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Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 13, 2025
Replacing Essential Passports and Licenses After Certain Emergencies Act or the REPLACE Act
This bill automatically waives the fees to replace certain federal documents (e.g., passports, visas, or immigration documents) destroyed by a major disaster.
Under current law, the Department of State and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) may waive replacement fees for these critical documents for individuals or households adversely affected by a major disaster. The bill requires the State Department and USCIS to waive these replacement fees when the documents are destroyed by a major disaster for which assistance is provided under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Individuals and Households Program. The agencies must notify the public of the availability of these waivers on their respective websites.
The bill also requires the State Department and USCIS to annually report to Congress the number of such fee waivers granted and the resulting cost to the respective agencies.
People & committees
Rep. Neguse, Joe [D-CO-2] · D–CO
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management.
Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Mar 4, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-13 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
This proposal would require fee waivers for individuals or households whose qualifying critical documents were destroyed by a presidentially declared major disaster. The disaster must also receive federal assistance for individuals and households. The bill would require public notices about the waivers and annual reports on their use and cost. The existing law defining the covered documents and fees is not reproduced in the supplied text.
(4) Waiver The President, in consultation with the Governor of a State, shall provide a fee waiver described in paragraph (1) to any individual or household that has been adversely affected by a major disaster declared under section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170)— (A) for which the President provides assistance to individuals and households under section 408 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 5174); and (B) that destroyed a critical document described in paragraph (1) of the individual or household.
(5) Waiver availability The Secretary of State and the Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services shall make publicly available on the website of the Department of State and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, respectively, a notice of the availability of fee waivers described in paragraph (4).
(6) Report from USCIS Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this paragraph, and every year thereafter, the Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services shall submit to Congress a report that includes, for the period covered by the report— (A) the number of fee waivers granted under this subsection; and (B) the cost to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services of granting fee waivers under this subsection.
(7) Report from Department of State Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this paragraph, and every year thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to Congress a report that includes, for the period covered by the report— (A) the number of fee waivers granted under this subsection; and (B) the cost to the Department of State of granting fee waivers under this subsection.
Section 1 would name the bill the Replacing Essential Passports and Licenses After Certain Emergencies Act, or REPLACE Act.
1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Replacing Essential Passports and Licenses After Certain Emergencies Act or the REPLACE Act.
Section 2 would require the President, in consultation with a state's governor, to provide the existing law's fee waiver to an adversely affected individual or household when a qualifying major disaster destroyed a covered critical document. Eligibility would also require that the President provide assistance to individuals and households for that disaster under section 408 of the Stafford Act.
(4) Waiver The President, in consultation with the Governor of a State, shall provide a fee waiver described in paragraph (1) to any individual or household that has been adversely affected by a major disaster declared under section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170)— (A) for which the President provides assistance to individuals and households under section 408 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 5174); and (B) that destroyed a critical document described in paragraph (1) of the individual or household.
The bill would amend an existing clause containing “applies regardless” to include the President's new waiver requirement, and would renumber existing paragraph (4) as paragraph (8). Because the surrounding existing language is not supplied, the circumstance that the word “regardless” refers to cannot be determined from this text.
Section 1238(a) of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 (42 U.S.C. 5174b) is amended— (1) in paragraph (2), by striking applies regardless and inserting and the requirement of the President to waive fees under paragraph (4) apply regardless; (2) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (8);
The Secretary of State and the Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services would have to publish notices about the new waivers on their respective agencies' websites.
(5) Waiver availability The Secretary of State and the Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services shall make publicly available on the website of the Department of State and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, respectively, a notice of the availability of fee waivers described in paragraph (4).
The Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services would have to report to Congress within one year after enactment of the reporting provision and every year afterward. Each report would cover the number of waivers granted under the amended subsection and their cost to the agency during the reporting period.
(6) Report from USCIS Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this paragraph, and every year thereafter, the Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services shall submit to Congress a report that includes, for the period covered by the report— (A) the number of fee waivers granted under this subsection; and (B) the cost to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services of granting fee waivers under this subsection.
The Secretary of State would have to submit a separate report to Congress within one year after enactment of the reporting provision and annually afterward. It would state the number of waivers granted under the amended subsection and their cost to the Department of State during the reporting period.
(7) Report from Department of State Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this paragraph, and every year thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to Congress a report that includes, for the period covered by the report— (A) the number of fee waivers granted under this subsection; and (B) the cost to the Department of State of granting fee waivers under this subsection.
The supplied actions snapshot, updated March 4, 2026, records House introduction on February 13, 2025, and referrals that day to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and its Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management.
Source snapshot updated 2026-03-04T15:33:56Z. 2025-02-13: Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management. 2025-02-13: Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. 2025-02-13: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-13. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow preferential carve-out was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. The disaster eligibility rules define the policy's intended beneficiaries rather than a separate special benefit. This conclusion does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Mar 4, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI