Protecting Children of Long-Term Visa Holders Act of 2023



<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3442 Introduced in House (IH)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3442

   To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize lawful 
permanent resident status for certain college graduates who entered the 
           United States as children, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 17, 2023

Ms. Ross (for herself, Mrs. Miller-Meeks, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mrs. Kim 
of California, Mr. Bera, Ms. Salazar, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mrs. Hinson, Mr. 
 Duarte, Mr. Soto, Ms. DelBene, Mr. Bacon, Mr. Stanton, Ms. Mace, Mr. 
  Womack, and Mrs. Foushee) introduced the following bill; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize lawful 
permanent resident status for certain college graduates who entered the 
           United States as children, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``America's CHILDREN Act of 2023'' or 
the ``Protecting Children of Long-Term Visa Holders Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS FOR CERTAIN COLLEGE GRADUATES WHO 
              ENTERED THE UNITED STATES AS CHILDREN.

    (a) Requirements.--Section 201(b)(1) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(b)(1)) is amended by adding at the end 
the following:
            ``(F) Any alien who--
                    ``(i) is not inadmissible under section 212(a) or 
                deportable under section 237(a);
                    ``(ii) was lawfully present in the United States as 
                a dependent child of a nonimmigrant admitted to engage 
                in employment in the United States (other than a 
                nonimmigrant described in subparagraph (A), (G), (N), 
                or (S) of section 101(a)(15)) for an aggregate period 
                of not less than 8 years;
                    ``(iii) on the date on which an application under 
                section 204(a)(1)(M) is submitted, has been lawfully 
                present in the United States for an aggregate period of 
                not less than 10 years; and
                    ``(iv) has graduated from an institution of higher 
                education (as defined in section 102(a) of the Higher 
                Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002(a))) in the 
                United States.''.
    (b) Petition.--Section 204(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
                    ``(M) Any alien entitled to classification under 
                section 201(b)(1)(F) may file a petition with the 
                Secretary of Homeland Security for such 
                classification.''.

SEC. 3. AGE-OUT PROTECTIONS AND PRIORITY DATE RETENTION.

    (a) Age-Out Protections.--
            (1) In general.--The Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
        U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) is amended--
                    (A) in section 101(b) (8 U.S.C. 1101(b)), by adding 
                at the end the following:
            ``(6) Determination of child status.--A determination as to 
        whether an alien is a child shall be made as follows:
                    ``(A) In general.--For purposes of a petition under 
                section 204 and any subsequent application for an 
                immigrant visa or adjustment of status, such 
                determination shall be made using the age of the alien 
                on the earlier of--
                            ``(i) the date on which the petition is 
                        filed with the Secretary of Homeland Security; 
                        or
                            ``(ii) the date on which an application for 
                        a labor certification under section 
                        212(a)(5)(A)(i) is filed with the Secretary of 
                        Labor.
                    ``(B) Certain dependents of nonimmigrants.--With 
                respect to an alien who, for an aggregate period of 8 
                years before attaining the age of 21, was in the status 
                of a dependent child of a nonimmigrant pursuant to a 
                lawful admission as an alien eligible to be employed in 
                the United States (other than a nonimmigrant described 
                in subparagraph (A), (G), (N), or (S) of section 
                101(a)(15)), notwithstanding clause (i), the 
                determination of the alien's age shall be based on the 
                date on which such initial nonimmigrant employment-
                based petition or application was filed by the alien's 
                nonimmigrant parent.
                    ``(C) Failure to acquire status as alien lawfully 
                admitted for permanent residence.--With respect to an 
                alien who has not sought to acquire status as an alien 
                lawfully admitted for permanent residence during the 2 
                years beginning on the date on which an immigrant visa 
                becomes available to such alien, the alien's age shall 
                be determined based on the alien's biological age, 
                unless the failure to seek to acquire such status was 
                due to extraordinary circumstances.''; and
                    (B) in section 201(f) (8 U.S.C. 1151)--
                            (i) by striking the subsection heading and 
                        all that follows through ``Termination Date.--
                        '' in paragraph (3) and inserting ``Rule for 
                        Determining Whether Certain Aliens Are 
                        Immediate Relatives.--''; and
                            (ii) by striking paragraph (4).
            (2) Effective date.--
                    (A) In general.--The amendments made by this 
                subsection shall be effective as if included in the 
                Child Status Protection Act (Public Law 107-208; 116 
                Stat. 927).
                    (B) Motion to reopen or reconsider.--
                            (i) In general.--A motion to reopen or 
                        reconsider the denial of a petition or 
                        application described in the amendment made by 
                        paragraph (1)(A) may be granted if--
                                    (I) such petition or application 
                                would have been approved if the 
                                amendment described in such paragraph 
                                had been in effect at the time of 
                                adjudication of the petition or 
                                application;
                                    (II) the individual seeking relief 
                                pursuant to such motion was in the 
                                United States at the time the 
                                underlying petition or application was 
                                filed; and
                                    (III) such motion is filed with the 
                                Secretary of Homeland Security or the 
                                Attorney General not later than the 
                                date that is 2 years after the date of 
                                the enactment of this Act.
                            (ii) Exemption from numerical 
                        limitations.--Notwithstanding any other 
                        provision of law, an individual granted relief 
                        pursuant to a motion to reopen or reconsider 
                        under clause (i) shall be exempt from the 
                        numerical limitations in sections 201, 202, and 
                        203 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
                        U.S.C. 1151, 1152, and 1153).
    (b) Nonimmigrant Dependent Children.--Section 214 of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184) is amended by adding at 
the end the following:
    ``(s) Derivative Beneficiaries.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as described in paragraph (2), 
        the determination as to whether an alien who is the derivative 
        beneficiary of a properly filed pending or approved immigrant 
        petition under section 204 is eligible to be a dependent child 
        shall be based on whether the alien is determined to be a child 
        under section 101(b)(6).
            ``(2) Long-term dependents.--If otherwise eligible, an 
        alien who is determined to be a child pursuant to section 
        101(b)(6)(B) may change status to, or extend status as, a 
        dependent child of a nonimmigrant with an approved employment-
        based petition under this section or an approved application 
        under section 101(a)(15)(E), notwithstanding such alien's 
        marital status.
            ``(3) Employment authorization.--An alien admitted to the 
        United States as a dependent child of a nonimmigrant who is 
        described in this section is authorized to engage in employment 
        in the United States incident to status.''.
    (c) Priority Date Retention.--Section 203(h) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(h)) is amended--
            (1) by striking the subsection heading and inserting 
        ``Retention of Priority Dates'';
            (2) by striking paragraphs (1) through (4);
            (3) by redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph (3); and
            (4) by inserting before paragraph (3) the following:
            ``(1) In general.--The priority date for an individual 
        shall be the date on which a petition under section 204 is 
        filed with the Secretary of Homeland Security or the Secretary 
        of State, as applicable, unless such petition was preceded by 
        the filing of a labor certification with the Secretary of 
        Labor, in which case the date on which the labor certification 
        is filed shall be the priority date.
            ``(2) Applicability.--The principal beneficiary and all 
        derivative beneficiaries shall retain the priority date 
        associated with the earliest of any approved petition or labor 
        certification, and such priority date shall be applicable to 
        any subsequently approved petition.''.
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