“To render certain military parents eligible for adjustment of status, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section provides for the adjustment of status to that of a lawful permanent resident for parents of U.S. citizens serving or who served honorably on active duty or in a reserve component of the U.S. Armed Forces (i.e., parents who are beneficiaries of an approved immediate relative petition under INA §204(a)(1)(A) based on the parent-child relationship). For such parents, the section deems them inspected and admitted into the United States for purposes of INA §245(a) and, in determining admissibility, (1) eliminates INA §212(a)(6)(A) (misrepresentation), (7)(A) (lack of required documentation), and (9)(B) (prior unlawful presence of three to 10 years); and (2) authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to waive INA §212(a)(6)(C) (document fraud), (9)(A) (three- or 10-year bar), and (9)(C) (permanent bar) if the parent demonstrates no threat to public safety and no unrelated federal or state criminal convictions.
This section establishes an exception from, and discretionary waiver authority for, certain grounds of inadmissibility under INA §212(a) for parents of U.S. citizen service members on active duty or in the reserves (honorably discharged, if applicable) who are beneficiaries of an immediate relative petition under INA §204(a)(1)(A) by reason of marriage to such citizen. Specifically, for such aliens: (1) INA §212(a)(9)(B)—the three- and ten-year bars for unlawful presence—does not apply; and (2) the Secretary of Homeland Security may waive INA §212(a)(6)(C) (misrepresentation), §212(a)(9)(A) (prior removal), and §212(a)(9)(C) (unlawful reentry after prior removal or accrual of unlawful presence post-removal) if the alien demonstrates no public safety threat and no unrelated federal or state criminal offenses. (Thus, these parents may overcome common barriers to immigrant visas faced by individuals with prior immigration violations.)
This section directs the Secretaries of Homeland Security and State to ensure that eligible aliens removed or voluntarily departed from the United States before enactment may apply from abroad for an immigrant visa pursuant to the amendment made by section 3. The section further establishes a program authorizing such eligible aliens with pending immigrant visa and adjustment-of-status applications to enter the United States as nonimmigrants to reunite with their U.S. citizen son or daughter during adjudication, provided they establish no threat to public safety or national security; for this purpose, the Secretary of Homeland Security may waive INA §212(a)(6)(C) (false claim to U.S. citizenship) and (9) (prior removal or unlawful presence after departure following removal).