GROUP II

Any person qualified as a professional or who has exceptional ability in the sciences or arts and whose occupation is not listed on Schedule A. (Certification requires full documentation as defined in instructions for completion of the Form 575-A.)

XV.-EXEMPTIONS FROM LABOR CERTIFICATION BASED

UPON RELATIONSHIP

Prepared for the

Select Commission on Western Hemisphere Immigration

by

The Immigration and Naturalization Service
United States Department of Justice

EXEMPTIONS FROM LABOR CERTIFICATION BASED

UPON RELATIONSHIP

Section 202(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended by the Act of October 3, 1965, provides as follows:

"No person shall receive any preference or priority or be discriminated against in the issuance of an immigrant visa because of his race, sex, nationality, place of birth, or place of residence except as specifically provided in section 101(a)(27), section 201(b) and section 203: .

Despite the foregoing provision of the law, it may be said that the Immigration and Nationality Act as amended contains within itself in section 212(a)(14) provisions which discriminate against an alien in the issuance of an immigrant visa on the basis of his place of birth. For, if the alien was born in the Canal Zone or an independent country of the Western Hemisphere, he is ineligible for the issuance of an immigrant visa unless he meets the requirement of obtaining a Labor Department certification pursuant to section 212(a) (14) even if he or she is the brother, sister, adult married or unmarried son or daughter of a United States citizen, or the adult unmarried son or daughter of a lawful permanent resident. Yet, an alien born elsewhere who has those relationships to the citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States may be accorded a first, second, fourth or fifth preference classification, and thus be exempted from the labor certification requirement. Since section 101 (a) (27) of the Immigration and Nationality Act admittedly discriminates in favor of aliens born in independent countries of Western Hemisphere by classifying them as "special immigrants", exempt from the annual numerical limitation on the issuance of visas, there is no logical explanation of why the statute should discriminate against such aliens with respect to obtaining a labor certification as a prerequisite to the issuance of an immigrant visa. On the other hand, and equally without a logical explanation, there are certain relationships where it is more advantageous for the immigrant to have been born in the Canal Zone or in an independent country of the Western Hemisphere, than elsewhere. For example, an immigrant born in the Canal Zone or independent country of the Western Hemisphere, who is the parent of a United States citizen (regardless of the citizen's age) or who is the parent of a lawful permanent resident, is exempt from the labor certification requirement. An immigrant born elsewhere, who is the parent of a United States citizen can be exempted from the certification requirement on the basis of that relationship only if the United States citizen offspring is 21 years of age or older, and derives no exemption from being the parent of a lawful permanent resident alien. Attachment A is a chart which depicts the differences with regard to exemptions from the labor certification requirement based on relationship, depending on whether or not the immigrant was born in the Canal Zone or an independent

country of the Western Hemisphere (section 101 (a) (27) (A)), or whether the immigrant was born elsewhere.

Also attached for ready reference, as Attachment B, are copies of section 212(a)(14), 101 (a) (27) (A), 101(b) (1) and (2) and section 203 (a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended.

Present exemptions from sec. 212(a)(14): Certification Requirement Based on Relationship—Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended by Act of Oct. 3, 1965