Pub. L. 111-83, tit. V, sec. 568

Sec. 568. (a) Special Immigrant Nonminister Religious Worker Program and Other Immigration Programs.—(1) Extension.—Subclauses (II) and (III) of section 101(a)(27)(C)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(C)(ii)) are amended by striking “September 30, 2009,” each place such term appears and inserting “September 30, 2012,”.(2) Study and plan.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services shall submit a report to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives that includes—(A) the results of a study conducted under the supervision of the Director to evaluate the Special Immigrant Nonminister Religious Worker Program to identify the risks of fraud and noncompliance by program participants; and(B) a detailed plan that describes the actions to be taken by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to improve the integrity of the program.(3) Progress report.—Not later than 240 days after the submission of the report under paragraph (2), the Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services shall submit a report to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives that describes the progress made in implementing the plan described in clause (a)(2)(B) of this section.(b) Conrad State 30 J–1 Visa Waiver Program.—Section 220(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Technical Corrections Act of 1994 (8 U.S.C. 1182 note) is amended by striking “September 30, 2009” and inserting “September 30, 2012”.(c) Relief for Surviving Spouses.—(1) In general.—The second sentence of section 201(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(b)(2)(A)(i)) is amended by striking “for at least 2 years at the time of the citizen’s death”.(2) Applicability.—(A) In general.—The amendment made by paragraph (1) shall apply to all applications and petitions relating to immediate relative status under section 201(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(b)(2)(A)(i)) pending on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.(B) Transition cases.—(i) In general.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an alien described in clause (ii) who seeks immediate relative status pursuant to the amendment made by paragraph (1) shall file a petition under section 204(a)(1)(A)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1)(A)(ii)) not later than the date that is 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.(ii) Aliens described.—An alien is described in this clause if—123 STAT. 2187(I) the alien’s United States citizen spouse died before the date of the enactment of this Act;(II) the alien and the citizen spouse were married for less than 2 years at the time of the citizen spouse’s death; and(III) the alien has not remarried.(d) Surviving Relative Consideration for Certain Petitions and Applications.—(1) Amendment.—Section 204 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1154) is amended by adding at the end the following:“(l) Surviving Relative Consideration for Certain Petitions and Applications.—“(1) In general.—An alien described in paragraph (2) who resided in the United States at the time of the death of the qualifying relative and who continues to reside in the United States shall have such petition described in paragraph (2), or an application for adjustment of status to that of a person admitted for lawful permanent residence based upon the family relationship described in paragraph (2), and any related applications, adjudicated notwithstanding the death of the qualifying relative, unless the Secretary of Homeland Security determines, in the unreviewable discretion of the Secretary, that approval would not be in the public interest.“(2) Alien described.—An alien described in this paragraph is an alien who, immediately prior to the death of his or her qualifying relative, was—“(A) the beneficiary of a pending or approved petition for classification as an immediate relative (as described in section 201(b)(2)(A)(i));“(B) the beneficiary of a pending or approved petition for classification under section 203 (a) or (d);“(C) a derivative beneficiary of a pending or approved petition for classification under section 203(b) (as described in section 203(d));“(D) the beneficiary of a pending or approved refugee/asylee relative petition under section 207 or 208;“(E) an alien admitted in ‘T’ nonimmigrant status as described in section 101(a)(15)(T)(ii) or in ‘U’ nonimmigrant status as described in section 101(a)(15)(U)(ii); or“(F) an asylee (as described in section 208(b)(3)).”.(2) Construction.—Nothing in the amendment made by paragraph (1) may be construed to limit or waive any ground of removal, basis for denial of petition or application, or other criteria for adjudicating petitions or applications as otherwise provided under the immigration laws of the United States other than ineligibility based solely on the lack of a qualifying family relationship as specifically provided by such amendment.(e) Conforming Amendment to Affidavit of Support Requirement.—Section 213A(f)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1183a(5)) is amended by striking clauses (i) and (ii) and inserting:“(i) the individual petitioning under section 204 of this Act for the classification of such alien died after the approval of such petition, and the Secretary of Homeland Security has determined for humanitarian 123 STAT. 2188 reasons that revocation of such petition under section 205 would be inappropriate; or“(ii) the alien’s petition is being adjudicated pursuant to section 204(l) (surviving relative consideration).”.