H.R. 10248: SERVICE for America Act

This bill would create a new immigration visa category for certain workers in “public service jobs” and give some long-term childhood arrivals a pathway to lawful permanent residence if they work in those jobs.

New W visa for public service workers

The bill adds a new nonimmigrant visa category called the W visa. It would be available to people who are employed in, or have a job offer for, a qualifying public service job.

Under the bill, “public service jobs” would include full-time work in areas such as:

• Emergency management
• Government, excluding service as a member of Congress
• Military service
• Public safety and law enforcement
• Public health, including certain nursing and health care occupations
• Public education
• Social work for public child or family service agencies
• Public interest legal services, including prosecution, public defense, or legal advocacy for low-income communities at nonprofits
• Early childhood education, including regulated childcare, Head Start, and state prekindergarten
• Services for people with disabilities or for older adults
• Public library work and school-based library services
• Work at certain tax-exempt nonprofit organizations
• Teaching in certain high-need fields or at Tribal Colleges and Universities

The W visa would generally last for 3 years and could be extended once for another 3 years as long as the person keeps working in a public service job. Spouses and minor children would also be covered, and they would be allowed to work as well.

To qualify, a person would need to meet certain background and presence requirements. In general, the person must either:

• Have been lawfully present in the United States as a dependent child of certain employment-based nonimmigrants for at least 5 years, or
• Have received deferred action under the 2012 DACA policy

They would also need to have been physically present in the United States for at least 5 years and be employed in, or have a qualifying offer for, a public service job.

The bill would allow the Secretary of Homeland Security to waive certain inadmissibility grounds in some cases for humanitarian reasons, family unity, or the public interest.

Path to permanent residence for certain public service workers who arrived as children

The bill would also create a way for some of these workers to apply for lawful permanent resident status (“green card” status).

To qualify, a person would generally need to meet one of these sets of conditions:

• They were lawfully present in the U.S. as a dependent child of certain employment-based nonimmigrants for 7 years, with that presence still valid within 6 months of applying; or
• They received DACA deferred action; or
• They have held W visa status for at least 2 years

In addition, the person would need to:

• Have been physically present in the U.S. for at least 7 years total
• Have worked in a public service job in the U.S. for at least 2 years, not necessarily consecutively

The bill would also let the Secretary waive certain inadmissibility grounds in some cases. While an application is pending, the person could not be detained or removed under this provision.

People who qualify under this section would be able to file a petition with the Department of Homeland Security to seek this status.

AmeriCorps eligibility

The bill would change the rules for AmeriCorps so that DACA recipients and certain individuals who were lawfully present as dependent children of certain employment-based nonimmigrants would be eligible to serve, in addition to U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents.

Relevant Companies

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