Sec. 304. Hong Kong special immigrant visa access and civil society support
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The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall designate, as Priority 2 refugees of special humanitarian concern— individuals who are residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region who suffered persecution or have a well-founded fear of persecution on account of their peaceful expression of political opinions or peaceful participation in political activities or associations; individuals who have been charged, detained, or convicted on account of their peaceful actions (as described in section 206(b)(2) of the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 ( 22 U.S.C. 5726(b)(2) ); and the spouses, children, and parents (as such terms are defined in subsections
(a)and
(b)of section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1101 )) of individuals described in subparagraph
(A)or (B). The processing of individuals described in paragraph
(1)for classification as refugees may occur in Hong Kong or in a third country. An alien may not be denied the opportunity to apply for admission as a refugee under this section because such alien— qualifies as an immediate relative of a citizen of the United States; or is eligible for admission to the United States under any other immigrant classification. An applicant for admission to the United States from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region may not be denied solely on the basis of a politically motivated arrest, detention, or other adverse government action taken against such applicant as a result of the participation by such applicant in protest activities. Aliens provided refugee status under this subsection shall not be counted against any numerical limitation under section 201, 202, 203, or 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1151 , 1152, 1153, and 1157). Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 90 days thereafter, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit a report on the matters described in subparagraph
(B)to— the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate ; the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate ; the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate ; the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives ; the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives ; and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives . Each report required under subparagraph
(A)shall include— of the applications pending at the end of the reporting period, the number of applications in which— eligibility for the Priority 2 refugee program has been confirmed; a prescreening interview with a resettlement support center has been completed; an interview with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has been completed; the required security checks have been completed; or final adjudication has been made; the average wait-times for all pending applications until— eligibility for the Priority 2 refugee program is confirmed; a prescreening interview with a resettlement support center is completed; an interview with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is completed; the required security checks are completed; and final adjudication is made; the number of denials of applications for refugee status, disaggregated by the reason for each such denial; and the circuit rides— completed in the prior quarter, listed by date, location, and number of interviews completed; and planned for the upcoming 2 quarters, listed by anticipated date, location, and number of interviews to be completed. Each report required under subparagraph
(A)shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex. Not later than 7 days after the submission of each report under this paragraph, the Secretary of State shall make the report available to the public on the website of the Department of State. Aliens granted status under this subsection as Priority 2 refugees of special humanitarian concern under the refugee resettlement priority system shall be considered to satisfy the requirements under section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1157 ) for admission to the United States. The presumption under the first sentence of section 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1184(b) ) that every alien is an immigrant until the alien establishes that the alien is entitled to nonimmigrant status shall not apply to an alien described in paragraph (2). An alien described in this paragraph is an alien who— was a resident of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as of June 18, 2020; is seeking entry to the United States to apply for asylum under section 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1158 ); and had a leadership role in civil society organizations supportive of the protests in 2019 and 2020 relating to the Hong Kong extradition bill and the encroachment on the autonomy of Hong Kong by the People’s Republic of China; had an organizing role for such protests; acted as a first aid responder for such protests; suffered harm while covering such protests as a journalist; provided paid or pro bono legal services to 1 or more individuals arrested for participating in such protests; or during the 1-year period beginning on June 9, 2019, was formally charged, detained, or convicted for his or her participation in such protests. For purposes of refugee determinations under this section in accordance with section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1157 ), an individual whose citizenship, nationality, or residency is revoked for having submitted to any United States Government agency a nonfrivolous application for refugee status, asylum, or any other immigration benefit under the immigration laws (as defined in section 101(a) of such Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1101(a) ) shall be considered to have suffered persecution on account of political opinion. For purposes of refugee determinations under this section in accordance with section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1157 ), a national of the People’s Republic of China whose residency in the Hong Kong Special Administrative region, or any other area within the jurisdiction of the People’s Republic of China, as determined by the Secretary of State, is revoked for having submitted to any United States Government agency a nonfrivolous application for refugee status, asylum, or any other immigration benefit under the immigration laws shall be considered to have suffered persecution on account of political opinion. For purposes of asylum determinations under this section in accordance with section 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1158 ), the revocation of the citizenship, nationality, or residency of an individual for having submitted to any United States Government agency a nonfrivolous application for refugee status, asylum, or any other immigration benefit under the immigration laws shall be considered to be a changed circumstance under subsection (a)(2)(D) of such section. It is the policy of the United States to encourage allies and partners of the United States to make accommodations similar to the accommodations made under this section for residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region who are fleeing oppression by the Government of China. This section shall cease to have effect on the date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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Sec. 304
Hong Kong special immigrant visa access and civil society support
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