II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3255 

To establish a new nonimmigrant category for alien relatives of United States 

citizens and lawful permanent residents seeking to enter the United 

States temporarily for family purposes, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 8, 2023 

Mr. PAUL (for himself and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish a new nonimmigrant category for alien relatives 

of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents 

seeking to enter the United States temporarily for family 

purposes, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Temporary Family 

5 Visitation Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FAMILY PURPOSE NONIMMIGRANT VISAS FOR REL2 ATIVES OF UNITED STATES CITIZENS AND 

3 LAWFUL PERMANENT RESIDENTS SEEKING 

4 TO ENTER THE UNITED STATES TEMPO5 RARILY. 

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW NONIMMIGRANT VISA

7 CATEGORY.—Section 101(a)(15)(B) of the Immigration 

8 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(B)) is amend9 ed by striking ‘‘and who is visiting the United States tem10 porarily for business or temporarily for pleasure;’’ and in11 serting ‘‘and who is visiting the United States temporarily 

12 for— 

13 ‘‘(i) business; 

14 ‘‘(ii) pleasure; or 

15 ‘‘(iii) family purposes;’’. 

16 (b) REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO FAMILY PUR17 POSE VISAS.—Section 214 of the Immigration and Na18 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184) is amended by adding at 

19 the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(s) REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO FAMILY PUR21 POSE VISAS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection and sec23 tion 101(a)(15)(B)(iii): 

24 ‘‘(A) FAMILY PURPOSES.—The term ‘fam25 ily purposes’ means any visit by a relative for 

26 a social, occasional, or any other purpose. 


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1 ‘‘(B) RELATIVE.—The term ‘relative’ 

2 means the spouse, child, son, daughter, grand3 child, parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, 

4 sibling, uncle, aunt, niece, or nephew of a cit5 izen of the United States or an alien lawfully 

6 admitted for permanent residence. 

7 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—A relative seeking admis8 sion pursuant to a visa issued under section 

9 101(a)(15)(B)(iii) is inadmissible unless— 

10 ‘‘(A) the individual petitioning for such ad11 mission, or an additional sponsor, has sub12 mitted to the Secretary of Homeland Security 

13 an undertaking under section 213 in the form 

14 of a declaration of support; 

15 ‘‘(B) such relative has obtained, for the 

16 duration of his or her stay in the United States, 

17 a short-term travel medical insurance policy or 

18 an existing health insurance policy that pro19 vides coverage for international medical ex20 penses; and 

21 ‘‘(C) such relative expresses intent to leave 

22 the United States at the conclusion of the pe23 riod of authorized admission. 

24 ‘‘(3) PERIOD OF AUTHORIZED ADMISSION.— 

25 The period of authorized admission for a nonVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Nov 09, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3255.IS S3255

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1 immigrant described in section 101(a)(15)(B)(iii) 

2 shall not exceed 90 days per calendar year. 

3 ‘‘(4) PETITIONER REQUIREMENT.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An individual may not 

5 petition for the admission of a relative as a 

6 nonimmigrant described in section 

7 101(a)(15)(B)(iii) if the individual previously 

8 petitioned for the admission of such a relative 

9 who— 

10 ‘‘(i) was admitted to the United 

11 States pursuant to a visa issued under that 

12 section as a result; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) overstayed his or her period of 

14 authorized admission. 

15 ‘‘(B) PREVIOUS PETITIONERS.—An indi16 vidual filing an affidavit in support of the ad17 mission of a relative as a nonimmigrant de18 scribed in section 101(a)(15)(B)(iii) who has 

19 previously provided an affidavit of support for 

20 such a relative shall certify to the Secretary of 

21 Homeland Security that the relative whose ad22 mission the individual previously supported did 

23 not overstay his or her period of authorized ad24 mission or provide an explanation of why the 

25 relative’s overstay was due to extraordinary cirVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Nov 09, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3255.IS S3255

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1 cumstances beyond the control of the relative. A 

2 certification under this subparagraph shall be 

3 subject to section 1001 of title 18, United 

4 States Code. 

5 ‘‘(C) WAIVER.—The Secretary of Home6 land Security may waive the application of sec7 tion 212(a)(9)(B) in the case of a non8 immigrant described in section 

9 101(a)(15)(B)(iii) who overstayed his or her pe10 riod of authorized admission due to extraor11 dinary circumstances beyond the control of the 

12 nonimmigrant.’’. 

13 (c) RESTRICTION ON CHANGE OF STATUS.—Section 

14 248(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

15 U.S.C. 1258(a)(1)) is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(1) an alien classified as a nonimmigrant 

17 under subparagraph (B)(iii), (C), (D), (K), or (S) of 

18 section 101(a)(15),’’. 

19 (d) FAMILY PURPOSE VISA ELIGIBILITY WHILE

20 AWAITING IMMIGRANT VISA.—Notwithstanding section 

21 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

22 1184(b)), a nonimmigrant described in section 

23 101(a)(15)(B)(iii) of that Act who has been classified as 

24 an immigrant under section 201 of that Act (8 U.S.C. 

25 1151) and is awaiting the availability of an immigrant visa 


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•S 3255 IS

1 subject to the numerical limitations under section 203 of 

2 that Act (8 U.S.C. 1153) may be admitted pursuant to 

3 a family purpose visa, in accordance with section 214(s) 

4 of that Act, if the individual is otherwise eligible for ad5 mission. An alien admitted under section 

6 101(a)(15)(B)(iii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

7 (8 U.S.C. 1184(b)) shall not be considered to have been 

8 admitted to the United States for purposes of section 

9 245(a) of that Act (8 U.S.C. 1255(a)). 

10 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act, 

11 or the amendments made by this Act, shall be construed 

12 as limiting the authority of immigration officers to refuse 

13 to admit to the United States an applicant under section 

14 101(a)(15)(B)(iii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

15 (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(B)) who fails to meet one or more 

16 of the criteria under section 214(s) of that Act, or who 

17 is inadmissible under section 212(a) of that Act. 

Æ 


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