II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1300 

To amend the section 221 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide 

relief for adoptive families from immigrant visa fees in certain situations. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 12, 2015 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. GRASSLEY, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, 

Mr. MCCONNELL, Mrs. BOXER, and Mr. CORKER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the section 221 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide relief for adoptive families from 

immigrant visa fees in certain situations. 

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 ‘‘Adoptive Family Relief 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. WAIVER OF FEES FOR RENEWAL OF IMMIGRANT 

2 VISA FOR ADOPTED CHILD IN CERTAIN SITU3 ATIONS. 

4 Section 221(c) of the Immigration and Nationality 

5 Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(c)) is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(c) PERIOD OF VALIDITY; RENEWAL OR REPLACE7 MENT.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IMMIGRANT VISAS.—An immigrant visa 

9 shall be valid for such period, not exceeding six 

10 months, as shall be by regulations prescribed, except 

11 that any visa issued to a child lawfully adopted by 

12 a United States citizen and spouse while such citizen 

13 is serving abroad in the United States Armed 

14 Forces, or is employed abroad by the United States 

15 Government, or is temporarily abroad on business, 

16 shall be valid until such time, for a period not to ex17 ceed three years, as the adoptive citizen parent re18 turns to the United States in due course of his serv19 ice, employment, or business. 

20 ‘‘(2) NONIMMIGRANT VISAS.—A nonimmigrant 

21 visa shall be valid for such periods as shall be by 

22 regulations prescribed. In prescribing the period of 

23 validity of a nonimmigrant visa in the case of na24 tionals of any foreign country who are eligible for 

25 such visas, the Secretary of State shall, insofar as 

26 practicable, accord to such nationals the same treatVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 May 15, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1300.IS S1300

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1 ment upon a reciprocal basis as such foreign country 

2 accords to nationals of the United States who are 

3 within a similar class; except that in the case of 

4 aliens who are nationals of a foreign country and 

5 who either are granted refugee status and firmly re6 settled in another foreign country or are granted 

7 permanent residence and residing in another foreign 

8 country, the Secretary of State may prescribe the 

9 period of validity of such a visa based upon the 

10 treatment granted by that other foreign country to 

11 alien refugees and permanent residents, respectively, 

12 in the United States. 

13 ‘‘(3) VISA REPLACEMENT.—An immigrant visa 

14 may be replaced under the original number during 

15 the fiscal year in which the original visa was issued 

16 for an immigrant who establishes to the satisfaction 

17 of the consular officer that the immigrant— 

18 ‘‘(A) was unable to use the original immi19 grant visa during the period of its validity be20 cause of reasons beyond his control and for 

21 which he was not responsible; 

22 ‘‘(B) is found by a consular officer to be 

23 eligible for an immigrant visa; and 

24 ‘‘(C) pays again the statutory fees for an 

25 application and an immigrant visa. 


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1 ‘‘(4) FEE WAIVER.—If an immigrant visa was 

2 issued, on or after March 27, 2013, for a child who 

3 has been lawfully adopted, or who is coming to the 

4 United States to be adopted, by a United States cit5 izen, any statutory immigrant visa fees relating to a 

6 renewal or replacement of such visa may be waived 

7 or, if already paid, may be refunded upon request, 

8 subject to such criteria as the Secretary of State 

9 may prescribe, if— 

10 ‘‘(A) the immigrant child was unable to 

11 use the original immigrant visa during the pe12 riod of its validity as a direct result of extraor13 dinary circumstances, including the denial of an 

14 exit permit; and 

15 ‘‘(B) if such inability was attributable to 

16 factors beyond the control of the adopting par17 ent or parents and of the immigrant.’’. 

Æ 


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