HB 1838 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO VISAS.

Summary

Establishes uniform statewide requirements for policies and processes for the issuance of U or T visa certifications for noncitizen victims of crime that are consistent with federal laws and regulations governing U and T visas. Requires each state and county certifying entity to adopt a policy and process for the issuance of U or T visa certifications, consistent with those statewide requirements. (CD1)

Issues: ✓ Immigration

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

May 2026

House Passage

May 2026

Senate Passage

May 2026

Signed into Law

Jun 2026

Introduced Jan 22, 2026 Signed Jun 24, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB1838_HD2 → HB1838_SD1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill expands the definition of who can certify victims for U and T visas to include state judges, clarifies that victims are considered helpful if they do not unreasonably refuse cooperation, and updates the effective date of the law from the year 3000 to 2075.

Scope change

The scope of certifying entities was expanded to include state judges, and the criteria for determining victim helpfulness were modified to account for unreasonable refusal to cooperate.

ELIGIBILITY

State judges are now explicitly listed as authorized certifying officials for U and T visa certifications.

REQUIREMENT

The presumption that a victim is helpful now requires that they have not unreasonably refused to cooperate, rather than just failing to provide information.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the Act was changed from July 1, 3000, to March 22, 2075.

DEFINITION

The definition of a 'certifying entity' was broadened to include any entity authorized by law, regulation, or policy, not just law.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

May 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Final Reading as amended in CD 1 with Representative(s) Kila voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Pierick voting no (1) and none excused (0).

lower

May 6, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed Final Reading, as amended (CD 1). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . 0 No(es): none. 0 Excused: none.

upper

May 1, 2026

Introduced

48 Hrs. Notice (as amended CD 1) 05-06-26

upper

May 1, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported from Conference Committee as amended CD 1 (Conf. Com. Rep. No. 144-26).

upper

May 1, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported from Conference Committee (Conf Com. Rep. No. 144-26) as amended in (CD 1).

lower

Apr 30, 2026

Upper · Passed

The Conference committee recommends that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes of the Senate Conference Managers were as follows: 2 Aye(s): Senator(s) Rhoads, Elefante; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Awa.

upper

Apr 30, 2026

Lower · Passed

The Conference Committee recommends that the measure be Passed, with Amendments. The votes were as follows: 5 Ayes: Representative(s) Ilagan, Tarnas, Hussey, Tam, Gedeon; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.

lower

Apr 29, 2026

Upper · Passed

Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-30-26 3:40PM; CR 325.

upper

Apr 28, 2026

Upper · Passed

Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-29-26 3:40PM; Conference Room 325.

upper

Apr 27, 2026

Upper · Passed

Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-28-26 3:40PM; Conference Room 325.

upper

Apr 24, 2026

Upper · Passed

Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-27-26 3:40PM; Conference Room 325.

upper

Apr 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

Conference committee meeting scheduled for 04-24-26 3:40PM; Conference Room 325.

upper

Apr 14, 2026

Amended

House disagrees with Senate amendment (s).

lower

Apr 10, 2026

Introduced

Returned from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 532) in amended form (SD 1).

lower

Apr 10, 2026

Upper · Passed

Report Adopted; Passed Third Reading. Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none. Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.

upper

Apr 7, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in WAM were as follows: 12 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, DeCoite, Elefante, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kidani, Kim, Richards, Wakai, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Lee, C..

upper

Apr 2, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 04-07-26 10:31AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 30, 2026

Upper · Passed

Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM.

upper

Mar 30, 2026

Committee

Reported from JDC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3346) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Mar 27, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in JDC were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Rhoads, Gabbard, Chang; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) San Buenaventura, Awa.

upper

Mar 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on JDC has scheduled a public hearing on 03-27-26 10:00AM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 23, 2026

Committee

Re-Referred to JDC, WAM.

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to JDC/GVO, WAM.

upper

Mar 6, 2026

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 54).

upper

Mar 5, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading with Representative(s) Alcos, Garcia voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Pierick voting no (1) and Representative(s) Perruso excused (1). Transmitted to Senate.

lower

Mar 2, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 16 Ayes: Representative(s) Todd, Takenouchi, Hartsfield, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lee, M., Miyake, Morikawa, Perruso, Templo, Yamashita, Gedeon, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Alcos; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

lower

Feb 20, 2026

Lower · Passed

Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN as amended in HD 2 with Representative(s) Garcia voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Pierick voting no (1) and Representative(s) Quinlan excused (1).

lower

Feb 20, 2026

Committee

Reported from JHA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 741-26) as amended in HD 2, recommending referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 13, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 7 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Belatti, Hashem, Kahaloa, Sayama, Shimizu; Ayes with reservations: none; 1 Noes: Representative(s) Garcia; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Cochran, Takayama.

lower

Feb 11, 2026

Committee

Reported from ECD (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 151-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to JHA.

lower

Feb 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on ECD recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 7 Ayes: Representative(s) Ilagan, Hussey, Holt, Tam, Templo, Yamashita, Gedeon; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Committee

Referred to ECD, JHA, FIN, referral sheet 1

lower

Jan 23, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 22, 2026

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

13 primary · 1 co-sponsor