II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2032 

To extend and modify the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa Program, to 

postpone the medical exam for aliens who are otherwise eligible for 

such program, to provide special immigrant status for certain surviving 

spouses and children, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 10, 2021 

Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Ms. ERNST, Mr. WICKER, and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To extend and modify the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa 

Program, to postpone the medical exam for aliens who 

are otherwise eligible for such program, to provide special 

immigrant status for certain surviving spouses and children, 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 ‘‘Afghan Allies Protec5 tion Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that— 


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1 (1) section 1248(h) of the Refugee Crisis in 

2 Iraq Act of 2007 (Public Law 110–181; 8 U.S.C. 

3 1157 note) requires the Secretary of Homeland Se4 curity, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of 

5 Defense to designate senior coordinating officials, 

6 with sufficient expertise, authority, and resources, to 

7 carry out duties relating to the issuance of special 

8 immigrant visas under that Act and the Afghan Al9 lies Protection Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–8; 

10 U.S.C. 1101 note); 

11 (2) the Secretary of Homeland Security, the 

12 Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Defense 

13 should take all necessary steps to designate such 

14 senior coordinating officials; 

15 (3) all criteria relating to the requirements for 

16 special immigrant visa applicants under the Refugee 

17 Crisis in Iraq Act of 2007 (Public Law 110–181; 8 

18 U.S.C. 1157 note) and the Afghan Allies Protection 

19 Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–8; 8 U.S.C. 1101 

20 note) should be implemented on the date of the en21 actment of this Act; 

22 (4) in the case of any individual with respect to 

23 whom the Chief of Mission has erroneously denied a 

24 request for approval to apply for a special immigrant 

25 visa under the Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act of 2007 


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1 (Public Law 110–181; 8 U.S.C. 1157 note) or the 

2 Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009 (Public Law 

3 111–8; 8 U.S.C. 1101 note), the Chief of Mission 

4 should reopen such requests sua sponte, including 

5 for any individual who has— 

6 (A) not appealed; 

7 (B) submitted an appeal; or 

8 (C) had an appeal denied; and 

9 (5) appropriate steps should be taken to ensure 

10 that applications for such special immigrant visas 

11 continue to be processed fairly and expeditiously in 

12 the event of a reduction of in-country personnel. 

13 SEC. 3. EXTENSION AND MODIFICATION OF THE AFGHAN 

14 SPECIAL IMMIGRANT VISA PROGRAM. 

15 Section 602(b) of the Afghan Allies Protection Act 

16 of 2009 (8 U.S.C. 1101 note) is amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (2)— 

18 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

19 (i) by amending clause (ii) to read as 

20 follows: 

21 ‘‘(ii) was or is employed in Afghani22 stan on or after October 7, 2001, for not 

23 less than 1 year— 

24 ‘‘(I) by, or on behalf of, the 

25 United States Government; or 


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1 ‘‘(II) by the International Secu2 rity Assistance Force (or any suc3 cessor name for such Force) in a ca4 pacity that required the alien, while 

5 traveling off-base with United States 

6 military personnel stationed at the 

7 International Security Assistance 

8 Force (or any successor name for 

9 such Force), to serve as an interpreter 

10 or translator for such United States 

11 military personnel; and’’; 

12 (ii) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

13 and inserting a period; and 

14 (iii) by striking clause (iv); 

15 (B) in subparagraph (D)(ii)(I)(bb)— 

16 (i) in the matter preceding subitem 

17 (AA), by inserting ‘‘per denial or revoca18 tion’’ after ‘‘written appeal’’; and 

19 (ii) in subitem (AA), by inserting ‘‘or 

20 thereafter at the discretion of the Sec21 retary of State’’ after ‘‘in writing’’; 

22 (C) by striking subparagraph (E); and 

23 (D) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as 

24 subparagraph (E); 

25 (2) in paragraph (3)(F)— 


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1 (A) in the subparagraph heading, by strik2 ing ‘‘2021’’ and inserting ‘‘2022’’; 

3 (B) in the matter preceding clause (i)— 

4 (i) by striking ‘‘exhausted,,’’ and in5 serting ‘‘exhausted,’’; and 

6 (ii) by striking ‘‘26,500’’ and insert7 ing ‘‘46,500’’; 

8 (C) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘December 

9 31, 2022’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2023;’’; 

10 and 

11 (D) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘December 

12 31, 2022’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2023;’’; 

13 (3) in paragraph (4)(A), by inserting ‘‘, includ14 ing Chief of Mission approval,’’ after ‘‘so that all 

15 steps’’; and 

16 (4) in paragraph (13), in the matter preceding 

17 subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘January 31, 2023’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘January 31, 2024’’. 

19 SEC. 4. POSTPONEMENT OF MEDICAL EXAM FOR AFGHAN 

20 ALLIES WHO ARE ELIGIBLE FOR SPECIAL IM21 MIGRANT VISAS. 

22 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of State or the 

23 Secretary of Homeland Security may waive any require24 ment to undergo a medical exam under section 232 of the 

25 Immigration and Nationality (8 U.S.C. 1222), or any 


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1 other applicable requirement to undergo a medical exam 

2 prior to admission to the United States, for aliens de3 scribed in section 602(b)(2) of the Afghan Allies Protec4 tion Act of 2009 (8 U.S.C. 1101 note). 

5 (b) DURATION.—A waiver under subsection (a) shall 

6 be for a period of 1 year, which may be extended for addi7 tional 1-year periods. 

8 (c) REQUIREMENT FOR MEDICAL EXAM AFTER AD9 MISSION.— 

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

11 Security, in consultation with the Secretary of 

12 Health and Human Services, shall ensure that an 

13 alien who does not undergo a medical exam prior to 

14 admission to the United States pursuant to this sec15 tion receives such an exam not later than 90 days 

16 after the date on which the alien is admitted to the 

17 United States. 

18 (2) REPORT.—With respect to each such alien, 

19 not later than 1 year after the date on which the 

20 waiver authority under subsection (a) is exercised, 

21 and not later than the date that is 1 year after the 

22 date on which any extension under subsection (b) is 

23 granted, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in 

24 consultation with the Secretary of Health and 

25 Human Services, shall submit to the appropriate 


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1 committees of Congress a report on the medical 

2 exams undertaken by the alien under paragraph (1). 

3 (d) NOTIFICATION.—With respect to each alien for 

4 whom the Secretary of State or the Secretary of Homeland 

5 Security exercises the waiver authority under subsection 

6 (a) or extends such a waiver under subsection (b), the Sec7 retary of State or the Secretary of Homeland Security, 

8 as applicable, shall notify the appropriate committees of 

9 Congress as soon as practicable thereafter. 

10 (e) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS.—In 

11 this section, the term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con12 gress’’ means— 

13 (1) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

14 Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on For15 eign Relations, and the Committee on Homeland Se16 curity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and 

17 (2) the Committee on Armed Services, the 

18 Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on For19 eign Affairs, and the Committee on Homeland Secu20 rity of the House of Representatives. 

21 SEC. 5. SPECIAL IMMIGRANT STATUS FOR CERTAIN SUR22 VIVING SPOUSES AND CHILDREN. 

23 (a) IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT.—Section 

24 101(a)(27)(D) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

25 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(D)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘an immigrant who is an em2 ployee’’ and inserting ‘‘an immigrant who— 

3 ‘‘(i) is an employee’’; and 

4 (2) by striking ‘‘grant such status;’’ and insert5 ing ‘‘grant such status; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) is the surviving spouse or child 

7 of an employee of the United States Gov8 ernment abroad: Provided, That the em9 ployee performed faithful service for a total 

10 of not less than 15 years or was killed in 

11 the line of duty;’’. 

12 (b) AFGHAN ALLIES PROTECTION ACT OF 2009.— 

13 Section 602(b)(2)(C) of the Afghan Allies Protection Act 

14 of 2009 (8 U.S.C. 1101 note) is amended— 

15 (1) in clause (ii), by redesignating subclauses 

16 (I) and (II) as items (aa) and (bb), respectively, and 

17 moving such items 2 ems to the right; 

18 (2) by redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) as sub19 clauses (I) and (II), respectively, and moving such 

20 subclauses 2 ems to the right; 

21 (3) in the matter preceding subclause (I), as re22 designated, by striking ‘‘An alien is described’’ and 

23 inserting the following: 

24 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—An alien is 

25 described’’; 


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1 (4) in clause (i)(I), as redesignated, by striking 

2 ‘‘who had a petition for classification approved’’ and 

3 inserting ‘‘who had submitted an application to the 

4 Chief of Mission’’; and 

5 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(II) EMPLOYMENT REQUIRE7 MENTS.—An application by a sur8 viving spouse or child of a principal 

9 alien shall be subject to employment 

10 requirements set forth in subpara11 graph (A) as of the date of the prin12 cipal alien’s filing of an application 

13 for the first time, or if no application 

14 has been filed, the employment re15 quirements as of the date of the prin16 cipal alien’s death.’’. 

17 (c) REFUGEE CRISIS IN IRAQ ACT OF 2007.—Section 

18 1244(b)(3) of the Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act of 2007 (8 

19 U.S.C. 1157 note) is amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘described in subsection (b)’’ 

21 and inserting ‘‘in this subsection’’; 

22 (2) in subparagraph (B), by redesignating 

23 clauses (i) and (ii) as subclauses (I) and (II), respec24 tively, and moving such subclauses 2 ems to the 

25 right; 


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1 (3) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and 

2 (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively, and moving 

3 such clauses 2 ems to the right; 

4 (4) in the matter preceding clause (i), as redes5 ignated, by striking ‘‘An alien is described’’ and in6 serting the following: 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An alien is de8 scribed’’; 

9 (5) in subparagraph (A)(i), as redesignated, by 

10 striking ‘‘who had a petition for classification ap11 proved’’ and inserting ‘‘who submitted an applica12 tion to the Chief of Mission’’; and 

13 (6) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(B) EMPLOYMENT REQUIREMENTS.—An 

15 application by a surviving spouse or child of a 

16 principal alien shall be subject to employment 

17 requirements set forth in paragraph (1) as of 

18 the date of the principal alien’s filing of an ap19 plication for the first time, or if the principal 

20 alien did not file an application, the employ21 ment requirements as of the date of the prin22 cipal alien’s death.’’. 

23 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

24 this section shall be effective on June 30, 2021, and shall 

25 have retroactive effect. 


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1 SEC. 6. CONVERSION OF PETITIONS FOR SPECIAL IMMI2 GRANT STATUS FOR CERTAIN IRAQIS. 

3 Section 2 of Public Law 110–242 (8 U.S.C. 1101 

4 note) is amended by striking subsection (b) and inserting 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘(b) DURATION.—The authority under subsection (a) 

7 shall expire on the date on which the numerical limitation 

8 specified under section 1244 of the National Defense Au9 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110– 

10 181; 8 U.S.C. 1157 note) is reached.’’. 

Æ 


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