| 1 | 1 | | II |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 1298 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To authorize the continuation of lawful nonimmigrant status for certain |
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| 6 | 6 | | religious workers affected by the backlog for religious worker immigrant |
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| 7 | 7 | | visas. |
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| 8 | 8 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 9 | 9 | | APRIL3, 2025 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Mr. K |
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| 11 | 11 | | AINE(for himself, Ms. COLLINS, and Mr. RISCH) introduced the fol- |
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| 12 | 12 | | lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the |
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| 13 | 13 | | Judiciary |
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| 14 | 14 | | A BILL |
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| 15 | 15 | | To authorize the continuation of lawful nonimmigrant status |
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| 16 | 16 | | for certain religious workers affected by the backlog for |
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| 17 | 17 | | religious worker immigrant visas. |
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| 18 | 18 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 19 | 19 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 20 | 20 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 21 | 21 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Religious Workforce 4 |
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| 22 | 22 | | Protection Act’’. 5 |
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| 23 | 23 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Apr 16, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1298.IS S1298 |
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| 24 | 24 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 25 | 25 | | •S 1298 IS |
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| 26 | 26 | | SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF NONIMMIGRANT STATUS FOR RELI-1 |
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| 27 | 27 | | GIOUS WORKERS CAUGHT IN LONG BACK-2 |
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| 28 | 28 | | LOGS FOR LAWFUL PERMANENT RESIDENCE. 3 |
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| 29 | 29 | | (a) I |
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| 30 | 30 | | NGENERAL.—Section 214(a)(2) of the Immi-4 |
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| 31 | 31 | | gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(a)(2)) is 5 |
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| 32 | 32 | | amended by adding at the end the following: 6 |
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| 33 | 33 | | ‘‘(C) Notwithstanding section 101(a)(15)(R)(ii), an 7 |
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| 34 | 34 | | alien may apply for, and the Secretary of Homeland Secu-8 |
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| 35 | 35 | | rity may grant, an extension of nonimmigrant status 9 |
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| 36 | 36 | | under section 101(a)(15)(R) until such alien’s application 10 |
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| 37 | 37 | | for adjustment of status or an immigrant visa has been 11 |
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| 38 | 38 | | processed and a decision has been made on such applica-12 |
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| 39 | 39 | | tion if the alien— 13 |
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| 40 | 40 | | ‘‘(i) is the principal or derivative beneficiary of 14 |
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| 41 | 41 | | an immigrant petition filed pursuant to section 15 |
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| 42 | 42 | | 204(a) for a preference status under section 16 |
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| 43 | 43 | | 203(b)(4); and 17 |
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| 44 | 44 | | ‘‘(ii) is eligible to be granted such immigrant 18 |
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| 45 | 45 | | status absent the application of the numerical limita-19 |
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| 46 | 46 | | tions under sections 201, 202, and 203.’’. 20 |
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| 47 | 47 | | (b) C |
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| 48 | 48 | | ONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 21 |
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| 49 | 49 | | 101(a)(15)(R)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 22 |
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| 50 | 50 | | (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(R)(ii)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, 23 |
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| 51 | 51 | | except as provided in section 214(a)(2)(C),’’ after ‘‘5 24 |
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| 52 | 52 | | years’’. 25 |
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| 53 | 53 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Apr 16, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1298.IS S1298 |
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| 54 | 54 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 55 | 55 | | •S 1298 IS |
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| 56 | 56 | | SEC. 3. LIMITED JOB FLEXIBILITY FOR CERTAIN RELI-1 |
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| 57 | 57 | | GIOUS WORKERS WITH LONG-DELAYED AP-2 |
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| 58 | 58 | | PLICATIONS FOR LAWFUL PERMANENT RESI-3 |
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| 59 | 59 | | DENCE. 4 |
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| 60 | 60 | | Section 204(j) of the Immigration and Nationality 5 |
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| 61 | 61 | | Act (8 U.S.C. 1154(j)) is amended by striking ‘‘subsection 6 |
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| 62 | 62 | | (a)(1)(D)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(1)(F) or sub-7 |
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| 63 | 63 | | section (a)(1)(G)(i) (with respect to special immigrants 8 |
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| 64 | 64 | | described in section 101(a)(27)(C))’’. 9 |
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| 65 | 65 | | SEC. 4. EXEMPTION TO 1-YEAR FOREIGN RESIDENCE RE-10 |
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| 66 | 66 | | QUIREMENT FOR CERTAIN NONIMMIGRANT 11 |
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| 67 | 67 | | RELIGIOUS WORKERS. 12 |
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| 68 | 68 | | An alien described in section 214(a)(2)(C) of the Im-13 |
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| 69 | 69 | | migration and Nationality Act, as added by section 2(a), 14 |
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| 70 | 70 | | who departed from the United States due to the 5-year 15 |
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| 71 | 71 | | limitation on nonimmigrant status under section 16 |
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| 72 | 72 | | 101(a)(15)(R) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(R)) 17 |
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| 73 | 73 | | shall be exempt from the 1-year foreign residence require-18 |
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| 74 | 74 | | ment set forth in section 214.2(r)(6) of title 8, Code of 19 |
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| 75 | 75 | | Federal Regulations. 20 |
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| 76 | 76 | | Æ |
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| 77 | 77 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Apr 16, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1298.IS S1298 |
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| 78 | 78 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB |
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