United States · Bill · S
S. 3721 (117th)
RELIEF Act
Introduced
1 March 2022
Last action
1 March 2022 · Introduced
Status
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text: CR S883-885)
Sponsors
Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL], Sen. Leahy, Patrick J. [D-VT], Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI], Sen. Cortez Masto, Catherine [D-NV], Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL], Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA], Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD]
Subjects
Immigration
Source updated
10 August 2026
Summary
Resolving Extended Limbo for Immigrant Employees and Families Act or the RELIEF Act This bill revises provisions related to family- and employment-based visas. The bill (1) increases the per-country cap on family-based immigrant visas from 7% of the total number of such visas available that year to 15%, (2) eliminates the 7% cap for employment-based immigrant visas, and (3) removes an offset that reduced the number of visas for individuals from China. The annual cap for visas for the unmarried children of citizens is increased, and the formula for calculating the cap for the unmarried children of residents is revised. The bill also establishes transition rules for employment-based visas from FY2022-FY2024, by reserving a percentage of EB-2 (workers with advanced degrees or exceptional ability), EB-3 (skilled and other workers), and EB-5 (investors) visas for individuals not from the two countries with the largest number of recipients of such visas. Of the unreserved visas, not more than 85% shall be allotted to immigrants from any single country. The Department of State shall increase allocations of family- and employment-based visas by the number of beneficiaries of such applications filed before this bill's enactment, to be allocated FY2022-FY2026 to beneficiaries of applications filed before this bill's enactment who have not yet received a visa. The minor children and spouses of permanent residents and those accompanying a qualified alien shall be treated as an immediate relative for immigration purposes. Whether an alien qualifies as a minor shall be determined according to the alien's age at the time a relevant petition is filed.
This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.
Timeline
1 March 2022
Introduced
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text: CR S883-885)
Source: IntroReferral
1 March 2022
Introduced
Introduced in Senate
Source: IntroReferral
Votes
No vote records are attached yet.
Versions
- Introduced in Senate · 1 March 2022 · Download file
Documents
3 official files
Introduced in Senate (text)
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Introduced in Senate (text)
Introduced in Senate · EN · 1 March 2022
Introduced in Senate (PDF)
Introduced in Senate · EN · 1 March 2022
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Introduced in Senate
summary · EN · 1 March 2022
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Sponsors
- Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] · D · Sponsor
- Sen. Leahy, Patrick J. [D-VT] · D · Sponsor
- Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI] · D · Sponsor
- Sen. Cortez Masto, Catherine [D-NV] · D · Sponsor
- Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL] · D · Sponsor
- Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA] · D · Sponsor
- Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD] · D · Cosponsor
- · ssju00 · Standing
Related records
- related to ← RELIEF Act
Sources
PoliticalRepo is an index and interpretation layer, not the authoritative legal source.
- Official source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/3721
- Open data entity: https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/117/s/3721
- us · 117-s-3721 · source updated 10 August 2026