I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 849

To provide for adjustment of status for certain nationals of Bangladesh.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 25, 1999

Mr. GILMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To provide for adjustment of status for certain nationals

of Bangladesh.

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 ‘‘Bangladeshi Adjust5 ment Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS FOR CERTAIN NATIONALS

7 OF BANGLADESH.

8 (a) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The status of any alien de10 scribed in subsection (b) shall be adjusted by the At-
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1 torney General to that of an alien lawfully admitted

2 for permanent residence, if the alien—

3 (A) applies for such adjustment before

4 July 1, 2001; and

5 (B) is otherwise admissible to the United

6 States for permanent residence, except in deter7 mining such admissibility the grounds for inad8 missibility specified in paragraphs (4), (5),

9 (6)(A), (7)(A), and (9)(B) of section 212(a) of

10 the Immigration and Nationality Act shall not

11 apply.

12 (2) RELATIONSHIP OF APPLICATION TO CER13 TAIN ORDERS.—An alien present in the United

14 States who has been ordered excluded, deported, re15 moved, or ordered to depart voluntarily from the

16 United States under any provision of the Immigra17 tion and Nationality Act may, notwithstanding such

18 order, apply for adjustment of status under para19 graph (1). Such an alien may not be required, as a

20 condition of submitting or granting such application,

21 to file a separate motion to reopen, reconsider, or

22 vacate such order. If the Attorney General grants

23 the application, the Attorney General shall cancel

24 the order. If the Attorney General renders a final

25 administrative decision to deny the application, the
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1 order shall be effective and enforceable to the same

2 extent as if the application had not been made.

3 (b) ALIENS ELIGIBLE FOR ADJUSTMENT OF STA4 TUS.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The benefits provided by

6 subsection (a) shall apply to any alien who is a na7 tional of Bangladesh and who has been physically

8 present in the United States for a continuous period,

9 beginning not later than July 1, 1989, and ending

10 not earlier than the date the application for adjust11 ment under such subsection is filed, except an alien

12 shall not be considered to have failed to maintain

13 continuous physical presence by reason of an ab14 sence, or absences, from the United States for any

15 periods in the aggregate not exceeding 180 days.

16 (2) PROOF OF COMMENCEMENT OF CONTINU17 OUS PRESENCE.—For purposes of establishing that

18 the period of continuous physical presence referred

19 to in paragraph (1) commenced not later than July

20 1, 1989, an alien—

21 (A) shall demonstrate that the alien, prior

22 to July 1, 1989—

23 (i) performed service, or engaged in a

24 trade or business, within the United States
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1 which is evidenced by records maintained

2 by the Commissioner of Social Security; or

3 (ii) applied for any benefit under the

4 Immigration and Nationality Act by means

5 of an application establishing the alien’s

6 presence in the United States prior to July

7 1, 1989; or

8 (B) shall make such other demonstration

9 of physical presence as the Attorney General

10 may provide for by regulation.

11 (c) STAY OF REMOVAL; WORK AUTHORIZATION.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall

13 provide by regulation for an alien subject to a final

14 order of deportation or removal to seek a stay of

15 such order based on the filing of an application

16 under subsection (a).

17 (2) DURING CERTAIN PROCEEDINGS.—Notwith18 standing any provision of the Immigration and Na19 tionality Act, the Attorney General shall not order

20 any alien to be removed from the United States, if

21 the alien is in exclusion, deportation, or removal pro22 ceedings under any provision of such Act and has

23 applied for adjustment of status under subsection

24 (a), except where the Attorney General has rendered
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1 a final administrative determination to deny the ap2 plication.

3 (3) WORK AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney

4 General may authorize an alien who has applied for

5 adjustment of status under subsection (a) to engage

6 in employment in the United States during the

7 pendency of such application and may provide the

8 alien with an ‘‘employment authorized’’ endorsement

9 or other appropriate document signifying authoriza10 tion of employment, except that if such application

11 is pending for a period exceeding 180 days, and has

12 not been denied, the Attorney General shall author13 ize such employment.

14 (d) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS FOR SPOUSES AND

15 CHILDREN.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The status of an alien shall

17 be adjusted by the Attorney General to that of an

18 alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, if—

19 (A) the alien is a national of Bangladesh;

20 (B) the alien is the spouse, child, or un21 married son or daughter, of an alien whose sta22 tus is adjusted to that of an alien lawfully ad23 mitted for permanent residence under sub24 section (a), except that in the case of such an

25 unmarried son or daughter, the son or daughter
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1 shall be required to establish that they have

2 been physically present in the United States for

3 a continuous period, beginning not later than

4 July 1, 1989, and ending not earlier than the

5 date the application for adjustment under this

6 subsection is filed;

7 (C) the alien applies for such adjustment

8 and is physically present in the United States

9 on the date the application is filed;

10 (D) the alien is otherwise admissible to the

11 United States for permanent residence, except

12 in determining such admissibility the grounds

13 for exclusion specified in paragraphs (4), (5),

14 (6)(A), (7)(A), and (9)(B) of section 212(a) of

15 the Immigration and Nationality Act shall not

16 apply; and

17 (E) applies for such adjustment before

18 July 1, 2001.

19 (2) PROOF OF CONTINUOUS PRESENCE.—For

20 purposes of establishing the period of continuous

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

22 an alien—

23 (A) shall demonstrate that such period

24 commenced not later than July 1, 1989, in a

25 manner consistent with subsection (b)(2); and
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1 (B) shall not be considered to have failed

2 to maintain continuous physical presence by

3 reason of an absence, or absences, from the

4 United States for any period in the aggregate

5 not exceeding 180 days.

6 (e) FEE.—The Attorney General shall impose a fee

7 of $1,000 on each alien filing an application for adjust8 ment of status under this section.

9 (f) AVAILABILITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—

10 The Attorney General shall provide to applicants for ad11 justment of status under subsection (a) the same right to,

12 and procedures for, administrative review as are provided

13 to—

14 (1) applicants for adjustment of status under

15 section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act;

16 or

17 (2) aliens subject to removal proceedings under

18 section 240 of such Act.

19 (g) LIMITATION ON JUDICIAL REVIEW.—A deter20 mination by the Attorney General as to whether the status

21 of any alien should be adjusted under this section is final

22 and shall not be subject to review by any court.

23 (h) APPLICATION OF IMMIGRATION AND NATIONAL24 ITY ACT PROVISIONS.—Except as otherwise specifically

25 provided in this section, the definitions contained in the
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1 Immigration and Nationality Act shall apply in the admin2 istration of this section. Nothing contained in this section

3 shall be held to repeal, amend, alter, modify, affect, or

4 restrict the powers, duties, functions, or authority of the

5 Attorney General in the administration and enforcement

6 of such Act or any other law relating to immigration, na7 tionality, or naturalization. The fact that an alien may be

8 eligible to be granted the status of having been lawfully

9 admitted for permanent residence under this section shall

10 not preclude the alien from seeking such status under any

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

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