II

Calendar No. 377

107TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1209

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 7, 2001

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

MAY 16 (legislative day, MAY 9), 2002

Reported by Mr. LEAHY, with an amendment

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

AN ACT

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to determine

whether an alien is a child, for purposes of classification

as an immediate relative, based on the age of the alien

on the date the classification petition with respect to

the alien is filed, 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 ‘‘Child Status Protec5 tion Act of 2001’’.
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1 SEC. 2. USE OF AGE ON PETITION FILING DATE, PARENT’S

2 NATURALIZATION DATE, OR MARRIAGE TER3 MINATION DATE, IN DETERMINING STATUS

4 AS A CHILD OF A CITIZEN.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 201 of the Immigration

6 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151) is amended by add7 ing at the end the following:

8 ‘‘(f) RULES FOR DETERMINING WHETHER CERTAIN

9 ALIENS ARE IMMEDIATE RELATIVES.—

10 ‘‘(1) AGE ON PETITION FILING DATE.—Except

11 as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3), for purposes

12 of subsection (b)(2)(A)(i), a determination of wheth13 er an alien satisfies the age requirement in the mat14 ter preceding subparagraph (A) of section 101(b)(1)

15 shall be made using the age of the alien on the date

16 on which the petition is filed with the Attorney Gen17 eral under section 204 to classify the alien as an im18 mediate relative under subsection (b)(2)(A)(i).

19 ‘‘(2) AGE ON PARENT’S NATURALIZATION

20 DATE.—In the case of a petition under section 204

21 initially filed for an alien child’s classification as a

22 family-sponsored immigrant under section

23 203(a)(2)(A), based on the child’s parent being law24 fully admitted for permanent residence, if the peti25 tion is later converted, due to the naturalization of

26 the parent, to a petition to classify the alien as an
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1 immediate relative under subsection (b)(2)(A)(i), the

2 determination described in paragraph (1) shall be

3 made using the age of the alien on the date of the

4 parent’s naturalization.

5 ‘‘(3) AGE ON MARRIAGE TERMINATION DATE.—

6 In the case of a petition under section 204 initially

7 filed for an alien’s classification as a family-spon8 sored immigrant under section 203(a)(3), based on

9 the alien’s being a married son or daughter of a cit10 izen, if the petition is later converted, due to the

11 legal termination of the alien’s marriage, to a peti12 tion to classify the alien as an immediate relative

13 under subsection (b)(2)(A)(i), the determination de14 scribed in paragraph (1) shall be made using the age

15 of the alien on the date of the termination of the

16 marriage.’’.

17 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

18 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enact19 ment of this Act and shall apply to all petitions and appli20 cations pending before the Department of Justice or the

21 Department of State on or after such date.

22 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

23 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Status Protection

24 Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. USE OF AGE ON PETITION FILING DATE, PARENT’S

2 NATURALIZATION DATE, OR MARRIAGE TER3 MINATION DATE, IN DETERMINING STATUS

4 AS IMMEDIATE RELATIVE.

5 Section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act

6 (8 U.S.C. 1151) is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing:

8 ‘‘(f) RULES FOR DETERMINING WHETHER CERTAIN

9 ALIENS ARE IMMEDIATE RELATIVES.—

10 ‘‘(1) AGE ON PETITION FILING DATE.—Except as

11 provided in paragraphs (2) and (3), for purposes of

12 subsection (b)(2)(A)(i), a determination of whether an

13 alien satisfies the age requirement in the matter pre14 ceding subparagraph (A) of section 101(b)(1) shall be

15 made using the age of the alien on the date on which

16 the petition is filed with the Attorney General under

17 section 204 to classify the alien as an immediate rel18 ative under subsection (b)(2)(A)(i).

19 ‘‘(2) AGE ON PARENT’S NATURALIZATION

20 DATE.—In the case of a petition under section 204

21 initially filed for an alien child’s classification as a

22 family-sponsored immigrant under section

23 203(a)(2)(A), based on the child’s parent being law24 fully admitted for permanent residence, if the petition

25 is later converted, due to the naturalization of the

26 parent, to a petition to classify the alien as an imme-
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1 diate relative under subsection (b)(2)(A)(i), the deter2 mination described in paragraph (1) shall be made

3 using the age of the alien on the date of the parent’s

4 naturalization.

5 ‘‘(3) AGE ON MARRIAGE TERMINATION DATE.—In

6 the case of a petition under section 204 initially filed

7 for an alien’s classification as a family-sponsored im8 migrant under section 203(a)(3), based on the alien’s

9 being a married son or daughter of a citizen, if the

10 petition is later converted, due to the legal termi11 nation of the alien’s marriage, to a petition to clas12 sify the alien as an immediate relative under sub13 section (b)(2)(A)(i) or as an unmarried son or daugh14 ter of a citizen under section 203(a)(1), the deter15 mination described in paragraph (1) shall be made

16 using the age of the alien on the date of the termi17 nation of the marriage.’’.

18 SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN UNMARRIED SONS AND

19 DAUGHTERS SEEKING STATUS AS FAMILY20 SPONSORED, EMPLOYMENT-BASED, AND DI21 VERSITY IMMIGRANTS.

22 Section 203 of the Immigration and Nationality Act

23 (8 U.S.C. 1153) is amended by adding at the end the fol24 lowing:
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1 ‘‘(h) RULES FOR DETERMINING WHETHER CERTAIN

2 ALIENS ARE CHILDREN.—

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of subsections

4 (a)(2)(A) and (d), a determination of whether an

5 alien satisfies the age requirement in the matter pre6 ceding subparagraph (A) of section 101(b)(1) shall be

7 made using—

8 ‘‘(A) the age of the alien on the date on

9 which an immigrant visa number becomes avail10 able for such alien (or, in the case of subsection

11 (d), the date on which an immigrant visa num12 ber became available for the alien’s parent), but

13 only if the alien has sought to acquire the status

14 of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent res15 idence within one year of such availability; re16 duced by

17 ‘‘(B) the number of days in the period dur18 ing which the applicable petition described in

19 paragraph (2) was pending.

20 ‘‘(2) PETITIONS DESCRIBED.—The petition de21 scribed in this paragraph is—

22 ‘‘(A) with respect to a relationship described

23 in subsection (a)(2)(A), a petition filed under

24 section 204 for classification of an alien child

25 under subsection (a)(2)(A); or
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1 ‘‘(B) with respect to an alien child who is

2 a derivative beneficiary under subsection (d), a

3 petition filed under section 204 for classification

4 of the alien’s parent under subsection (a), (b), or

5 (c).

6 ‘‘(3) RETENTION OF PRIORITY DATE.—If the age

7 of an alien is determined under paragraph (1) to be

8 21 years of age or older for the purposes of subsections

9 (a)(4) and (d), the alien’s petition shall automatically

10 be converted to the appropriate category and the alien

11 shall retain the original priority date issued upon re12 ceipt of the original petition.’’.

13 SEC. 4. USE OF AGE ON PARENT’S APPLICATION FILING

14 DATE IN DETERMINING ELIGIBILITY FOR ASY15 LUM.

16 Section 208(b)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality

17 Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(b)(3)) is amended to read as follows:

18 ‘‘(3) TREATMENT OF SPOUSE AND CHILDREN.—

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A spouse or child (as

20 defined in section 101(b)(1) (A), (B), (C), (D), or

21 (E)) of an alien who is granted asylum under

22 this subsection may, if not otherwise eligible for

23 asylum under this section, be granted the same

24 status as the alien if accompanying, or following

25 to join, such alien.
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1 ‘‘(B) CONTINUED CLASSIFICATION OF CER2 TAIN ALIENS AS CHILDREN.—An unmarried

3 alien who seeks to accompany, or follow to join,

4 a parent granted asylum under this subsection,

5 and who was under 21 years of age on the date

6 on which such parent applied for asylum under

7 this section, shall continue to be classified as a

8 child for purposes of this paragraph and section

9 209(b)(2), if the alien attained 21 years of age

10 after such application was filed but while it was

11 pending.’’.

12 SEC. 5. USE OF AGE ON PARENT’S APPLICATION FILING

13 DATE IN DETERMINING ELIGIBILITY FOR AD14 MISSION AS REFUGEE.

15 Section 207(c)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality

16 Act (8 U.S.C. 1157(c)(2)) is amended—

17 (1) by striking ‘‘(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘(2)(A)’’;

18 and

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

20 ‘‘(B) An unmarried alien who seeks to accompany, or

21 follow to join, a parent granted admission as a refugee

22 under this subsection, and who was under 21 years of age

23 on the date on which such parent applied for refugee status

24 under this section, shall continue to be classified as a child

25 for purposes of this paragraph, if the alien attained 21
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1 years of age after such application was filed but while it

2 was pending.’’.

3 SEC. 6. TREATMENT OF CLASSIFICATION PETITIONS FOR

4 UNMARRIED SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF NAT5 URALIZED CITIZENS.

6 Section 204 of the Immigration and Nationality Act

7 (8 U.S.C. 1154) is amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing:

9 ‘‘(k) PROCEDURES FOR UNMARRIED SONS AND

10 DAUGHTERS OF CITIZENS.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para12 graph (2), in the case of a petition under this section

13 initially filed for an alien unmarried son or daugh14 ter’s classification as a family-sponsored immigrant

15 under section 203(a)(2)(B), based on a parent of the

16 son or daughter being an alien lawfully admitted for

17 permanent residence, if such parent subsequently be18 comes a naturalized citizen of the United States, such

19 petition shall be converted to a petition to classify the

20 unmarried son or daughter as a family-sponsored im21 migrant under section 203(a)(1).

22 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) does not apply

23 if the son or daughter files with the Attorney General

24 a written statement that he or she elects not to have

25 such conversion occur (or if it has occurred, to have
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1 such conversion revoked). Where such an election has

2 been made, any determination with respect to the son

3 or daughter’s eligibility for admission as a family4 sponsored immigrant shall be made as if such natu5 ralization had not taken place.

6 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY DATE.—Regardless of whether a

7 petition is converted under this subsection or not, if

8 an unmarried son or daughter described in this sub9 section was assigned a priority date with respect to

10 such petition before such naturalization, he or she

11 may maintain that priority date.

12 ‘‘(4) CLARIFICATION.—This subsection shall

13 apply to a petition if it is properly filed, regardless

14 of whether it was approved or not before such natu15 ralization.’’.

16 SEC. 7. IMMIGRATION BENEFITS FOR CERTAIN ALIEN CHIL17 DREN NOT AFFECTED.

18 Section 204(a)(1)(D) of the Immigration and Nation19 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1)(D)) is amended by adding

20 at the end the following new clause:

21 ‘‘(iii) Nothing in the amendments made by the Child

22 Status Protection Act shall be construed to limit or deny

23 any right or benefit provided under this subparagraph.’’.
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1 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect on

3 the date of the enactment of this Act and shall apply to

4 any alien who is a derivative beneficiary or any other bene5 ficiary of—

6 (1) a petition for classification under section 204

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

8 1154) approved before such date but only if a final

9 determination has not been made on the beneficiary’s

10 application for an immigrant visa or adjustment of

11 status to lawful permanent residence pursuant to such

12 approved petition;

13 (2) a petition for classification under section 204

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

15 1154) pending on or after such date; or

16 (3) an application pending before the Depart17 ment of Justice or the Department of State on or

18 after such date.
Calendar No. 377

107TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1209

AN ACT

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to

determine whether an alien is a child, for purposes of classification as an immediate relative,based on the age of the alien on the date theclassification petition with respect to the alien isfiled, and for other purposes.

MAY 16 (legislative day, MAY 9), 2002

Reported with an amendment