I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6987 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to strengthen student visa 

background checks and improve the monitoring of foreign students in 

the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 12, 2024 

Mr. BILIRAKIS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to strengthen 

student visa background checks and improve the monitoring of foreign students in the United States, 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 ‘‘Student Visa Security 

5 Improvement Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ENHANCED STUDENT VISA BACKGROUND CHECKS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 428(e) of the Homeland 

3 Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 236(e)) is amended by 

4 adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(9) STUDENT VISAS.—In administering the 

6 program under this subsection, the Secretary, not 

7 later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

8 of the Student Visa Security Improvement Act— 

9 ‘‘(A) shall prescribe regulations to require 

10 employees assigned under paragraph (1) to re11 view the applications of all applicants rec12 ommended by Department of State personnel 

13 for visas under subparagraph (F), (J), or (M) 

14 of section 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and 

15 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)), and 

16 conduct in-person interviews where appropriate, 

17 prior to final adjudication, with special empha18 sis on determining whether applicants are inad19 missible under section 212(a)(3)(B) of such Act 

20 (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)(B)) (relating to terrorist 

21 activities); 

22 ‘‘(B) shall ensure that employees assigned 

23 under paragraph (1) conduct on-site reviews of 

24 any applications and supporting documentation 

25 for visas under subparagraph (F), (J), or (M) 

26 of section 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and 


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1 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)) that 

2 they deem appropriate prior to final adjudica3 tion; and 

4 ‘‘(C) shall update, in consultation with the 

5 Secretary of State, the memorandum of under6 standing between the Department of Homeland 

7 Security and the Department of State regard8 ing implementation of this section to clarify the 

9 roles and responsibilities of employees assigned 

10 under paragraph (1) specifically with regard to 

11 the duties prescribed by this paragraph.’’. 

12 SEC. 3. STUDENT AND EXCHANGE VISITOR PROGRAM. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 442 of the Homeland Se14 curity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 252) is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (a)— 

16 (A) by redesignating paragraph (5) as 

17 paragraph (11); and 

18 (B) by inserting after paragraph (4) the 

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(5) STUDENT AND EXCHANGE VISITOR PRO21 GRAM.—In administering the program under para22 graph (4), the Secretary shall, not later than one 

23 year after the date of the enactment of the Student 

24 Visa Security Improvement Act— 


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1 ‘‘(A) prescribe regulations to require an in2 stitution or exchange visitor program sponsor 

3 participating in the Student and Exchange Vis4 itor Program to ensure that each covered stu5 dent or exchange visitor enrolled at the institu6 tion or attending the exchange visitor pro7 gram— 

8 ‘‘(i) is an active participant in the 

9 program for which the covered student or 

10 exchange visitor was issued a visa to enter 

11 the United States; 

12 ‘‘(ii) is not unobserved for any pe13 riod— 

14 ‘‘(I) exceeding 30 days during 

15 any academic term or program in 

16 which the covered student or exchange 

17 visitor is enrolled; or 

18 ‘‘(II) exceeding 60 days during 

19 any period not described in subclause 

20 (I); and 

21 ‘‘(iii) is reported to the Department 

22 within 10 days of— 

23 ‘‘(I) transferring to another insti24 tution or program; 


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1 ‘‘(II) changing academic majors; 

2 or 

3 ‘‘(III) any other changes to infor4 mation required to be maintained in 

5 the system described in paragraph 

6 (4); 

7 ‘‘(B) notwithstanding subparagraph (A), 

8 require each covered student or exchange visitor 

9 to be observed at least once every 60 days; and 

10 ‘‘(C) prescribe regulations defining what 

11 constitutes the commencement of participation 

12 of a covered student in a designated exchange 

13 visitor program (as defined in section 641(h) of 

14 the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant 

15 Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1372(h))). 

16 ‘‘(6) ENHANCED ACCESS.—The Secretary shall 

17 provide access to the Student and Exchange Visitor 

18 Information System (hereinafter in this subsection 

19 referred to as the ‘SEVIS’), or other equivalent or 

20 successor program or system, to appropriate employ21 ees of an institution or exchange visitor program 

22 sponsor participating in the Student and Exchange 

23 Visitor Program if— 


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1 ‘‘(A) at least two authorized users are 

2 identified at each participating institution or 

3 exchange visitor sponsor; 

4 ‘‘(B) at least one additional authorized 

5 user is identified at each such institution or 

6 sponsor for every 200 covered students or ex7 change visitors enrolled at the institution or 

8 sponsor; and 

9 ‘‘(C) each authorized user is certified by 

10 the Secretary as having completed an appro11 priate training course provided by the Depart12 ment for the program or system. 

13 ‘‘(7) PROGRAM SUPPORT.—The Secretary shall 

14 provide appropriate technical support options to fa15 cilitate use of the program or system described in 

16 paragraph (4) by authorized users. 

17 ‘‘(8) UPGRADES TO SEVIS OR EQUIVALENT

18 DATA.—The Secretary shall update the program or 

19 system described in paragraph (4) to incorporate 

20 new data fields that include— 

21 ‘‘(A) verification that a covered student’s 

22 performance meets the minimum academic 

23 standards of the institution in which such stu24 dent is enrolled; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) timely entry of any information re2 quired by paragraph (5) regarding covered stu3 dents and exchange visitors enrolled at institu4 tions or exchange program sponsors. 

5 ‘‘(9) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section 

6 shall prohibit the Secretary or any institution or ex7 change program sponsor participating in the Stu8 dent Exchange Visitor Program from requiring more 

9 frequent observations of covered students or ex10 change visitors. 

11 ‘‘(10) DECERTIFICATION.—The Secretary is au12 thorized, without notice, to decertify any approved 

13 institution or exchange visitor program sponsor if 

14 such institution or exchange visitor program sponsor 

15 is engaged in egregious criminal activities or is a 

16 threat to national security.’’; and 

17 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

19 ‘‘(1) The term ‘covered student’ means a stu20 dent who is a nonimmigrant pursuant to subpara21 graph (F), (J), or (M) of section 101(a)(15) of the 

22 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

23 1101(a)(15)). 

24 ‘‘(2) The term ‘observed’ means positively iden25 tified by physical or electronic means. 


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1 ‘‘(3) The term ‘authorized user’ means an indi2 vidual nominated by an institution participating in 

3 the Student and Exchange Visitor Program and con4 firmed by the Secretary as not appearing on any ter5 rorist watch list.’’. 

6 (b) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW.—The Comp7 troller General of the United States shall conduct a review 

8 of the fees for the Student and Exchange Visitor Program 

9 of the Department of Homeland Security. The Comp10 troller General— 

11 (1) shall include in such review separate anal12 yses of— 

13 (A) data from fiscal years 2017 through 

14 2019; and 

15 (B) data from fiscal years 2020 through 

16 2023; and 

17 (2) shall consider fees collected by the Depart18 ment and all expenses associated with the review, 

19 issuance, maintenance, data collection, and enforce20 ment functions of the Student and Exchange Visitor 

21 Program. 

22 (c) BIANNUAL REPORT.—The Secretary of Home23 land Security shall submit a biannual report, to the Com24 mittee on Homeland Security of the House of Representa25 tives and to the Committee on Homeland Security and 


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1 Governmental Affairs of the Senate, analyzing data re2 garding— 

3 (1) students that fall out of compliance with the 

4 requirements of the Student and Exchange Visitor 

5 Program of the Department of Homeland Security 

6 and lose their status; and 

7 (2) the reporting, reporting compliance, and 

8 timeliness of the institutions or exchange visitor pro9 gram of students that fall out of compliance with the 

10 requirements of the Student and Exchange Visitor 

11 Program of the Department of Homeland Security. 

Æ 


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