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HR 2729119th CongressIn Committee

Carnivals are Real Entertainment Act

Introduced: Apr 8, 2025
View on Congress.gov
Standard Summary
Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

This bill creates a new temporary nonimmigrant visa pathway for “mobile entertainment workers” who operate traveling carnivals, circuses, or related services that visit fairs and festivals around the United States. It adds a new category to the existing nonimmigrant visa framework, allowing aliens to come to the U.S. solely to perform functions that are integral and essential to running mobile entertainment operations (such as transporting, assembling, operating, disassembling, and maintaining rides, games, concessions, etc.). To qualify, the worker would be admitted under a program that mirrors the Department of Labor’s rules used for similar nonimmigrant workers, meaning employers would have to meet certain wage and labor standards. The bill also requires DHS and DOS to propose and finalize implementing rules within a year, providing a regulatory path for these new admissions. The intent appears to be to facilitate seasonal and temporary labor for traveling carnivals and related services while imposing labor safeguards.

Key Points

  • 1Creates a new nonimmigrant category (P(iv)) under 101(a)(15) for mobile entertainment workers who enter temporarily to perform functions essential to the operation of a mobile entertainment provider.
  • 2The “mobile entertainment provider” is defined as either a traveling carnival or circus, or a provider of services (like food concessions or games) that travels seasonally to fairs, festivals, or nonprofit fundraising events.
  • 3Admissions under P(iv) are subject to the same labor program requirements that govern other nonimmigrants under H-2B-like rules, as implemented by the Department of Labor (20 CFR 655).
  • 4Specifies that “integral and essential” functions include transporting, assembly/disassembly, operation, and maintenance of mobile entertainment attractions, as well as related jobs necessary for safe and efficient operation.
  • 5Requires DHS and DOS to publish proposed implementing rules within 180 days and finalize them within one year after enactment.

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected: Mobile entertainment workers (carnival/circus staff and related service providers) needing temporary U.S. entry to perform core operational tasks.Secondary group/area affected: Employers and operators of traveling carnivals, circuses, and mobile concessions who would sponsor or recruit workers under this program, and the fairs/festival organizers that host these events.Additional impacts:- Labor market dynamics for seasonal entertainment work, including wage standards and compliance costs for employers.- Regulatory oversight and potential administrative burden for travel-based entertainment businesses.- Implications for worker protections and safety standards, given the labor rules modeled on H-2B-like requirements.- A formal rulemaking timeline that will shape how these visas are implemented in practice, including any conditions or caps that may be imposed during the rulemaking process.
Generated by gpt-5-nano on Nov 19, 2025