applications for immediate relatives (as 
        defined in section 203(b)(2)(A)(i) of such Act).

SEC. 5. SUNSET PROVISION.

    This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall be effective 
during the 2-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this 
Act.
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