I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8078 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to expand premium processing 

for certain immigration benefits, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 21, 2020 

Ms. LOFGREN (for herself, Mr. NADLER, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. CLEAVER, 

Mr. BUCK, Mr. WELCH, and Mr. RASKIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to expand 

premium processing for certain immigration benefits, and 

for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Emergency Stopgap 

5 USCIS Stabilization Act’’. 

6 SECTION 2. EXPANSION OF PREMIUM PROCESSING. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 286(u) of the Immigra8 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1356(u)) is amended 

9 to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(u) PREMIUM FEE FOR CERTAIN IMMIGRATION

2 BENEFIT REQUESTS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

4 Security is authorized to establish and collect a pre5 mium fee for the immigration benefit requests de6 scribed in paragraph (2). Such fee shall be paid in 

7 addition to any other fees authorized by law, depos8 ited as offsetting receipts in the Immigration Exami9 nations Fee Account established under subsection 

10 (m), and used for the purposes described in para11 graph (4). 

12 ‘‘(2) IMMIGRATION BENEFIT REQUESTS.—Sub13 ject to reasonable conditions or limitations, the Sec14 retary shall establish a premium fee under para15 graph (1) in connection with— 

16 ‘‘(A) employment-based nonimmigrant pe17 titions and associated applications for depend18 ents of the beneficiaries of such petitions; 

19 ‘‘(B) employment-based immigrant peti20 tions filed by or on behalf of aliens described in 

21 paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of section 203(b); 

22 ‘‘(C) applications to change or extend non23 immigrant status; 

24 ‘‘(D) applications for employment author25 ization; and 


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1 ‘‘(E) any other immigration benefit request 

2 that the Secretary deems appropriate for pre3 mium processing. 

4 ‘‘(3) AMOUNT OF FEE.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara6 graph (C), with respect to an immigration ben7 efit request designated for premium processing 

8 by the Secretary on or before August 1, 2020, 

9 the premium fee shall be $2,500, except that 

10 the premium fee for a petition for classification 

11 of a nonimmigrant described in subparagraph 

12 (H)(ii)(b) or (R) of section 101(a)(15) shall be 

13 $1,500. 

14 ‘‘(B) OTHER IMMIGRATION BENEFIT RE15 QUESTS.—With respect to an immigration ben16 efit request designated for premium processing 

17 but not described in subparagraph (A), the ini18 tial premium fee shall be established by regula19 tion, which shall include a detailed methodology 

20 supporting the proposed premium fee amount. 

21 ‘‘(C) BIENNIAL ADJUSTMENT.—The Sec22 retary may adjust a premium fee under sub23 paragraph (A) or (B) on a biennial basis by the 

24 percentage (if any) by which the Consumer 

25 Price Index for All Urban Consumers for the 


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1 month of June preceding the date on which 

2 such adjustment takes effect exceeds the Con3 sumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for 

4 the same month of the second preceding cal5 endar year. The provisions of section 553 of 

6 title 5, United States Code, shall not apply to 

7 an adjustment authorized under this subpara8 graph. 

9 ‘‘(4) USE OF FEE.—Fees collected under this 

10 subsection may only be used by U.S. Citizenship and 

11 Immigration Services to— 

12 ‘‘(A) provide the services described in 

13 paragraph (5) to premium processing reques14 tors; 

15 ‘‘(B) make infrastructure improvements in 

16 adjudications processes and the provision of in17 formation and services to immigration and nat18 uralization benefit requestors; 

19 ‘‘(C) respond to adjudication demands, in20 cluding by reducing the number of pending im21 migration and naturalization benefit requests; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(D) otherwise offset the cost of providing 

24 adjudication and naturalization services. 


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1 ‘‘(5) PREMIUM PROCESSING SERVICES.—The 

2 Secretary— 

3 ‘‘(A) may suspend the availability of pre4 mium processing for designated immigration 

5 benefit requests only if circumstances prevent 

6 the completion of processing of a significant 

7 number of such requests within the required pe8 riod; and 

9 ‘‘(B) shall ensure that premium processing 

10 requestors have direct and reliable access to 

11 current case status information as well as the 

12 ability to communicate with the premium proc13 essing units at each service center or office that 

14 provides premium processing services.’’. 

15 (b) EXPANSION TO NEW BENEFIT REQUESTS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the re17 quirement to set a fee by regulation under section 

18 286(u)(3)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality 

19 Act (8 U.S.C. 1356(u)(3)(B)), as amended by sub20 section (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security may 

21 set a fee under that section without regard to the 

22 provisions of section 553 of title 5, United States 

23 Code, if such fee is consistent with the following: 

24 (A) For a petition for classification under 

25 section 203(b)(1)(C) of the Immigration and 


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1 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(1)(C)), or a 

2 petition for classification under section 

3 203(b)(2) involving a waiver under section 

4 203(b)(2)(B) of such Act, the fee is set at an 

5 amount not greater than $2,500 and the re6 quired processing timeframe is not greater than 

7 45 days. 

8 (B) For an application under section 248 

9 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

10 U.S.C. 1258) to change status to a classifica11 tion described in subparagraph (F), (J), or (M) 

12 of section 101(a)(15) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 

13 1101(a)(15)), the fee is set at an amount not 

14 greater than $1,750 and the required proc15 essing timeframe is not greater than 30 days. 

16 (C) For an application under section 248 

17 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

18 U.S.C. 1258) to change status to be classified 

19 as a dependent of a nonimmigrant described in 

20 subparagraph (E), (H), (L), (O), (P), or (R) of 

21 section 101(a)(15) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 

22 1101(a)(15)), or to extend such classification, 

23 the fee is set at an amount not greater than 

24 $1,750 and the required processing timeframe 

25 is not greater than 30 days. 


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1 (D) For an application for employment au2 thorization, the fee is set at an amount not 

3 greater than $1,500 and the required proc4 essing timeframe is not greater than 30 days. 

5 (2) CLARIFICATION.—The required processing 

6 timeframe for each of the applications and petitions 

7 described in paragraph (1) shall not commence until 

8 the date that all prerequisites for adjudication are 

9 received by the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

10 (c) OTHER BENEFIT REQUESTS.—In implementing 

11 the amendments made by subsection (a), the Secretary of 

12 Homeland Security shall develop and implement processes 

13 to ensure that the availability of premium processing, or 

14 its expansion to additional immigration benefit requests, 

15 does not result in an increase in processing times for im16 migration benefit requests not designated for premium 

17 processing or an increase in regular processing of immi18 gration benefit requests so designated. 

19 SEC. 3. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

21 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Home22 land Security shall provide to the appropriate Committees 

23 a 5-year plan, including projected cost estimates, procure24 ment strategies, and a project schedule with milestones, 

25 to accomplish each of the following: 


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1 (1) Establish electronic filing procedures for all 

2 applications and petitions for immigration benefits. 

3 (2) Accept electronic payment of fees at all fil4 ing locations. 

5 (3) Issue correspondence, including decisions, 

6 requests for evidence, and notices of intent to deny, 

7 to immigration benefit requestors electronically. 

8 (4) Improve processing times for all immigra9 tion and naturalization benefit requests. 

10 (b) SEMI-ANNUAL BRIEFINGS.—Not later than 180 

11 days after submission of the plan described in paragraph 

12 (1), and on a semi-annual basis thereafter, the Secretary 

13 shall advise the appropriate Committees on the implemen14 tation status of such plan. 

15 (c) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES DEFINED.—In this 

16 section, the term ‘‘appropriate Committees’’ means— 

17 (1) the Committee on Appropriations, the Com18 mittee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on 

19 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives; 

20 and 

21 (2) the Committee on Appropriations, the Com22 mittee on the Judiciary, and the Committee on 

23 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 

24 Senate. 

Æ 


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