COURT AUTHORITY TO ADMINISTER OATHS OF ALLEGIANCE FOR NATURALIZATION.

SEC. 102. COURT AUTHORITY TO ADMINISTER OATHS OF ALLEGIANCE FOR NATURALIZATION. (a) In General.— Subsection (b) of section 310 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1421), as amended by section 401(a) of the Immigration Act of 1990, is amended to read as follows: “(b) Court Authority to Administer Oaths.— “(1) Jurisdiction.— Subject to section 337(c)— “(A) General Jurisdiction.— Except as provided in subparagraph (B), each applicant for naturalization may choose to have the oath of allegiance under section 337(a) administered by the Attorney General or by an eligible court described in paragraph (5). Each such eligible court shall have authority to administer such oath of allegiance to persons residing within the jurisdiction of the court. “(B) Exclusive Authority.— An eligible court described in paragraph (5) that wishes to have exclusive authority to administer the oath of allegiance under section 337(a) to persons residing within the jurisdiction of the court during the period described in paragraph (3)(A)(i) shall notify the Attorney General of such wish and, subject to this subsection, shall have such exclusive authority with respect to such persons during such period. “(2) Information.— “(A) General information.— In the case of a court exercising authority under paragraph (1), in accordance with procedures established by the Attorney General— “(i) the applicant for naturalization shall notify the Attorney General of the intent to be naturalized before the court, and “(ii) the Attorney General— “(I) shall forward to the court (not later than 10 days after the date of approval of an application for naturalization in the case of a court which has provided notice under paragraph (1)(B)) such information as may be necessary to administer the oath of allegiance under section 337(a), and “(II) shall promptly forward to the court a certificate of naturalization (prepared by the Attorney General). “(B) Assignment of individuals in the case of exclusive authority.— If an eligible court has provided notice under paragraph (1)(B), the Attorney General shall inform each person (residing within the jurisdiction of the court), at the time of the approval of the person’s application for naturalization, of— “(i) the court’s exclusive authority to administer the oath of allegiance under section 337(a) to such a person during the period specified in paragraph (3)(A)(i), and “(ii) the date or dates (if any) under paragraph (3)(B) on which the court has scheduled oath administration ceremonies. If more than one eligible court in an area has provided notice under paragraph (1)(B), the Attorney General shall permit the person, at the time of the approval, to choose the court to which the information will be forwarded for administration of the oath of allegiance under this section. 105 STAT. 1735 “(3) Scope of exclusive authority.— “(A) Limited period and advance notice required.— The exclusive authority of a court to administer the oath of allegiance under paragraph (1)(B) shall apply with respect to a person— “(i) only during the 45-day period beginning on the date on which the Attorney General certifies to the court that an applicant is eligible for naturalization, and “(ii) only if the court has notified the Attorney General, prior to the date of certification of eligibility, of the day or days (during such 45-day period) on which the court has scheduled oath administration ceremonies. “(B) Authority of attorney general.— Subject to subparagraph (C), the Attorney General shall not administer the oath of allegiance to a person under subsection (a) during the period in which exclusive authority to administer the oath of allegiance may be exercised by an eligible court under this subsection with respect to that person. “(C) Waiver of exclusive authority.— Notwithstanding the previous provisions of this paragraph, a court may waive exclusive authority to administer the oath of allegiance under section 337(a) to a person under this subsection if the Attorney General has not provided the court with the certification described in subparagraph (A)(i) within a reasonable time before the date scheduled by the court for oath administration ceremonies. Upon notification of a court’s waiver of jurisdiction, the Attorney General shall promptly notify the applicant. “(4) Issuance of certificates.— The Attorney General shall provide for the issuance of certificates of naturalization at the time of administration of the oath of allegiance. “(5) Eligible courts.— For purposes of this section, the term ’eligible court’ means— “(A) a District Court of the United States in any State, or “(B) any court of record in any State having a seal, a clerk, and jurisdiction in actions in law or equity, or law and equity, in which the amount in controversy is unlimited.”. (b) Conforming Amendments.— (1) Functions of clerks.— Section 339(a) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1450(a)) is amended— (A) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following: “(1) deliver to each person administered the oath of allegiance by the court pursuant to section 337(a) the certificate of naturalization prepared by the Attorney General pursuant to section 310(b)(2)(A)(ii),”, (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting “a list of applicants actually taking the oath at each scheduled ceremony and” after “Attorney General”, (C) by striking paragraph (3), (D) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at the end and inserting “, and” and by redesignating such paragraph as paragraph (3), (E) by inserting after paragraph (3), as so redesignated, the following new paragraph: 105 STAT. 1736 “(4) be responsible for all blank certificates of naturalization received by them from time to time from the Attorney General and shall account to the Attorney General for them whenever required to do so.”, and (F) by adding at the end the following: “No certificate of naturalization received by any clerk of court which may be defaced or injured in such manner as to prevent its use as herein provided shall in any case be destroyed, but such certificates shall be returned to the Attorney General.”. (2) Expedited administration of oath.— Subsection (c) of section 337 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1448) is amended to read as follows: “(c) Notwithstanding section 310(b), an individual may be granted an expedited judicial oath administration ceremony or administrative naturalization by the Attorney General upon demonstrating sufficient cause. In determining whether to grant an expedited judicial oath administration ceremony, a court shall consider special circumstances (such as serious illness of the applicant or a member of the applicant’s immediate family, permanent disability sufficiently incapacitating as to prevent the applicant’s personal appearance at the scheduled ceremony, developmental disability or advanced age, or exigent circumstances relating to travel or employment). If an expedited judicial oath administration ceremony is impracticable, the court shall refer such individual to the Attorney General who may provide for immediate administrative naturalization.”. (3) Fees.— Section 344 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1455) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: “(f) (1) The Attorney General shall pay over to courts administering oaths of allegiance to persons under this title a specified percentage of all fees described in subsection (a)(1) collected by the Attorney General with respect to persons administered the oath of allegiance by the respective courts. The Attorney General, annually and in consultation with the courts, shall determine the specified percentage based on the proportion, of the total costs incurred by the Service and courts for essential services directly related to the naturalization process, which are incurred by courts. “(2) The Attorney General shall provide on an annual basis to the Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and of the Senate a detailed report on the use of the fees described in paragraph (1) and shall consult with such Committees before increasing such fees.”. (c) Effective Date.— The amendments made by this title shall take effect 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.