II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1474 

To amend the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009 to make 4,000 visas 

available for the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa program, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 15, 2019 

Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. WICKER, Mr. GARDNER, Mr. 

REED, Mr. KAINE, and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009 to make 

4,000 visas available for the Afghan Special Immigrant 

Visa program, 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 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SPECIAL IMMIGRANT VISAS FOR AFGHAN ALLIES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 602(b)(2)(A)(ii) of the 

8 Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009 (8 U.S.C. 1101 

9 note) is amended, in the matter preceding subclause (I), 


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1 by inserting ‘‘for the first time’’ after ‘‘submitting a peti2 tion’’. 

3 (b) NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS.—Section 602(b)(3) of 

4 the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009 (8 U.S.C. 1101 

5 note) is amended— 

6 (1) by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘(A) FISCAL YEAR 2019.— 

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any 

10 unused balance under subparagraph (F), 

11 for fiscal year 2019, not more than 4,000 

12 principal aliens may be granted special im13 migrant status under this subsection. 

14 ‘‘(ii) PERIOD OF EMPLOYMENT.—For 

15 purposes of this subparagraph, the period 

16 of employment referred to in paragraph 

17 (2)(A)(ii) shall end not later than Decem18 ber 31, 2021. 

19 ‘‘(iii) APPLICATION.—For purposes of 

20 this subparagraph, not later than Decem21 ber 31, 2021, a principal alien seeking spe22 cial immigrant status under this subsection 

23 shall submit an application to the Chief of 

24 Mission.’’; 


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1 (2) by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(C) CARRY FORWARD.—If the numerical 

4 limitation described in subparagraph (A)(i) is 

5 not reached for fiscal year 2019, the numerical 

6 limitation for each subsequent fiscal year shall 

7 be established at a number equal to the dif8 ference between— 

9 ‘‘(i) the numerical limitation described 

10 in subparagraph (A)(i); and 

11 ‘‘(ii) the number of principal aliens 

12 granted special immigrant status under 

13 this subsection during each fiscal year be14 ginning in fiscal year 2019.’’; 

15 (3) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘notwith16 standing the provisions of paragraph (C),’’; and 

17 (4) in subparagraph (F)— 

18 (A) in the subparagraph heading, by strik19 ing ‘‘2015, 2016, AND 2017’’ and inserting ‘‘2015

20 THROUGH 2020’’; 

21 (B) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘December 

22 31, 2020’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2021;’’; 

23 (C) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘December 

24 31, 2020’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2021;’’; 


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1 (D) by redesignating clauses (i) through 

2 (iii) as subclauses (I) through (III), respec3 tively, and indenting appropriately; 

4 (E) in the matter preceding subclause (I), 

5 as so redesignated, in the second sentence, by 

6 striking ‘‘For purposes’’ and inserting the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS.—For pur9 poses’’; 

10 (F) in the matter preceding clause (ii), as 

11 so designated— 

12 (i) by striking ‘‘exhausted,,’’ and in13 serting ‘‘exhausted,’’; 

14 (ii) by striking ‘‘18,500’’ and insert15 ing ‘‘22,500’’; and 

16 (iii) by striking ‘‘In addition’’ and in17 serting the following: 

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In addition’’; and 

19 (G) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(iii) UNUSED VISAS.—Any unused 

21 balance under this subparagraph shall be 

22 added to the number under subparagraph 

23 (A)(i) for use in fiscal year 2019.’’. 


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1 (c) CONVERSION OF PETITIONS.—Section 2 of Public 

2 Law 110–242 (8 U.S.C. 1101 note) is amended by strik3 ing subsection (b) and inserting the following: 

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

5 shall expire on the date on which the numerical limitation 

6 specified under section 1244 of the National Defense Au7 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110– 

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

9 SEC. 3. SPECIAL IMMIGRANT VISA PROGRAM REPORTING 

10 REQUIREMENT. 

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

12 date of the enactment of this Act, the Inspector General 

13 of the Department of State shall submit to the appropriate 

14 committees of Congress a report that evaluates the obsta15 cles to effective protection of Afghan and Iraqi allies 

16 through the special immigrant visa programs and makes 

17 recommendations for improvements in future programs. 

18 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report under 

19 subsection (a) shall include information relating to— 

20 (1) the hiring of locally employed staff and con21 tractors; 

22 (2) documenting the identity and employment 

23 of locally employed staff and contractors of the 

24 United States Government, including the possibility 


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1 of establishing a central database of employees of 

2 the United States Government and its contractors; 

3 (3) the protection and safety of employees of lo4 cally employed staff and contractors; 

5 (4) means of expediting processing at all stages 

6 of the process for applicants, including consideration 

7 of reducing required forms; 

8 (5) appropriate staffing levels for expedited 

9 processing domestically and abroad; 

10 (6) the effect of uncertainty of visa availability 

11 on visa processing; 

12 (7) the cost and availability of medical examina13 tions; and 

14 (8) means to reduce delays in interagency proc15 essing and security checks. 

16 (c) CONSULTATION.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—In preparing the report 

18 under subsection (a), the Inspector General shall 

19 consult with— 

20 (A) the Department of State, Bureau of 

21 Consular Affairs, Visa Office; 

22 (B) the Department of State, Bureau of 

23 Near Eastern Affairs and South and Central 

24 Asian Affairs, Executive Office; 


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1 (C) the United States embassy in Kabul, 

2 Afghanistan, Consular Section; 

3 (D) the United States embassy in Bagh4 dad, Iraq, Consular Section; 

5 (E) the Department of Homeland Security, 

6 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; 

7 (F) the Department of Defense; 

8 (G) the Federal Bureau of Investigation; 

9 and 

10 (H) nongovernmental organizations pro11 viding legal aid in the special immigrant visa 

12 application process. 

13 (2) CONSULTATION WITH CURRENT AND

14 FORMER EMPLOYEES.—To the maximum extent 

15 practicable, the Inspector General shall consult with 

16 current and former employees of the offices de17 scribed in paragraph (1). 

18 (d) FORM.—The report under subsection (a) shall be 

19 submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classi20 fied annex. 

21 (e) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS DE22 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate commit23 tees of Congress’’ means— 

24 (1) the Committee on the Judiciary, the Com25 mittee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on 


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1 Armed Services, and the Committee on Appropria2 tions of the Senate; and 

3 (2) the Committee on the Judiciary, the Com4 mittee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Armed 

5 Services, and the Committee on Appropriations of 

6 the House of Representatives. 

Æ 


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