I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5208 

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 

MAY 5, 2010 

Mr. BILIRAKIS (for himself, Mr. CARNEY, Mr. BILBRAY, and Mrs. MYRICK) 

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 con11 duct in-person interviews 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)) prior to 

16 final adjudication, with special emphasis on de17 termining whether applicants are inadmissible 

18 under section 212(a)(3)(B) of such Act (8 

19 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)(B)) (relating to terrorist ac20 tivities); 

21 ‘‘(B) shall ensure that employees assigned 

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

23 applications and supporting documentation for 

24 visas under subparagraph (F), (J), or (M) of 

25 section 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and Na26 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)) that they 


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1 deem appropriate prior to final adjudication; 

2 and 

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

4 Secretary of State, the memorandum of under5 standing between the Department of Homeland 

6 Security and the Department of State regard7 ing implementation of this section to clarify the 

8 roles and responsibilities of employees assigned 

9 under paragraph (1) specifically with regard to 

10 the duties prescribed by this paragraph.’’. 

11 SEC. 3. STUDENT AND EXCHANGE VISITOR PROGRAM. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 442 of the Homeland Se13 curity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 252) is amended— 

14 (1) in subsection (a)— 

15 (A) by redesignating paragraph (5) as 

16 paragraph (10); and 

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

18 following: 

19 ‘‘(5) STUDENT AND EXCHANGE VISITOR PRO20 GRAM.—In administering the program under para21 graph (4), the Secretary shall, not later than one 

22 year after the date of the enactment of the Student 

23 Visa Security Improvement Act— 

24 ‘‘(A) prescribe regulations to require an in25 stitution or exchange visitor program sponsor 


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1 participating in the Student and Exchange Vis2 itor Program to ensure that each covered stu3 dent or exchange visitor enrolled at the institu4 tion or attending the exchange visitor pro5 gram— 

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

7 program for which the covered student or 

8 exchange visitor was issued a visa to enter 

9 the United States; 

10 ‘‘(ii) is not unobserved for any pe11 riod— 

12 ‘‘(I) exceeding 30 days during 

13 any academic term or program in 

14 which the covered student or exchange 

15 visitor is enrolled; or 

16 ‘‘(II) exceeding 60 days during 

17 any period not described in subclause 

18 (I); and 

19 ‘‘(iii) is reported to the Department if 

20 within 10 days— 

21 ‘‘(I) transferring to another insti22 tution or program; 

23 ‘‘(II) changing academic majors; 

24 or 


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1 ‘‘(III) any other changes to infor2 mation required to be maintained in 

3 the system described in paragraph 

4 (4); and 

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

6 require each covered student or exchange visitor 

7 to be observed at least once every 60 days. 

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

9 provide access to the Student and Exchange Visitor 

10 Information System (hereinafter in this subsection 

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

12 successor program or system, to appropriate employ13 ees of an institution or exchange visitor program 

14 sponsor participating in the Student and Exchange 

15 Visitor Program if— 

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

17 identified at each participating institution or 

18 exchange visitor sponsor; 

19 ‘‘(B) at least one additional authorized 

20 user is identified at each such institution or 

21 sponsor for every 200 covered students or ex22 change visitors enrolled at the institution or 

23 sponsor; and 

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

25 the Secretary as having completed an approVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:05 May 06, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5208.IH H5208

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1 priate training course provided by the Depart2 ment for the program or system. 

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

4 provide appropriate technical support options to fa5 cilitate use of the program or system described in 

6 paragraph (4) by authorized users. 

7 ‘‘(8) UPGRADES TO SEVIS OR EQUIVALENT

8 DATA.—The Secretary shall update the program or 

9 system described in paragraph (4) to incorporate 

10 new data fields that include— 

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

12 performance meets the minimum academic 

13 standards of the institution in which such stu14 dent is enrolled; and 

15 ‘‘(B) timely entry of any information re16 quired by paragraph (5) regarding covered stu17 dents and exchange visitors enrolled at institu18 tions or exchange program sponsors. 

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

20 shall prohibit the Secretary or any institution or ex21 change program sponsor participating in the Stu22 dent Exchange Visitor Program from requiring more 

23 frequent observations of covered students or ex24 change visitors.’’; and 

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


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

2 ‘‘(1) The term ‘covered student’ means a stu3 dent who is a nonimmigrant pursuant to subpara4 graph (F), (J), or (M) of section 101(a)(15) of the 

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

6 1101(a)(15)). 

7 ‘‘(2) The term ‘observed’ means positively iden8 tified by physical or electronic means. 

9 ‘‘(3) The term ‘authorized user’ means an indi10 vidual nominated by an institution participating in 

11 the Student and Exchange Visitor Program and con12 firmed by the Secretary as not appearing on any ter13 rorist watch list.’’. 

14 (b) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW.—The Comp15 troller General shall conduct a review of the fees for the 

16 Student and Exchange Visitor Program of the Depart17 ment of Homeland Security. The Comptroller General 

18 shall include in such review data from fiscal years 2007 

19 through 2010 and shall consider fees collected by the De20 partment and all expenses associated with the review, 

21 issuance, maintenance, data collection, and enforcement 

22 functions of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program. 

23 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

24 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

25 as may be necessary to carry out sections 2 and 3 of this 


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1 Act, and the amendments made by such sections, for fiscal 

2 year 2011. 

Æ 


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