II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1545 

To designate Taiwan as a visa waiver program country under section 217(c) 

of the Immigration and Nationality Act. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011 

Mr. INHOFE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To designate Taiwan as a visa waiver program country under 

section 217(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. 

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

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress makes the following findings: 

5 (1) The United States enjoys a friendly and 

6 mutually beneficial relationship with Taiwan. Solid 

7 commercial, educational, and cultural ties between 

8 the United States and Taiwan could be further 

9 strengthened by the inclusion of Taiwan in the 

10 United States Visa Waiver Program. 

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1 (2) As a full-fledged, stable democracy, Taiwan 

2 shares with the United States a commitment to de3 mocracy, human rights, the rule of the law, and a 

4 market-based economy. 

5 (3) Taiwan is the United States ninth largest 

6 trading partner and a key export market in almost 

7 every major sector. Trade in commercial goods be8 tween Taiwan and the United States totaled nearly 

9 $62,000,000,000 in 2010. 

10 (4) The United States and Taiwan have long 

11 maintained close and productive cooperation in 

12 science and technology. Since 1979, the United 

13 States and Taiwan have signed more than 190 

14 science and technology agreements under the frame15 work of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Rep16 resentative Office and the American Institute in Tai17 wan. 

18 (5) Taiwan has worked very closely with the 

19 United States in the field of education. More than 

20 26,000 Taiwanese studied at colleges and univer21 sities in the United States during 2010. 

22 (6) These important relationships generate sig23 nificant interpersonal contact and travel. In 2009, 

24 people from Taiwan made more than 500,000 trips 

25 to the United States. 

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1 (7) If allowed to participate in the Visa Waiver 

2 Program, holders of Taiwan passports could travel 

3 to the United States without the expense and time 

4 consuming process of obtaining a visa, which is ex5 pected to boost the number of visits for sightseeing 

6 and business purposes. Taiwanese travel to the 

7 United Kingdom and New Zealand increased by 35 

8 to 40 percent after those countries waived visa obli9 gations. Tourism revenue would increase by an esti10 mated $1,800,000,000 by waiving visa requirements 

11 for Taiwanese travelers to the United States. 

12 (8) Taiwan has already exempted United States 

13 passport holders from visa requirements for visits up 

14 to 30 days. By extending similar privileges to Tai15 wanese travelers, the United States could facilitate 

16 people-to-people contacts, enhance cultural links, 

17 and expand business opportunities and tourism. 

18 (9) During fiscal year 2010, Taiwan’s United 

19 States visa refusal rate was 2.2 per cent, which is 

20 well below the maximum allowable 3 percent rate for 

21 refusals of United States nonimmigrant visitor visa 

22 applications under the Visa Waiver Program. 

23 (10) Taiwan has a high Human Development 

24 Index, which indicates that it has a high income 

25 economy. 

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1 (11) The Government of Taiwan has actively 

2 pursued the resumption of mutual trust between 

3 Taiwan and the United States at the highest levels. 

4 (12) Census figures show that there were about 

5 230,000 Taiwanese residing in the United States in 

6 2010, while unofficial reports put that figure at 

7 500,000. 

8 (13) S. Con. Res. 17 was introduced on May 

9 12, 2011, to express the sense of Congress that Tai10 wan should be accorded observer status in the Inter11 national Civil Aviation Organization and has since 

12 been voted favorably out of the Committee on For13 eign Relations of the Senate. 

14 (14) Taiwanese citizens who are in possession 

15 of a machine readable passport and have completed 

16 Form I–736 (Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver Information 

17 Form) and Form I–94 (Arrival-Departure Record) 

18 may enter Guam or the Commonwealth of the 

19 Northern Mariana Islands without a visa under a 

20 visa waiver program that applies to these United 

21 States territories. 

22 SEC. 2. DESIGNATING TAIWAN AS A VISA WAIVER PROGRAM 

23 COUNTRY. 

24 Notwithstanding section 217(c) of the Immigration 

25 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1187(c)), Taiwan shall be 

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1 deemed to be a designated program country for purposes 

2 of the Visa Waiver Program established under section 217 

3 of such Act. 

Æ 

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