Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3808 To amend the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009 to authorize additional special immigrant visas, to require a strategy for efficient processing, and to establish designated senior special immigrant visa coordinating officials, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 5, 2023 Mr. CROW (for himself, Mr. WENSTRUP, and Mr. BLUMENAUER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009 to au- thorize additional special immigrant visas, to require a strategy for efficient processing, and to establish des- ignated senior special immigrant visa coordinating offi- cials, 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 ‘‘Afghan Allies Protec- 4 tion Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 6 It is the sense of Congress that— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Aug 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3808.IH H3808 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3808 IH (1) section 1248(h) of the Refugee Crisis in 1 Iraq Act of 2007 (Public Law 110–181; 8 U.S.C. 2 1157 note) requires the Secretary of Homeland Se- 3 curity, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of 4 Defense to designate senior coordinating officials, 5 with sufficient expertise, authority, and resources, to 6 carry out duties relating to the issuance of special 7 immigrant visas under that Act and the Afghan Al- 8 lies Protection Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–8; 9 U.S.C. 1101 note); 10 (2) the Secretary of Homeland Security, the 11 Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Defense 12 should take all necessary steps to designate such 13 senior coordinating officials; 14 (3) all criteria relating to the requirements for 15 special immigrant visa applicants under the Refugee 16 Crisis in Iraq Act of 2007 (Public Law 110–181; 8 17 U.S.C. 1157 note) and the Afghan Allies Protection 18 Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–8; 8 U.S.C. 1101 19 note) should be implemented on the date of the en- 20 actment of this Act; 21 (4) in the case of any individual with respect to 22 whom the Chief of Mission has erroneously denied a 23 request for approval to apply for a special immigrant 24 visa under the Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act of 2007 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Aug 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3808.IH H3808 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3808 IH (Public Law 110–181; 8 U.S.C. 1157 note) or the 1 Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009 (Public Law 2 111–8; 8 U.S.C. 1101 note), the Chief of Mission 3 should reopen such requests sua sponte, including 4 for any individual who has— 5 (A) not appealed; 6 (B) submitted an appeal; or 7 (C) had an appeal denied; and 8 (5) each applicant for a special immigrant visa 9 under the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009 10 (Public Law 111–8; 8 U.S.C. 1101 note) should be 11 provided the opportunity to submit not more than 12 one appeal for each written denial, which would 13 allow the applicant the opportunity to understand 14 and respond to the denial. 15 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZING ADDITIONAL AFGHAN SPECIAL IMMI- 16 GRANT VISAS. 17 Section 602(b)(3)(F) of the Afghan Allies Protection 18 Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–8; 8 U.S.C. 1101 note) is 19 amended— 20 (1) in paragraph (3)(F)— 21 (A) in the subparagraph heading, by strik- 22 ing ‘‘Fiscal years 2015 through 2022’’ 23 and inserting ‘‘Fiscal years 2015 through 24 2029’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Aug 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3808.IH H3808 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3808 IH (B) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 1 striking ‘‘38,500’’ and inserting ‘‘58,500’’; 2 (C) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘December 3 31, 2024’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2029’’; 4 and 5 (D) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘December 6 31, 2024’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2029’’; 7 and 8 (2) in paragraph (13), in the matter preceding 9 subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘January 31, 2025’’ 10 and inserting ‘‘January 31, 2030’’. 11 SEC. 4. EXEMPTION FOR AFGHANS INJURED OR KILLED IN 12 THE COURSE OF EMPLOYMENT. 13 Section 602(b)(2)(A) of the Afghan Allies Protection 14 Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–8; 8 U.S.C. 1101 note) is 15 amended— 16 (1) in paragraph (2)(A)— 17 (A) by amending clause (ii) to read as fol- 18 lows: 19 ‘‘(ii)(I) was or is employed in Afghan- 20 istan on or after October 7, 2001, for not 21 less than 1 year— 22 ‘‘(aa) by, or on behalf of, the 23 United States Government; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Aug 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3808.IH H3808 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3808 IH ‘‘(bb) by the International Secu- 1 rity Assistance Force (or any suc- 2 cessor name for such Force) in a ca- 3 pacity that required the alien— 4 ‘‘(AA) while traveling off- 5 base with United States military 6 personnel stationed at the Inter- 7 national Security Assistance 8 Force (or any successor name for 9 such Force), to serve as an inter- 10 preter or translator for such 11 United States military personnel; 12 or 13 ‘‘(BB) to perform activities 14 for the United States military 15 personnel stationed at Inter- 16 national Security Assistance 17 Force (or any successor name for 18 such Force); or 19 ‘‘(II) in the case of an alien who was 20 wounded or seriously injured in connection 21 with employment described in subclause 22 (I), was employed for any period until the 23 date on which such wound or injury oc- 24 curred, if the wound or injury prevented 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Aug 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3808.IH H3808 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3808 IH the alien from continuing such employ- 1 ment;’’; and 2 (B) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘clause (ii)’’ 3 and inserting ‘‘clause (ii)(I)’’; 4 (2) in paragraph (13)(A)(i), by striking ‘‘sub- 5 clause (I) or (II)(bb) of paragraph (2)(A)(ii)’’ and 6 inserting ‘‘item (aa) or (bb)(BB) of paragraph 7 (2)(A)(ii)(I)’’; 8 (3) in paragraph (14)(C), by striking ‘‘para- 9 graph (2)(A)(ii)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph 10 (2)(A)(ii)(I)’’; and 11 (4) in paragraph (15), by striking ‘‘paragraph 12 (2)(A)(ii)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (2)(A)(ii)(I)’’. 13 SEC. 5. STRATEGY FOR THE EFFICIENT PROCESSING OF 14 ALL AFGHAN SPECIAL IMMIGRANT VISA AP- 15 PLICATIONS AND APPEALS. 16 Section 602 of the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 17 2009 (Public Law 111–8; 8 U.S.C. 1101 note) is amend- 18 ed— 19 (1) in subsection (a), in the matter preceding 20 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘In this section’’ and in- 21 serting ‘‘Except as otherwise explicitly provided, in 22 this section’’; and 23 (2) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the 24 following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Aug 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3808.IH H3808 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3808 IH ‘‘(16) DEPARTMENT OF STATE STRATEGY FOR 1 EFFICIENT PROCESSING OF APPLICATIONS AND AP- 2 PEALS.— 3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 4 days after the date of the enactment of this 5 paragraph, the Secretary of State, in consulta- 6 tion with the Secretary of Homeland Security, 7 the Secretary of Defense, the head of any other 8 relevant Federal agency, the appropriate com- 9 mittees of Congress, and civil society organiza- 10 tions (including legal advocates), shall develop a 11 strategy to address applications pending at all 12 steps of the special immigrant visa process 13 under this section. 14 ‘‘(B) ELEMENTS.—The strategy required 15 by subparagraph (A) shall include the following: 16 ‘‘(i) A review of current staffing levels 17 and needs across all interagency offices 18 and officials engaged in the special immi- 19 grant visa process under this section. 20 ‘‘(ii) An analysis of the expected Chief 21 of Mission approvals and denials of appli- 22 cations in the pipeline in order to project 23 the expected number of visas necessary to 24 provide special immigrant status to all ap- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Aug 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3808.IH H3808 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3808 IH proved applicants under this Act during 1 the several years after the date of the en- 2 actment of this paragraph. 3 ‘‘(iii) A plan for collecting and 4 disaggregating data on— 5 ‘‘(I) individuals who have applied 6 for special immigrant visas under this 7 section; and 8 ‘‘(II) individuals who have been 9 issued visas under this section. 10 ‘‘(iv) An assessment as to whether 11 adequate guidelines exist for reconsidering 12 or reopening applications for special immi- 13 grant visas under this section in appro- 14 priate circumstances and consistent with 15 applicable laws. 16 ‘‘(v) An assessment of the procedures 17 throughout the special immigrant visa ap- 18 plication process, including at the Ports- 19 mouth Consular Center, and the effective- 20 ness of communication between the Ports- 21 mouth Consular Center and applicants, in- 22 cluding an identification of any area in 23 which improvements to the efficiency of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Aug 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3808.IH H3808 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3808 IH such procedures and communication may 1 be made. 2 ‘‘(C) FORM.—The strategy required by 3 subparagraph (A) shall be submitted in unclas- 4 sified form but may include an classified annex. 5 ‘‘(D) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON- 6 GRESS DEFINED.—In this paragraph, the term 7 ‘appropriate committees of Congress’ means— 8 ‘‘(i) the Committee on Foreign Rela- 9 tions, the Committee on the Judiciary, the 10 Committee on Homeland Security and 11 Government Affairs, and the Committee on 12 Armed Services of the Senate; and 13 ‘‘(ii) the Committee on Foreign Af- 14 fairs, the Committee on the Judiciary, the 15 Committee on Homeland Security, and the 16 Committee on Armed Services of the 17 House of Representatives.’’. 18 SEC. 6. SENIOR COORDINATING OFFICIALS. 19 Section 602(b)(2)(D)(ii) of the Afghan Allies Protec- 20 tion Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–8; 8 U.S.C. 1101) is 21 amended by adding at the end the following: 22 ‘‘(III) SENIOR SPECIAL IMMI- 23 GRANT VISA COORDINATING OFFI- 24 CIALS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Aug 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3808.IH H3808 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3808 IH ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—The 1 head of each Federal agency that 2 employs a national of Afghani- 3 stan who may be eligible for a 4 special immigrant visa under this 5 section, and the head of each 6 Federal agency that is integral to 7 the processing of such visas (in- 8 cluding the Department of State, 9 the Department of Defense, the 10 Department of Homeland Secu- 11 rity, and the Department of 12 Health and Human Services), 13 shall designate a senior coordi- 14 nating official to oversee the effi- 15 ciency and integrity of the proc- 16 essing of visas for such nationals 17 of Afghanistan. 18 ‘‘(bb) QUALIFICATIONS.—An 19 official designated under item 20 (aa) shall be of a sufficient se- 21 niority to allow for interagency 22 coordination and responsiveness 23 among the relevant Federal agen- 24 cies. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Aug 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3808.IH H3808 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3808 IH ‘‘(cc) RESPONSIBILITIES 1 AND CLEARANCES.—Such an of- 2 ficial shall be given the respon- 3 sibilities and clearances described 4 in items (aa),(bb), and (cc) of 5 subclause (II).’’. 6 SEC. 7. AUTHORITY FOR REIMBURSEMENT OF MEDICAL EX- 7 AMINATIONS IN CASES OF ECONOMIC HARD- 8 SHIP. 9 Section 602 of the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 10 2009 (Public Law 111–8; 8 U.S.C. 1101 note) is amend- 11 ed— 12 (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub- 13 section (d); and 14 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol- 15 lowing: 16 ‘‘(c) MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS.— 17 ‘‘(1) REIMBURSEMENT.—Subject to the 18 amounts provided in advance in appropriations Acts, 19 the Secretary of State shall, on receipt of a petition 20 for reimbursement, reimburse an alien described in 21 subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of subsection (b)(2) 22 for the costs incurred by the alien for any medical 23 examination required under the immigration laws 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Aug 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3808.IH H3808 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3808 IH (as defined in section 101(a) of the Immigration and 1 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a))) 2 ‘‘(2) PETITION.—Not later than the date on 3 which an alien receives Chief of Mission approval 4 pursuant to subsection (b), the alien shall submit to 5 a consular officer of the United States in the foreign 6 country in which the alien is located a petition for 7 reimbursement for any medical examination required 8 under the immigration laws. 9 ‘‘(3) CONSULAR OFFICER DETERMINATION.— 10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 7 busi- 11 ness days after the date on which a petition 12 under paragraph (2) is submitted, a consular 13 officer of the United States shall provide to the 14 alien who submitted the petition a written no- 15 tice of approval or denial of the petition. 16 ‘‘(B) EXPLANATION OF DENIAL.—A writ- 17 ten notice of denial under subparagraph (A) 18 shall be accompanied by an explanation for the 19 denial and instructions for appealing the denial. 20 ‘‘(4) APPEALS PROCESS.—The Secretary of 21 State shall establish a process by which an alien may 22 appeal the denial of a petition under this subsection. 23 ‘‘(5) CAP ON REIMBURSEMENT.—A reimburse- 24 ment approved under this subsection may not exceed 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Aug 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3808.IH H3808 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 3808 IH the fair market value of medical examinations, as 1 determined by the Secretary of State, in the applica- 2 ble foreign country. 3 ‘‘(6) PAYMENT BEFORE EXAMINATION.—The 4 Secretary of State, on a case-by-case basis, may ap- 5 prove and disburse payment for a medical examina- 6 tion in advance of the medical examination.’’. 7 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF VIRTUAL INTERVIEWS. 8 Section 602(b)(4) of the Afghan Allies Protection Act 9 of 2009 (Public Law 111–8; 8 U.S.C. 1101 21 note) is 10 amended by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(D) VIRTUAL INTERVIEWS.—Notwith- 12 standing section 222(e) of the Immigration and 13 Nationality Act [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]