II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2091 

To reduce the backlog of foreign nationals seeking employment-based visas, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 11, 2019 

Mr. PAUL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To reduce the backlog of foreign nationals seeking 

employment-based visas, 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 TITLES. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Backlog Elimination, 

5 Legal Immigration, and Employment Visa Enhancement 

6 Act’’ or the ‘‘BELIEVE Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. ALLOCATION OF EMPLOYMENT-BASED VISAS. 

8 (a) WORLDWIDE LEVEL.—Section 201(d)(1)(A) of 

9 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 


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1 1151(d)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘140,000’’ and in2 serting ‘‘270,000’’. 

3 (b) ELIMINATION OF PER-COUNTRY LIMITATION FOR

4 EMPLOYMENT-BASED IMMIGRANTS.—Section 202(a)(2) 

5 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

6 1152(a)(2)) is amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(2) PER COUNTRY LEVELS FOR FAMILY-SPON8 SORED IMMIGRANTS.—Subject to paragraphs (3), 

9 (4), and (5), the total number of immigrant visas 

10 made available to natives of any single foreign state 

11 or dependent area under section 203(a) in any fiscal 

12 year may not exceed 7 percent (in the case of a sin13 gle foreign state) or 2 percent (in the case of a de14 pendent area) of the total number of such visas 

15 made available under such subsection in that fiscal 

16 year.’’. 

17 (c) PREFERENCE ALLOCATIONS FOR EMPLOYMENT18 BASED IMMIGRANTS.—Section 203(b) of the Immigration 

19 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)) is amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding 

21 subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘28.6 percent’’ and 

22 inserting ‘‘29.63 percent’’; 

23 (2) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘28.6 per24 cent’’ and inserting ‘‘29.63 percent’’; 


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1 (3) in paragraph (3)(A), in the matter pre2 ceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘28.6 percent’’ and in3 serting ‘‘29.63 percent’’; 

4 (4) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘7.1 percent’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘3.7 percent’’; and 

6 (5) in paragraph (5)(A), in the matter pre7 ceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘7.1 percent’’ and in8 serting ‘‘7.41 percent’’. 

9 (d) TREATMENT OF FAMILY MEMBERS.—Section 

10 203(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

11 1153(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘Visas issued to a spouse or child of an immigrant de13 scribed in subsection (b) shall not be counted against the 

14 worldwide level of such visas set forth in section 201(d)(1) 

15 or the per country level set forth in section 202(a)(2).’’. 

16 SEC. 3. HEALTH CARE WORKERS. 

17 (a) EXEMPTION FROM NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS.— 

18 Section 201(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

19 (8 U.S.C. 1151(b)(1)) is amended by adding at the end 

20 the following: 

21 ‘‘(F) Aliens who are members of an occupation 

22 that the Secretary of Labor has designated under 

23 Group I of Schedule A pursuant to section 656.15 

24 of title 20, Code of Federal Regulations, and are 

25 coming to the United States to work in such occupaVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:07 Jul 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2091.IS S2091

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1 tion, and the spouses and children (as defined in 

2 subparagraph (A), (B), (C), (D), or (E) of section 

3 101(b)(1)) of such aliens. Aliens described in this 

4 subparagraph may apply for an immigrant visa’’. 

5 (b) PETITION.—Section 204(a)(1) of the Immigra6 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1)) is amend7 ed by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(M) Any employer desiring and intending to employ 

9 within the United States an alien entitled to classification 

10 under section 201(b)(1)(F) may file a petition with the 

11 Secretary of Homeland Security for such classification.’’. 

12 SEC. 4. DEPENDENTS OF NONIMMIGRANTS. 

13 (a) EXEMPTION FROM NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS

14 FOR CERTAIN COLLEGE GRADUATES.—Section 201(b)(1) 

15 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended by 

16 section 3(a), is further amended by adding at the end the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(G) Aliens who— 

19 ‘‘(i) are not inadmissible under section 

20 212(a) or deportable under section 237(a); 

21 ‘‘(ii) have lived in the United States an ag22 gregate period of not less than 10 years; 

23 ‘‘(iii) were admitted as a dependent of a 

24 nonimmigrant under subparagraph (E), (H), or 

25 (L) of section 101(a)(15); and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) graduated from an institution of 

2 higher education (as defined in section 102(a) 

3 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

4 U.S.C. 1002(a))) in the United States.’’. 

5 (b) PETITION.—Section 204(a)(1) of the Immigra6 tion and Nationality Act, as amended by section 3(b), is 

7 further amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(N) Any employer desiring and intending to employ 

9 within the United States an alien entitled to classification 

10 under section 201(b)(1)(G) may file a petition with the 

11 Secretary of Homeland Security for such classification.’’. 

12 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF EMPLOYMENT FOR CHIL13 DREN AND SPOUSES OF NONIMMIGRANTS.—Section 214 

14 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184) 

15 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(s) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall au17 thorize an alien spouse admitted under subparagraph (E), 

18 (H), or (L) of section 101(a)(15), who is accompanying 

19 or following to join a principal alien admitted under any 

20 such subparagraph, to engage in employment in the 

21 United States, and shall provide such spouse with an ‘em22 ployment authorized’ endorsement or other appropriate 

23 work permit. 

24 ‘‘(t) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall au25 thorize an alien child admitted under subparagraph (E), 


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1 (H), or (L) of section 101(a)(15), who is accompanying 

2 or following to join a principal alien admitted under any 

3 such subparagraph, to engage in employment in the 

4 United States, and shall provide such child with an ‘em5 ployment authorized’ endorsement or other appropriate 

6 work permit if— 

7 ‘‘(1) the child is at least 16 years of age; 

8 ‘‘(2) the child, or the child’s legal representa9 tive, requests such work authorization; and 

10 ‘‘(3) any employment in which the child may 

11 engage complies with the Fair Labor Standards Act 

12 of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.).’’. 

13 (d) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS EARLY FILING FOR

14 NONIMMIGRANTS WITH APPROVED IMMIGRANT PETI15 TIONS.—Section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality 

16 Act (8 U.S.C. 1255) is amended— 

17 (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol18 lows: 

19 ‘‘(a) STATUS AS PERSON ADMITTED FOR PERMA20 NENT RESIDENCE ON APPLICATION AND ELIGIBILITY FOR

21 IMMIGRANT VISA.—The Secretary of Homeland Security, 

22 in the discretion of the Secretary and under such regula23 tions as the Secretary may prescribe, may adjust the sta24 tus of an alien who was inspected and admitted or paroled 

25 into the United States or the status of any other alien 


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1 with an approved petition for classification as a VAWA 

2 self-petitioner if— 

3 ‘‘(1) the alien makes an application for such ad4 justment; 

5 ‘‘(2) the alien is eligible to receive an immigrant 

6 visa and is admissible to the United States for per7 manent residence; and 

8 ‘‘(3) an immigrant visa is immediately available 

9 to the alien at the time the alien’s application is ad10 judicated.’’; and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(n) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS APPLICATION AFTER

13 AN APPROVED IMMIGRANT PETITION.— 

14 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—An alien who has an ap15 proved immigrant petition may file an adjustment of 

16 status application under subsection (a), which, if the 

17 alien is otherwise eligible, shall remain pending until 

18 a visa number becomes available. 

19 ‘‘(2) STATUS.—An admissible alien who has 

20 properly filed an adjustment of status application 

21 under subsection (a) shall, throughout the pendency 

22 of such application— 

23 ‘‘(A) have a lawful status and be consid24 ered lawfully present for purposes of section 

25 212; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) following a biometric background 

2 check, be eligible for employment and travel au3 thorization incident to such status. 

4 ‘‘(3) BIOMETRIC BACKGROUND CHECK.—Any 

5 biometric background check performed with respect 

6 to an alien during the 1-year period immediately 

7 preceding the alien’s submission of an application 

8 for an adjustment of status under subsection (a) 

9 shall be sufficient for meeting the biometric back10 ground check requirement under paragraph 

11 (2)(B).’’. 

Æ 


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