Dignity Act Status: Bill Progress, Eligibility, and Costs

The Dignity Act is not law. The most recent version, H.R. 4393, was introduced in the House on July 15, 2025, referred to seven committees the next day, and has not moved since. No application exists, no agency is taking names, and anyone charging you to “reserve a spot” in the Dignity Program is running a scam. If you want to know the current Dignity Act status and what it would mean for you, the short version is: pending, uncertain, and worth preparing documents for but not counting on.¹

Where the Bill Actually Stands in Congress

Representatives María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) and Veronica Escobar (D-TX) introduced H.R. 4393, the DIGNIDAD (Dignity) Act of 2025, on July 15, 2025. It replaced H.R. 3599, an earlier version introduced in the 118th Congress in 2023 that never advanced to a vote.¹

The bill was referred to seven House committees: Judiciary, Homeland Security, Ways and Means, Transportation and Infrastructure, Education and Workforce, Oversight and Government Reform, and Armed Services. On July 16, 2025, it was referred to the Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement. That is the last recorded action.¹

For the bill to become law, every one of those committees has to clear it, the full House has to pass it, the Senate has to pass either its own version or the House version, and the President has to sign it. Immigration bills with this many moving parts rarely survive that path on the first try. The 2023 version died in committee despite bipartisan co-sponsors. To check the real-time status yourself rather than relying on social media, look the bill up directly on Congress.gov.

Who Would Qualify for the Dignity Program

The Dignity Program is aimed at undocumented individuals who have been continuously present in the United States since before December 31, 2020.² That date is written into the bill. It does not slide forward to whenever the bill might pass. Anyone who arrived after that cutoff would not qualify, no matter how long they have been here by the time any law takes effect.

Applicants would also need to pass a criminal background check, comply with all federal and state laws, repay any back taxes owed, and start paying income taxes going forward.² The bill does not spell out which specific convictions would disqualify someone, but the background check requirement is broad enough to reach felonies and serious misdemeanors.

Here is the part that gets misread most often: the Dignity Program does not lead to a green card or citizenship. Participants who complete it receive renewable seven-year legal status with work authorization. The status can be renewed as long as they stay in good standing, but there is no built-in path to lawful permanent residence or naturalization.³ It is a permanent category of legal work status, not a bridge to full immigration status. Dreamers have a separate, more generous track described below.

What Participants Would Pay and Do

The financial obligations go beyond a single application fee. Participants would pay $7,000 in restitution over the seven-year program, which works out to $1,000 per year. Those payments go into the American Worker Fund, which finances job training for U.S. citizens.³

On top of the restitution, the bill imposes a one-percent payroll levy on the income of every participant. That levy feeds the Immigration Infrastructure and Debt Reduction Fund, which pays for border security. The bill’s backers estimate the levy would generate roughly $50 billion over time.³

Participants would also have to enroll in health coverage, check in with the Department of Homeland Security every two years, and remain in good public standing throughout the program.² Missing those ongoing obligations could mean losing legal status. The bill does not open federal public benefits to participants.

The Separate Dreamer Pathway

The Dream Act provisions inside H.R. 4393 work differently from the Dignity Program. This track does create a path to permanent residency and, eventually, citizenship.¹

To qualify for conditional permanent resident status, someone would need to have continuously lived in the United States since January 1, 2021, entered at age 18 or younger, passed a background check, and graduated from high school, earned a GED, or currently be enrolled in school. The application fee would not exceed $1,140. Conditional status lasts up to 10 years.

To convert conditional status into a full green card, a Dreamer must meet one of three requirements:

Earn a college degree or a postsecondary credential from a career and technical education program.
Complete at least three years of military service with an honorable discharge.
Show at least four years of work history, with employment authorization for at least 75 percent of that time.

After five years as a lawful permanent resident, a Dreamer could apply for U.S. citizenship through the standard naturalization process. The bill also reaches so-called documented Dreamers, children admitted legally on dependent visas such as E-1, E-2, H-1B, or L-1 who risk aging out of legal status at 21.⁴

Documents Worth Gathering Now

No forms exist yet. No agency is accepting applications. Any operation charging money to sign you up is fraudulent. That said, the bill’s requirements make clear what would matter if it ever passes, and building the file now is sensible.

Proving continuous presence since before December 31, 2020, is the threshold. Useful records include residential lease agreements, utility bills, bank statements, school transcripts, and medical records. The more years documented, the stronger the case. Gaps are where immigration applications typically break down.

Tax history would be central. The bill requires repaying back taxes and paying income taxes going forward. You can request your tax transcript from the IRS using Form 4506-T, which shows returns filed and income reported.⁵ If you have been filing with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, keep the ITIN and every associated return.

Employment records matter too: pay stubs, W-2s, or signed statements from employers. So do identity documents like a foreign passport, birth certificate, or consular identification card. Foreign-language documents would need certified translations, which typically run $25 to $50 per page.

Because participants would check in with DHS every two years, keeping documentation organized across the full seven-year period is part of the job. Immigration attorneys handling status adjustment cases generally charge between $2,000 and $6,000, and complex cases involving criminal history or gaps in presence run higher. If the bill ever passes, legal aid clinics will follow, but the initial demand would overwhelm them fast.

If It Passes and You Do Nothing, or If It Never Passes

If the Dignity Act passes and you qualify but never apply, nothing changes for you. You remain without legal status, subject to removal, and ineligible for work authorization. The bill does not create automatic protection by being enacted. You would have to apply and be approved.

If the bill does not pass, which remains the more likely outcome, no new legal status opens up. Existing protections like DACA continue under their own legal frameworks, though DACA itself faces ongoing court challenges. The Dignity Act is one proposal among several immigration reform efforts in Congress, and its provisions could be modified, folded into other bills, or reintroduced in a future session looking quite different.

1
Congress.gov. H.R.4393 – 119th Congress (2025-2026): DIGNIDAD (Dignity) Act
2
Representative Maria Salazar. The Dignity Act
3
Representative Maria Salazar. The Dignity Act of 2025
4
Representative Maria Salazar. H.R. 4393 The Dignity Act of 2025 Section by Section
5
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 4506-T, Request for Transcript of Tax Return