BELIEVE Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 970 To reduce the backlog of foreign nationals seeking employment-based visas, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 25, 2021 Mr. PAUL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To reduce the backlog of foreign nationals seeking employment-based visas, and for other purposes. 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 TITLES. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Backlog Elimination, 4 Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement 5 Act’’ or the ‘‘BELIEVE Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. ALLOCATION OF EMPLOYMENT-BASED VISAS. 7 (a) WORLDWIDE LEVEL.—Section 201(d)(1)(A) of 8 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:05 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S970.IS S970 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 970 IS 1151(d)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘140,000,’’ and in- 1 serting ‘‘270,000;’’. 2 (b) ELIMINATION OF PER-COUNTRY LIMITATION FOR 3 EMPLOYMENT-BASED IMMIGRANTS.—Section 202(a)(2) 4 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 5 1152(a)(2)) is amended— 6 (1) in the paragraph heading, by striking ‘‘AND 7 EMPLOYMENT-BASED’’; 8 (2) by striking ‘‘subsections (a) and (b) of sec- 9 tion 203’’ and inserting ‘‘section 203(a)’’; and 10 (3) by striking ‘‘such subsections’’ and inserting 11 ‘‘such subsection’’. 12 (c) PREFERENCE ALLOCATIONS FOR EMPLOYMENT- 13 BASED IMMIGRANTS.—Section 203(b) of the Immigration 14 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)) is amended— 15 (1) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding 16 subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘28.6 percent’’ and 17 inserting ‘‘29.63 percent’’; 18 (2) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘28.6 per- 19 cent’’ and inserting ‘‘29.63 percent’’; 20 (3) in paragraph (3)(A), in the matter pre- 21 ceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘28.6 percent’’ and in- 22 serting ‘‘29.63 percent’’; 23 (4) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘7.1 percent’’ 24 and inserting ‘‘3.7 percent’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:05 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S970.IS S970 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 970 IS (5) in paragraph (5)(A), in the matter pre- 1 ceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘7.1 percent’’ and in- 2 serting ‘‘7.41 percent’’. 3 (d) TREATMENT OF FAMILY MEMBERS.—Section 4 203(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 5 1153(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘Visas issued to a spouse or child of an immigrant de- 7 scribed in subsection (b) shall not be counted against the 8 worldwide level of such visas set forth in section 201(d)(1) 9 or the per country level set forth in section 202(a)(2).’’. 10 SEC. 3. HEALTH CARE WORKERS. 11 (a) EXEMPTION FROM NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS.— 12 Section 201(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 13 (8 U.S.C. 1151(b)(1)) is amended by adding at the end 14 the following: 15 ‘‘(F) Aliens who are members of an occupation 16 that the Secretary of Labor has designated under 17 Group I of Schedule A pursuant to section 656.15 18 of title 20, Code of Federal Regulations, and are 19 coming to the United States to work in such occupa- 20 tion, and the spouses and children (as defined in 21 subparagraph (A), (B), (C), (D), or (E) of section 22 101(b)(1)) of such aliens. Aliens described in this 23 subparagraph may apply for an immigrant visa.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:05 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S970.IS S970 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 970 IS (b) PETITION.—Section 204(a)(1) of the Immigra- 1 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1)) is amend- 2 ed— 3 (1) by shifting subparagraph (L) 4 ems to the 4 left; and 5 (2) by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(M) Any employer desiring and intending to employ 7 within the United States an alien entitled to classification 8 under section 201(b)(1)(F) may file a petition with the 9 Secretary of Homeland Security for such classification on 10 behalf of such alien.’’. 11 SEC. 4. DEPENDENTS OF NONIMMIGRANTS. 12 (a) EXEMPTION FROM NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS 13 FOR CERTAIN COLLEGE GRADUATES.—Section 201(b)(1) 14 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended by 15 section 3(a), is further amended by adding at the end the 16 following: 17 ‘‘(G) Aliens who— 18 ‘‘(i) are not inadmissible under section 19 212(a) or deportable under section 237(a); 20 ‘‘(ii) have lived in the United States an ag- 21 gregate period of not less than 10 years; 22 ‘‘(iii) were admitted as a dependent of a 23 nonimmigrant under subparagraph (E), (H), or 24 (L) of section 101(a)(15); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:05 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S970.IS S970 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 970 IS ‘‘(iv) graduated from an institution of 1 higher education (as defined in section 102(a) 2 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 3 U.S.C. 1002(a))) in the United States.’’. 4 (b) PETITION.—Section 204(a)(1) of the Immigra- 5 tion and Nationality Act, as amended by section 3(b), is 6 further amended by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(N) Any employer desiring and intending to employ 8 within the United States an alien entitled to classification 9 under section 201(b)(1)(G) may file a petition with the 10 Secretary of Homeland Security for such classification on 11 behalf of such alien.’’. 12 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF EMPLOYMENT FOR CHIL- 13 DREN AND SPOUSES OF NONIMMIGRANTS.—Section 214 14 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184) 15 is amended by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(s) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall— 17 ‘‘(1) authorize an alien spouse admitted under 18 subparagraph (E), (H), or (L) of section 101(a)(15), 19 who is accompanying or following to join a principal 20 alien admitted under any such subparagraph, to en- 21 gage in employment in the United States; and 22 ‘‘(2) provide such alien spouse with an ‘employ- 23 ment authorized’ endorsement or other appropriate 24 work permit. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:05 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S970.IS S970 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 970 IS ‘‘(t) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall au- 1 thorize an alien child admitted under subparagraph (E), 2 (H), or (L) of section 101(a)(15), who is accompanying 3 or following to join a principal alien admitted under any 4 such subparagraph, to engage in employment in the 5 United States, and shall provide such child with an ‘em- 6 ployment authorized’ endorsement or other appropriate 7 work permit if— 8 ‘‘(1) the child is at least 16 years of age; 9 ‘‘(2) the child, or the child’s legal representa- 10 tive, requests such work authorization; and 11 ‘‘(3) any employment in which the child may 12 engage complies with the Fair Labor Standards Act 13 of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.).’’. 14 (d) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS EARLY FILING FOR 15 NONIMMIGRANTS WITH APPROVED IMMIGRANT PETI- 16 TIONS.—Section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality 17 Act (8 U.S.C. 1255) is amended— 18 (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol- 19 lows: 20 ‘‘(a) STATUS AS PERSON ADMITTED FOR PERMA- 21 NENT RESIDENCE ON APPLICATION AND ELIGIBILITY FOR 22 IMMIGRANT VISA.—The Secretary of Homeland Security, 23 in the discretion of the Secretary and under such regula- 24 tions as the Secretary may prescribe, may adjust the sta- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:05 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S970.IS S970 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 970 IS tus of an alien who was inspected and admitted or paroled 1 into the United States or the status of any other alien 2 with an approved petition for classification as a VAWA 3 self-petitioner if— 4 ‘‘(1) the alien makes an application for such ad- 5 justment; 6 ‘‘(2) the alien is eligible to receive an immigrant 7 visa and is admissible to the United States for per- 8 manent residence; and 9 ‘‘(3) an immigrant visa is immediately available 10 to the alien at the time the alien’s application is ad- 11 judicated.’’; and 12 (2) by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘(n) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS APPLICATION AFTER 14 AN APPROVED IMMIGRANT PETITION.— 15 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—An alien who has an ap- 16 proved immigrant petition may file an application 17 for adjustment of status under subsection (a), 18 which, if the alien is otherwise eligible, shall remain 19 pending until a visa number becomes available. 20 ‘‘(2) STATUS.—An admissible alien who has 21 properly filed an adjustment of status application 22 under subsection (a) shall, throughout the pendency 23 of such application— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:05 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S970.IS S970 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 970 IS ‘‘(A) have a lawful status and be consid- 1 ered lawfully present for purposes of section 2 212(a); and 3 ‘‘(B) following a biometric background 4 check, be eligible for employment and travel au- 5 thorization incident to such status. 6 ‘‘(3) BIOMETRIC BACKGROUND CHECK.—Any 7 biometric background check performed with respect 8 to an alien during the 1-year period immediately 9 preceding the alien’s submission of an application 10 for an adjustment of status under subsection (a) 11 shall be sufficient for meeting the biometric back- 12 ground check requirement under paragraph 13 (2)(B).’’. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:05 Apr 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S970.IS S970 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS