I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1738 

To protect children through eliminating visa loopholes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 13, 2019 

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

Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 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 protect children through eliminating visa loopholes. 

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 ‘‘Protecting Children 

5 Through Eliminating Visa Loopholes Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that— 

8 (1) the laws of the United States and the poli9 cies of the Department of State aim to prevent and 


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1 reduce the risks of child marriages, sex trafficking, 

2 and sexual abuse occurring throughout the world; 

3 (2) major loopholes in Federal law have allowed 

4 thousands of minors to be subjected to child mar5 riages; 

6 (3) under the Immigration and Nationality Act 

7 (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.)— 

8 (A) a United States citizen child may peti9 tion for an immigrant visa for a spouse or 

10 fiance ́ living in another country; and 

11 (B) a United States citizen adult may peti12 tion for an immigrant visa for a minor spouse 

13 or fiance ́ living abroad; 

14 (4) the United States Government has advo15 cated for preventing and reducing the occurrence of 

16 child marriages throughout the world; 

17 (5) Congress passed the Violence Against 

18 Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (Public Law 

19 113–4), which requires the Secretary of State to es20 tablish and implement a multiyear strategy— 

21 (A) to ‘‘prevent child marriages’’; and 

22 (B) to ‘‘promote the empowerment of girls 

23 at risk of child marriage in developing coun24 tries’’; 


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1 (6) acknowledges that although the Federal 

2 Government is limited in its ability to address child 

3 marriage within individual States, establishing a 

4 minimum age of 18 years for marriage-based and 

5 fiance ́-based immigrant visa petitions is an imme6 diate and viable solution for preventing child mar7 riage through exploitation of the United States im8 migration system; 

9 (7) affirms that child well being is a foremost 

10 priority and consideration when imposing strict age 

11 requirements for visa spousal and fiance ́ petitions 

12 within the United States immigration system; 

13 (8) recognizes that under the current immigra14 tion legal framework, individuals may exploit visa 

15 marriage and fiance ́ petitions for nefarious purposes, 

16 including— 

17 (A) coercing forced marriages; and 

18 (B) the trafficking and abuse of children; 

19 and 

20 (9) acknowledges that between 2007 and 

21 2017— 

22 (A) loopholes in the United States immi23 gration laws resulted in the approval by U.S. 

24 Citizenship and Immigration Services of 8,868 


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1 petitions involving minors for spousal or fiance ́

2 entry into the United States; and 

3 (B) girls were the younger party in 95 per4 cent of such petitions. 

5 SEC. 3. PROTECTING CHILDREN THROUGH ELIMINATING 

6 VISA LOOPHOLES. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 101(a) of the Immigra8 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)) is amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (15)(K)— 

10 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 

11 striking ‘‘(p) of section 214, an alien’’ and in12 serting ‘‘(r) of section 214, an alien who is at 

13 least 18 years of age’’; and 

14 (B) by inserting ‘‘who is at least 18 years 

15 of age’’ after ‘‘a citizen of the United States’’ 

16 each time such term appears; and 

17 (2) in paragraph (35), by adding at the end the 

18 following: ‘‘Such terms do not include any individual 

19 who is younger than 18 years of age or who is mar20 ried to an individual who is younger than 18 years 

21 of age.’’. 

22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

23 (1) K NONIMMIGRANTS.—The amendments 

24 made by subsection (a)(1)— 


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1 (A) shall take effect on the date of the en2 actment of this Act; and 

3 (B) shall apply to any petition or applica4 tion seeking nonimmigrant status for any alien 

5 under section 101(a)(15)(K) of the Immigration 

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

7 that is pending before any agency, officer, or 

8 employee of the United States on or after such 

9 date of enactment. 

10 (2) SPOUSE; WIFE; HUSBAND.—The amend11 ment made by subsection (a)(2)— 

12 (A) subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), 

13 shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

14 of this Act; 

15 (B) subject to subparagraph (C), shall 

16 apply to marriages entered into before, on, or 

17 after such date of enactment; and 

18 (C) shall apply to any petition or applica19 tion for any status or benefit under the immi20 gration laws (as defined in section 101(a)(17) 

21 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

22 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17)) that is filed or otherwise 

23 submitted on or after such date of enactment, 

24 except for a petition under section 216 of such 

25 Act (8 U.S.C. 1186a) to remove the conditional 


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1 basis of lawful permanent residence based upon 

2 a grant of conditional lawful permanent resi3 dent status before such date of enactment. 

4 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The amendment 

5 made by subsection (a)(2)— 

6 (1) shall apply to the immigration laws (as de7 fined in section 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and 

8 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17)); 

9 (2) may not be construed to affect or modify 

10 any reference to, or legal effect of, any marriage 

11 under any provision of the immigration laws using 

12 a term not defined by such amendment, including 

13 whether any person is married or has been born in 

14 wedlock or legitimated for purposes of determining 

15 whether such person is a child or is a married or un16 married son or daughter; and 

17 (3) may not be construed to limit or modify the 

18 eligibility of any VAWA self-petitioner (as defined in 

19 section 101(a)(51) of the Immigration and Nation20 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(51)) for any available 

21 relief under the immigration laws. 

Æ 


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