California High-Skilled Worker Retention and Family Act of 2012.

Existing federal law provides that a nonresident seeking admission to the United States as an immediate relative of a citizen of the United States or as a family sponsored immigrant is inadmissible as a public charge, unless, among other methods, a person petitioning for that person's admission has executed an affidavit of support with respect to that person. The affidavit of support requires that the sponsor pledge to take certain actions to maintain and support the nonresident while he or she resides in the United States. This bill would establish the California High-Skilled Worker Retention and Family Act of 2012. This bill would require the Employment Development Department to create a program that would authorize a foreign national who meets certain requirements to apply to the department for resident immigrant status. This bill would require that in order to be eligible for the program the foreign national must be sponsored by a person or small business. This bill would require that the sponsor of the foreign national execute an affidavit of sponsorship that would impose a contractual obligation on the sponsor to support the foreign national, and to reimburse certain entities for any means-tested public benefit provided to the foreign national. This bill would provide that an affidavit of sponsorship may be terminated only under certain circumstances. This bill would authorize the department to approve the application for resident immigrant status based on certain criteria, and to issue to the foreign national a permit that grants to the foreign national resident immigrant status. This bill would authorize a resident immigrant to work, study, and live in this state. This bill would require a resident immigrant, or a resident immigrant's employer, to pay all income taxes and employment taxes, fees, or charges. This bill would authorize the Franchise Tax Board to adopt regulations that would authorize a person that employs a resident immigrant to withhold from compensation paid to the resident immigrant an amount that is as close as possible to the amount that would be withheld under state law if the resident immigrant had a social security number. This bill would provide that none of the provisions of this bill shall be carried out unless the Director of Employment Development receives the necessary authority, consistent with federal law, from the federal government to administer the program.