I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3799 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to promote family unity, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 17, 2019 Ms. JUDY CHU of California (for herself, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. MOORE, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. MCGOV- ERN, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SOTO, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. NADLER, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. LEVIN of Cali- fornia, Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. KENNEDY, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. CISNEROS, Ms. MUCARSEL-POWELL, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Ms. NORTON, Mr. SMITH of Washington, and Mrs. KIRKPATRICK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to promote family unity, 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 TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Reuniting Families Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:44 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3799.IH H3799 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3799 IH (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 1 this Act is as follows: 2 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. TITLE I—REDUCING FAMILY-BASED VISA BACKLOGS AND PROMOTING FAMILY REUNIFICATION Sec. 101. Recapture of immigrant visas lost to bureaucratic delay. Sec. 102. Reclassification of spouses, permanent partners, and minor children of legal permanent residents as immediate relatives. Sec. 103. Country limits. Sec. 104. Promoting family unity. Sec. 105. Relief for orphans, widows, and widowers. Sec. 106. Exemption from immigrant visa limit for certain veterans who are na- tives of Philippines. Sec. 107. Fiance´e child status protection. Sec. 108. Equal treatment for all stepchildren. Sec. 109. Retention of priority dates. Sec. 110. Relief for spouses and children on H–4 visas. TITLE II—UNITING AMERICAN FAMILIES ACT Sec. 201. Definitions of permanent partner and permanent partnership. Sec. 202. Definition of child. Sec. 203. Numerical limitations on individual foreign states. Sec. 204. Allocation of immigrant visas. Sec. 205. Procedure for granting immigrant status. Sec. 206. Annual admission of refugees and admission of emergency situation refugees. Sec. 207. Asylum. Sec. 208. Adjustment of status of refugees. Sec. 209. Inadmissible aliens. Sec. 210. Nonimmigrant status for permanent partners awaiting the availability of an immigrant visa. Sec. 211. Derivative status for permanent partners of nonimmigrant visa hold- ers. Sec. 212. Conditional permanent resident status for certain alien spouses, per- manent partners, and sons and daughters. Sec. 213. Conditional permanent resident status for certain alien entrepreneurs, spouses, permanent partners, and children. Sec. 214. Deportable aliens. Sec. 215. Removal proceedings. Sec. 216. Cancellation of removal; adjustment of status. Sec. 217. Adjustment of status of nonimmigrant to that of person admitted for permanent residence. Sec. 218. Application of criminal penalties for misrepresentation and conceal- ment of facts regarding permanent partnerships. Sec. 219. Requirements as to residence, good moral character, attachment to the principles of the Constitution. Sec. 220. Naturalization for permanent partners of citizens. Sec. 221. Application of family unity provisions to permanent partners of cer- tain LIFE Act beneficiaries. Sec. 222. Application to Cuban Adjustment Act. Sec. 223. Nationality at birth. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:44 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H3799.IH H3799 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3799 IH TITLE III—PROMOTING DIVERSITY AND PROTECTING AGAINST DISCRIMINATION IN OUR IMMIGRATION SYSTEM Sec. 301. Increasing diversity visas. TITLE I—REDUCING FAMILY- 1 BASED VISA BACKLOGS AND 2 PROMOTING FAMILY REUNI- 3 FICATION 4 SEC. 101. RECAPTURE OF IMMIGRANT VISAS LOST TO BU- 5 REAUCRATIC DELAY. 6 (a) WORLDWIDE LEVEL OF FAMILY-SPONSORED IM- 7 MIGRANTS.—Section 201(c) of the Immigration and Na- 8 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(c)) is amended to read as 9 follows: 10 ‘‘(c) WORLDWIDE LEVEL OF FAMILY-SPONSORED 11 IMMIGRANTS.— 12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The worldwide level of fam- 13 ily-sponsored immigrants under this subsection for a 14 fiscal year is equal to the sum of— 15 ‘‘(A) 480,000; 16 ‘‘(B) the number computed under para- 17 graph (2); and 18 ‘‘(C) the number computed under para- 19 graph (3). 20 ‘‘(2) UNUSED VISA NUMBERS FROM PREVIOUS 21 FISCAL YEAR.—The number computed under this 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:44 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3799.IH H3799 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3799 IH paragraph for a fiscal year is the difference, if any, 1 between— 2 ‘‘(A) the worldwide level of family-spon- 3 sored immigrant visas established for the pre- 4 vious fiscal year; and 5 ‘‘(B) the number of visas issued under sec- 6 tion 203(a), subject to this subsection, during 7 the previous fiscal year. 8 ‘‘(3) UNUSED VISA NUMBERS FROM FISCAL 9 YEARS 1992 THROUGH 2015.—The number computed 10 under this paragraph is the difference, if any, be- 11 tween— 12 ‘‘(A) the difference, if any, between— 13 ‘‘(i) the sum of the worldwide levels of 14 family-sponsored immigrant visas estab- 15 lished for fiscal years 1992 through 2015; 16 and 17 ‘‘(ii) the number of visas issued under 18 section 203(a), subject to this subsection, 19 during such fiscal years; and 20 ‘‘(B) the number of unused visas from fis- 21 cal years 1992 through 2015 that were issued 22 after fiscal year 2015 under section 203(a), 23 subject to this subsection.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:44 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3799.IH H3799 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 3799 IH (b) WORLDWIDE LEVEL OF EMPLOYMENT-BASED 1 IMMIGRANTS.—Section 201(d) of the Immigration and 2 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(d)) is amended to read 3 as follows: 4 ‘‘(d) WORLDWIDE LEVEL OF EMPLOYMENT-BASED 5 IMMIGRANTS.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The worldwide level of em- 7 ployment-based immigrants under this subsection for 8 a fiscal year is equal to the sum of— 9 ‘‘(A) 140,000; 10 ‘‘(B) the number computed under para- 11 graph (2); and 12 ‘‘(C) the number computed under para- 13 graph (3). 14 ‘‘(2) UNUSED VISA NUMBERS FROM PREVIOUS 15 FISCAL YEAR.—The number computed under this 16 paragraph for a fiscal year is the difference, if any, 17 between— 18 ‘‘(A) the worldwide level of employment- 19 based immigrant visas established for the pre- 20 vious fiscal year; and 21 ‘‘(B) the number of visas issued under sec- 22 tion 203(b), subject to this subsection, during 23 the previous fiscal year. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:44 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3799.IH H3799 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 3799 IH ‘‘(3) UNUSED VISA NUMBERS FROM FISCAL 1 YEARS 1992 THROUGH 2015.—The number computed 2 under this paragraph is the difference, if any, be- 3 tween— 4 ‘‘(A) the difference, if any, between— 5 ‘‘(i) the sum of the worldwide levels of 6 employment-based immigrant visas estab- 7 lished for each of fiscal years 1992 8 through 2015; and 9 ‘‘(ii) the number of visas issued under 10 section 203(b), subject to this subsection, 11 during such fiscal years; and 12 ‘‘(B) the number of unused visas from fis- 13 cal years 1992 through 2015 that were issued 14 after fiscal year 2015 under section 203(b), 15 subject to this subsection.’’. 16 (c) ALIENS NOT SUBJECT TO DIRECT NUMERICAL 17 LIMITATIONS.—Section 201(b) of the Immigration and 18 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(b)) is amended by adding 19 at the end the following: 20 ‘‘(3)(A) Aliens who are beneficiaries (including 21 derivative beneficiaries) of approved immigrant peti- 22 tions bearing priority dates more than ten years 23 prior to the alien’s application for admission as an 24 immigrant or adjustment of status. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:44 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3799.IH H3799 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 3799 IH ‘‘(B) Aliens described in section 203(d).’’. 1 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 2 this section shall take effect on the date which is 60 days 3 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 4 SEC. 102. RECLASSIFICATION OF SPOUSES, PERMANENT 5 PARTNERS, AND MINOR CHILDREN OF LEGAL 6 PERMANENT RESIDENTS AS IMMEDIATE REL- 7 ATIVES. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 201(b)(2) of the Immi- 9 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(b)(2)) is 10 amended to read as follows: 11 ‘‘(2) IMMEDIATE RELATIVE.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 13 ‘‘(i) IMMEDIATE RELATIVE DE- 14 FINED.—In this subparagraph, the term 15 ‘immediate relative’ means a child, spouse, 16 permanent partner, or parent of a citizen 17 of the United States or a child, spouse, or 18 permanent partner of a lawful permanent 19 resident (and for each family member of a 20 citizen or lawful permanent resident under 21 this subparagraph, such individual’s 22 spouse, permanent partner, or child who is 23 accompanying or following to join the indi- 24 vidual), except that, in the case of parents, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:44 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3799.IH H3799 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 3799 IH such citizens shall be at least 21 years of 1 age. 2 ‘‘(ii) PREVIOUSLY ISSUED VISA.— 3 Aliens admitted under section 211(a) on 4 the basis of a prior issuance of a visa 5 under section 203(a) to their accom- 6 panying parent who is an immediate rel- 7 ative. 8 ‘‘(iii) PARENTS AND CHILDREN.—An 9 alien who was the child or parent of a cit- 10 izen of the United States or a child of a 11 lawful permanent resident at the time of 12 the citizen’s or resident’s death if the alien 13 files a petition under section 14 204(a)(1)(A)(ii) within 2 years after such 15 date or prior to reaching 21 years of age. 16 ‘‘(iv) SPOUSE OR PERMANENT PART- 17 NER.—An alien who was the spouse or per- 18 manent partner of a citizen of the United 19 States or lawful permanent resident for 20 not less than 2 years at the time of the 21 citizen’s or resident’s death or, if married 22 for less than 2 years at the time of the 23 citizen’s or resident’s death, proves by a 24 preponderance of the evidence that the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:44 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3799.IH H3799 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 3799 IH marriage or permanent partnership was 1 entered into in good faith and not solely 2 for the purpose of obtaining an immigra- 3 tion benefit and was not legally separated 4 from the citizen or resident (or, in the case 5 of a permanent partnership, whose perma- 6 nent partnership was not terminated) at 7 the time of the citizen’s or resident’s 8 death, and each child of such alien, shall 9 be considered, for purposes of this sub- 10 section, an immediate relative after the 11 date of the citizen’s or resident’s death if 12 the spouse or permanent partner files a pe- 13 tition under section 204(a)(1)(A)(ii) before 14 the date on which the spouse or permanent 15 partner remarries or enters a permanent 16 partnership with another person. 17 ‘‘(v) SPECIAL RULE.—For purposes of 18 this subparagraph, an alien who has filed 19 a petition under clause (iii) or (iv) of sec- 20 tion 204(a)(1)(A) remains an immediate 21 relative if the United States citizen or law- 22 ful permanent resident spouse, permanent 23 partner, or parent loses United States citi- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:44 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3799.IH H3799 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 3799 IH zenship or residence on account of the 1 abuse. 2 ‘‘(B) BIRTH DURING TEMPORARY VISIT 3 ABROAD.—Aliens born to an alien lawfully ad- 4 mitted for permanent residence during a tem- 5 porary visit abroad.’’. 6 (b) ALLOCATION OF IMMIGRANT VISAS.—Section 7 203(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 8 1153(a)) is amended— 9 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘23,400’’ and 10 inserting ‘‘127,200’’; 11 (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 12 following: 13 ‘‘(2) UNMARRIED SONS WITHOUT PERMANENT 14 PARTNERS AND UNMARRIED DAUGHTERS WITHOUT 15 PERMANENT PARTNERS OF PERMANENT RESIDENT 16 ALIENS.—Qualified immigrants who are the unmar- 17 ried sons without permanent partners or unmarried 18 daughters without permanent partners (but are not 19 the children) of an alien lawfully admitted for per- 20 manent residence shall be allocated visas in a num- 21 ber not to exceed 80,640, plus any visas not required 22 for the class specified in paragraph (1).’’; 23 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘23,400’’ and 24 inserting ‘‘80,640’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:44 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3799.IH H3799 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 3799 IH (4) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘65,000’’ and 1 inserting ‘‘191,520’’. 2 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 3 (1) RULES FOR DETERMINING WHETHER CER- 4 TAIN ALIENS ARE IMMEDIATE RELATIVES.—Section 5 201(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 6 U.S.C. 1151(f)) is amended— 7 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘para- 8 graphs (2) and (3),’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph 9 (2),’’; 10 (B) by striking paragraph (2); 11 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and 12 (4) as paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; and 13 (D) in paragraph (3), as redesignated by 14 subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘through (3)’’ 15 and inserting ‘‘and (2)’’. 16 (2) ALLOCATION OF IMMIGRATION VISAS.—Sec- 17 tion 203(h) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 18 (8 U.S.C. 1153(h)) is amended— 19 (A) in paragraph (1)— 20 (i) in the matter preceding subpara- 21 graph (A), by striking ‘‘subsections 22 (a)(2)(A) and (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub- 23 section (d)’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:44 Aug 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3799.IH H3799 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 3799 IH (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 1 ‘‘becomes available for such alien (or, in 2 the case of subsection (d), the date on 3 which an immigrant visa number became 4 available for the alien’s parent),’’ and in- 5 serting ‘‘became available for the alien’s 6 parent,’’; and 7 (iii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 8 ‘‘applicable’’; 9 (B) by amending paragraph (2) to read as 10 follows: 11 ‘‘(2) PETITIONS DESCRIBE [Text truncated for display. 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