PUBLIC LAW 106-95—NOV. 12, 1999 113 STAT. 1317 (e) LIMITING APPLICATION OF NONIMMIGRANT CHANGES TO 4- YEAR PERIOD. —The amendments made by this section shall apply to classification petitions filed for nonimmigrant status only during the 4-year period beginning on the date that interim or final regulations are first promulgated under subsection (d). 8 USC 1182 note. SEC. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ALTERNATIVE REMEDY FOR 8 USC 1182 note. NURSING SHORTAGE. Not later than the last day of the 4-year period described Deadline. in section 2(e), the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Labor shall jointly submit to the Congress recommendations (including legislative specifications) with respect to the following: (1) A program to eliminate the dependence of facilities described in section 212(m)(6) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (as amended by section 2(b)) on nonimmigrant registered nurses by providing for a permanent solution to the shortage of registered nurses who are United States citizens or aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence. (2) A method of enforcing the requirements imposed on facilities under sections 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(c) and 212(m) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (as amended by section 2) that would be more effective than the process described in section 212(m)(2)(E) of such Act (as so amended). SEC. 4. CERTIFICATION FOR CERTAIN ALIEN NURSES. (a) IN GENERAL.— (1) Section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: "(r) Subsection (a)(5)(C) shall not apply to an alien who seeks to enter the United States for the purpose of performing labor as a nurse who presents to the consular officer (or in the case of an adjustment of status, the Attorney General) a certified statement from the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (or an equivalent independent credentialing organization approved for the certification of nurses under subsection (a)(5)(C) by the Attorney General in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services) that— "(1) the alien has a valid and unrestricted license as a nurse in a State where the alien intends to be employed and such State verifies that the foreign licenses of alien nurses are authentic and unencumbered; "(2) the alien has passed the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX); "(3) the alien is a graduate of a nursing program— "(A) in which the language of instruction was English; "(B) located in a country— "(i) designated by such commission not later than Deadline. 30 days after the date of the enactment of the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act of 1999, based on such commission's assessment that the quality of nursing education in that country, and the English language proficiency of those who complete such programs in that country, justify the country's designation; or "(ii) designated on the basis of such an assessment by unanimous agreement of such commission and any
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