Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1976
Public Law 94-571 · H.R. 14535 · 94th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Gerald Ford (R) on Oct 20, 1976 · Immigration
Sponsor: Rep. Joshua Eilberg (D-PA-4)
Cosponsors (6): Rep. Peter Rodino, Rep. Paul Sarbanes,
Passage votes
- HouseMethod not stated
- SenateMethod not stated
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments - Sets immigration quotas under the Immigration and Nationality Act for aliens from Eastern Hemisphere countries at 45,000 per quarter and 170,000 per year and for aliens from Western Hemisphere countries at 32,000 per quarter and 120,000 per year.
States that whenever the maximum number of visas or conditional entries have been made under the Act to natives of any single foreign state or dependent area, in the next following fiscal year a number of visas and conditional entries up to 20,000 in the case of a foreign state or 600 in the case of a dependent area shall be made available pursuant to priorities set forth in this Act.
States that aliens seeking to enter the United States to perform labor in the teaching profession, sciences, or the arts may enter if they are as qualified as Americans holding such jobs or if they have exceptional ability in the sciences or the arts (present law requires that such persons be better qualified for such jobs than those United States citizens seeking such jobs).
Directs that when the status of a Cuban alien residing in the United States before the enactment of this Act is changed to permanent resident, such change will not be reflected in any immigration quota.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 12 actions.
- Oct 20, 1976Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- PresidentPresident · Public law 94-571.
- Oct 8, 1976PresidentPresident · Measure presented to President.
- Oct 7, 1976PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in Senate.
- PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in House.
- Oct 1, 1976FloorFloor · Measure passed Senate.
- FloorFloor · Measure called up by unanimous consent in Senate.
- Sep 29, 1976FloorFloor · Measure passed House, amended.
- FloorFloor · Measure called up by unanimous consent in House.
- Sep 15, 1976CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Judiciary Committee
- Jun 24, 1976CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Judiciary Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the House
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.