I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2260 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to impose e-bonding 

requirements on certain nonimmigrant visa applicants, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 10, 2019 

Mr. KING of Iowa introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to impose 

e-bonding requirements on certain nonimmigrant visa applicants, 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 ‘‘E-bonding for Immi5 gration Integrity Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT OF BOND. 

7 (a) BOND REQUIRED.—Prior to arriving at a port of 

8 entry of the United States, an alien seeking admission to 

9 the United States shall post a bond, in accordance with 

10 subsection (d), in an amount determined by the Secretary 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•HR 2260 IH

1 if such alien seeks admission to the United States as a 

2 nonimmigrant in a category— 

3 (1) described under subparagraph (B), (F), 

4 (H)(i)(b), (H)(ii)(b), or (K) of section 101(a)(15) of 

5 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

6 1101(a)(15)); or 

7 (2) identified by the Secretary, in accordance 

8 with section 3, to have a visa overstay rate that is 

9 more than 1.5 percent. 

10 (b) AMOUNT OF BOND.—Not later than 1 year after 

11 the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary 

12 shall, by rule, establish the amount of the bond required 

13 by subsection (a) for each visa category under subsection 

14 (a)(1) and each visa category identified by the Secretary 

15 under section 3, which amount shall— 

16 (1) be not less than $2,500 and not more than 

17 $10,000; and 

18 (2) be determined based on the Secretary’s as19 sessment of the level of risk of visa overstays for 

20 that category. 

21 (c) ADJUSTMENT OF AMOUNT OF BOND.—On an an22 nual basis, the Secretary shall review, and, as appropriate, 

23 adjust the amounts of the bonds described in subsection 

24 (b). 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•HR 2260 IH

1 (d) PAYMENT OF BOND.—An alien required to post 

2 the bond under subsection (a) shall post such bond— 

3 (1) in electronic form; and 

4 (2) with a bonding agent designated by the Sec5 retary as qualified to hold such bond. 

6 (e) RELEASE OF BOND.—The Secretary shall author7 ize a bonding agent to release a bond— 

8 (1) to an alien required to post such bond— 

9 (A) after receiving a notification from the 

10 United States embassy or consulate in the 

11 alien’s country of origin that such alien de12 parted the United States and returned to such 

13 country of origin; or 

14 (B) if such alien changed or adjusted their 

15 status to an immigration status not required to 

16 post a bond under this section; and 

17 (2) to the E-bond Enforcement Fund under 

18 section 4 upon a determination by the Secretary that 

19 an alien— 

20 (A) overstayed their visa; or 

21 (B) did not return to their country of ori22 gin following the termination of their visa. 

23 (f) CHANGE OF STATUS.—An alien who has been ad24 mitted to the United States and who is required to post 

25 a bond under subsection (a) may be required to post an 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•HR 2260 IH

1 additional bond if such alien changes their status to that 

2 of a nonimmigrant in a category required to pay a higher 

3 bond under this section. 

4 (g) COLLECTION OF RECORDS RELATING TO

5 BONDS.—The United States Embassy or United States 

6 consular office in the alien’s country of origin shall collect 

7 any records necessary to carry out this section. 

8 (h) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 

9 on the date that is 120 calendar days after the date of 

10 the enactment of this Act. 

11 SEC. 3. VISA OVERSTAY RATE CATEGORIES. 

12 The Secretary shall identify— 

13 (1) the visa overstay rate for each category of 

14 nonimmigrant aliens described under section 

15 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

16 (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)) in the previous year; and 

17 (2) each category of nonimmigrant aliens de18 scribed under such section that had a visa overstay 

19 rate in the previous year that was more than 1.5 

20 percent. 

21 SEC. 4. E-BOND ENFORCEMENT FUND. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the general 

23 fund of the Treasury a separate account, which shall be 

24 known as the ‘‘E-bond Enforcement Fund’’ (in this sub25 section referred to as the ‘‘Fund’’). 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
5 

•HR 2260 IH

1 (b) DEPOSITS.—There shall be deposited as offset2 ting receipts into the Fund all amounts released under 

3 section 2(e)(2) of this Act. 

4 (c) USE OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts deposited into the 

5 Fund shall remain available until expended and shall be 

6 refunded out of the Fund by the Secretary of the Treas7 ury, to the Secretary of Homeland Security to— 

8 (1) ensure compliance with this Act; and 

9 (2) administer enforcement programs. 

10 SEC. 5. REPORT. 

11 Not later than 120 days after the date of the enact12 ment of this Act, and each year thereafter, the Secretary 

13 shall submit to the committees of appropriate jurisdiction 

14 a report that includes— 

15 (1) the visa overstay rate for each category of 

16 nonimmigrant alien described under section 

17 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

18 (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)) in the previous year; 

19 (2) the categories that had a visa overstay rate 

20 in the previous year that was more than 1.5 percent, 

21 as determined by the Secretary in accordance with 

22 section 3; 

23 (3) the amounts of the bonds, as determined by 

24 the Secretary in accordance with section 2; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
6 

•HR 2260 IH

1 (4) information relating to the Fund under sec2 tion 4; and 

3 (5) any other information determined appro4 priate by the Secretary. 

5 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) COMMITTEES OF APPROPRIATE JURISDIC8 TION.—The term ‘‘committees of appropriate juris9 diction’’ means— 

10 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

11 House of Representatives; 

12 (B) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

13 Senate; 

14 (C) the Committee on Homeland Security 

15 of the House of Representatives; and 

16 (D) the Committee on Homeland Security 

17 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate. 

18 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

19 the Secretary of Homeland Security, unless other20 wise provided. 

21 (3) VISA OVERSTAY RATE.—The term ‘‘visa 

22 overstay rate’’ means the ratio of, for each category 

23 of nonimmigrant aliens described in section 

24 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

25 (8 U.S.C. 1101 (a)(15))— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
7 

•HR 2260 IH

1 (A) the number of aliens admitted to the 

2 United States for each such category whose pe3 riod of authorized stays ended during a fiscal 

4 year but who remained unlawfully in the United 

5 States beyond such period; to 

6 (B) the total number of aliens admitted to 

7 the United States for each such category during 

8 that fiscal year. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS