I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 187 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish the Virgin Islands 

visa waiver program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 3, 2017 

Ms. PLASKETT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish 

the Virgin Islands visa waiver program. 

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 2017’’. 

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, and the Governor of the United States 

18 Virgin Islands, determines that such a waiver 

19 does not represent a threat to the welfare, safe20 ty, or security of the United States or its terri21 tories and 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 Sep 11 2014 02:53 Jan 11, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H187.IH H187

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1 fore the date that is 1 year after the date of en2 actment of the Virgin Islands Visa Waiver Act 

3 of 2013. The promulgation of such regulations 

4 shall be considered a foreign affairs function for 

5 purposes of section 553(a) of title 5, United 

6 States Code. At a minimum, such regulations 

7 should include, but not necessarily be limited 

8 to— 

9 ‘‘(i) a listing of all member or asso10 ciate member countries of the Caribbean 

11 Community (CARICOM) whose nationals 

12 may obtain, on a country by country basis, 

13 the waiver provided by this paragraph, ex14 cept that such regulations shall not provide 

15 for a listing of any country if the Secretary 

16 of Homeland Security determines that 

17 such country’s inclusion on such list would 

18 represent a threat to the welfare, safety, or 

19 security of the United States or its terri20 tories and commonwealths; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) any bonding requirements for na22 tionals of some or all of those countries 

23 who may present an increased risk of 

24 overstays or other potential problems, if 


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1 different from such requirements otherwise 

2 provided by law for nonimmigrant visitors. 

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

4 to grant or continue providing the waiver under 

5 this paragraph to nationals of any country, the 

6 Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation 

7 with the Secretary of the Interior and the Sec8 retary of State, shall consider all factors that 

9 the Secretary deems relevant, including elec10 tronic travel authorizations, procedures for re11 porting lost and stolen passports, repatriation 

12 of aliens, rates of refusal for nonimmigrant vis13 itor visas, overstays, exit systems, and informa14 tion exchange. 

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

16 Homeland Security shall monitor the admission 

17 of nonimmigrant visitors to the United States 

18 Virgin Islands under this paragraph. If the Sec19 retary determines that such admissions have re20 sulted in an unacceptable number of visitors 

21 from a country remaining unlawfully in the 

22 United States Virgin Islands, unlawfully obtain23 ing entry to other parts of the United States, 

24 or seeking withholding of removal or asylum, or 

25 that visitors from a country pose a risk to law 


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1 enforcement or security interests of the United 

2 States Virgin Islands or of the United States 

3 (including the interest in the enforcement of the 

4 immigration laws of the United States), the 

5 Secretary shall suspend the admission of na6 tionals of such country under this paragraph. 

7 The Secretary of Homeland Security may in the 

8 Secretary’s discretion suspend the United 

9 States Virgin Islands visa waiver program at 

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

11 other good cause. 

12 ‘‘(G) ADDITION OF COUNTRIES.—The Gov13 ernor of the United States Virgin Islands may 

14 request the Secretary of the Interior and the 

15 Secretary of Homeland Security to add a par16 ticular country to the list of countries whose 

17 nationals may obtain the waiver provided by 

18 this paragraph, and the Secretary of Homeland 

19 Security may grant such request after consulta20 tion with the Secretary of the Interior and the 

21 Secretary of State, and may promulgate regula22 tions with respect to the inclusion of that coun23 try and any special requirements the Secretary 

24 of Homeland Security, in the Secretary’s sole 

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1 als of that country to obtain the waiver pro2 vided by this paragraph.’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

4 (1) DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

5 212(a)(7)(iii) of the Immigration and Nationality 

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

7 follows: 

8 ‘‘(iii) SPECIAL VISA WAIVER PRO9 GRAMS.—For a provision authorizing waiv10 er of clause (i) in the case of visitors to 

11 Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern 

12 Mariana Islands, or the United States Vir13 gin Islands, see subsection (l).’’. 

14 (2) ADMISSION OF NONIMMIGRANTS.—Section 

15 214(a)(1) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(a)(1)) is 

16 amended by inserting before the final sentence the 

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

18 Virgin Islands without a visa pursuant to section 

19 212(l)(7) may be authorized to enter or stay in the 

20 United States other than in the United States Vir21 gin Islands or to remain in the United States Virgin 

22 Islands for a period exceeding 30 days from date of 

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

Æ 


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