Emergency Stopgap USCIS Stabilization Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8089 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 Received AN ACT 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:53 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8089.RDS H8089 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 HR 8089 RDS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emergency Stopgap 2 USCIS Stabilization Act’’. 3 SECTION 2. EXPANSION OF PREMIUM PROCESSING. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 286(u) of the Immigra- 5 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1356(u)) is amended 6 to read as follows: 7 ‘‘(u) PREMIUM FEE FOR CERTAIN IMMIGRATION 8 BENEFIT TYPES.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 10 Security is authorized to establish and collect a pre- 11 mium fee for the immigration benefit types described 12 in paragraph (2). Such fee shall be paid in addition 13 to any other fees authorized by law, deposited as off- 14 setting receipts in the Immigration Examinations 15 Fee Account established under subsection (m), and 16 used for the purposes described in paragraph (4). 17 ‘‘(2) IMMIGRATION BENEFIT TYPES.—Subject 18 to reasonable conditions or limitations, the Secretary 19 shall establish a premium fee under paragraph (1) 20 in connection with— 21 ‘‘(A) employment-based nonimmigrant pe- 22 titions and associated applications for depend- 23 ents of the beneficiaries of such petitions; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:53 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8089.RDS H8089 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 HR 8089 RDS ‘‘(B) employment-based immigrant peti- 1 tions filed by or on behalf of aliens described in 2 paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of section 203(b); 3 ‘‘(C) applications to change or extend non- 4 immigrant status; 5 ‘‘(D) applications for employment author- 6 ization; and 7 ‘‘(E) any other immigration benefit type 8 that the Secretary deems appropriate for pre- 9 mium processing. 10 ‘‘(3) AMOUNT OF FEE.— 11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 12 graph (C), with respect to an immigration ben- 13 efit type designated for premium processing by 14 the Secretary on or before August 1, 2020, the 15 premium fee shall be $2,500, except that the 16 premium fee for a petition for classification of 17 a nonimmigrant described in subparagraph 18 (H)(ii)(b) or (R) of section 101(a)(15) shall be 19 $1,500. 20 ‘‘(B) OTHER IMMIGRATION BENEFIT 21 TYPES.—With respect to an immigration benefit 22 type designated for premium processing but not 23 described in subparagraph (A), the initial pre- 24 mium fee shall be established by regulation, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:53 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8089.RDS H8089 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 HR 8089 RDS which shall include a detailed methodology sup- 1 porting the proposed premium fee amount. 2 ‘‘(C) BIENNIAL ADJUSTMENT.—The Sec- 3 retary may adjust a premium fee under sub- 4 paragraph (A) or (B) on a biennial basis by the 5 percentage (if any) by which the Consumer 6 Price Index for All Urban Consumers for the 7 month of June preceding the date on which 8 such adjustment takes effect exceeds the Con- 9 sumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for 10 the same month of the second preceding cal- 11 endar year. The provisions of section 553 of 12 title 5, United States Code, shall not apply to 13 an adjustment authorized under this subpara- 14 graph. 15 ‘‘(4) USE OF FEE.—Fees collected under this 16 subsection may only be used by U.S. Citizenship and 17 Immigration Services to— 18 ‘‘(A) provide the services described in 19 paragraph (5) to premium processing reques- 20 tors; 21 ‘‘(B) make infrastructure improvements in 22 adjudications processes and the provision of in- 23 formation and services to immigration and nat- 24 uralization benefit requestors; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:53 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8089.RDS H8089 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 HR 8089 RDS ‘‘(C) respond to adjudication demands, in- 1 cluding by reducing the number of pending im- 2 migration and naturalization benefit requests; 3 and 4 ‘‘(D) otherwise offset the cost of providing 5 adjudication and naturalization services. 6 ‘‘(5) PREMIUM PROCESSING SERVICES.—The 7 Secretary— 8 ‘‘(A) may suspend the availability of pre- 9 mium processing for designated immigration 10 benefit requests only if circumstances prevent 11 the completion of processing of a significant 12 number of such requests within the required pe- 13 riod; and 14 ‘‘(B) shall ensure that premium processing 15 requestors have direct and reliable access to 16 current case status information as well as the 17 ability to communicate with the premium proc- 18 essing units at each service center or office that 19 provides premium processing services.’’. 20 (b) EXPANSION TO NEW BENEFIT REQUESTS.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the re- 22 quirement to set a fee by regulation under section 23 286(u)(3)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality 24 Act (8 U.S.C. 1356(u)(3)(B)), as amended by sub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:53 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8089.RDS H8089 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 HR 8089 RDS section (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security may 1 set a fee under that section without regard to the 2 provisions of section 553 of title 5, United States 3 Code, if such fee is consistent with the following: 4 (A) For a petition for classification under 5 section 203(b)(1)(C) of the Immigration and 6 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(1)(C)), or a 7 petition for classification under section 8 203(b)(2) involving a waiver under section 9 203(b)(2)(B) of such Act, the fee is set at an 10 amount not greater than $2,500 and the re- 11 quired processing timeframe is not greater than 12 45 days. 13 (B) For an application under section 248 14 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 15 U.S.C. 1258) to change status to a classifica- 16 tion described in subparagraph (F), (J), or (M) 17 of section 101(a)(15) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 18 1101(a)(15)), the fee is set at an amount not 19 greater than $1,750 and the required proc- 20 essing timeframe is not greater than 30 days. 21 (C) For an application under section 248 22 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 23 U.S.C. 1258) to change status to be classified 24 as a dependent of a nonimmigrant described in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:53 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8089.RDS H8089 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 HR 8089 RDS subparagraph (E), (H), (L), (O), (P), or (R) of 1 section 101(a)(15) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 2 1101(a)(15)), or to extend such classification, 3 the fee is set at an amount not greater than 4 $1,750 and the required processing timeframe 5 is not greater than 30 days. 6 (D) For an application for employment au- 7 thorization, the fee is set at an amount not 8 greater than $1,500 and the required proc- 9 essing timeframe is not greater than 30 days. 10 (2) CLARIFICATION.—The required processing 11 timeframe for each of the applications and petitions 12 described in paragraph (1) shall not commence until 13 the date that all prerequisites for adjudication are 14 received by the Secretary of Homeland Security. 15 (c) OTHER BENEFIT REQUESTS.—In implementing 16 the amendments made by subsection (a), the Secretary of 17 Homeland Security shall develop and implement processes 18 to ensure that the availability of premium processing, or 19 its expansion to additional immigration benefit requests, 20 does not result in an increase in processing times for im- 21 migration benefit requests not designated for premium 22 processing or an increase in regular processing of immi- 23 gration benefit requests so designated. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:53 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8089.RDS H8089 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 HR 8089 RDS SEC. 3. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 2 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Home- 3 land Security shall provide to the appropriate Committees 4 a 5-year plan, including projected cost estimates, procure- 5 ment strategies, and a project schedule with milestones, 6 to accomplish each of the following: 7 (1) Establish electronic filing procedures for all 8 applications and petitions for immigration benefits. 9 (2) Accept electronic payment of fees at all fil- 10 ing locations. 11 (3) Issue correspondence, including decisions, 12 requests for evidence, and notices of intent to deny, 13 to immigration benefit requestors electronically. 14 (4) Improve processing times for all immigra- 15 tion and naturalization benefit requests. 16 (b) SEMI-ANNUAL BRIEFINGS.—Not later than 180 17 days after submission of the plan described in paragraph 18 (1), and on a semi-annual basis thereafter, the Secretary 19 shall advise the appropriate Committees on the implemen- 20 tation status of such plan. 21 (c) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES DEFINED.—In this 22 section, the term ‘‘appropriate Committees’’ means— 23 (1) the Committee on Appropriations, the Com- 24 mittee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:53 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8089.RDS H8089 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 HR 8089 RDS Homeland Security of the House of Representatives; 1 and 2 (2) the Committee on Appropriations, the Com- 3 mittee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on 4 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 5 Senate. 6 SEC. 4. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 7 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 8 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 9 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 10 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 11 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 12 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro- 13 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 14 vote on passage. 15 Passed the House of Representatives August 22, 2020. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:53 Jan 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8089.RDS H8089 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS