Sponsors (4)
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Requires the President, working with a State governor, to waive certain government fees for people or households who receive individual and household disaster assistance when a major disaster destroys a listed critical identity or immigration document. Directs the Department of State and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to post notice of the waivers on their websites and requires both agencies to send annual reports to Congress on the number of waivers granted and the cost to the agency.
The bill makes it easier and cheaper for disaster survivors—particularly immigrants and low-income families—to replace immigration and passport documents and increases transparency, but it raises public costs and may leave some survivors without practical access or create uneven state-level implementation.
Immigrants, parents, and low-income households who lose critical documents in a declared major disaster can have immigration- and passport-related fees waived, reducing the cost to replace essential identity and status documents.
Immigrants and families can more easily restore legal status and identity documents because the State Department and USCIS must post notices about fee waivers on their websites, improving awareness of available relief.
Taxpayers and policymakers gain greater transparency through required annual reports on the number and cost of waivers, strengthening congressional oversight of program use and fiscal impact.
Taxpayers and applicants may face higher public costs because waiving fees increases expenses for USCIS and the State Department, which could be borne by taxpayers or reduce agency resources for other services.
Low-income, non-English-speaking, and disaster-affected individuals without internet access may not learn about fee waivers if notices are posted only on agency websites, limiting the practical benefit for those most in need.
Access to waivers could be uneven across states because presidential waivers are tied to consultation with Governors, potentially creating disparities depending on governors' engagement and implementation.
Introduced February 13, 2025 by John Wright Hickenlooper · Last progress February 13, 2025