3.0.0 4229 2023-01-11T13:45:39Z 2023-01-11T13:45:39Z Senate S 2020-07-20 116 ssju00 Judiciary Committee Senate Standing Referred to 2020-07-20T22:44:46Z 2020-07-20 ssju00 Judiciary Committee Senate Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. IntroReferral 2020-07-20 Introduced in Senate IntroReferral 10000 9 Library of Congress W000779 Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR] Ron Wyden D OR N Immigration Administrative law and regulatory procedures Alliances Asia China Citizenship and naturalization Congressional oversight Cultural exchanges and relations Department of State Detention of persons Diplomacy, foreign officials, Americans abroad Elections, voting, political campaign regulation Foreign labor Government information and archives Hong Kong Human rights Immigration status and procedures News media and reporting Protest and dissent Refugees, asylum, displaced persons Science and engineering education Sovereignty, recognition, national governance and status Travel and tourism Visas and passports Immigration 00 2020-07-20 Introduced in Senate 2021-08-26T19:59:06Z Hong Kong People's Freedom and Choice Act

This bill provides for immigration benefits related to Hong Kong in the event that China puts into effect national security legislation in Hong Kong that would curtail political freedoms. (Hong Kong is part of China but has a separate legal system. U.S. law provides Hong Kong with special treatment due to this autonomy.)

If China promulgates the Hong Kong national security law, Hong Kong shall receive temporary protected status for 18 months. During this period, qualifying Hong Kong residents who have been continuously present in the United States since this bill's enactment and apply for such status shall have work authorization and may not be removed from the United States.

If the President suspends Hong Kong's special treatment under U.S. law, Hong Kong shall continue for five years to be treated as a separate foreign state when calculating annual per-country caps under immigration law.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may provide special immigrant status to a qualifying Hong Kong resident who meets certain educational requirements or owns a company of a certain size. DHS may admit up to 50,000 principal aliens under this provision for each of the five fiscal years after this bill's enactment, and such aliens shall not be subject to other numerical limits.

Qualifying Hong Kong residents who fear political persecution from China and apply for permanent resident status shall be deemed to have an approved petition. Certain provisions, such as requiring applicants to have a valid entry document, shall not apply to such individuals.

]]> Hong Kong People's Freedom and Choice Act Display Title Hong Kong People's Freedom and Choice Act Short Title(s) as Introduced Hong Kong People's Freedom and Choice Act Introduced in Senate IS Official Title as Introduced A bill to reaffirm the principles and objectives set forth in the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992, and for other purposes. Introduced in Senate IS Introduced in Senate 2020-07-20T04:00:00Z https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-116s4229is/xml/BILLS-116s4229is.xml 2020-07-20 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress This file contains bill summaries and statuses for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.