II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 1298
To authorize the continuation of lawful nonimmigrant status for certain
religious workers affected by the backlog for religious worker immigrant
visas.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
APRIL3, 2025
Mr. K
AINE(for himself, Ms. COLLINS, and Mr. RISCH) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary
A BILL
To authorize the continuation of lawful nonimmigrant status
for certain religious workers affected by the backlog for
religious worker immigrant visas.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Religious Workforce 4
Protection Act’’. 5
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•S 1298 IS
SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF NONIMMIGRANT STATUS FOR RELI-1
GIOUS WORKERS CAUGHT IN LONG BACK-2
LOGS FOR LAWFUL PERMANENT RESIDENCE. 3
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Section 214(a)(2) of the Immi-4
gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(a)(2)) is 5
amended by adding at the end the following: 6
‘‘(C) Notwithstanding section 101(a)(15)(R)(ii), an 7
alien may apply for, and the Secretary of Homeland Secu-8
rity may grant, an extension of nonimmigrant status 9
under section 101(a)(15)(R) until such alien’s application 10
for adjustment of status or an immigrant visa has been 11
processed and a decision has been made on such applica-12
tion if the alien— 13
‘‘(i) is the principal or derivative beneficiary of 14
an immigrant petition filed pursuant to section 15
204(a) for a preference status under section 16
203(b)(4); and 17
‘‘(ii) is eligible to be granted such immigrant 18
status absent the application of the numerical limita-19
tions under sections 201, 202, and 203.’’. 20
(b) C
ONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 21
101(a)(15)(R)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 22
(8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(R)(ii)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, 23
except as provided in section 214(a)(2)(C),’’ after ‘‘5 24
years’’. 25
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•S 1298 IS
SEC. 3. LIMITED JOB FLEXIBILITY FOR CERTAIN RELI-1
GIOUS WORKERS WITH LONG-DELAYED AP-2
PLICATIONS FOR LAWFUL PERMANENT RESI-3
DENCE. 4
Section 204(j) of the Immigration and Nationality 5
Act (8 U.S.C. 1154(j)) is amended by striking ‘‘subsection 6
(a)(1)(D)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(1)(F) or sub-7
section (a)(1)(G)(i) (with respect to special immigrants 8
described in section 101(a)(27)(C))’’. 9
SEC. 4. EXEMPTION TO 1-YEAR FOREIGN RESIDENCE RE-10
QUIREMENT FOR CERTAIN NONIMMIGRANT 11
RELIGIOUS WORKERS. 12
An alien described in section 214(a)(2)(C) of the Im-13
migration and Nationality Act, as added by section 2(a), 14
who departed from the United States due to the 5-year 15
limitation on nonimmigrant status under section 16
101(a)(15)(R) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(R)) 17
shall be exempt from the 1-year foreign residence require-18
ment set forth in section 214.2(r)(6) of title 8, Code of 19
Federal Regulations. 20
Æ
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