S. 5168 

One Hundred Seventeenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and twenty two 

An Act 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to include aliens passing in transit 

through the United States to board a vessel on which the alien will perform 

ship-to-ship liquid cargo transfer operations within a class of nonimmigrant aliens, 

and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Energy Security and Lightering 

Independence Act of 2022’’. 

SEC. 2. CHANGES IN NONIMMIGRANT CATEGORIES. 

(a) TRANSIT THROUGH UNITED STATES.—Section 101(a)(15)(C) 

of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(C)) 

is amended to read as follows: 

‘‘(C)(i) an alien in immediate and continuous transit 

through the United States, for a period not to exceed 29 days; 

‘‘(ii) an alien who qualifies as a person entitled to pass 

in transit to and from the United Nations Headquarters District 

(as defined in section 209A(e) of the State Department Basic 

Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 4309a(e))) and foreign countries, under the provisions of paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) of 

section 11 of the Agreement regarding the Headquarters of 

the United Nations, done at Lake Success June 26, 1947 (61 

Stat. 758); or 

‘‘(iii) an alien passing in transit through the United States 

to board a vessel on which the alien will perform, or to disembark from a vessel on which the alien performed, shipto-ship liquid cargo transfer operations to or from another 

vessel engaged in foreign trade, for a period not to exceed 

180 days;’’. 

(b) ALIEN CREWMEN.—Section 101(a)(15)(D) of such Act (8 

U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(D)) is amended— 

(1) in clause (ii), by adding ‘‘or’’ at the end; and 

(2) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(iii) an alien crewman performing ship-to-ship liquid cargo 

transfer operations to or from another vessel engaged in foreign 

trade, who intends to land temporarily solely in pursuit of 

the alien’s responsibilities as a crewman and to depart from 

the United States on the vessel on which the alien arrived 

or on another vessel or aircraft, for a period not to exceed 

180 days;’’. 
S. 5168—2 

SEC. 3. CONDITIONAL PERMITS TO LAND TEMPORARILY. 

Section 252(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

1282(a)) is amended— 

(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

(2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end 

and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

(3) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(3) 180 days, if the immigration officer determines that 

the crewman— 

‘‘(A) intends to depart, within the period for which 

the crewman is permitted to land, on the same vessel 

or on a vessel or aircraft other than the vessel on which 

the crewman arrived; and 

‘‘(B) will perform ship-to-ship liquid cargo transfer 

operations to or from any other vessel engaged in foreign 

trade during such period.’’. 

SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

For purposes of this Act, and the amendments made by this 

Act, the performance by a crewman of ship-to-ship liquid cargo 

transfer operations to or from any other vessel engaged in foreign 

trade shall not be considered, for immigration purposes, to be 

services, work, labor or employment by the crewman within the 

United States. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.