I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 152
To adjust the status of certain aliens with longstanding ties to the United 
States to that of an alien lawfully admitted to permanent residence, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 7, 2003
Mr. PASTOR (for himself and Mr. GUTIERREZ) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To adjust the status of certain aliens with longstanding 
ties to the United States to that of an alien lawfully 
admitted to permanent residence, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Immigration Adjust-
ment Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. REFERENCES. 
Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 
this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 
of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi-
sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a 
section or other provision of the Immigration and Nation-
ality Act. 
TITLE I—ADJUSTMENT OF STA-
TUS OF CERTAIN UNDOCU-
MENTED ALIENS
SEC. 101. ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS OF CERTAIN ENTRANTS 
BEFORE JANUARY 1, 2001, TO THAT OF PER-
SON ADMITTED FOR LAWFUL RESIDENCE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 4 of title II is amended 
by inserting after section 245A the following:
‘‘ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS OF CERTAIN ENTRANTS BE-
FORE JANUARY 1, 2001, TO THAT OF PERSON ADMIT-
TED FOR LAWFUL RESIDENCE 
‘‘SEC. 245B. (a) RESIDENT STATUS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 
adjust the status of an alien to that of an alien law-
fully admitted for permanent residence if the alien 
meets the requirements of this subsection. 
‘‘(2) TIMELY APPLICATION.—
‘‘(A) DURING APPLICATION PERIOD.—Ex-
cept as provided in subparagraph (B), the alien 
must apply for such adjustment during the 18-
month period beginning on a date (not later 
than 360 days after date of enactment) des-
ignated by the Attorney General.
‘‘(B) APPLICATION
WITHIN
DAYS
OF 
NOTICE TO APPEAR.—An alien who, at any time 
during the first 17 months of the 18-month pe-
riod described in subparagraph (A), is the sub-
ject of a notice to appear issued under section 
239, must make application under subsection 
(b) not later than the end of the 30-day period 
beginning either on the first day of such 18-
month period or on the date of the issuance of 
such notice, whichever day is later. 
‘‘(C) INFORMATION INCLUDED IN APPLICA-
TION.—Each application under subsection (c) 
shall contain such information as the Attorney 
General may require, including information on 
living relatives of the applicant with respect to 
whom a petition for preference or other status 
may be filed by the applicant at any later date 
under section 204(a). 
‘‘(3) CONTINUOUS RESIDENCE.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—
‘‘(i) CONTINUOUS
RESIDENCE.—The 
alien must establish that the alien entered 
the United States before January 1, 2001, 
and has resided continuously in the United 
States since such date and through the
date the application is filed under this sub-
section. 
‘‘(ii) 5 YEARS.—The alien must estab-
lish continuous residence in the United 
States immediately preceding the 5-year 
period ending on the date on which the 
alien becomes eligible for adjustment of 
status under this subsection. 
‘‘(iii) TREATMENT
OF
CERTAIN
AB-
SENCES.—An alien shall not be considered 
to have lost continuous residence by reason 
of an absence from the United States per-
mitted under subsection (b)(9). 
‘‘(B) EXCHANGE
VISITORS.—If the alien 
was at any time a nonimmigrant exchange alien 
(as defined in section 101(a)(15)(J)), the alien 
must establish that the alien was not subject to 
the two-year foreign residence requirement of 
section 212(e) or has fulfilled that requirement 
or received a waiver thereof.
‘‘(4) CONTINUOUS PHYSICAL PRESENCE SINCE 
DATE OF ENACTMENT.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The alien must estab-
lish that the alien has been continuously phys-
‘‘(C) RELATION TO NATURALIZATION EX-
AMINATION.—In accordance with regulations of 
the Attorney General, an alien who has dem-
onstrated under subparagraph (A)(i) that the 
alien meets the requirements of section 312(a) 
may be considered to have satisfied the require-
ments of that section for purposes of becoming 
naturalized as a citizen of the United States 
under title III. 
‘‘(b) APPLICATIONS FOR ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS.—
‘‘(1) CONDITIONS FOR ACCEPTANCE OF APPLI-
CATION.—An application shall be accepted under 
this subsection upon a determination that the appli-
cant is prima facie eligible for adjustment of status 
under subsection (a), which determination shall not 
be made before, at a minimum, the identity of the 
applicant has been checked against all appropriate 
electronic databases maintained by the Attorney 
General and by the Secretary of State and appro-
priate foreign entities or international law enforce-
ment databases to determine any grounds on which 
the alien may be inadmissible to the United States 
that may not be waived under subsection (c)(2). 
‘‘(2) TO WHOM MAY BE MADE.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 
shall provide that applications for adjustment of 
status under subsection (a) may be filed—
‘‘(i) with the Attorney General, or 
‘‘(ii) with a qualified designated enti-
ty, but only if the applicant consents to the 
forwarding of the application to the Attor-
ney General. 
‘‘(B) DEFINITION.—As used in this sec-
tion, the term ‘qualified designated entity’ 
means an organization or person designated 
under paragraph (3). 
‘‘(3) DESIGNATION OF QUALIFIED ENTITIES TO 
RECEIVE APPLICATIONS.—For purposes of assisting 
in the program of legalization provided under this 
section, the Attorney General—
‘‘(A) shall designate qualified voluntary or-
ganizations and other qualified State, local, and 
community organizations, and 
‘‘(B) may designate such other persons as 
the Attorney General determines are qualified 
and have substantial experience, demonstrated 
competence, and traditional long-term involve-
ment in the preparation and submittal of appli-
cations for adjustment of status under section
209 or 245, Public Law 89–732, or Public Law 
95–145. 
‘‘(4) TREATMENT OF APPLICATIONS BY DES-
IGNATED ENTITIES.—Each qualified designated enti-
ty must agree to forward to the Attorney General 
applications filed with it in accordance with para-
graph (2)(A)(ii) but not to forward to the Attorney 
General applications filed with it unless the appli-
cant has consented to such forwarding. No such en-
tity may make a determination required by this sec-
tion to be made by the Attorney General. 
‘‘(5) LIMITATION
ON
ACCESS
TO
INFORMA-
TION.—Files and records of qualified designated en-
tities relating to an alien’s seeking assistance or in-
formation with respect to filing an application under 
this section are confidential and the Attorney Gen-
eral and the Service shall not have access to such 
files or records relating to an alien without the con-
sent of the alien. 
‘‘(6) CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
this paragraph, neither the Attorney General,
nor any other official or employee of the De-
partment of Justice, or bureau or agency there-
of, may—
‘‘(i) use the information furnished by 
the applicant pursuant to an application 
filed under this section for any purpose 
other than to make a determination on the 
application, for enforcement of paragraph 
(7); 
‘‘(ii) make any publication whereby 
the information furnished by any par-
ticular applicant can be identified; or 
‘‘(iii) permit anyone other than the 
sworn officers and employees of the De-
partment or bureau or agency or, with re-
spect to applications filed with a des-
ignated entity, that designated entity, to 
examine individual applications. 
‘‘(B) REQUIRED
DISCLOSURES.—The At-
torney General shall provide the information 
furnished under this section, and any other in-
formation derived from such furnished informa-
tion, to a duly recognized law enforcement enti-
ty in connection with a criminal investigation or 
prosecution, when such information is requested
in writing by such entity, or to an official cor-
oner for purposes of affirmatively identifying a
deceased individual (whether or not such indi-
vidual is deceased as a result of a crime). 
‘‘(C) 
AUTHORIZED
DISCLOSURES.—The 
Attorney General may provide, in the Attorney 
General’s discretion, for the furnishing of infor-
mation furnished under this section in the same 
manner and circumstances as census informa-
tion may be disclosed by the Secretary of Com-
merce under section 8 of title 13, United States 
Code. 
‘‘(D) CONSTRUCTION.—
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Nothing in this 
paragraph shall be construed to limit the 
use, or release, for immigration enforce-
ment purposes or law enforcement pur-
poses of information contained in files or 
records of the Service pertaining to an ap-
plication filed under this section, other 
than information furnished by an applicant 
pursuant to the application, or any other 
information derived from the application, 
that is not available from any other source. 
‘‘(ii) CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS.—Informa-
tion concerning whether the applicant has 
at any time been convicted of a crime may
be used or released for immigration en-
forcement or law enforcement purposes. 
‘‘(E) CRIME.—Whoever knowingly uses, 
publishes, or permits information to be exam-
ined in violation of this paragraph shall be fined 
not more than $10,000. 
‘‘(7) PENALTIES FOR FALSE STATEMENTS IN 
APPLICATIONS.—Whoever files an application for ad-
justment of status under this section and knowingly 
and willfully falsifies, misrepresents, conceals, or 
covers up a material fact or makes any false, ficti-
tious, or fraudulent statements or representations, 
or makes or uses any false writing or document 
knowing the same to contain any false, fictitious, or 
fraudulent statement or entry, shall be fined in ac-
cordance with title 18, United States Code, or im-
prisoned not more than five years, or both. 
‘‘(8) APPLICATION FEES.—
‘‘(A) FEE SCHEDULE.—The Attorney Gen-
eral shall provide for a schedule of fees to be 
charged for the filing of applications for adjust-
ment under this section. Such fees shall not ex-
ceed the Attorney General’s costs in adjudi-
cating the applications.
‘‘(B) USE OF FEES.—The Attorney Gen-
eral shall deposit payments received under this 
paragraph in a separate account and amounts 
in such account shall be available, without fiscal 
year limitation, to cover administrative and 
other expenses incurred in connection with the 
review of applications filed under this sub-
section. 
‘‘(9) AUTHORIZED
TRAVEL
AND
EMPLOY-
MENT.—During the period after an alien has sub-
mitted an application under this subsection and be-
fore the Attorney General has rendered a decision to 
accept or reject such application, and during the pe-
riod after the acceptance of an alien’s application 
under this subsection and before the Attorney Gen-
eral has rendered a final decision granting or deny-
ing such application, the Attorney General—
‘‘(A) shall not remove the alien from the 
United States; 
‘‘(B) shall, in accordance with regulations, 
permit the alien to return to the United States 
after such brief and casual trips abroad as re-
flect an intention on the part of the alien to ad-
just to lawful permanent resident status under 
subsection (a) and after brief temporary trips
abroad occasioned by a family obligation involv-
ing an occurrence such as the illness or death 
of a close relative or other family need; and 
‘‘(C) shall grant the alien authorization to 
engage in employment in the United States and 
provide to that alien an ‘employment author-
ized’ endorsement or other appropriate work 
permit for 12 months, renewable at 6-month in-
tervals, until a final ruling on the application is 
made. 
‘‘(c) WAIVER OF NUMERICAL LIMITATIONS AND CER-
TAIN GROUNDS FOR INADMISSIBILITY.—
‘‘(1) 
NUMERICAL
LIMITATIONS
DO
NOT 
APPLY.—The numerical limitations of sections 201 
and 202 shall not apply to the adjustment of aliens 
to lawful permanent resident status under subsection 
(a) or (g). 
‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF GROUNDS FOR INADMIS-
SIBILITY.—
‘‘(A) INAPPLICABLE GROUNDS FOR INAD-
MISSIBILITY.—In the determination of an 
alien’s admissibility under subsection (a), the 
provisions of paragraphs (4), (5), (6)(A),
(7)(A), and (9)(B) of section 212(a) shall not 
apply.
‘‘(B) WAIVER OF GROUNDS FOR INADMIS-
SIBILITY.—
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Except as pro-
vided in clause (ii), the Attorney General 
may waive any other provision of section 
212(a) in the case of individual aliens for 
humanitarian purposes, to assure family 
unity, or when it is otherwise in the public 
interest. 
‘‘(ii) GROUNDS
THAT
MAY
NOT
BE 
WAIVED.—The following provisions of sec-
tion 212(a) may not be waived by the At-
torney General under clause (i): 
‘‘(I) 
Paragraphs 
(2)(A) 
and 
(2)(B) (relating to criminals). 
‘‘(II) Paragraph (2)(C) (relating 
to drug offenses), except for so much 
of such paragraph as relates to a sin-
gle offense of simple possession of 30 
grams or less of marijuana. 
‘‘(III) Paragraph (3) (relating to 
security and related grounds).
‘‘(C) MEDICAL EXAMINATION.—The alien 
shall be required, at the alien’s expense, to un-
dergo such a medical examination (including a
determination of immunization status) as is ap-
propriate and conforms to generally accepted 
professional standards of medical practice. 
‘‘(d) TEMPORARY
STAY
OF
DEPORTATION
AND 
WORK AUTHORIZATION BEFORE APPLICATION PERIOD.—
The Attorney General may provide that in the case of an 
alien who is apprehended before the beginning of the ap-
plication period described in subsection (a)(2)(A) and who 
can establish a prima facie case of eligibility to have his 
status adjusted under subsection (a) or (g) (but for the 
fact that the alien may not apply for such adjustment until 
the beginning of such period), until the alien has had the 
opportunity during the first 30 days of the application pe-
riod to complete the filing of an application for adjust-
ment, the alien—
‘‘(1) may not be removed from the United 
States; and 
‘‘(2) shall be granted authorization to engage in 
employment in the United States and be provided an 
‘employment authorized’ endorsement or other ap-
propriate work permit. 
‘‘(e) ADMINISTRATIVE AND JUDICIAL REVIEW.—
‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATIVE
AND
JUDICIAL
RE-
VIEW.—There shall be no administrative or judicial 
review of a determination respecting an application
for adjustment of status under subsection (a) or (g) 
except in accordance with this subsection. 
‘‘(2) NO REVIEW FOR LATE FILINGS.—No de-
nial of adjustment of status under subsection (a) or 
(g) based on a late filing of an application for such 
adjustment may be reviewed by a court of the 
United States or of any State or reviewed in any ad-
ministrative proceeding of the United States Govern-
ment. 
‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—
‘‘(A) SINGLE LEVEL OF ADMINISTRATIVE 
APPELLATE
REVIEW.—The Attorney General 
shall establish an appellate authority to provide 
for a single level of administrative appellate re-
view of a determination described in paragraph 
(1). 
‘‘(B) STANDARD FOR REVIEW.—Such ad-
ministrative appellate review shall be based 
solely upon the administrative record estab-
lished at the time of the determination on the 
application and upon such additional or newly 
discovered evidence as may not have been avail-
able at the time of the determination. 
‘‘(4) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—
‘‘(A) LIMITATION TO REVIEW OF DEPOR-
TATION.—There shall be judicial review of such 
a denial only in the judicial review of an order 
of removal under section 242. 
‘‘(B) STANDARD FOR JUDICIAL REVIEW.—
Such judicial review shall be based solely upon 
the administrative record established at the 
time of the review by the appellate authority 
and the findings of fact and determinations 
contained in such record shall be conclusive un-
less the applicant can establish abuse of discre-
tion or that the findings are directly contrary to 
clear and convincing facts contained in the 
record considered as a whole. 
‘‘(C) JURISDICTION OF COURTS.—Notwith-
standing any other provision of law, no court 
shall have jurisdiction of any cause of action or 
claim by or on behalf of any person asserting 
an interest under this section unless such per-
son in fact filed an application under this sec-
tion within the period specified by subsection 
(a)(2) attempted to file a complete application 
and application fee with an authorized legaliza-
tion officer of the Service but had the applica-
tion and fee refused by that officer.
‘‘(f) IMPLEMENTATION OF SECTION.—
‘‘(1) REGULATIONS.—The Attorney General, 
after consultation with the Committees on the Judi-
ciary of the House of Representatives and of the 
Senate, shall prescribe—
‘‘(A) regulations establishing a definition 
of the term ‘continuous residence’, as used in 
this section, and the evidence needed to estab-
lish that an alien has resided continuously in 
the United States for purposes of this section; 
and 
‘‘(B) such other regulations as may be nec-
essary to carry out this section. 
‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In prescribing regula-
tions described in paragraph (1)(A)—
‘‘(A) PERIODS
OF
CONTINUOUS
RESI-
DENCE.—The Attorney General shall specify in-
dividual periods, and aggregate periods, of ab-
sence from the United States which will be con-
sidered to break a period of continuous resi-
dence in the United States and shall take into
account absences due merely to brief and casual 
trips abroad.
‘‘(D) USE
OF
CERTAIN
DOCUMENTA-
TION.—The Attorney General shall require 
that—
‘‘(i) continuous residence and physical 
presence in the United States must be es-
tablished through documents, together with 
independent corroboration of the informa-
tion contained in such documents; and 
‘‘(ii) the documents provided under 
clause (i) be employment-related if employ-
ment-related documents with respect to the 
alien are available to the applicant. 
‘‘(3) INTERIM
FINAL
REGULATIONS.—Regula-
tions prescribed under this section may be pre-
scribed to take effect on an interim final basis if the 
Attorney General determines that this is necessary 
in order to implement this section in a timely man-
ner. 
‘‘(g) ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS FOR SPOUSES AND 
CHILDREN.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The status of an alien shall 
be adjusted by the Attorney General to that of an 
alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence con-
currently with the adjustment of the principal alien, 
if—
‘‘(A) the alien is the spouse or child of an 
alien whose status is adjusted to that of an 
alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence 
under subsection (a); 
‘‘(B) the alien applies for such adjustment 
and is physically present in the United States 
on the date the application is filed; 
‘‘(C) the alien is otherwise admissible to 
the United States for permanent residence, ex-
cept in determining such admissibility the 
grounds for inadmissibility specified in para-
graphs (4), (5), (6)(A), (7)(A), and (9)(B) of 
section 212(a) shall not apply; and 
‘‘(D) the alien applies for such adjustment 
before the expiration of the application period 
specified in subsection (a)(2)(A). 
‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF WHETHER APPLICANT 
IS A CHILD.—For purposes of paragraph (1)(A), a 
determination of whether an alien is a child shall be 
made using the age of the alien on the date on 
which the alien’s application under this subsection is 
filed. 
‘‘(h) INAPPLICABILITY OF REMOVAL ORDER REIN-
STATEMENT.—Section 241(a)(5) shall not apply with re-
spect to an alien who is applying for adjustment of status 
under this section.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 
245A the following:
‘‘Sec. 245B. Adjustment of status of certain entrants before January 1, 2001, 
to that of person admitted for lawful residence.’’. 
TITLE II—REGISTRY DATE 
CHANGE 
SEC. 201. CHANGE OF ENTRY DATE INTO THE UNITED 
STATES FOR PURPOSES OF A RECORD OF AD-
MISSION FOR PERMANENT RESIDENCE FOR 
CERTAIN ALIENS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 249 (8 U.S.C. 1259) is 
amended—
(1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘JANU-
ARY 1, 1972’’ and inserting ‘‘JANUARY 1, 2001’’; and 
(2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘January 1, 
1972;’’ and inserting ‘‘January 1, 2001;’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
is amended in the item relating to section 249 by striking 
‘‘January 1, 1972’’ and inserting ‘‘January 1, 2001’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
subsections (a) and (b) shall take effect on January 1, 
2007.
TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS 
SEC. 301. REGULATIONS. 
The Attorney General shall promulgate regulations to 
implement this Act not more than 90 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 302. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro-
priated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this 
Act. 
(b) AVAILABILITY
OF
FUNDS.—Amounts appro-
priated pursuant to subsection (a) are authorized to re-
main available until expended. 
SEC. 303. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the 
amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date 
of the enactment of this Act.
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