S. 5521: Ukrainian Adjustment Act of 2026

Ukrainian Adjustment Act of 2026

This bill converts the illegal Uniting for Ukraine executive parole program into a permanent, uncapped path to lawful permanent residence, waiving public charge and criminal inadmissibility grounds (including for crimes committed abroad or in the U.S. prior to February 20, 2014), and allowing illegal aliens who overstayed visas after being inspected and admitted prior to enactment to obtain green cards without numerical limitation.

Specifically, it:

• Grants streamlined adjustment to lawful permanent resident (LPR) status (retroactive to the date of initial admission or parole) to any citizen or national of Ukraine (or alien who last habitually resided in Ukraine) who was inspected and admitted prior to enactment or paroled into the United States after February 20, 2014, along with paroled spouses, children, or caregivers of unaccompanied alien children;

• Exempts all aliens adjusting status under this Act from numerical caps;

• Exempts applying aliens from the public charge, labor certification, and lack of valid entry document inadmissibility grounds, and authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to waive any other ground of inadmissibility (except drug trafficking, security/terrorism grounds, and criminal conduct committed inside the U.S. on or after February 20, 2014) for humanitarian purposes, family unity, or the public interest;

• Prohibits the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from removing an alien with a pending bona fide application (enforcement freeze), stops the accrual of unlawful presence, and shields the applicant from being classified as an unauthorized alien for employment purposes while the application is pending;

• Prohibits DHS from charging application fees beyond direct administrative processing costs and mandates the availability of fee waivers for adjustment of status and employment authorization; and

• Allows DHS to implement the adjustment program immediately through interim website guidance (bypassing standard Administrative Procedure Act notice-and-comment rulemaking), while expanding Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) self-petitioning eligibility to include battered spouses and children of qualifying Ukrainian aliens.