“To authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security to provide certain nationals of Russia with special immigrant status, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes special immigrant status under INA §101(a)(27) for principal aliens who are Russian nationals with a U.S. or equivalent foreign doctoral degree in a STEM field (i.e., including artificial intelligence, biotechnologies, cybersecurity, hypersonics, quantum information technologies, semiconductors, and space technologies) seeking U.S. employment in that field, and for their accompanying or following-to-join spouses and children, subject to a cap of 3,000 principal and derivative immigrants per fiscal year for FY2026 through FY2029. It exempts such immigrants from numerical limits under INA §§201-203 (worldwide and per-country caps); requires DHS (or State in consultation with DHS) to process classification petitions under INA §204(a)(1)(G)(i) within 90 days of receiving complete documentation (to the extent practicable); directs establishment of refugee-equivalent vetting (including interviews) within 180 days of enactment and maintenance of applicant records (biographic, biometric, criminal, and vetting history); and specifies that no U.S. employment offer is required. The authority terminates on the last day of the fourth full fiscal year after enactment, though approved petitions remain valid for immigrant visa issuance or adjustment of status thereafter. (As background, special immigrant status facilitates employment- or other-specific permanent residence generally exempt from family-based and employment-based numerical limits.)