I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1220
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to direct the Secretary of
State to increase the fee imposed on aliens filing an application abroad
for a visa authorizing admission to the United States as a nonimmigrant
described in section 101(a)(15)(B) who are nationals of certain countries,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY11, 2025
Mrs. W
AGNER(for herself and Mr. GILLof Texas) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to direct
the Secretary of State to increase the fee imposed on
aliens filing an application abroad for a visa authorizing
admission to the United States as a nonimmigrant de-
scribed in section 101(a)(15)(B) who are nationals of
certain countries, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fee Increases for 4
Reckless Mismanagement Act of 2025’’ or ‘‘FIRM Act of 5
2025’’. 6
VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Mar 08, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1220.IH H1220
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2
•HR 1220 IH
SEC. 2. FEE INCREASE FOR CERTAIN NONIMMIGRANT VISA 1
APPLICANTS. 2
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Immigration and Nationality 3
Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 4
section 281 the following: 5
‘‘SEC. 281A. FEE INCREASE FOR CERTAIN NONIMMIGRANT 6
VISA APPLICANTS. 7
‘‘(a) F
EEINCREASE.—The Secretary of State shall 8
increase the fee imposed under section 281 on an alien 9
filing an application abroad for a visa authorizing admis-10
sion to the United States as a nonimmigrant described 11
in section 101(a)(15)(B) in accordance with subsection (b) 12
for any alien who is a national of a country with respect 13
to which the Secretary determines any of the following: 14
‘‘(1) The Secretary of Homeland Security has 15
reported to the Secretary of State under section 16
243(d) that the government of the country has de-17
nied or unreasonably delayed accepting an alien who 18
is a citizen, subject, national, or resident of that 19
country after the Secretary of Homeland Security 20
asked whether the government would accept the 21
alien. 22
‘‘(2) The Secretary of State has designated the 23
country as a state sponsor of international terrorism 24
(as such term is defined in section 214(c)(4)(F)(ii)). 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Mar 08, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1220.IH H1220
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3
•HR 1220 IH
‘‘(3) The country is listed as a tier 3 country 1
in the most recent Trafficking in Persons report of 2
the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in 3
Persons of the Department of State. 4
‘‘(b) A
MOUNT OFINCREASE.—The Secretary shall in-5
crease the fee described in subsection (a) as follows: 6
‘‘(1) If the Secretary determines that the coun-7
try meets one of the criteria described in paragraphs 8
(1) through (3) of subsection (a), the Secretary shall 9
increase such fee by not less than 50 percent. 10
‘‘(2) If the Secretary determines that the coun-11
try meets two of the criteria described in paragraphs 12
(1) through (3) of subsection (a), the Secretary shall 13
increase such fee by not less than 100 percent. 14
‘‘(3) If the Secretary determines that the coun-15
try meets three of the criteria described in para-16
graphs (1) through (3) of subsection (a), the Sec-17
retary shall increase such fee by not less than 150 18
percent. 19
‘‘(c) P
ERIODICREVIEW.—On the first day of each 20
month, the Secretary shall review the determinations 21
under subsection (a), to determine whether any increase 22
imposed should be reduced, or whether an increase should 23
be imposed on nationals of any additional countries.’’. 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Mar 08, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1220.IH H1220
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4
•HR 1220 IH
(b) CLERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of contents 1
for the Immigration and Nationality Act is amended by 2
inserting after the item related to section 281 the fol-3
lowing: 4
‘‘281A. Fee increase for certain nonimmigrant visa applicants.’’.
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:04 Mar 08, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1220.IH H1220
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB