# 119-s-1298: Religious Workforce Protection Act

119-s-1298, Religious Workforce Protection Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Kaine, Tim [D-VA] (D-VA); status introduced (as of 2026-08-11).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1298
- As of: 2026-08-11
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-1298
- Congress: 119
- Title: Religious Workforce Protection Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-04-03
- Sponsor: Sen. Kaine, Tim [D-VA] (D-VA)
- Cosponsors: 7
- Policy area: Immigration
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2026-08-11

## 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. - 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.

## Cosponsors (7)

- Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME] (R-ME), 2025-04-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Risch, James E. [R-ID] (R-ID), 2025-04-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Graham, Lindsey [R-SC] (R-SC), 2025-05-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE] (D-DE), 2025-05-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK] (R-AK), 2025-06-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID] (R-ID), 2025-06-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN] (D-MN), 2025-12-17T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- More time and flexibility for religious workers: benefit, low. 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) immi…

## Related bills

- 119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act
- 119-s-1241: Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025
- 119-s-237: Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act of 2025
- 119-s-1032: Major Richard Star Act
- 119-s-1547: America the Beautiful Act
- 119-sres-755: A resolution honoring the life of the Honorable Donald W. Riegle, Jr., former Senator for the State of Michigan.

## Sources
- [119-s-1298 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1298)

## Related
- [119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1748)
- [119-s-1241: Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1241)
- [119-s-237: Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-237)
- [119-s-1032: Major Richard Star Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1032)
- [119-s-1547: America the Beautiful Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1547)
- [119-sres-755: A resolution honoring the life of the Honorable Donald W. Riegle, Jr., former S…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-755)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1298 (as of 2026-08-11).