I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 184

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to permit certain aliens

who are at least 55 years of age to obtain a nonimmigrant visitor’s

visa for a period of 4 years or more.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 6, 1999

Mr. MCCOLLUM (for himself, Mr. FOLEY, Mrs. THURMAN, and Mr. ABERCROMBIE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to permit

certain aliens who are at least 55 years of age to obtain

a nonimmigrant visitor’s visa for a period of 4 years

or more.

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 ‘‘Retiree Visa Act of

5 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. NONIMMIGRANT ALIEN STATUS FOR CERTAIN

2 OLDER ALIENS.

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 101(a)(15) of the Immi4 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)) is

5 amended

6 (1) in subparagraph (R), by striking ‘‘or’’ at

7 the end;

8 (2) in subparagraph (S), by striking the period

9 at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

10 (3) by adding at the end the following:

11 ‘‘(T) subject to section 214(m), an alien seeking

12 to enter the United States temporarily to visit for

13 pleasure, and having a residence in a foreign country

14 which the alien has no intention of abandoning,

15 who—

16 ‘‘(i) the Attorney General determines—

17 ‘‘(I) is at least 55 years of age at the

18 time of application for admission;

19 ‘‘(II) is a citizen of Canada or a coun20 try that has been continuously designated

21 as a pilot program country under section

22 217(c) for the 5 years immediately preced23 ing the time of application for admission;

24 ‘‘(III) either owns a residence in the

25 United States, in the alien’s own name, or
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1 has a spouse who owns such a residence;

2 and

3 ‘‘(IV) will have health coverage,

4 throughout the period the alien will be in

5 the United States, consistent with section

6 214(m)(5); or

7 ‘‘(ii) is the alien spouse of an alien de8 scribed in clause (i), is accompanying, or follow9 ing to join, the alien, and otherwise meets the

10 requirements specified in clause (i).’’.

11 (b) ADMISSION OF NONIMMIGRANTS.—Section 214 of

12 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184) is

13 amended—

14 (1) by redesignating the subsection (j), added

15 by section 130003(b)(2) of the Violent Crime Con16 trol and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (Public Law

17 103–322; 108 Stat. 2025), and the subsection (k),

18 added by section 220(b) of the Immigration and Na19 tionality Technical Amendments Act of 1994 (Public

20 Law 103–416; 108 Stat. 4319), as subsections (k)

21 and (l), respectively; and

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

23 ‘‘(m)(1) In the case of a nonimmigrant described in

24 section 101(a)(15)(T), the period of authorized admission

25 as such a nonimmigrant may not be less than 4 years.
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1 A visa issued under such section may be renewed for an

2 unlimited number of additional periods (each such period

3 to be not less than 4 years), but only where the visa appli4 cation is filed in the country of the nonimmigrant’s citi5 zenship.

6 ‘‘(2) The Attorney General may not authorize a non7 immigrant described in such section to engage in employ8 ment in the United States.

9 ‘‘(3)(A) A nonimmigrant described in such section

10 shall not be eligible for any Federal, State, or local public

11 benefit, except short-term, non-cash, in-kind emergency

12 disaster relief.

13 ‘‘(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the term

14 ‘Federal, State, or local public benefit’ means—

15 ‘‘(i) any grant, contract, loan, professional li16 cense, or commercial license provided by an agency

17 of the United States or a State or local government

18 or by appropriated funds of the United States or a

19 State or local government; and

20 ‘‘(ii) any retirement, welfare, health, disability,

21 public or assisted housing, postsecondary education,

22 food assistance, unemployment benefit, or any other

23 similar benefit for which payments of assistance are

24 provided to an individual, household, or family eligi25 bility unit by an agency of the United States or a
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1 State or local government or by appropriated funds

2 of the United States or a State or local government.

3 ‘‘(4) A visa shall not be issued under the provisions

4 of section 101(a)(15)(T) unless the alien demonstrates to

5 the satisfaction of the consular officer and the Attorney

6 General that the alien has, and will have throughout the

7 period the alien is in the United States, an annual gross

8 income that equals or exceeds the amount that is two

9 times the official poverty line (as defined by the Director

10 of the Office of Management and Budget, as revised annu11 ally by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in

12 accordance with section 673(2) of the Omnibus Budget

13 Reconciliation Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 9902)) that is ap14 plicable to a family unit of a size equal to the number

15 of members of the alien’s household (including family and

16 non-family dependents).

17 ‘‘(5) Any alien who seeks admission as a non18 immigrant described in section 101(a)(15)(T) is inadmis19 sible unless the alien demonstrates at the time of issuance

20 of the visa (and at the time of admission) to the satisfac21 tion of the consular officer and the Attorney General that

22 the alien—

23 ‘‘(A) will have coverage, throughout the period

24 the alien is in the United States, under an adequate

25 health insurance policy (at least comparable to cov-
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1 erage provided under the medicare program under

2 title XVIII of the Social Security Act); and

3 ‘‘(B) will have coverage, throughout the period

4 the alien is in the United States, with respect to

5 long-term health needs (at least comparable to such

6 coverage provided under the medicaid program

7 under title XIX of such Act for a State in which the

8 alien, or a spouse of the alien, owns a residence.’’.

9 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

10 subsections (a) and (b) shall take effect on the date that

11 is one year after the date of the enactment of this Act.

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