I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7028 

To authorize the issuance of visas and admission of certain aliens, and 

their derivatives, who were selected to apply for diversity immigrant 

visas but were unable to be issued such visas or be admitted to the 

United States as a result of certain Presidential Proclamations, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 17, 2024 

Mr. TORRES of New York (for himself, Ms. CHU, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. 

KAMLAGER-DOVE, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. FOSTER, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. MFUME, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. 

HUFFMAN, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. COHEN, Ms. ADAMS, 

Ms. ESHOO, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. NORTON, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, 

Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. CASTEN, 

Mr. CARSON, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. 

VARGAS, Mr. TONKO, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mrs. 

DINGELL, Mr. NICKEL, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, 

Mr. PHILLIPS, Mr. FROST, Mr. PETERS, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. MENG, 

Ms. BALINT, Ms. CROCKETT, Mr. NORCROSS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 

SCHIFF, Ms. TITUS, Ms. JACOBS, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Ms. ESCOBAR, 

Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. 

ESPAILLAT, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. POCAN, Mr. MCGOVERN, 

Mr. TRONE, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. ROBERT GARCIA of California, and Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To authorize the issuance of visas and admission of certain 

aliens, and their derivatives, who were selected to apply 

for diversity immigrant visas but were unable to be 


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•HR 7028 IH

issued such visas or be admitted to the United States 

as a result of certain Presidential Proclamations, 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 ‘‘Keeping Our Promise 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ALIENS PREVIOUSLY ALLOCATED DIVERSITY VISAS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

8 204(a)(1)(I)(ii)(II) of the Immigration and Nationality 

9 Act (8 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1)(I)(ii)(II)), and subject to sub10 section (c) of this section, an immigrant visa made avail11 able to an alien under section 203(c) of the Immigration 

12 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(c)) in any of fiscal 

13 years 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, or 2022 shall remain 

14 available to such alien if— 

15 (1) the alien was refused a visa or denied ad16 mission to the United States solely because of— 

17 (A) Executive Order 13769, ‘‘Protecting 

18 the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into 

19 The United States’’ (January 27, 2017); 

20 (B) Executive Order 13780, ‘‘Protecting 

21 the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into 

22 the United States’’ (March 6, 2017); 


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1 (C) Proclamation 9645, ‘‘Enhancing Vet2 ting Capabilities and Processes for Detecting 

3 Attempted Entry into the United States by 

4 Terrorists or Other Public-Safety Threats’’ 

5 (September 24, 2017); or 

6 (D) Proclamation 9983, ‘‘Improving En7 hanced Vetting Capabilities and Processes for 

8 Detecting Attempted Entry into the United 

9 States by Terrorists or Other Public-Safety 

10 Threats’’ (January 31, 2020); or 

11 (2) because of the COVID–19 public health 

12 emergency— 

13 (A) the alien was unable to receive a visa 

14 interview despite submitting an Online Immi15 grant Visa and Alien Registration Application 

16 (Form DS–260) to the Secretary of State, and 

17 having submitted complete documentation or 

18 having qualified for such a visa on or before 

19 September 30 of the applicable fiscal year; or 

20 (B) the alien was unable to be admitted to 

21 the United States despite being approved for a 

22 visa under section 203(c) of the Immigration 

23 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(c)). 

24 (b) OBLIGATIONS OF THE SECRETARY.— 


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•HR 7028 IH

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

3 of State shall— 

4 (A) notify each alien described in sub5 section (a) (and such alien’s representative, if 

6 applicable) of their continuing eligibility to 

7 apply for a visa under section 203(c) of the Im8 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

9 1153(c)); and 

10 (B) publish on the Department of State 

11 website, information and procedures imple12 menting this Act. 

13 (2) NOTICE.—The notice described in para14 graph (1)(A) shall include procedures for the alien 

15 to notify the Secretary of State of the alien’s intent 

16 to proceed with or abandon the application, and 

17 shall include an advisal that such application shall 

18 be deemed abandoned if the alien fails to notify the 

19 Secretary of the alien’s intent to proceed within one 

20 year of the date of the notice. 

21 (c) LIMITATION ON VISA ELIGIBILITY.—An alien de22 scribed in subsection (a) shall remain eligible to receive 

23 such visa until the earliest of the date that the alien— 


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1 (1) notifies the Secretary of the alien’s intent to 

2 abandon the application in accordance with the pro3 cedures described in subsection (b); 

4 (2) fails to respond to the notice described in 

5 subsection (b)(2); or 

6 (3) is refused a visa by a consular officer— 

7 (A) for failure to meet the education or 

8 work experience requirements under section 

9 203(c)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality 

10 Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(c)(2)); 

11 (B) for failure to meet the requirements 

12 under section 204(a)(1)(I)(iii) of the Immigra13 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

14 1154(a)(1)(I)(iii)); or 

15 (C) on grounds that the alien is inadmis16 sible under section 212(a) of the Immigration 

17 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)). 

18 (d) NUMERICAL LIMITATION.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para20 graphs (2) and (3), visas issued to aliens under this 

21 Act shall be counted against the numerical limitation 

22 described in section 201(e) of the Immigration and 

23 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(e)) for the fiscal 

24 year in which such visas were made available to such 

25 aliens. 


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1 (2) UNUSED VISAS.—Visas under section 

2 201(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

3 U.S.C. 1151(e)) that go unused in any of fiscal 

4 years 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, or 2022 may 

5 be allocated to aliens described in subsection (a) re6 gardless of the fiscal year in which such alien’s visa 

7 was made available. 

8 (3) OVERAGE.—In the case that the total num9 ber of aliens described in subsection (a) who are eli10 gible for visas exceeds the total number of visas 

11 under section 201(e) of the Immigration and Na12 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(e)) for fiscal years 

13 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022, such ex14 cess number shall not be counted against the numer15 ical limitation described in such section 201(e). 

16 (e) AGE OUT PROTECTIONS.—A determination of 

17 whether an unmarried son or daughter of the visa appli18 cant is eligible to apply as a child of the visa applicant 

19 pursuant to section 203(d) of the Immigration and Na20 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(d)) shall be made using the 

21 age of the unmarried son or daughter when the applicant 

22 was initially selected for a visa in accordance with section 

23 203(e)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

24 U.S.C. 10 1153(e)(2)). 


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1 (f) PRIORITIZATION.—The prioritization of visa serv2 ices, as among visa classifications and other consular serv3 ices, is within the sole unreviewable discretion of the Sec4 retary of State. To the extent possible, the Secretary of 

5 State shall process applications in the rank order origi6 nally designated, consistent with applicable regulations. 

Æ 


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