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Religious Workforce Protection Act
To authorize the continuation of lawful nonimmigrant status for certain religious workers affected by the backlog for religious worker immigrant visas.
Summary
This bill addresses the situation of religious workers whose applications for permanent residence are delayed in a backlog. The bill allows religious workers who have applied for permanent immigrant status to extend their temporary nonimmigrant (R-1) visa status beyond the current 5-year limit while their permanent residence applications are pending. The bill provides limited job flexibility for religious workers with long-delayed applications, allowing them to change employers while awaiting resolution of their permanent residence applications. The bill also exempts religious workers from the requirement to reside outside the United States for one year if they had to leave the country due to their temporary visa expiring while waiting for their permanent residence application to be processed. These provisions are designed to provide continuity of work status for religious workers caught in administrative delays in the immigration system.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Carey, Mike [R-OH-15] (R-OH)
37 cosponsors
- Rep. Adams, Alma S. [D-NC-12] (D-NC)
- Rep. Bishop, Sanford D. [D-GA-2] (D-GA)
- Rep. Castro, Joaquin [D-TX-20] (D-TX)
- Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9] (D-TN)
- Rep. Costa, Jim [D-CA-21] (D-CA)
- Rep. De La Cruz, Monica [R-TX-15] (R-TX)
- Rep. DelBene, Suzan K. [D-WA-1] (D-WA)
- Rep. Finstad, Brad [R-MN-1] (R-MN)
- Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1] (R-PA)
- Rep. Fleischmann, Charles J. "Chuck" [R-TN-3] (R-TN)
- Rep. Fulcher, Russ [R-ID-1] (R-ID)
- Rep. Hurd, Jeff [R-CO-3] (R-CO)
- Rep. Krishnamoorthi, Raja [D-IL-8] (D-IL)
- Rep. Loudermilk, Barry [R-GA-11] (R-GA)
- Rep. Malliotakis, Nicole [R-NY-11] (R-NY)
- Rep. Maloy, Celeste [R-UT-2] (R-UT)
- Rep. Mann, Tracey [R-KS-1] (R-KS)
- Rep. McCollum, Betty [D-MN-4] (D-MN)
- Rep. Menendez, Robert [D-NJ-8] (D-NJ)
- Rep. Min, Dave [D-CA-47] (D-CA)
- Rep. Moulton, Seth [D-MA-6] (D-MA)
- Rep. Mrvan, Frank J. [D-IN-1] (D-IN)
- Rep. Neal, Richard E. [D-MA-1] (D-MA)
- Rep. Panetta, Jimmy [D-CA-19] (D-CA)
- Rep. Salazar, Maria Elvira [R-FL-27] (R-FL)
- Rep. Scholten, Hillary J. [D-MI-3] (D-MI)
- Rep. Scott, David [D-GA-13] (D-GA)
- Rep. Simpson, Michael K. [R-ID-2] (R-ID)
- Rep. Stauber, Pete [R-MN-8] (R-MN)
- Rep. Steil, Bryan [R-WI-1] (R-WI)
- Rep. Subramanyam, Suhas [D-VA-10] (D-VA)
- Rep. Suozzi, Thomas R. [D-NY-3] (D-NY)
- Rep. Thompson, Bennie G. [D-MS-2] (D-MS)
- Rep. Tonko, Paul [D-NY-20] (D-NY)
- Rep. Trahan, Lori [D-MA-3] (D-MA)
- Rep. Vargas, Juan [D-CA-52] (D-CA)
- Rep. Weber, Randy K. Sr. [R-TX-14] (R-TX)
Actions (2)
- Apr 7, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. · house
- Apr 7, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
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Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 7, 2025
Mr. Carey (for himself, Mr. Neal, Ms. Salazar, and Mr. Stauber) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To authorize the continuation of lawful nonimmigrant status for certain religious workers affected by the backlog for religious worker immigrant visas.
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 “Religious Workforce Protection Act”.
SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF NONIMMIGRANT STATUS FOR RELIGIOUS WORKERS CAUGHT IN LONG BACKLOGS FOR LAWFUL PERMANENT RESIDENCE.
(a) In General.—Section 214(a)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(a)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(C) Notwithstanding section 101(a)(15)(R)(ii), an alien may apply for, and the Secretary of Homeland Security may grant, an extension of nonimmigrant status under section 101(a)(15)(R) until such alien’s application for adjustment of status or an immigrant visa has been processed and a decision has been made on such application if the alien—
“(i) is the principal or derivative beneficiary of an immigrant petition filed pursuant to section 204(a) for a preference status under section 203(b)(4); and
“(ii) is eligible to be granted such immigrant status absent the application of the numerical limitations under sections 201, 202, and 203.”.
(b) Conforming Amendment.—Section 101(a)(15)(R)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(R)(ii)) is amended by inserting “, except as provided in section 214(a)(2)(C),” after “5 years”.
SEC. 3. LIMITED JOB FLEXIBILITY FOR CERTAIN RELIGIOUS WORKERS WITH LONG-DELAYED APPLICATIONS FOR LAWFUL PERMANENT RESIDENCE.
Section 204(j) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1154(j)) is amended by striking “subsection (a)(1)(D)” and inserting “subsection (a)(1)(F) or subsection (a)(1)(G)(i) (with respect to special immigrants described in section 101(a)(27)(C))”.
SEC. 4. EXEMPTION TO 1-YEAR FOREIGN RESIDENCE REQUIREMENT FOR CERTAIN NONIMMIGRANT RELIGIOUS WORKERS.
An alien described in section 214(a)(2)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as added by section 2(a), who departed from the United States due to the 5-year limitation on nonimmigrant status under section 101(a)(15)(R) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(R)) shall be exempt from the 1-year foreign residence requirement set forth in section 214.2(r)(6) of title 8, Code of Federal Regulations. <all>
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