BELIEVE Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2091 To reduce the backlog of foreign nationals seeking employment-based visas, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 11, 2019 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 04:07 Jul 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2091.IS S2091 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2091 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 to read as follows: 6 ‘‘(2) PER COUNTRY LEVELS FOR FAMILY-SPON- 7 SORED IMMIGRANTS.—Subject to paragraphs (3), 8 (4), and (5), the total number of immigrant visas 9 made available to natives of any single foreign state 10 or dependent area under section 203(a) in any fiscal 11 year may not exceed 7 percent (in the case of a sin- 12 gle foreign state) or 2 percent (in the case of a de- 13 pendent area) of the total number of such visas 14 made available under such subsection in that fiscal 15 year.’’. 16 (c) PREFERENCE ALLOCATIONS FOR EMPLOYMENT- 17 BASED IMMIGRANTS.—Section 203(b) of the Immigration 18 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)) is amended— 19 (1) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding 20 subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘28.6 percent’’ and 21 inserting ‘‘29.63 percent’’; 22 (2) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘28.6 per- 23 cent’’ and inserting ‘‘29.63 percent’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:07 Jul 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2091.IS S2091 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2091 IS (3) in paragraph (3)(A), in the matter pre- 1 ceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘28.6 percent’’ and in- 2 serting ‘‘29.63 percent’’; 3 (4) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘7.1 percent’’ 4 and inserting ‘‘3.7 percent’’; and 5 (5) in paragraph (5)(A), in the matter pre- 6 ceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘7.1 percent’’ and in- 7 serting ‘‘7.41 percent’’. 8 (d) TREATMENT OF FAMILY MEMBERS.—Section 9 203(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 10 1153(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘Visas issued to a spouse or child of an immigrant de- 12 scribed in subsection (b) shall not be counted against the 13 worldwide level of such visas set forth in section 201(d)(1) 14 or the per country level set forth in section 202(a)(2).’’. 15 SEC. 3. HEALTH CARE WORKERS. 16 (a) EXEMPTION FROM NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS.— 17 Section 201(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 18 (8 U.S.C. 1151(b)(1)) is amended by adding at the end 19 the following: 20 ‘‘(F) Aliens who are members of an occupation 21 that the Secretary of Labor has designated under 22 Group I of Schedule A pursuant to section 656.15 23 of title 20, Code of Federal Regulations, and are 24 coming to the United States to work in such occupa- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:07 Jul 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2091.IS S2091 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2091 IS tion, and the spouses and children (as defined in 1 subparagraph (A), (B), (C), (D), or (E) of section 2 101(b)(1)) of such aliens. Aliens described in this 3 subparagraph may apply for an immigrant visa’’. 4 (b) PETITION.—Section 204(a)(1) of the Immigra- 5 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1)) is amend- 6 ed by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(M) Any employer desiring and intending to employ 8 within the United States an alien entitled to classification 9 under section 201(b)(1)(F) may file a petition with the 10 Secretary of Homeland Security for such classification.’’. 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 04:07 Jul 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2091.IS S2091 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2091 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.’’. 11 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF EMPLOYMENT FOR CHIL- 12 DREN AND SPOUSES OF NONIMMIGRANTS.—Section 214 13 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184) 14 is amended by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(s) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall au- 16 thorize an alien spouse admitted under subparagraph (E), 17 (H), or (L) of section 101(a)(15), who is accompanying 18 or following to join a principal alien admitted under any 19 such subparagraph, to engage in employment in the 20 United States, and shall provide such spouse with an ‘em- 21 ployment authorized’ endorsement or other appropriate 22 work permit. 23 ‘‘(t) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall au- 24 thorize an alien child admitted under subparagraph (E), 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:07 Jul 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2091.IS S2091 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2091 IS (H), or (L) of section 101(a)(15), who is accompanying 1 or following to join a principal alien admitted under any 2 such subparagraph, to engage in employment in the 3 United States, and shall provide such child with an ‘em- 4 ployment authorized’ endorsement or other appropriate 5 work permit if— 6 ‘‘(1) the child is at least 16 years of age; 7 ‘‘(2) the child, or the child’s legal representa- 8 tive, requests such work authorization; and 9 ‘‘(3) any employment in which the child may 10 engage complies with the Fair Labor Standards Act 11 of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.).’’. 12 (d) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS EARLY FILING FOR 13 NONIMMIGRANTS WITH APPROVED IMMIGRANT PETI- 14 TIONS.—Section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality 15 Act (8 U.S.C. 1255) is amended— 16 (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol- 17 lows: 18 ‘‘(a) STATUS AS PERSON ADMITTED FOR PERMA- 19 NENT RESIDENCE ON APPLICATION AND ELIGIBILITY FOR 20 IMMIGRANT VISA.—The Secretary of Homeland Security, 21 in the discretion of the Secretary and under such regula- 22 tions as the Secretary may prescribe, may adjust the sta- 23 tus of an alien who was inspected and admitted or paroled 24 into the United States or the status of any other alien 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:07 Jul 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2091.IS S2091 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2091 IS with an approved petition for classification as a VAWA 1 self-petitioner if— 2 ‘‘(1) the alien makes an application for such ad- 3 justment; 4 ‘‘(2) the alien is eligible to receive an immigrant 5 visa and is admissible to the United States for per- 6 manent residence; and 7 ‘‘(3) an immigrant visa is immediately available 8 to the alien at the time the alien’s application is ad- 9 judicated.’’; and 10 (2) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(n) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS APPLICATION AFTER 12 AN APPROVED IMMIGRANT PETITION.— 13 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—An alien who has an ap- 14 proved immigrant petition may file an adjustment of 15 status application under subsection (a), which, if the 16 alien is otherwise eligible, shall remain pending until 17 a visa number becomes available. 18 ‘‘(2) STATUS.—An admissible alien who has 19 properly filed an adjustment of status application 20 under subsection (a) shall, throughout the pendency 21 of such application— 22 ‘‘(A) have a lawful status and be consid- 23 ered lawfully present for purposes of section 24 212; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:07 Jul 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2091.IS S2091 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 2091 IS ‘‘(B) following a biometric background 1 check, be eligible for employment and travel au- 2 thorization incident to such status. 3 ‘‘(3) BIOMETRIC BACKGROUND CHECK.—Any 4 biometric background check performed with respect 5 to an alien during the 1-year period immediately 6 preceding the alien’s submission of an application 7 for an adjustment of status under subsection (a) 8 shall be sufficient for meeting the biometric back- 9 ground check requirement under paragraph 10 (2)(B).’’. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:07 Jul 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2091.IS S2091 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS