Us Congress 2023-2024 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB3255 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	118THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 3255
5	5	To establish a new nonimmigrant category for alien relatives of United States
6	6	citizens and lawful permanent residents seeking to enter the United
7	7	States temporarily for family purposes, and for other purposes.
8	8	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
9	9	NOVEMBER8, 2023
10	10	Mr. P
11	11	AUL(for himself and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following bill;
12	12	which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
13	13	A BILL
14	14	To establish a new nonimmigrant category for alien relatives
15	15	of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents
16	16	seeking to enter the United States temporarily for family
17	17	purposes, and for other purposes.
18	18	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
19	19	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
20	20	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
21	21	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Temporary Family 4
22	22	Visitation Act’’. 5
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25	25	•S 3255 IS
26	26	SEC. 2. FAMILY PURPOSE NONIMMIGRANT VISAS FOR REL-1
27	27	ATIVES OF UNITED STATES CITIZENS AND 2
28	28	LAWFUL PERMANENT RESIDENTS SEEKING 3
29	29	TO ENTER THE UNITED STATES TEMPO-4
30	30	RARILY. 5
31	31	(a) E
32	32	STABLISHMENT OF NEWNONIMMIGRANTVISA 6
33	33	C
34	34	ATEGORY.—Section 101(a)(15)(B) of the Immigration 7
35	35	and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(B)) is amend-8
36	36	ed by striking ‘‘and who is visiting the United States tem-9
37	37	porarily for business or temporarily for pleasure;’’ and in-10
38	38	serting ‘‘and who is visiting the United States temporarily 11
39	39	for— 12
40	40	‘‘(i) business; 13
41	41	‘‘(ii) pleasure; or 14
42	42	‘‘(iii) family purposes;’’. 15
43	43	(b) R
44	44	EQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TOFAMILYPUR-16
45	45	POSEVISAS.—Section 214 of the Immigration and Na-17
46	46	tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184) is amended by adding at 18
47	47	the end the following: 19
48	48	‘‘(s) R
49	49	EQUIREMENTSAPPLICABLE TOFAMILYPUR-20
50	50	POSEVISAS.— 21
51	51	‘‘(1) D
52	52	EFINITIONS.—In this subsection and sec-22
53	53	tion 101(a)(15)(B)(iii): 23
54	54	‘‘(A) F
55	55	AMILY PURPOSES.—The term ‘fam-24
56	56	ily purposes’ means any visit by a relative for 25
57	57	a social, occasional, or any other purpose. 26
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60	60	•S 3255 IS
61	61	‘‘(B) RELATIVE.—The term ‘relative’ 1
62	62	means the spouse, child, son, daughter, grand-2
63	63	child, parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, 3
64	64	sibling, uncle, aunt, niece, or nephew of a cit-4
65	65	izen of the United States or an alien lawfully 5
66	66	admitted for permanent residence. 6
67	67	‘‘(2) R
68	68	EQUIREMENT.—A relative seeking admis-7
69	69	sion pursuant to a visa issued under section 8
70	70	101(a)(15)(B)(iii) is inadmissible unless— 9
71	71	‘‘(A) the individual petitioning for such ad-10
72	72	mission, or an additional sponsor, has sub-11
73	73	mitted to the Secretary of Homeland Security 12
74	74	an undertaking under section 213 in the form 13
75	75	of a declaration of support; 14
76	76	‘‘(B) such relative has obtained, for the 15
77	77	duration of his or her stay in the United States, 16
78	78	a short-term travel medical insurance policy or 17
79	79	an existing health insurance policy that pro-18
80	80	vides coverage for international medical ex-19
81	81	penses; and 20
82	82	‘‘(C) such relative expresses intent to leave 21
83	83	the United States at the conclusion of the pe-22
84	84	riod of authorized admission. 23
85	85	‘‘(3) P
86	86	ERIOD OF AUTHORIZED ADMISSION .— 24
87	87	The period of authorized admission for a non-25
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90	90	•S 3255 IS
91	91	immigrant described in section 101(a)(15)(B)(iii) 1
92	92	shall not exceed 90 days per calendar year. 2
93	93	‘‘(4) P
94	94	ETITIONER REQUIREMENT .— 3
95	95	‘‘(A) I
96	96	N GENERAL.—An individual may not 4
97	97	petition for the admission of a relative as a 5
98	98	nonimmigrant described in section 6
99	99	101(a)(15)(B)(iii) if the individual previously 7
100	100	petitioned for the admission of such a relative 8
101	101	who— 9
102	102	‘‘(i) was admitted to the United 10
103	103	States pursuant to a visa issued under that 11
104	104	section as a result; and 12
105	105	‘‘(ii) overstayed his or her period of 13
106	106	authorized admission. 14
107	107	‘‘(B) P
108	108	REVIOUS PETITIONERS .—An indi-15
109	109	vidual filing an affidavit in support of the ad-16
110	110	mission of a relative as a nonimmigrant de-17
111	111	scribed in section 101(a)(15)(B)(iii) who has 18
112	112	previously provided an affidavit of support for 19
113	113	such a relative shall certify to the Secretary of 20
114	114	Homeland Security that the relative whose ad-21
115	115	mission the individual previously supported did 22
116	116	not overstay his or her period of authorized ad-23
117	117	mission or provide an explanation of why the 24
118	118	relative’s overstay was due to extraordinary cir-25
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121	121	•S 3255 IS
122	122	cumstances beyond the control of the relative. A 1
123	123	certification under this subparagraph shall be 2
124	124	subject to section 1001 of title 18, United 3
125	125	States Code. 4
126	126	‘‘(C) W
127	127	AIVER.—The Secretary of Home-5
128	128	land Security may waive the application of sec-6
129	129	tion 212(a)(9)(B) in the case of a non-7
130	130	immigrant described in section 8
131	131	101(a)(15)(B)(iii) who overstayed his or her pe-9
132	132	riod of authorized admission due to extraor-10
133	133	dinary circumstances beyond the control of the 11
134	134	nonimmigrant.’’. 12
135	135	(c) R
136	136	ESTRICTION ONCHANGE OFSTATUS.—Section 13
137	137	248(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 14
138	138	U.S.C. 1258(a)(1)) is amended to read as follows: 15
139	139	‘‘(1) an alien classified as a nonimmigrant 16
140	140	under subparagraph (B)(iii), (C), (D), (K), or (S) of 17
141	141	section 101(a)(15),’’. 18
142	142	(d) F
143	143	AMILYPURPOSEVISAELIGIBILITYWHILE 19
144	144	A
145	145	WAITINGIMMIGRANTVISA.—Notwithstanding section 20
146	146	214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 21
147	147	1184(b)), a nonimmigrant described in section 22
148	148	101(a)(15)(B)(iii) of that Act who has been classified as 23
149	149	an immigrant under section 201 of that Act (8 U.S.C. 24
150	150	1151) and is awaiting the availability of an immigrant visa 25
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153	153	•S 3255 IS
154	154	subject to the numerical limitations under section 203 of 1
155	155	that Act (8 U.S.C. 1153) may be admitted pursuant to 2
156	156	a family purpose visa, in accordance with section 214(s) 3
157	157	of that Act, if the individual is otherwise eligible for ad-4
158	158	mission. An alien admitted under section 5
159	159	101(a)(15)(B)(iii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 6
160	160	(8 U.S.C. 1184(b)) shall not be considered to have been 7
161	161	admitted to the United States for purposes of section 8
162	162	245(a) of that Act (8 U.S.C. 1255(a)). 9
163	163	(e) R
164	164	ULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act, 10
165	165	or the amendments made by this Act, shall be construed 11
166	166	as limiting the authority of immigration officers to refuse 12
167	167	to admit to the United States an applicant under section 13
168	168	101(a)(15)(B)(iii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 14
169	169	(8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(B)) who fails to meet one or more 15
170	170	of the criteria under section 214(s) of that Act, or who 16
171	171	is inadmissible under section 212(a) of that Act. 17
172	172	Æ
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