Sec. 7. Timely processing
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Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services shall complete a study of fees charged in the administration of the program described in sections 203(b)(5) and 216A of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5) and 1186b). Notwithstanding section 286(m) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1356(m) ), and except as provided under subsection (c), the Director shall set fees for services provided pursuant to sections 203(b)(5) and 216A of such Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5) and 1186b), as amended by this Act, and for adjudicating petitions filed pursuant to section 204(a)(1)(H) of such Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1)(H) ), as amended by this Act, at a level sufficient to ensure the full recovery only of the costs of providing such services, including the cost of attaining the goal of completing adjudications, on average, not later than— 120 days after receiving a proposal for the establishment of a regional center described in section 203(b)(5)(H); 120 days after receiving an application for approval of investment in a commercial enterprise described in section 203(b)(5)(I); 150 days after receiving a petition from an alien desiring to be classified under section 203(b)(5)(H); and 180 days after receiving a petition from an alien for removal of conditions described in section 216A(c).
Additional fees in excess of the fee levels described in subsection
(b)may be charged only to contribute— in an amount that is equal to the amount paid by all other classes of fee-paying applicants for immigration-related benefits, to the coverage or reduction of the costs of processing or adjudicating classes of immigration benefit applications that Congress, or the Secretary in the case of asylum applications, has authorized to be processed or adjudicated at no cost or at a reduced cost to the applicant; and in an amount that is not greater than 1 percent of the fee for filing a petition pursuant to section 204(a)(1)(H) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1)(H) ), to make improvements to the information technology systems used by the Secretary to process, adjudicate, and archive applications and petitions under such section, including the conversion to electronic format of documents filed by petitioners and applicants for benefits under such section. Section 286(u) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1356(u) ) is amended to read as follows: The Secretary of Homeland Security is authorized to establish and collect a premium fee for employment-based petitions and applications. The fee under this paragraph shall be used to provide certain premium-processing services to business customers and to make infrastructure improvements in the adjudications and customer-service processes. For approval of the benefit applied for, the petitioner or applicant shall meet the legal criteria for such benefit. Except as provided under paragraph (2), the fee under this paragraph shall be set at $1,000, shall be paid in addition to any normal petition or application fee that may be applicable, and shall be deposited as offsetting collections in the Immigration Examinations Fee Account. The Secretary may adjust the fee under this paragraph in proportion to changes in the Consumer Price Index. The Secretary shall establish and collect a premium fee for expeditious processing of applications for regional center designation or regional center amendment under section 203(b)(5)(H), petitions under section 203(b)(5), petitions for removal of conditions on lawful permanent residence under section 216A(c), and applications under section 203(b)(5)(I) related to investment in a new commercial enterprise (as defined in section 203(b)(5)(Q)). A petitioner or applicant shall be permitted an opportunity to provide additional evidence identified by the Secretary in any such petition or application prior to a final determination. The premium fee for each such application or petition shall be set at an amount sufficient to adjudicate such application or petition within 1/2 of the relevant period set forth in section 6(b) of the American Job Creation and Investment Into Public Works Reform Act of 2017, and shall otherwise only be used to recover the costs of such processing, including the hiring of additional adjudicatory staff, shall be paid in addition to any normal petition or application fee that may be applicable, and shall be deposited as offsetting collections in the Immigration Examinations Fee Account. . Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish the premium processing of immigrant investor petitions and applications, as described in section 286(u) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1356(u) ), as amended by paragraph (1). Nothing in this Act may be construed to limit the authority of the Secretary of Homeland Security to suspend the adjudication of any application or petition under section 203(b)(5) or 216A of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5) and 1186b) or related petition under section 204(a)(1)(H) of such Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1)(H) ) pending the completion of a national security or law enforcement investigation relating to such application or petition. For a period of one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the requirements of chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, shall not apply to any collection of information required under this Act, under any amendment made by this Act, or under any rule promulgated by the Secretary of Homeland Security to implement this Act or the amendments made by this Act, to the extent the Secretary determines that compliance with such requirements would impede the expeditious implementation of this Act or the amendments made by this Act. Nothing in this section may be construed to require any modification of fees before the completion of— the fee study described in subsection (a); and regulations promulgated by the Secretary of Homeland Security, in accordance with subchapter II of chapter 5 and chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the Administrative Procedure Act ), to carry out subsections
(b)and (c).
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