# 117-hr-5319: Reduce Financial Barriers to Immigration and Citizenship Act of 2021

117-hr-5319, Reduce Financial Barriers to Immigration and Citizenship Act of 2021, is a 117th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Torres, Norma J. [D-CA-35] (D-CA); status Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship. (as of 2025-11-18).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/117-hr-5319
- As of: 2025-11-18
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 117-hr-5319
- Congress: 117
- Title: Reduce Financial Barriers to Immigration and Citizenship Act of 2021
- Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship.
- Introduced: 2021-09-21
- Sponsor: Rep. Torres, Norma J. [D-CA-35] (D-CA)
- Cosponsors: 20
- Policy area: Immigration
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2025-11-18

## Summary

Reduce Financial Barriers to Immigration and Citizenship Act of 2021 This bill prohibits the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from charging fees for certain immigration applications (or petitions), requires DHS to provide fee waivers to certain applicants, and addresses related issues. DHS may not impose fees for certain applications for or related to (1) asylum or refugee status, (2) special immigrant juvenile status, (3) U or T non-immigrant visas (victims of certain crimes such as human trafficking), (4) the Violence Against Women Act, (5) special immigrant status for Afghan or Iraqi nationals employed by the U.S. government, or (6) immigration-related fee waivers. DHS must also waive immigration-related application fees for an applicant who receives a means-tested benefit or meets certain conditions related to financial hardship. However, DHS is not required to provide fee waivers for applications for certain employment-based immigration benefits. Receipt of a fee waiver may not be used as a factor (1) for determining whether an alien should be considered a public charge, or (2) when considering an affidavit of support filed by a sponsor. The bill also requires all collected immigration-related adjudication fees to be used only to fund the adjudication and administration of immigration benefits and naturalization.

## Cosponsors (20)

- Rep. Meng, Grace [D-NY-6] (D-NY), 2021-09-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Takano, Mark [D-CA-39] (D-CA), 2021-09-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC), 2021-09-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-28] (D-CA), 2021-09-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Jones, Mondaire [D-NY-17] (D-NY), 2021-09-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Grijalva, Raúl M. [D-AZ-7] (D-AZ), 2021-09-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Velázquez, Nydia M. [D-NY-7] (D-NY), 2021-09-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Cárdenas, Tony [D-CA-29] (D-CA), 2021-09-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. McGovern, James P. [D-MA-2] (D-MA), 2021-09-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Maloney, Carolyn B. [D-NY-12] (D-NY), 2021-09-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, Alexandria [D-NY-14] (D-NY), 2021-09-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Gomez, Jimmy [D-CA-34] (D-CA), 2021-09-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Soto, Darren [D-FL-9] (D-FL), 2021-09-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Espaillat, Adriano [D-NY-13] (D-NY), 2021-09-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Vargas, Juan [D-CA-52] (D-CA), 2021-09-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. García, Jesús G. "Chuy" [D-IL-4] (D-IL), 2021-09-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Blumenauer, Earl [D-OR-3] (D-OR), 2021-09-27T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Lieu, Ted [D-CA-36] (D-CA), 2021-09-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Clarke, Yvette D. [D-NY-9] (D-NY), 2021-10-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Titus, Dina [D-NV-1] (D-NV), 2021-10-08T00:00:00.000Z

## Related bills

- 117-hr-1842: Harriet Tubman Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act
- 117-hres-915: Approving certain regulations to implement provisions of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 relating to labor-management relations with respect to em…
- 117-hr-6117: PrEP Access and Coverage Act
- 117-hr-6015: Benjamin Berell Ferencz Congressional Gold Medal Act
- 117-hr-5723: Social Security 2100: A Sacred Trust
- 117-hr-5727: Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act of 2021

## Sources
- [117-hr-5319 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/5319)

## Related
- [117-hr-1842: Harriet Tubman Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/117-hr-1842)
- [117-hres-915: Approving certain regulations to implement provisions of the Congressional Acco…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/117-hres-915)
- [117-hr-6117: PrEP Access and Coverage Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/117-hr-6117)
- [117-hr-6015: Benjamin Berell Ferencz Congressional Gold Medal Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/117-hr-6015)
- [117-hr-5723: Social Security 2100: A Sacred Trust](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/117-hr-5723)
- [117-hr-5727: Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act of 2021](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/117-hr-5727)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/117-hr-5319 (as of 2025-11-18).