H.R. 8740

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8740 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8740

To provide temporary protected status and employment authorization to 
certain Iranian nationals adversely affected by the adjudication pause 
of December 2025, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

May 12, 2026

Ms. Ansari (for herself and Mr. Suozzi) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To provide temporary protected status and employment authorization to 
certain Iranian nationals adversely affected by the adjudication pause 
of December 2025, and for other purposes.

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 ``Iranian Temporary Immigration Relief 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds the following:
(1) Since early 2026, the United States has been engaged in 
armed hostilities with the Islamic Republic of Iran, including 
direct military strikes on Iranian territory, naval 
confrontations in the Persian Gulf, and sustained operations 
targeting Iranian military and nuclear infrastructure. These 
hostilities have resulted in significant civilian casualties, 
displacement of Iranian populations, and a severe deterioration 
of security conditions throughout the Islamic Republic of Iran.
(2) The state of conflict between the United States and 
Iran has created extraordinary and temporary conditions in Iran 
within the meaning of section 244(b)(1)(C) of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(b)(1)(C)), including but 
not limited to: destruction of civilian infrastructure; 
disruption of essential services including healthcare, 
transportation, and communications; economic instability driven 
by internal mismanagement, conflict, and broader economic 
disruption; and a pervasive climate of danger to any individual 
perceived by the Iranian regime as having ties to the United 
States, such that Iranian nationals in the United States cannot 
safely return to Iran, and their return would pose a serious 
threat to their personal safety.
(3) Independent of and compounding the conditions created 
by the armed conflict, the Iranian regime has engaged in a 
campaign of widespread atrocities against its own civilian 
population, including massacres of civilians in January 2026 
and the months following, mass arrests of political dissidents 
and perceived opponents, extrajudicial killings, enforced 
disappearances, systematic use of torture in detention 
facilities, the violent suppression of public dissent, a near-
total nationwide internet shutdown. These acts of state 
repression constitute additional extraordinary and temporary 
conditions within the meaning of section 244(b)(1)(C) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(b)(1)(C)) and 
create a pervasive climate of danger to any individual 
perceived by the Iranian regime as having ties to the United 
States, opposition sympathies, or connections to the Iranian 
diaspora.
(4) The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran is 
distinct from the Iranian people, many of whom oppose the 
regime and would face heightened risk of persecution if 
returned.
(5) In December 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration 
Services implemented a pause on the adjudication of benefit 
applications filed by nationals of Iran, in connection with 
national security concerns involving the Islamic Republic of 
Iran.
(6) The adjudication pause has caused significant and 
specific harm to Iranian nationals lawfully present in the 
United States who have pending applications for change of 
nonimmigrant or immigrant status, extension of stay, or 
employment authorization that were filed in good faith and in 
compliance with applicable law.
(7) Certain Iranian nationals whose underlying immigration 
status may expire during the adjudication pause are now in a 
state of legal limbo--their lawful presence depends solely on 
the continued pendency of applications that USCIS has paused to 
adjudicate, exposing them to potential accrual of unlawful 
presence, removal proceedings, and inadmissibility consequences 
through no fault of their own.
(8) Certain Iranian nationals whose employment 
authorization documents may expire during the adjudication 
pause, and whose timely filed renewal applications remain 
unadjudicated, are unable to lawfully work, causing severe 
financial hardship to them and their families.
(9) These individuals took all steps required by law to 
maintain their immigration status and work authorization, and 
their current predicament is the direct result of government 
action rather than any failure on their part.
(10) Iranian nationals who have resided in the United 
States face a heightened and particularized risk of 
persecution, detention, interrogation, or violence at the hands 
of the Iranian government and its affiliated security forces 
upon return to Iran, based on their perceived association with 
the United States, their exposure to Western society, and the 
Iranian regime's documented pattern of retaliating against 
individuals with American connections during periods of 
bilateral hostility.
(11) Many of the Iranian nationals affected by the 
adjudication pause have, in the months preceding and following 
the onset of hostilities, actively and publicly participated in 
pro-democracy demonstrations against the Islamic Republic of 
Iran within the United States, and have engaged in online 
advocacy campaigns--including on social media platforms widely 
monitored by Iranian intelligence services--in support of the 
Iranian people's aspirations for freedom, human rights, and 
democratic governance. These individuals face a particularly 
acute and well-documented risk of persecution, imprisonment, 
torture, or execution by the Iranian regime should they be 
compelled to return to Iran, as the regime has a systematic and 
well-documented practice of identifying, tracking, and 
retaliating against diaspora activists and their family members 
inside Iran.
(12) Among the Iranian nationals adversely affected by the 
adjudication pause are engineers, physicians, biomedical 
researchers, technology entrepreneurs, academic scientists, and 
other highly skilled professionals who have made substantial 
contributions to the United States economy, to American 
innovation and competitiveness, and to sectors of critical 
national importance including healthcare, artificial 
intelligence, technology, and advanced manufacturing. The 
United States has historically benefitted enormously from the 
talents of Iranian-born professionals--who are among the most 
highly educated immigrant populations in the country--and the 
loss of their labor, expertise, and entrepreneurial activity 
due to the adjudication pause causes measurable harm to 
American economic output, scientific advancement, and national 
competitiveness.
(13) The combination of armed hostilities with Iran and the 
adjudication pause has created an unprecedented situation in 
which Iranian nationals in the United States are simultaneously 
unable to return safely to their home country due to war, 
unable to maintain or obtain lawful immigration status due to 
the United States Government's refusal to adjudicate their 
applications, and unable to work lawfully to support themselves 
and their families--a convergence of harms that demands 
targeted legislative relief.
(14) It is in the national interest of the United States to 
provide temporary protection and work authorization to these 
individuals to prevent unjust hardship, maintain economic 
productivity, uphold the integrity of the immigration system by 
ensuring that individuals who comply with the law are not 
penalized for government-caused delays, and to demonstrate that 
the United States distinguishes between the Iranian people--
many of whom oppose the Iranian regime--and the Government of 
the Islamic Republic of Iran with which the United States is in 
conflict.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:
(1) Adjudication pause.--The term ``adjudication pause'' 
means any suspension, hold, delay, or de facto cessation of the 
adjudication by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services of 
benefit applications filed by nationals of Iran that was 
initiated on or after December 1, 2025, whether pursuant to 
executive order, presidential proclamation, agency policy 
memorandum, or other directive.
(2) Benefit application.--The term ``benefit application'' 
means--
(A) an application for change of nonimmigrant 
classification under section 248 of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1258), for extension of stay, 
or for adjustment of status under section 245 of such 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1255); and
(B) an application for employment authorization or 
for renewal of an employment authorization document 
under section 274A(h)(3) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1324a(h)(3)) and the 
regulations promulgated thereunder.
(3) Eligible individual.--The term ``eligible individual'' 
means an individual who--
(A) is a national of Iran;
(B) was lawfully admitted to the United States or 
otherwise lawfully present;
(C) filed, prior to or during the adjudication 
pause, a benefit application, that was not adjudicated 
due, in whole or in part, to the adjudication pause; 
and
(D) has--
(i) a nonimmigrant status or an authorized 
period of stay that has expired or will expire 
during the period of the adjudication pause, 
such that the alien's continued lawful presence 
depends on the pendency of the unadjudicated 
benefit application; or
(ii) an employment authorization--
(I) that has expired or will expire 
during the period of the adjudication 
pause; and
(II) with respect to which any 
applicable automatic extension period 
under section 274a.13(d) of title 8, 
Code of Federal Regulations (or any 
successor regulation), has expired or 
will expire before the adjudication 
pause is terminated or the benefit 
application is adjudicated.
(4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
of Homeland Security.

SEC. 4. DESIGNATION OF TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS FOR ELIGIBLE IRANIAN 
NATIONALS.

(a) Designation.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for 
the purpose of section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1254a), Iran shall be treated as if it had been designated under 
subsection (b)(1)(C) of that section, subject to the provisions of this 
section.
(b) Duration.--
(1) In general.--The initial designation under subsection 
(a) shall be in effect for a period of 18 months beginning on 
the date of enactment of this Act.
(2) Extension.--The Secretary shall extend the designation 
under subsection (a) for additional periods of 6 months each if 
the Secretary determines, at least 60 days before the end of 
the current designation period, that--
(A) the adjudication pause remains in effect, in 
whole or in part; or
(B) the conditions that gave rise to the 
adjudication pause continue to exist such that eligible 
individuals cannot reasonably expect timely 
adjudication of their pending applications.
(3) Mandatory extension.--If the Secretary fails to make 
the determination described in paragraph (2) at least 60 days 
before the end of the current designation period, the 
designation shall be automatically extended for 6 months.
(c) Scope.--The designation under this section shall apply 
exclusively to eligible individuals. Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to create a designation for all nationals of Iran.

SEC. 5. ELIGIBILITY AND APPLICATION.

(a) Eligibility Individuals.--An alien may be granted temporary 
protected status in accordance with this Act if the alien--
(1) is an eligible individual;
(2) is physically present in the United States on the date 
of enactment of this Act;
(3) has been continuously physically present in the United 
States since December 2, 2025;
(4) is not inadmissible under section 212(a) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a));
(5) has not been convicted of any felony or 2 or more 
misdemeanors committed in the United States;
(6) is not described in section 208(b)(2)(A) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(b)(2)(A)) 
(relating to persecution of others, conviction of particularly 
serious crimes, commission of serious nonpolitical crimes, or 
danger to the security of the United States); and
(7) is not an alien whom the adjudicating officer or the 
Secretary knows or has reasonable grounds to believe--
(A) is or has been an official or agent of the 
Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Islamic 
Revolutionary Guard Corps, or any entity owned or 
controlled by the foregoing, who has been responsible 
for or complicit in, or has directly or indirectly 
ordered, controlled, or otherwise directed--
(i) acts of corruption, including 
corruption related to the extraction, sale, or 
significant diversion of natural resources or 
public funds;
(ii) gross violations of internationally 
recognized human rights, including torture, 
extrajudicial killing, prolonged arbitrary 
detention, enforced disappearance, or 
systematic repression of the rights to freedom 
of expression, assembly, or association; or
(iii) the provision of material support, 
financing, or significant services to the 
Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the 
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or any 
person or entity that is the subject of 
sanctions or designation under Executive Order 
13553, Executive Order 13846, the Iran Threat 
Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012, 
or any other provision of United States law 
relating to Iran; or
(B) is an immediate family member of an alien 
described in subparagraph (A) who has knowingly 
obtained, or who reasonably should have known that they 
were obtaining, any financial benefit or other material 
advantage derived from the illicit activity of that 
alien described in subparagraph (A).
(b) Application.--
(1) Commencement of adjudication.--Not later than 30 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
commence the adjudication of applications for temporary 
protected status filed in accordance with this Act.
(2) Timing of adjudications.--The Secretary shall 
adjudicate any application filed in accordance with this Act 
not later than 90 days after receipt of such application.
(3) Fee.--The fee for an application filed in accordance 
with this section shall not exceed the fee charged for an 
application for temporary protected status under section 244 of 
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a).
(c) Waiver of Grounds of Ineligibility.--In determining an alien's 
eligibility under this section, the Secretary may waive any ground of 
ineligibility under subsection (a).

SEC. 6. EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION.

(a) In General.--The Secretary shall authorize an alien granted 
temporary protected status under section 244 of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a) in accordance with this Act to engage 
in employment in the United States and shall provide such alien with an 
employment authorization document.
(b) Timing.--
(1) Interim employment authorization.--Not later than 30 
days after an eligible individual files an application for 
temporary protected status, the Secretary shall issue an 
interim employment authorization document valid for a period of 
180 days, unless the Secretary determines within such 30-day 
period that the applicant is ineligible.
(2) Final employment authorization.--Upon granting 
temporary protected status, the Secretary shall issue an 
employment authorization document valid for the duration of the 
designation under section 4.
(c) Automatic Extension of Existing EAD.--For any eligible 
individual who has a pending benefit application for an employment 
authorization that is subject to the adjudication pause, the automatic 
extension period under section 274a.13(d) of title 8, Code of Federal 
Regulations, shall be extended for an additional period equal to the 
duration of the adjudication pause, plus 180 days.
(d) No Gap in Work Authorization.--For purposes of any Federal or 
State law, regulation, or policy, an eligible individual who is granted 
temporary protected status in accordance with this Act shall be deemed 
to have been continuously authorized for employment from the date on 
which the individual's prior employment authorization expired due to 
the adjudication pause through the date on which employment 
authorization is issued under this section. No employer shall be liable 
under section 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1324a) for employing such individual during such gap period.

SEC. 7. PROTECTION OF PENDING APPLICATIONS AND STATUS.

(a) No Prejudice.--The filing for, receipt of, or grant of 
temporary protected status in accordance with this Act shall not--
(1) be considered a negative factor or adverse evidence in 
the adjudication of any pending or future application for 
change of nonimmigrant classification, extension of stay, 
adjustment of status, employment authorization, or any other 
immigration benefit;
(2) constitute an abandonment of any pending application 
for any immigration benefit;
(3) affect the priority date, processing date, or queue 
position of any pending application; or
(4) be used as a basis for initiating removal proceedings 
or for any enforcement action.
(b) Protection Against Unlawful Presence.--No period during which 
an eligible individual has temporary protected status under this Act, 
or during which the individual's application for such status is 
pending, shall be considered a period of unlawful presence under 
section 212(a)(9)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1182(a)(9)(B)).
(c) Protection Against Accrual During Pause.--Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, no period during which an eligible individual's 
application was pending and subject to the adjudication pause shall be 
considered a period of unlawful presence for purposes of any provision 
of the Immigration and Nationality Act, regardless of whether the 
individual is granted temporary protected status under this Act.
(d) Travel Authorization.--The Secretary shall establish a process 
by which individuals granted temporary protected status in accordance 
with this Act may apply for advance parole for travel outside the 
United States. Such travel shall not constitute an abandonment of any 
pending application for change of status, adjustment of status, or 
other immigration benefit.

SEC. 8. REPORTING.

Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and 
every 90 days thereafter until all applications subject to the 
adjudication pause have been adjudicated, the Secretary shall submit to 
the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate a report that includes--
(1) the total number of applications subject to the 
adjudication pause, disaggregated by application type;
(2) the number of applications adjudicated during the 
reporting period;
(3) the number of adjudication applications approved, 
denied, and pending;
(4) the average processing time for adjudicated 
applications;
(5) the total number of applications for temporary 
protected status filed in accordance with this Act during the 
reporting period, and the cumulative total since the date of 
enactment;
(6) the number of applications for temporary protected 
status approved during the reporting period, and the cumulative 
total since the date of enactment; and
(7) the number of applications for temporary protected 
status denied during the reporting period, disaggregated by the 
basis for denial, including the number denied on national 
security grounds under section 5(a)(6), the number denied on 
public safety grounds under section 5(a)(5), and the number 
denied on all other grounds, together with a description of the 
categories of such other grounds.

SEC. 9. RULEMAKING.

(a) Interim Final Rule.--Not later than 30 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall publish an interim final 
rule implementing this Act, which shall take effect immediately upon 
publication.
(b) Final Rule.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall publish a final rule 
implementing this Act after providing an opportunity for public comment 
on the interim final rule.
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