I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2946 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for certain additional means of qualification for the Visa Waiver Program, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 23, 2019 

Mr. LIPINSKI (for himself and Mr. SMITH of New Jersey) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide 

for certain additional means of qualification for the Visa 

Waiver Program, 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 ‘‘Allied Nations Travel 

5 Modernization Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) In 2016, 23 million people entered the 

9 United States under the Visa Waiver Program 


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1 (VWP). Visitors through VWP constituted roughly 

1 2 ⁄3 of all temporary visitors. According to the De3 partment of Commerce, VWP travelers in fiscal year 

4 2014 spent approximately $84 billion on goods and 

5 services. 

6 (2) Due to the VWP, the U.S. Government 

7 saved from $1.9 billion to $3.2 billion for the cost 

8 of interviewing visitors in 2010. 

9 (3) All VWP countries are required to enter 

10 into information-sharing agreements with the United 

11 States on whether the citizens or nationals of that 

12 country traveling to the United States represent a 

13 security or criminal threat to the United States. 

14 (4) VWP countries have provided the United 

15 States with information on more than 6,000 known 

16 or suspected terrorists as a result of VWP informa17 tion sharing arrangements. 

18 (5) VWP countries have provided nearly 70 per19 cent of the records in INTERPOL’s Stolen and Lost 

20 Travel Document Database, which DHS utilizes in 

21 its daily vetting of ESTA applications and Advance 

22 Passenger Information/Passenger Name Record 

23 data. 

24 (6) According to a Department of State FY 

25 2018 annual report, the United States issued over 


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1 120,000 nonimmigrant visas to Polish nationals and 

2 over 50,000 nonimmigrant visas to Romanian na3 tionals. 

4 (7) A Fiscal Year 2017 Report by the Depart5 ment of Homeland Security found that the suspected 

6 in-country overstay rate was 1.17 percent for Poland 

7 and 1.19 percent for Romania. 

8 (8) Poland has taken a serious stance against 

9 terrorism in recent years. This has included with10 drawing from a refugee relocation plan by the EU 

11 after the 2015 Paris terror attacks. 

12 (9) Romania deployed approximately 730 troops 

13 to Afghanistan and Iraq and has signed all twelve 

14 of the international protocols and conventions per15 taining to terrorism. 

16 (10) Congress should continue to promote the 

17 economy and provide government agencies with the 

18 necessary resources through the VWP. The inclusion 

19 of Poland and Romania in the VWP program would 

20 contribute to program goals. 

21 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF PROGRAM COUNTRIES. 

22 Section 217(c) of the Immigration and Nationality 

23 Act (8 U.S.C. 1187(c)) is amended— 

24 (1) in paragraph (2)(A)— 


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1 (A) in the heading for the subparagraph, 

2 by inserting after ‘‘LOW NONIMMIGRANT VISA

3 REFUSAL RATE’’ the following: ‘‘; LOW VISA

4 OVERSTAY RATE’’; 

5 (B) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

6 end; 

7 (C) in clause (ii), by striking the period 

8 and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

9 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(iii) in the case of any other coun11 try— 

12 ‘‘(I) the visa overstay rate (as 

13 such term is defined in paragraph (8)) 

14 for that country was not more than 2 

15 percent during the previous 2 fiscal 

16 years; 

17 ‘‘(II) the country is a signatory 

18 to and has committed, during the pre19 vious two fiscal years, sufficient re20 sources to support its obligations 

21 under the Wales Summit Declaration, 

22 issued at the meeting of the North At23 lantic Council in Wales on September 

24 5, 2014; and 


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1 ‘‘(III) the Department of State 

2 has not, in the previous fiscal year, 

3 issued a travel advisory other than 

4 ‘exercise normal precautions’ for trav5 el to the country.’’; and 

6 (2) in paragraph (3), to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(3) CONTINUING AND SUBSEQUENT QUALI8 FICATIONS.—For each fiscal year after the initial pe9 riod— 

10 ‘‘(A) CONTINUING QUALIFICATION.—In 

11 the case of a country which was a program 

12 country in the previous fiscal year, a country 

13 may not be designated as a program country 

14 unless— 

15 ‘‘(i) the sum of— 

16 ‘‘(I) the total of the number of 

17 nationals of that country who were de18 nied admission at the time of arrival 

19 or withdrew their application for ad20 mission during such previous fiscal 

21 year as a nonimmigrant visitor, and 

22 ‘‘(II) the total number of nation23 als of that country who were admitted 

24 as nonimmigrant visitors during such 


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1 previous fiscal year and who violated 

2 the terms of such admission, 

3 was less than 2 percent of the total num4 ber of nationals of that country who ap5 plied for admission as nonimmigrant visi6 tors during such previous fiscal year; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) in the case of that country— 

8 ‘‘(I) the visa overstay rate (as 

9 such term is defined in paragraph (8)) 

10 for that country was not more than 2 

11 percent during the previous 2 fiscal 

12 years; 

13 ‘‘(II) the country is a signatory 

14 to and has committed, during the pre15 vious two fiscal years, sufficient re16 sources to support its obligations 

17 under the Wales Summit Declaration, 

18 issued at the meeting of the North At19 lantic Council in Wales on September 

20 5, 2014; and 

21 ‘‘(III) the Department of State 

22 has not, in the previous fiscal year, 

23 issued a travel advisory other than 

24 ‘exercise normal precautions’ for trav25 el to the country. 


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1 ‘‘(B) NEW COUNTRIES.—In the case of an2 other country, the country may not be des3 ignated as a program country unless one of the 

4 following requirements under clause (i) or (ii) is 

5 met: 

6 ‘‘(i) LOW NONIMMIGRANT VISA RE7 FUSAL RATE.—The average number of re8 fusals of nonimmigrant visitor visas for na9 tionals of that country— 

10 ‘‘(I) during the two previous full 

11 fiscal years was less than 2 percent of 

12 the total number of nonimmigrant vis13 itor visas for nationals of that country 

14 which were granted or refused during 

15 those years; and 

16 ‘‘(II) during either of such two 

17 previous full fiscal years was less than 

18 2.5 percent of the total number of 

19 nonimmigrant visitor visas for nation20 als of that country which were grant21 ed or refused during that year. 

22 ‘‘(ii) LOW VISA OVERSTAY RATE.—In 

23 the case of that country— 

24 ‘‘(I) the visa overstay rate (as 

25 such term is defined in paragraph (8)) 


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1 for that country was not more than 2 

2 percent during the previous 2 fiscal 

3 years; 

4 ‘‘(II) the country is a signatory 

5 to and has committed, during the pre6 vious two fiscal years, sufficient re7 sources to support its obligations 

8 under the Wales Summit Declaration, 

9 issued at the meeting of the North At10 lantic Council in Wales on September 

11 5, 2014; and 

12 ‘‘(III) the Department of State 

13 has not, in the previous fiscal year, 

14 issued a travel advisory other than 

15 ‘exercise normal precautions’ for trav16 el to the country.’’. 

17 SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

18 Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 

19 Act may be construed to require or direct the termination 

20 of the designation of a country as a program country 

21 under section 217 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

22 (8 U.S.C. 1187). 

Æ 


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