I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1125 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for new procedures 

pertaining to the processing of petitions and applications for immigrant 

or nonimmigrant visas, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 

Mr. BANKS of Indiana introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide 

for new procedures pertaining to the processing of petitions and applications for immigrant or nonimmigrant 

visas, 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 ‘‘Visa Investigation and 

5 Social Media Activity Act of 2017’’ or as the ‘‘VISA Act 

6 of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PETITION AND APPLICATION PROCESSING FOR 

2 VISAS AND IMMIGRATION BENEFITS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2 of title II of the Immi4 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1181 et seq.) is 

5 amended by inserting after section 211 the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 211A. BACKGROUND CHECKS AND OTHER SCREEN7 ING REQUIREMENTS. 

8 ‘‘(a) COMPREHENSIVE SECURITY AND BACKGROUND

9 CHECK.—No petition or application filed with the Sec10 retary of Homeland Security or with a consular officer re11 lating to the issuance of a visa to or to the admission of 

12 an alien to the United States as an immigrant or as a 

13 nonimmigrant may be approved unless a background 

14 check to determine whether or not the alien is a national 

15 security threat or is otherwise ineligible for such visa or 

16 admission is completed for— 

17 ‘‘(1) the petitioner or applicant; and 

18 ‘‘(2) each beneficiary or derivative of the peti19 tion or application. 

20 ‘‘(b) REVIEW OF SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITY.—The 

21 background check under subsection (a) shall include a re22 view of the alien’s publicly available interactions on and 

23 posting of material to the Internet (including social media 

24 services). 

25 ‘‘(c) INTERVIEWS.—No petition or application filed 

26 with the Secretary of Homeland Security for any benefit 


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1 under this Act, except for work authorization, by or on 

2 behalf of an alien present in the United States may be 

3 approved unless the Secretary conducts an in-person inter4 view with that alien. The Secretary may waive such re5 quirement in the case of any alien who would be 10 years 

6 of age or younger at the time of the interview. 

7 ‘‘(d) TRANSLATION REQUIREMENT.—No document 

8 submitted in support of a petition or application for a non9 immigrant or immigrant visa may be accepted by a con10 sular officer if such document contains information in a 

11 foreign language, unless such document is accompanied by 

12 a full English translation, which the translator has cer13 tified as complete and accurate, and by the translator’s 

14 certification that he or she is competent to translate from 

15 the foreign language into English. 

16 ‘‘(e) REQUESTS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.—In 

17 an instance where the Secretary of Homeland Security or 

18 a consular officer requests any additional information re19 lating to a petition or application filed with the Secretary 

20 or consular officer relating to the issuance of a visa or 

21 to the admission of an alien to the United States as an 

22 immigrant or as a nonimmigrant, such petition or applica23 tion may not be approved unless all of the additional infor24 mation requested is provided in complete form and is pro25 vided on or before any deadline included in the request.’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

2 for such Act is amended by inserting after the item relat3 ing to section 211 the following: 

‘‘211A. Background checks and other screening requirements.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. FRAUD PREVENTION. 

5 (a) PROSPECTIVE ANALYTICS TECHNOLOGY.— 

6 (1) PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later 

7 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

8 Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall sub9 mit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the House 

10 of Representatives and the Committee on the Judici11 ary of the Senate a plan for the use of advanced 

12 analytics software to ensure the proactive detection 

13 of fraud in immigration benefits applications and pe14 titions and to ensure that any such applicant or peti15 tioner does not pose a threat to national security. 

16 (2) IMPLEMENTATION OF PLAN.—Not later 

17 than 1 year after the date of the submission of the 

18 plan under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Home19 land Security shall begin implementation of the plan. 

20 (b) BENEFITS FRAUD ASSESSMENT.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

22 Security, acting through the Fraud Detection and 

23 Nationality Security Directorate, shall complete a 

24 benefit fraud assessment by fiscal year 2021 on each 

25 of the following: 


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1 (A) Petitions by VAWA self-petitioners (as 

2 such term is defined in section 101(a)(51) of 

3 the Immigration and Nationality Act). 

4 (B) Applications or petitions for visas or 

5 status under section 101(a)(15)(K) of such Act 

6 or under section 201(b)(2) of such Act, in the 

7 case of spouses. 

8 (C) Applications for visas or status under 

9 section 101(a)(27)(J) of such Act. 

10 (D) Applications for visas or status under 

11 section 101(a)(15)(U) of such Act. 

12 (E) Petitions for visas or status under sec13 tion 101(a)(27)(C) of such Act. 

14 (F) Applications for asylum under section 

15 208 of such Act. 

16 (G) Applications for adjustment of status 

17 under section 209 of such Act. 

18 (H) Petitions for visas or status under sec19 tion 201(b) of such Act. 

20 (2) REPORTING ON FINDINGS.—Not later than 

21 30 days after the completion of each benefit fraud 

22 assessment under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

23 submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

24 House of Representatives and the Committee on the 

25 Judiciary of the Senate such assessment and recVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:54 Feb 24, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1125.IH H1125

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1 ommendations on how to reduce the occurrence of 

2 instances of fraud identified by the assessment. 

3 SEC. 4. EXPEDITIOUS EXPANSION OF ASSIGNMENT OF 

4 HOMELAND SECURITY EMPLOYEES TO DIP5 LOMATIC AND CONSULAR POSTS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 428 of the Homeland Se7 curity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 236) is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (e)— 

9 (A) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 

10 follows: 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 4 years 

12 after the date of the enactment of the Visa Inves13 tigation and Social Media Activity Act of 2017, the 

14 Secretary shall assign employees of the Department 

15 to each diplomatic and consular post at which visas 

16 are issued, and shall communicate such assignments 

17 to the Secretary of State.’’; and 

18 (B) by amending paragraph (2)(B) to read 

19 as follows: 

20 ‘‘(B) Review all such applications and sup21 porting documentation prior to the adjudication 

22 of such an application.’’; and 

23 (2) by striking subsection (i). 

24 (b) EXPEDITED CLEARANCE AND PLACEMENT OF

25 DHS PERSONNEL.—Notwithstanding any other provision 


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1 of law, and the processes set forth in National Security 

2 Defense Directive 38 (dated June 2, 1982) or any suc3 cessor Directive, not later than one year after the date 

4 on which the Secretary of Homeland Security commu5 nicates to the Secretary of State the assignment of per6 sonnel to a diplomatic or consular post under section 

7 428(e) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 

8 236(e)), as amended by this Act, the Chief of Mission of 

9 such a post shall ensure that such personnel have been 

10 stationed and accommodated at that post and are able to 

11 carry out their duties. 

12 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

13 authorized to be appropriated $60,000,000 for each of fis14 cal years 2018 and 2019, which shall be used to expedite 

15 the implementation of section 428(e) of the Homeland Se16 curity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 236(e)), as amended by this 

17 Act. 

18 SEC. 5. GAO REPORT. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 

20 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

21 General of the United States shall conduct a review and 

22 report to Congress on the security of nonimmigrant and 

23 immigrant visa application processes. Such a review shall 

24 address— 


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1 (1) how the United States Government con2 ducts security screening and background checks for 

3 nonimmigrant and immigrant visa petitions and ap4 plications, including the agencies and partners in5 volved and the systems and databases used; and 

6 (2) how the Departments of Homeland Security 

7 and State consider the results of such screening and 

8 background checks in adjudicating nonimmigrant 

9 and immigrant visa petitions and applications. 

10 (b) AGENCY COOPERATION.—Each agency involved 

11 in the processes for conducting and considering the results 

12 of such security screening and background checks shall 

13 fully cooperate with, and provide timely access to, the 

14 Comptroller General any requests for records and infor15 mation. 

Æ 


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