| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 1220 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to direct the Secretary of |
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| 6 | 6 | | State to increase the fee imposed on aliens filing an application abroad |
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| 7 | 7 | | for a visa authorizing admission to the United States as a nonimmigrant |
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| 8 | 8 | | described in section 101(a)(15)(B) who are nationals of certain countries, |
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| 9 | 9 | | and for other purposes. |
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| 10 | 10 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 11 | 11 | | FEBRUARY11, 2025 |
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| 12 | 12 | | Mrs. W |
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| 13 | 13 | | AGNER(for herself and Mr. GILLof Texas) introduced the following |
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| 14 | 14 | | bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary |
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| 15 | 15 | | A BILL |
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| 16 | 16 | | To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to direct |
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| 17 | 17 | | the Secretary of State to increase the fee imposed on |
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| 18 | 18 | | aliens filing an application abroad for a visa authorizing |
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| 19 | 19 | | admission to the United States as a nonimmigrant de- |
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| 20 | 20 | | scribed in section 101(a)(15)(B) who are nationals of |
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| 21 | 21 | | certain countries, and for other purposes. |
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| 22 | 22 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 23 | 23 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 24 | 24 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 25 | 25 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fee Increases for 4 |
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| 26 | 26 | | Reckless Mismanagement Act of 2025’’ or ‘‘FIRM Act of 5 |
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| 27 | 27 | | 2025’’. 6 |
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| 28 | 28 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Mar 08, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1220.IH H1220 |
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| 29 | 29 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 30 | 30 | | •HR 1220 IH |
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| 31 | 31 | | SEC. 2. FEE INCREASE FOR CERTAIN NONIMMIGRANT VISA 1 |
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| 32 | 32 | | APPLICANTS. 2 |
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| 33 | 33 | | (a) I |
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| 34 | 34 | | NGENERAL.—The Immigration and Nationality 3 |
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| 35 | 35 | | Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 4 |
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| 36 | 36 | | section 281 the following: 5 |
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| 37 | 37 | | ‘‘SEC. 281A. FEE INCREASE FOR CERTAIN NONIMMIGRANT 6 |
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| 38 | 38 | | VISA APPLICANTS. 7 |
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| 39 | 39 | | ‘‘(a) F |
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| 40 | 40 | | EEINCREASE.—The Secretary of State shall 8 |
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| 41 | 41 | | increase the fee imposed under section 281 on an alien 9 |
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| 42 | 42 | | filing an application abroad for a visa authorizing admis-10 |
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| 43 | 43 | | sion to the United States as a nonimmigrant described 11 |
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| 44 | 44 | | in section 101(a)(15)(B) in accordance with subsection (b) 12 |
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| 45 | 45 | | for any alien who is a national of a country with respect 13 |
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| 46 | 46 | | to which the Secretary determines any of the following: 14 |
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| 47 | 47 | | ‘‘(1) The Secretary of Homeland Security has 15 |
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| 48 | 48 | | reported to the Secretary of State under section 16 |
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| 49 | 49 | | 243(d) that the government of the country has de-17 |
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| 50 | 50 | | nied or unreasonably delayed accepting an alien who 18 |
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| 51 | 51 | | is a citizen, subject, national, or resident of that 19 |
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| 52 | 52 | | country after the Secretary of Homeland Security 20 |
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| 53 | 53 | | asked whether the government would accept the 21 |
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| 54 | 54 | | alien. 22 |
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| 55 | 55 | | ‘‘(2) The Secretary of State has designated the 23 |
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| 56 | 56 | | country as a state sponsor of international terrorism 24 |
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| 57 | 57 | | (as such term is defined in section 214(c)(4)(F)(ii)). 25 |
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| 58 | 58 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Mar 08, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1220.IH H1220 |
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| 59 | 59 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 60 | 60 | | •HR 1220 IH |
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| 61 | 61 | | ‘‘(3) The country is listed as a tier 3 country 1 |
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| 62 | 62 | | in the most recent Trafficking in Persons report of 2 |
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| 63 | 63 | | the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in 3 |
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| 64 | 64 | | Persons of the Department of State. 4 |
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| 65 | 65 | | ‘‘(b) A |
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| 66 | 66 | | MOUNT OFINCREASE.—The Secretary shall in-5 |
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| 67 | 67 | | crease the fee described in subsection (a) as follows: 6 |
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| 68 | 68 | | ‘‘(1) If the Secretary determines that the coun-7 |
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| 69 | 69 | | try meets one of the criteria described in paragraphs 8 |
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| 70 | 70 | | (1) through (3) of subsection (a), the Secretary shall 9 |
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| 71 | 71 | | increase such fee by not less than 50 percent. 10 |
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| 72 | 72 | | ‘‘(2) If the Secretary determines that the coun-11 |
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| 73 | 73 | | try meets two of the criteria described in paragraphs 12 |
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| 74 | 74 | | (1) through (3) of subsection (a), the Secretary shall 13 |
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| 75 | 75 | | increase such fee by not less than 100 percent. 14 |
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| 76 | 76 | | ‘‘(3) If the Secretary determines that the coun-15 |
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| 77 | 77 | | try meets three of the criteria described in para-16 |
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| 78 | 78 | | graphs (1) through (3) of subsection (a), the Sec-17 |
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| 79 | 79 | | retary shall increase such fee by not less than 150 18 |
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| 80 | 80 | | percent. 19 |
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| 81 | 81 | | ‘‘(c) P |
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| 82 | 82 | | ERIODICREVIEW.—On the first day of each 20 |
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| 83 | 83 | | month, the Secretary shall review the determinations 21 |
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| 84 | 84 | | under subsection (a), to determine whether any increase 22 |
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| 85 | 85 | | imposed should be reduced, or whether an increase should 23 |
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| 86 | 86 | | be imposed on nationals of any additional countries.’’. 24 |
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| 88 | 88 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 |
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| 89 | 89 | | •HR 1220 IH |
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| 90 | 90 | | (b) CLERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of contents 1 |
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| 91 | 91 | | for the Immigration and Nationality Act is amended by 2 |
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| 92 | 92 | | inserting after the item related to section 281 the fol-3 |
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| 93 | 93 | | lowing: 4 |
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| 94 | 94 | | ‘‘281A. Fee increase for certain nonimmigrant visa applicants.’’. |
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| 95 | 95 | | Æ |
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| 96 | 96 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Mar 08, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1220.IH H1220 |
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| 97 | 97 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB |
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