Emergency Stopgap USCIS Stabilization Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8078 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to expand premium processing for certain immigration benefits, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 21, 2020 Ms. LOFGREN (for herself, Mr. NADLER, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. BUCK, Mr. WELCH, and Mr. RASKIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to expand premium processing for certain immigration benefits, 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emergency Stopgap 4 USCIS Stabilization Act’’. 5 SECTION 2. EXPANSION OF PREMIUM PROCESSING. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 286(u) of the Immigra- 7 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1356(u)) is amended 8 to read as follows: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Sep 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8078.IH H8078 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8078 IH ‘‘(u) PREMIUM FEE FOR CERTAIN IMMIGRATION 1 BENEFIT REQUESTS.— 2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 3 Security is authorized to establish and collect a pre- 4 mium fee for the immigration benefit requests de- 5 scribed in paragraph (2). Such fee shall be paid in 6 addition to any other fees authorized by law, depos- 7 ited as offsetting receipts in the Immigration Exami- 8 nations Fee Account established under subsection 9 (m), and used for the purposes described in para- 10 graph (4). 11 ‘‘(2) IMMIGRATION BENEFIT REQUESTS.—Sub- 12 ject to reasonable conditions or limitations, the Sec- 13 retary shall establish a premium fee under para- 14 graph (1) in connection with— 15 ‘‘(A) employment-based nonimmigrant pe- 16 titions and associated applications for depend- 17 ents of the beneficiaries of such petitions; 18 ‘‘(B) employment-based immigrant peti- 19 tions filed by or on behalf of aliens described in 20 paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of section 203(b); 21 ‘‘(C) applications to change or extend non- 22 immigrant status; 23 ‘‘(D) applications for employment author- 24 ization; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Sep 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8078.IH H8078 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8078 IH ‘‘(E) any other immigration benefit request 1 that the Secretary deems appropriate for pre- 2 mium processing. 3 ‘‘(3) AMOUNT OF FEE.— 4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 5 graph (C), with respect to an immigration ben- 6 efit request designated for premium processing 7 by the Secretary on or before August 1, 2020, 8 the premium fee shall be $2,500, except that 9 the premium fee for a petition for classification 10 of a nonimmigrant described in subparagraph 11 (H)(ii)(b) or (R) of section 101(a)(15) shall be 12 $1,500. 13 ‘‘(B) OTHER IMMIGRATION BENEFIT RE- 14 QUESTS.—With respect to an immigration ben- 15 efit request designated for premium processing 16 but not described in subparagraph (A), the ini- 17 tial premium fee shall be established by regula- 18 tion, which shall include a detailed methodology 19 supporting the proposed premium fee amount. 20 ‘‘(C) BIENNIAL ADJUSTMENT.—The Sec- 21 retary may adjust a premium fee under sub- 22 paragraph (A) or (B) on a biennial basis by the 23 percentage (if any) by which the Consumer 24 Price Index for All Urban Consumers for the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Sep 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8078.IH H8078 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8078 IH month of June preceding the date on which 1 such adjustment takes effect exceeds the Con- 2 sumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for 3 the same month of the second preceding cal- 4 endar year. The provisions of section 553 of 5 title 5, United States Code, shall not apply to 6 an adjustment authorized under this subpara- 7 graph. 8 ‘‘(4) USE OF FEE.—Fees collected under this 9 subsection may only be used by U.S. Citizenship and 10 Immigration Services to— 11 ‘‘(A) provide the services described in 12 paragraph (5) to premium processing reques- 13 tors; 14 ‘‘(B) make infrastructure improvements in 15 adjudications processes and the provision of in- 16 formation and services to immigration and nat- 17 uralization benefit requestors; 18 ‘‘(C) respond to adjudication demands, in- 19 cluding by reducing the number of pending im- 20 migration and naturalization benefit requests; 21 and 22 ‘‘(D) otherwise offset the cost of providing 23 adjudication and naturalization services. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Sep 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8078.IH H8078 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8078 IH ‘‘(5) PREMIUM PROCESSING SERVICES.—The 1 Secretary— 2 ‘‘(A) may suspend the availability of pre- 3 mium processing for designated immigration 4 benefit requests only if circumstances prevent 5 the completion of processing of a significant 6 number of such requests within the required pe- 7 riod; and 8 ‘‘(B) shall ensure that premium processing 9 requestors have direct and reliable access to 10 current case status information as well as the 11 ability to communicate with the premium proc- 12 essing units at each service center or office that 13 provides premium processing services.’’. 14 (b) EXPANSION TO NEW BENEFIT REQUESTS.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the re- 16 quirement to set a fee by regulation under section 17 286(u)(3)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality 18 Act (8 U.S.C. 1356(u)(3)(B)), as amended by sub- 19 section (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security may 20 set a fee under that section without regard to the 21 provisions of section 553 of title 5, United States 22 Code, if such fee is consistent with the following: 23 (A) For a petition for classification under 24 section 203(b)(1)(C) of the Immigration and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Sep 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8078.IH H8078 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8078 IH Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(1)(C)), or a 1 petition for classification under section 2 203(b)(2) involving a waiver under section 3 203(b)(2)(B) of such Act, the fee is set at an 4 amount not greater than $2,500 and the re- 5 quired processing timeframe is not greater than 6 45 days. 7 (B) For an application under section 248 8 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 9 U.S.C. 1258) to change status to a classifica- 10 tion described in subparagraph (F), (J), or (M) 11 of section 101(a)(15) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 12 1101(a)(15)), the fee is set at an amount not 13 greater than $1,750 and the required proc- 14 essing timeframe is not greater than 30 days. 15 (C) For an application under section 248 16 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 17 U.S.C. 1258) to change status to be classified 18 as a dependent of a nonimmigrant described in 19 subparagraph (E), (H), (L), (O), (P), or (R) of 20 section 101(a)(15) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 21 1101(a)(15)), or to extend such classification, 22 the fee is set at an amount not greater than 23 $1,750 and the required processing timeframe 24 is not greater than 30 days. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Sep 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8078.IH H8078 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8078 IH (D) For an application for employment au- 1 thorization, the fee is set at an amount not 2 greater than $1,500 and the required proc- 3 essing timeframe is not greater than 30 days. 4 (2) CLARIFICATION.—The required processing 5 timeframe for each of the applications and petitions 6 described in paragraph (1) shall not commence until 7 the date that all prerequisites for adjudication are 8 received by the Secretary of Homeland Security. 9 (c) OTHER BENEFIT REQUESTS.—In implementing 10 the amendments made by subsection (a), the Secretary of 11 Homeland Security shall develop and implement processes 12 to ensure that the availability of premium processing, or 13 its expansion to additional immigration benefit requests, 14 does not result in an increase in processing times for im- 15 migration benefit requests not designated for premium 16 processing or an increase in regular processing of immi- 17 gration benefit requests so designated. 18 SEC. 3. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 20 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Home- 21 land Security shall provide to the appropriate Committees 22 a 5-year plan, including projected cost estimates, procure- 23 ment strategies, and a project schedule with milestones, 24 to accomplish each of the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Sep 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8078.IH H8078 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8078 IH (1) Establish electronic filing procedures for all 1 applications and petitions for immigration benefits. 2 (2) Accept electronic payment of fees at all fil- 3 ing locations. 4 (3) Issue correspondence, including decisions, 5 requests for evidence, and notices of intent to deny, 6 to immigration benefit requestors electronically. 7 (4) Improve processing times for all immigra- 8 tion and naturalization benefit requests. 9 (b) SEMI-ANNUAL BRIEFINGS.—Not later than 180 10 days after submission of the plan described in paragraph 11 (1), and on a semi-annual basis thereafter, the Secretary 12 shall advise the appropriate Committees on the implemen- 13 tation status of such plan. 14 (c) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES DEFINED.—In this 15 section, the term ‘‘appropriate Committees’’ means— 16 (1) the Committee on Appropriations, the Com- 17 mittee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on 18 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives; 19 and 20 (2) the Committee on Appropriations, the Com- 21 mittee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on 22 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 23 Senate. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:40 Sep 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8078.IH H8078 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS