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119-s-1298119th Congress

Religious Workforce Protection Act

Sponsored By: Senator Kaine, Tim [D-VA]

Introduced

Summary

Keeps religious workers lawful and working while they wait for a green card. This bill would let certain R nonimmigrants stay beyond the usual five-year limit when they are waiting on an immigrant petition tied to the religious-worker preference, expand limited work flexibility, and waive a regulatory one-year foreign residence requirement for those forced to leave because of the five-year cap.

Show full summary
  • Religious workers and their families: It would allow principals and derivatives in the religious-worker immigrant category to apply for extensions of R nonimmigrant status past the 5-year limit until their adjustment or immigrant visa case is decided. This fills gaps caused by long green card backlogs.
  • Employment flexibility: It would broaden who can get limited authorization to engage in other employment while their immigrant cases are pending by changing which immigrant categories qualify under the employment-flexibility rule.
  • Foreign-residence exemption: It would exempt these workers from the 1-year foreign-residence rule in the regulations if they departed because the five-year R limit forced them to leave.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.

More time and flexibility for religious workers

This bill would let some R-visa religious workers extend their status beyond the usual five-year limit. They could get extensions while their adjustment-of-status or immigrant-visa application is pending. To qualify, you would need to be the principal or a derivative beneficiary of a 203(b)(4) immigrant petition and otherwise eligible but for numerical caps. The bill would add a specific exception to the five-year R cap. DHS could grant extensions until a final decision is made. It would also expand certain limited work-flexibility rules for people with pending green-card cases and exempt some who left because of the five-year cap from a regulatory one-year foreign-residence rule.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Kaine, Tim [D-VA]

VA • D

Cosponsors

  • Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME]

    ME • R

    Sponsored 4/3/2025

  • Sen. Risch, James E. [R-ID]

    ID • R

    Sponsored 4/3/2025

  • Sen. Graham, Lindsey [R-SC]

    SC • R

    Sponsored 5/15/2025

  • Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE]

    DE • D

    Sponsored 5/21/2025

  • Sen. Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK]

    AK • R

    Sponsored 6/12/2025

  • Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID]

    ID • R

    Sponsored 6/17/2025

  • Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN]

    MN • D

    Sponsored 12/17/2025

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

View on Congress.gov
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