H.R. 6978 · Where this bill is now
Waiting for a House vote
Approved by committee Jan 27, 2026; no House vote yet
What this bill does
In plain words · AI-written from the official summaryOrders immigration benefits review from 2021 onward
This bill asks the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to go back and check certain immigration benefits that were approved starting January 20, 2021. The review covers benefits given to people from a specific list of countries and those using Palestinian Authority documents. USCIS would need to report its findings by September 15, 2026.
How it affects you
If you received an immigration benefit during this time period and are from one of the listed countries or used Palestinian Authority documents, your case may be reviewed to make sure it was approved correctly. Most other people won't directly experience changes from this bill.
Read the official summary (Reported to House, Jan 27, 2026)
Preserving Integrity in Immigration Benefits Act
This bill requires the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to review certain approved immigration benefit requests for proper approval. The review must include requests approved during the period starting on January 20, 2021, and ending on the date of enactment of this bill.
Immigration benefit requests covered by this bill include those conferred during this period to individuals from the following countries: Angola, Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burma, Burundi, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, the Gambia, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. This also includes individuals traveling using documents issued or endorsed by the Palestinian Authority.
The bill requires USCIS to report on any findings by September 15, 2026.
Written by AI (Claude) using only the official summary by the Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress’s nonpartisan research staff. It can miss nuance, so check the official summary and the bill text for details.
2nd SessionH. R. 6978
A BILL
Preserving Integrity in Immigration Benefits Act
Sponsor: Rep. Brad Finstad (R-MN-1) · Introduced Jan 8, 2026 · Immigration · 2 versions of the text
Sources: Congress.gov actions and votes · bill text from GovInfo · latest official action Jan 27, 2026: “Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 398.”
Sections
The wording of this bill hasn’t changed across its 2 official versions.