II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2781 

To improve student and exchange visitor visa programs. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014 

Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself and Mrs. MCCASKILL) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To improve student and exchange visitor visa programs. 

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 Integrity 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) SEVIS.—The term ‘‘SEVIS’’ means the 

9 Student and Exchange Visitor Information System 

10 of the Department of Homeland Security. 


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1 (2) SEVP.—The term ‘‘SEVP’’ means the Stu2 dent and Exchange Visitor Program of the Depart3 ment of Homeland Security. 

4 SEC. 3. INCREASED CRIMINAL PENALTIES. 

5 Section 1546(a) of title 18, United States Code, is 

6 amended by striking ‘‘10 years’’ and inserting ‘‘15 years 

7 (if the offense was committed by an owner, official, em8 ployee, or agent of an educational institution with respect 

9 to such institution’s participation in the Student and Ex10 change Visitor Program), 10 years’’. 

11 SEC. 4. ACCREDITATION REQUIREMENT. 

12 Section 101(a)(52) of the Immigration and Nation13 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(52)) is amended to read as 

14 follows: 

15 ‘‘(52) Except as provided in section 214(m)(4), the 

16 term ‘accredited college, university, or language training 

17 program’ means a college, university, or language training 

18 program that is accredited by an accrediting agency recog19 nized by the Secretary of Education.’’. 

20 SEC. 5. OTHER ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS. 

21 Section 214(m) of the Immigration and Nationality 

22 Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(m)) is amended by adding at the end 

23 the following: 

24 ‘‘(3) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall re25 quire accreditation of an academic institution (except for 


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1 seminaries or other religious institutions) for purposes of 

2 section 101(a)(15)(F) if— 

3 ‘‘(A) that institution is not already required to 

4 be accredited under section 101(a)(15)(F)(i); and 

5 ‘‘(B) an appropriate accrediting agency recog6 nized by the Secretary of Education is able to pro7 vide such accreditation. 

8 ‘‘(4) The Secretary of Homeland Security, in the Sec9 retary’s discretion, may waive the accreditation require10 ment in section 101(a)(15)(F)(i) with respect to an ac11 credited college, university, or language training program 

12 if the academic institution— 

13 ‘‘(A) is otherwise in compliance with the re14 quirements of such section; and 

15 ‘‘(B)(i) was, on the date of the enactment of 

16 the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Re17 sponsibility Act of 1996, a candidate for accredita18 tion; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) has been a candidate for accreditation 

20 after such date for at least 1 year and continues to 

21 progress toward accreditation by an accreditation 

22 agency recognized by the Secretary of Education.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH SEVIS 

2 REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

3 Section 641 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and 

4 Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1372) is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (c)(1)— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘institution,,’’ each place 

8 such term appears and inserting ‘‘institution,’’; 

9 and 

10 (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

11 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

12 (2) in subsection (d)(2), by striking ‘‘fails to 

13 provide the specified information’’ and all that fol14 lows and inserting ‘‘does not comply with the report15 ing requirements set forth in this section, the Sec16 retary of Homeland Security may— 

17 ‘‘(A) impose a monetary fine on such insti18 tution in an amount to be determined by the 

19 Secretary; and 

20 ‘‘(B) suspend the authority of such institu21 tion to issue a Form I–20 to any alien.’’. 

22 SEC. 7. VISA FRAUD. 

23 (a) IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL OF SEVP CERTIFI24 CATION.—Section 641(d) of the Illegal Immigration Re25 form and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 


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1 1372(d)), as amended by section 6(2), is further amend2 ed— 

3 (1) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘institu4 tion,,’’ and inserting ‘‘institution,’’; and 

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

6 ‘‘(3) EFFECT OF REASONABLE SUSPICION OF

7 FRAUD.—If the Secretary of Homeland Security has 

8 reasonable suspicion that an owner of, or a des9 ignated school official at, an approved institution of 

10 higher education, an other approved educational in11 stitution, or a designated exchange visitor program 

12 has committed fraud or attempted to commit fraud 

13 relating to any aspect of the Student and Exchange 

14 Visitor Program, or if such owner or designated 

15 school official is indicted for such fraud, the Sec16 retary may immediately— 

17 ‘‘(A) suspend such certification without 

18 prior notification; and 

19 ‘‘(B) suspend such official’s or such 

20 school’s access to the Student and Exchange 

21 Visitor Information System (referred to in this 

22 subsection as ‘SEVIS’).’’. 

23 (b) EFFECT OF CONVICTION FOR VISA FRAUD.—Sec24 tion 641(d) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and ImmiVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:54 Sep 10, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2781.IS S2781

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1 grant Responsibility Act of 1996, as amended by this Act, 

2 is further amended by adding at the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(4) PERMANENT DISQUALIFICATION FOR

4 FRAUD.—A designated school official at, or an owner 

5 of, an approved institution of higher education, an 

6 other approved educational institution, or a des7 ignated exchange visitor program who is convicted 

8 for fraud relating to any aspect of the Student and 

9 Exchange Visitor Program (referred to in this sub10 section as ‘SEVP’) shall be permanently disqualified 

11 from filing future petitions and from having an own12 ership interest or a management role (including 

13 serving as a principal, owner, officer, board member, 

14 general partner, designated school official, or any 

15 other position of substantive authority for the oper16 ations or management of the institution) in any 

17 United States educational institution that enrolls 

18 nonimmigrant alien students described in subpara19 graph (F) or (M) of section 101(a)(15) of the Immi20 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

21 1101(a)(15)).’’. 

22 SEC. 8. BACKGROUND CHECKS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 641(d) of the Illegal Im24 migration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 


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1 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1372(d)), as amended by this Act, is fur2 ther amended by adding at the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(5) BACKGROUND CHECK REQUIREMENT.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An individual may not 

5 serve as a designated school official or be grant6 ed access to SEVIS unless the individual is a 

7 national of the United States or an alien law8 fully admitted for permanent residence and dur9 ing the most recent 3-year period— 

10 ‘‘(i) the Secretary of Homeland Secu11 rity has— 

12 ‘‘(I) conducted a thorough back13 ground check on the individual, in14 cluding— 

15 ‘‘(aa) a review of the indi16 vidual’s criminal and sex offender 

17 history; and 

18 ‘‘(bb) the verification of the 

19 individual’s immigration status; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(II) determined that the indi22 vidual— 

23 ‘‘(aa) has passed the back24 ground check required under sub25 clause (I); 


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1 ‘‘(bb) has not been convicted 

2 of any violation of United States 

3 immigration law; and 

4 ‘‘(cc) is not a risk to the na5 tional security of the United 

6 States; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) the individual has successfully 

8 completed an on-line training course on 

9 SEVP and SEVIS, which has been devel10 oped by the Secretary. 

11 ‘‘(B) INTERIM DESIGNATED SCHOOL OFFI12 CIAL.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An individual may 

14 serve as an interim designated school offi15 cial during the period that the Secretary is 

16 conducting the background check required 

17 by subparagraph (A)(i)(I). 

18 ‘‘(ii) REVIEWS BY THE SECRETARY.— 

19 If an individual serving as an interim des20 ignated school official under clause (i) does 

21 not successfully complete the background 

22 check required by subparagraph (A)(i)(I), 

23 the Secretary shall review each Form I–20 

24 issued by such interim designated school 

25 official. 


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1 ‘‘(6) FEE.—The Secretary is authorized to col2 lect a fee from an approved school for each back3 ground check conducted under paragraph (5)(A)(i). 

4 The amount of such fee shall be equal to the average 

5 amount expended by the Secretary to conduct such 

6 background checks.’’. 

7 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

8 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 1 year 

9 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

10 SEC. 9. REVOCATION OF AUTHORITY TO ISSUE FORM I–20 

11 OF FLIGHT SCHOOLS NOT CERTIFIED BY THE 

12 FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION. 

13 Immediately upon the enactment of this Act, the Sec14 retary shall prohibit any flight school in the United States 

15 from accessing SEVIS or issuing a Form I–20 to an alien 

16 seeking a student visa pursuant to subparagraph (F)(i) 

17 or (M)(i) of section 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and 

18 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)) if the flight school 

19 has not been certified to the satisfaction of the Secretary 

20 and by the Federal Aviation Administration pursuant to 

21 part 141 or part 142 of title 14, Code of Federal Regula22 tions (or similar successor regulations). 

23 SEC. 10. REVOCATION OF ACCREDITATION. 

24 At the time an accrediting agency or association is 

25 required to notify the Secretary of Education and the apVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:54 Sep 10, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2781.IS S2781

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1 propriate State licensing or authorizing agency of the final 

2 denial, withdrawal, suspension, or termination of accredi3 tation of an institution pursuant to section 496 of the 

4 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099b)— 

5 (1) such accrediting agency or association shall 

6 notify the Secretary of Homeland Security of such 

7 determination; and 

8 (2) the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

9 immediately withdraw the school from the SEVP 

10 and prohibit the school from accessing SEVIS. 

11 SEC. 11. REPORT ON RISK ASSESSMENT. 

12 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact13 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

14 submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate 

15 and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Rep16 resentatives a report that contains the risk assessment 

17 strategy that will be employed by the Secretary to identify, 

18 investigate, and take appropriate action against schools 

19 and school officials that are facilitating the issuance of 

20 Form I–20 and the maintenance of student visa status 

21 in violation of the immigration laws of the United States. 

22 SEC. 12. IMPLEMENTATION OF GAO RECOMMENDATIONS. 

23 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact24 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

25 submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate 


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1 and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Rep2 resentatives a report that describes— 

3 (1) the process in place to identify and assess 

4 risks in the SEVP; 

5 (2) a risk assessment process to allocate 

6 SEVP’s resources based on risk; 

7 (3) the procedures in place for consistently en8 suring a school’s eligibility, including consistently 

9 verifying in lieu of letters; 

10 (4) how SEVP identified and addressed missing 

11 school case files; 

12 (5) a plan to develop and implement a process 

13 to monitor State licensing and accreditation status 

14 of all SEVP-certified schools; 

15 (6) whether all flight schools that have not been 

16 certified to the satisfaction of the Secretary and by 

17 the Federal Aviation Administration have been re18 moved from the program and have been restricted 

19 from accessing SEVIS; 

20 (7) the standard operating procedures that gov21 ern coordination among SEVP, the Counterter22 rorism and Criminal Exploitation Unit, and U.S. 

23 Immigration and Customs Enforcement field offices; 

24 and 


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1 (8) the established criteria for referring cases of 

2 a potentially criminal nature from SEVP to the 

3 counterterrorism and intelligence community. 

4 SEC. 13. IMPLEMENTATION OF SEVIS II. 

5 Not later than 2 years after the date of the enact6 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

7 complete the deployment of both phases of the second gen8 eration Student and Exchange Visitor Information System 

9 (commonly known as ‘‘SEVIS II’’). 

Æ 


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