II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1653 

To make minor modifications to the procedures relating to the issuance 

of visas. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 4, 2011 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. HELLER, and Mr. BEGICH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To make minor modifications to the procedures relating to 

the issuance of visas. 

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 ‘‘International Tourism 

5 Facilitation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FEE RETENTION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Department of State and Re8 lated Agency Appropriations Act, 2005 (title IV of division 

9 B of Public Law 108–447) is amended, in the fourth para10 graph under the heading ‘‘Diplomatic and Consular ProVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:59 Oct 05, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1653.IS S1653

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•S 1653 IS

1 grams’’, by striking the second proviso and inserting ‘‘Pro2 vided further, That the Secretary of State is authorized 

3 to charge fees for consular services, which may be depos4 ited in the appropriate Department of State account to 

5 the extent that the amount of such fees collected during 

6 a fiscal year, excluding any fees for consular services re7 tained by the Department of State pursuant to any other 

8 authority, is greater than the amount of fees for consular 

9 services deposited in the Treasury during fiscal year 

10 2011.’’. 

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

12 (1) PASSPORT ACT.—Section 1(a) of the Pass13 port Act of June 4, 1920 (22 U.S.C. 214(a)) is 

14 amended— 

15 (A) by striking ‘‘and paid into the Treas16 ury of the United States’’; and 

17 (B) by striking ‘‘except that the Secretary’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘. The Secretary’’. 

19 (2) AUTHORITY TO AMEND SURCHARGES.—Sec20 tion 6 of the Department of State Authorities Act 

21 of 2006 (Public Law 109–472) is repealed. 

22 SEC. 3. VISA EXTENSION INTERVIEW WAIVER. 

23 Section 222(h)(1)(B) of the Immigration and Nation24 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1202(h)(1)(B)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘12 months’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘4 years’’; 

3 (2) by striking clause (ii); and 

4 (3) by redesignating clauses (iii) and (iv) as 

5 clauses (ii) and (iii), respectively. 

6 SEC. 4. VISA SYSTEM PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT. 

7 The Secretary of State shall submit a report to the 

8 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the 

9 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representa10 tives that includes— 

11 (1) an annual forecast of demand through 2020 

12 for nonimmigrant visas in the key high-growth mar13 kets of Brazil, China, and India, including a descrip14 tion of the methodology used to make such forecasts 

15 that— 

16 (A) describes the internal and external 

17 studies utilized to prepare such forecasts; and 

18 (B) indicates whether such methodology 

19 utilizes the Department of Commerce’s analysis 

20 of visitor arrival projections; 

21 (2) a comparison of the Department of State’s 

22 nonimmigrant visa demand projections and the De23 partment of Commerce’s yearly visitor arrival projec24 tions for Brazil, China, and India through 2020, in25 cluding details on whether the Department of 


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1 State’s workload projections for each such country 

2 align with the Department of Commerce’s yearly vis3 itor arrival projections; 

4 (3) a description of the practices and proce5 dures currently used by each United States diplo6 matic and consular mission in Brazil, China, and 

7 India to manage nonimmigrant visa workload; 

8 (4) information on short- and long-term plans 

9 developed to meet the forecasted demand for non10 immigrant visas through 2020 in Brazil, China, and 

11 India, including facility expansion needs; and 

12 (5) information on the strategies that will be 

13 used by the Department of State to maximize exist14 ing consular and embassy space to accommodate 

15 new limited non-career appointment consular offi16 cers. 

Æ 


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