I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2843

To adjust the immigration status of certain Colombian and Peruvian nationals 

who are in the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 24, 2003

Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida (for himself, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. 

MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida, Mr. NUNES, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. BONILLA, Mr. WEXLER, Ms. CORRINE BROWN

of Florida, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. 

FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. 

RODRIGUEZ, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. FARR, and 

Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL

To adjust the immigration status of certain Colombian and 

Peruvian nationals who are in the United States.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Andean Adjustment 

5 Act of 2003’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS OF CERTAIN COLOMBIAN 

2 AND PERUVIAN NATIONALS. 

3 (a) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

5 245(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the 

6 status of any alien described in subsection (b) shall 

7 be adjusted by the Secretary of Homeland Security 

8 to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent 

9 residence, if the alien—

10 (A) applies for such adjustment not later 

11 than 2 years after the date of the enactment of 

12 this Act; and 

13 (B) is otherwise eligible to receive an im14 migrant visa and is otherwise admissible to the 

15 United States for permanent residence, except 

16 in determining such admissibility the grounds 

17 for inadmissibility specified in paragraphs (4), 

18 (5), (6)(A), and (7)(A) of section 212(a) of the 

19 Immigration and Nationality Act shall not 

20 apply. 

21 (2) RELATIONSHIP OF APPLICATION TO CER22 TAIN ORDERS.—An alien present in the United 

23 States who has been ordered excluded, deported, re24 moved, or ordered to depart voluntarily, from the 

25 United States under any provision of the Immigra26 tion and Nationality Act may, notwithstanding such 
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1 order, apply for adjustment of status under para2 graph (1). Such an alien may not be required, as a 

3 condition on submitting or granting such applica4 tion, to file a motion to reopen, reconsider, or vacate 

5 such order. If the Secretary of Homeland Security 

6 grants the application, the Secretary of Homeland 

7 Security shall cancel the order. If the Secretary of 

8 Homeland Security renders a final administrative 

9 decision to deny the application, the order shall be 

10 effective and enforceable to the same extent as if the 

11 application had not been made. 

12 (b) ALIENS ELIGIBLE FOR ADJUSTMENT OF STA13 TUS.—The benefits provided by subsection (a) shall apply 

14 to any alien who is a national of Colombia or Peru who—

15 (1) was physically present in the United States 

16 on December 31, 1999; and 

17 (2) is physically present in the United States on 

18 the date the application for adjustment of status 

19 under this Act is filed. 

20 (c) STAY OF REMOVAL.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

22 Security shall provide by regulation for an alien sub23 ject to a final order of deportation, removal, or ex24 clusion to seek a stay of such order based on the fil25 ing of an application under subsection (a). 
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1 (2) DURING CERTAIN PROCEEDINGS.—Notwith2 standing any provision of the Immigration and Na3 tionality Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security 

4 shall not order any alien to be removed from the 

5 United States, if the alien is in exclusion, deporta6 tion, or removal proceedings under any provision of 

7 such Act and raises as a defense to such an order 

8 the eligibility of the alien to apply for adjustment of 

9 status under subsection (a), except where the Sec10 retary of Homeland Security has rendered a final 

11 administrative determination to deny the application. 

12 (3) WORK AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of 

13 Homeland Security may authorize an alien who has 

14 applied for adjustment of status under subsection 

15 (a), and the spouse of the alien, to engage in em16 ployment in the United States during the pendency 

17 of such application and may provide the alien and 

18 the alien’s spouse with an ‘‘employment authorized’’ 

19 endorsement or other appropriate document signi20 fying authorization of employment, except that if 

21 such application is pending for a period exceeding 

22 180 days, and has not been denied, the Secretary of 

23 Homeland Security shall authorize such employment. 

24 (d) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS FOR SPOUSES AND

25 CHILDREN.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

2 245(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the 

3 status of an alien shall be adjusted by the Secretary 

4 of Homeland Security to that of an alien lawfully 

5 admitted for permanent residence, if the alien—

6 (A) is the spouse, child, or unmarried son 

7 or daughter, of an alien whose status is ad8 justed to that of an alien lawfully admitted for 

9 permanent residence under subsection (a), ex10 cept that in the case of such an unmarried son 

11 or daughter, the son or daughter shall be re12 quired to establish that they have been phys13 ically present in the United States for a contin14 uous period, beginning not later than December 

15 31, 1999, and ending not earlier than the date 

16 the application for adjustment under this sub17 section is filed; 

18 (B) applies for such adjustment not later 

19 than 2 years after the date of the enactment of 

20 this Act and is physically present in the United 

21 States on the date the application is filed; and 

22 (C) is otherwise eligible to receive an immi23 grant visa and is otherwise admissible to the 

24 United States for permanent residence, except 

25 in determining such admissibility the grounds 
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1 for exclusion specified in paragraphs (4), (5), 

2 (6)(A), and (7)(A) of section 212(a) of the Im3 migration and Nationality Act shall not apply. 

4 (2) PROOF OF CONTINUOUS PRESENCE.—For 

5 purposes of establishing the period of continuous 

6 physical presence referred to in paragraph (1)(B), 

7 an alien shall not be considered to have failed to 

8 maintain continuous physical presence by reason of 

9 an absence, or absences, from the United States for 

10 any periods in the aggregate not exceeding 180 

11 days. 

12 (e) AVAILABILITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—

13 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide to ap14 plicants for adjustment of status under subsection (a) the 

15 same right to, and procedures for, administrative review 

16 as are provided to—

17 (1) applicants for adjustment of status under 

18 section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act; 

19 or 

20 (2) aliens subject to removal proceedings under 

21 section 240 of such Act. 

22 (f) LIMITATION ON JUDICIAL REVIEW.—A deter23 mination by the Secretary of Homeland Security as to 

24 whether the status of any alien should be adjusted under 
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1 this Act is final and shall not be subject to review by any 

2 court. 

3 (g) NO OFFSET IN NUMBER OF VISAS AVAILABLE.—

4 When an alien is granted the status of having been law5 fully admitted for permanent residence pursuant to this 

6 Act, the Secretary of State shall not be required to reduce 

7 the number of immigrant visas authorized to be issued 

8 under any provision of the Immigration and Nationality 

9 Act. 

10 (h) APPLICATION OF IMMIGRATION AND NATION11 ALITY ACT PROVISIONS.—Except as otherwise specifically 

12 provided in this section, the definitions contained in the 

13 Immigration and Nationality Act shall apply in the admin14 istration of this Act. Nothing contained in this Act shall 

15 be held to repeal, amend, alter, modify, effect, or restrict 

16 the powers, duties, functions, or authority of the Secretary 

17 of Homeland Security in the administration and enforce18 ment of such Act or any other law relating to immigration, 

19 nationality, or naturalization. The fact that an alien may 

20 be eligible to be granted the status of having been lawfully 

21 admitted for permanent residence under this section shall 

22 not preclude the alien from seeking such status under any 

23 other provision of law for which the alien may be eligible.

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