IIB
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 2961
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
JULY 19, 2000
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
AN ACT
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize
a 3-year pilot program under which the Attorney General
may extend the period for voluntary departure in the
case of certain nonimmigrant aliens who require medical
treatment in the United States and were admitted under
the visa waiver pilot program, and for other purposes.
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘International Patient
Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. THREE-YEAR PILOT PROGRAM TO EXTEND VOL-
UNTARY DEPARTURE PERIOD FOR CERTAIN
NONIMMIGRANT ALIENS REQUIRING MED-
ICAL TREATMENT WHO WERE ADMITTED
UNDER VISA WAIVER PILOT PROGRAM.
Section 240B(a)(2) of the Immigration and Nation-
ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229c(a)(2)) is amended to read as
follows:
‘‘(2) PERIOD.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-
graph (B), permission to depart voluntarily
under this subsection shall not be valid for a
period exceeding 120 days.
‘‘(B) 3-YEAR PILOT PROGRAM WAIVER.—
During the period October 1, 2000, through
September 30, 2003, and subject to subpara-
graphs (C) and (D)(ii), the Attorney General
may, in the discretion of the Attorney General
for humanitarian purposes, waive application of
subparagraph (A) in the case of an alien—
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‘‘(i) who was admitted to the United
States as a nonimmigrant visitor (de-
scribed in section 101(a)(15)(B)) under
the provisions of the visa waiver pilot pro-
gram established pursuant to section 217,
seeks the waiver for the purpose of con-
tinuing to receive medical treatment in the
United States from a physician associated
with a health care facility, and submits to
the Attorney General—
‘‘(I) a detailed diagnosis state-
ment from the physician, which in-
cludes the treatment being sought and
the expected time period the alien will
be required to remain in the United
States;
‘‘(II) a statement from the health
care facility containing an assurance
that the alien’s treatment is not being
paid through any Federal or State
public health assistance, that the
alien’s account has no outstanding
balance, and that such facility will no-
tify the Service when the alien is re-
leased or treatment is terminated; and
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‘‘(III) evidence of financial ability
to support the alien’s day-to-day ex-
penses while in the United States (in-
cluding the expenses of any family
member described in clause (ii)) and
evidence that any such alien or family
member is not receiving any form of
public assistance; or
‘‘(ii) who—
‘‘(I) is a spouse, parent, brother,
sister, son, daughter, or other family
member of a principal alien described
in clause (i); and
‘‘(II) entered the United States
accompanying, and with the same sta-
tus as, such principal alien.
‘‘(C) WAIVER LIMITATIONS.—
‘‘(i) Waivers under subparagraph (B)
may be granted only upon a request sub-
mitted by a Service district office to Serv-
ice headquarters.
‘‘(ii) Not more than 300 waivers may
be granted for any fiscal year for a prin-
cipal alien under subparagraph (B)(i).
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‘‘(iii)(I) Except as provided in sub-
clause (II), in the case of each principal
alien described in subparagraph (B)(i) not
more than one adult may be granted a
waiver under subparagraph (B)(ii).
‘‘(II) Not more than two adults may
be granted a waiver under subparagraph
(B)(ii) in a case in which—
‘‘(aa) the principal alien de-
scribed in subparagraph (B)(i) is a
dependent under the age of 18; or
‘‘(bb) one such adult is age 55 or
older or is physically handicapped.
‘‘(D) REPORT TO CONGRESS; SUSPENSION
OF WAIVER AUTHORITY.—
‘‘(i) Not later than March 30 of each
year, the Commissioner shall submit to the
Congress an annual report regarding all
waivers granted under subparagraph (B)
during the preceding fiscal year.
‘‘(ii) Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, the authority of the Attorney
General under subparagraph (B) shall be
suspended during any period in which an