I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1966 

To establish a visa waiver program for the United States Virgin Islands. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 14, 2013 

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish a visa waiver program for the United States 

Virgin Islands. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Virgin Islands Visa 

5 Waiver Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. VIRGIN ISLANDS VISA WAIVER PROGRAM. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 212(l) of the Immigration 

8 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(l)) is amended— 

9 (1) by amending the subsection heading to read 

10 as follows: ‘‘GUAM, NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS, 


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1 AND VIRGIN ISLANDS VISA WAIVER PROGRAMS.—’’; 

2 and 

3 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(7) VIRGIN ISLANDS VISA WAIVER PRO5 GRAM.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The requirement of 

7 subsection (a)(7)(B)(i) may be waived by the 

8 Secretary of Homeland Security, in the case of 

9 an alien who is a national of a country de10 scribed in subparagraph (B) and who is apply11 ing for admission as a nonimmigrant visitor for 

12 business or pleasure and solely for entry into 

13 and stay in the United States Virgin Islands for 

14 a period not to exceed 30 days, if the Secretary 

15 of Homeland Security, after consultation with 

16 the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of 

17 State, the Governor of the United States Virgin 

18 Islands, determines that such a waiver does not 

19 represent a threat to the welfare, safety, or se20 curity of the United States or its territories and 

21 commonwealths. 

22 ‘‘(B) COUNTRIES.—A country described in 

23 this subparagraph is a country that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) is a member or an associate mem2 ber of the Caribbean Community 

3 (CARICOM); and 

4 ‘‘(ii) is listed in the regulations de5 scribed in subparagraph (D). 

6 ‘‘(C) ALIEN WAIVER OF RIGHTS.—An alien 

7 may not be provided a waiver under this para8 graph unless the alien has waived any right— 

9 ‘‘(i) to review or appeal under this Act 

10 an immigration officer’s determination as 

11 to the admissibility of the alien at the port 

12 of entry into the United States Virgin Is13 lands; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) to contest, other than on the 

15 basis of an application for withholding of 

16 removal under section 241(b)(3) of this 

17 Act or under the Convention Against Tor18 ture, or an application for asylum if per19 mitted under section 208, any action for 

20 removal of the alien. 

21 ‘‘(D) REGULATIONS.—All necessary regu22 lations to implement this paragraph shall be 

23 promulgated by the Secretary of Homeland Se24 curity, in consultation with the Secretary of the 

25 Interior and the Secretary of State, on or beVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:25 May 17, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1966.IH H1966

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1 fore the 60th day after the date of enactment 

2 of the Virgin Islands Visa Waiver Act of 2013. 

3 The promulgation of such regulations shall be 

4 considered a foreign affairs function for pur5 poses of section 553(a) of title 5, United States 

6 Code. At a minimum, such regulations should 

7 include, but not necessarily be limited to— 

8 ‘‘(i) a listing of all member or asso9 ciate member countries of the Caribbean 

10 Community (CARICOM) whose nationals 

11 may obtain the waiver provided by this 

12 paragraph, except that such regulations 

13 shall not provide for a listing of any coun14 try if the Secretary of Homeland Security 

15 determines that such country’s inclusion 

16 on such list would represent a threat to the 

17 welfare, safety, or security of the United 

18 States or its territories and common19 wealths; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) any bonding requirements for na21 tionals of some or all of those countries 

22 who may present an increased risk of 

23 overstays or other potential problems, if 

24 different from such requirements otherwise 

25 provided by law for nonimmigrant visitors. 


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1 ‘‘(E) FACTORS.—In determining whether 

2 to grant or continue providing the waiver under 

3 this paragraph to nationals of any country, the 

4 Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation 

5 with the Secretary of the Interior and the Sec6 retary of State, shall consider all factors that 

7 the Secretary deems relevant, including elec8 tronic travel authorizations, procedures for re9 porting lost and stolen passports, repatriation 

10 of aliens, rates of refusal for nonimmigrant vis11 itor visas, overstays, exit systems, and informa12 tion exchange. 

13 ‘‘(F) SUSPENSION.—The Secretary of 

14 Homeland Security shall monitor the admission 

15 of nonimmigrant visitors to the United States 

16 Virgin Islands under this paragraph. If the Sec17 retary determines that such admissions have re18 sulted in an unacceptable number of visitors 

19 from a country remaining unlawfully in the 

20 United States Virgin Islands, unlawfully obtain21 ing entry to other parts of the United States, 

22 or seeking withholding of removal or asylum, or 

23 that visitors from a country pose a risk to law 

24 enforcement or security interests of the United 

25 States Virgin Islands or of the United States 


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1 (including the interest in the enforcement of the 

2 immigration laws of the United States), the 

3 Secretary shall suspend the admission of na4 tionals of such country under this paragraph. 

5 The Secretary of Homeland Security may in the 

6 Secretary’s discretion suspend the United 

7 States Virgin Islands visa waiver program at 

8 any time, on a country-by-country basis, for 

9 other good cause. 

10 ‘‘(G) ADDITION OF COUNTRIES.—The Gov11 ernor of the United States Virgin Islands may 

12 request the Secretary of the Interior and the 

13 Secretary of Homeland Security to add a par14 ticular country to the list of countries whose 

15 nationals may obtain the waiver provided by 

16 this paragraph, and the Secretary of Homeland 

17 Security may grant such request after consulta18 tion with the Secretary of the Interior and the 

19 Secretary of State, and may promulgate regula20 tions with respect to the inclusion of that coun21 try and any special requirements the Secretary 

22 of Homeland Security, in the Secretary’s sole 

23 discretion, may impose prior to allowing nation24 als of that country to obtain the waiver pro25 vided by this paragraph.’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

2 (1) DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

3 212(a)(7)(iii) of the Immigration and Nationality 

4 Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(7)(iii)) is amended to read as 

5 follows: 

6 ‘‘(iii) SPECIAL VISA WAIVER PRO7 GRAMS.—For a provision authorizing waiv8 er of clause (i) in the case of visitors to 

9 Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern 

10 Mariana Islands, or the United States Vir11 gin Islands, see subsection (l).’’. 

12 (2) ADMISSION OF NONIMMIGRANTS.—Section 

13 214(a)(1) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(a)(1)) is 

14 amended by inserting before the final sentence the 

15 following: ‘‘No alien admitted to the United States 

16 Virgin Islands without a visa pursuant to section 

17 212(l)(7) may be authorized to enter or stay in the 

18 United States other than in United States Virgin Is19 lands or to remain in the United States Virgin Is20 lands for a period exceeding 30 days from date of 

21 admission to the United States Virgin Islands.’’. 

Æ 


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