Summary

Creates a new two-year conditional lawful permanent resident status for certain noncitizen workers who were present in the U.S. on January 1, 2024 and who meet work, presence, and admissibility requirements. The status grants employment authorization, requires continued work in listed “covered professions” (at least 100 days per year for two years), is exempt from existing immigrant-number limits, and generally leads to automatic adjustment to lawful permanent resident status at the end of the conditional period unless DHS denies adjustment for specified criminal or security reasons or the applicant timely objects.

Key Points

• Creates a two-year conditional lawful permanent resident status with employment authorization for qualifying noncitizen workers present on Jan 1, 2024.
• Applicants must show continuous U.S. presence since Jan 1, 2024 and at least 100 cumulative days of employment in a covered profession.
• During the two-year period beneficiaries must maintain at least 100 cumulative days of employment in a covered profession in each of two consecutive years.
• At the end of the conditional period DHS must generally convert the beneficiary to lawful permanent resident status unless barred for criminal, security, or other specified reasons.
• Adjustments under this pathway are exempt from the usual worldwide immigrant visa numerical limits.
• DHS may deny adjustment for serious criminal or national-security grounds but may grant limited waivers for certain misdemeanors or inadmissibility reasons for humanitarian, family unity, or public-interest reasons with time limits.
• Establishes a broad list of eligible "covered professions" covering many essential and frontline workforce categories (health care, food, agriculture, construction, transportation, caregiving, etc.).
• Applicants are subject to fees and additional background investigations as part of adjustment to permanent resident status.
• Status remains subject to removal under immigration law if the person becomes deportable or violates status conditions.
• No explicit funding or changes to tax law are provided in the text provided.

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