I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1156
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish a Board of
Visa Appeals within the Department of State to review decisions of
consular officers concerning visa applications, revocations, and cancella-
tions.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 17, 1999
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish
a Board of Visa Appeals within the Department of State
to review decisions of consular officers concerning visa
applications, revocations, and cancellations.
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 ‘‘Consular Review Act
of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF A BOARD OF VISA APPEALS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Immigration and Nationality
Act is amended by inserting after section 224 the following
new section:
‘‘BOARD OF VISA APPEALS
‘‘SEC. 225. (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of
State shall establish within the Department of State a
Board of Visa Appeals. The Board shall be composed of
5 members who shall be appointed by the Secretary. Not
more than 2 members of the Board may be consular offi-
cers. The Secretary shall designate a member who shall
be chairperson of the Board.
‘‘(b) AUTHORITY AND FUNCTIONS.—The Board shall
have authority to review any discretionary decision of a
consular officer with respect to an alien concerning the
denial, revocation, or cancellation of an immigrant visa or
of a nonimmigrant visa or petition, or the denial of an
application for waiver of one or more grounds of inadmis-
sibility under section 212. The review of the Board shall
be made upon the record for decision of the consular offi-
cer, including all documents, notes, and memoranda filed
with the consular officer, supplemented by affidavits and
other writings if offered by the consular officer or alien.
Upon a conclusive showing that the decision of the con-
sular official is contrary to the preponderance of the evi-
dence, the Board shall have authority to overrule, or re-
mand for further consideration, the decision of such con-
sular officer.
‘‘(c) PROCEDURE.—Proceedings before the Board
shall be in accordance with such regulations, not incon-
sistent with this Act and sections 556 and 557 of title
5, United States Code, as the Secretary of State shall pre-
scribe. Such regulations shall include requirements that
provide that—
‘‘(1) at the time of any decision of a consular
officer under subsection (b), an alien, attorney of
record, and any interested party defined in sub-
section (d) shall be given notice of the availability of
the review process and the necessary steps to re-
quest such review;
‘‘(2) a written record of the proceedings and de-
cision of the consular officer (in accordance with sec-
tions 556 and 557 of title 5, United States Code)
shall be available to the Board, and on payment of
lawfully prescribed costs, shall be made available to
the alien;
‘‘(3) upon receipt of request for review under
this section, the Board shall, within 30 days, notify
the consular officer with respect to whose decision
review is sought, and, upon receipt of such notice,
such officer shall promptly (but in no event more
than 30 days after such receipt) forward to the
Board the record of proceeding as described in sub-
section (b);
‘‘(4) the appellant shall be given notice, reason-
able under all the circumstances of the time and
place at which the Board proceedings will be held;
‘‘(5) the appellant may be represented (at no
expense to the Government) by such counsel, author-
ized to practice in such proceedings, as the appellant
shall choose; and
‘‘(6) a request for review under this section
must be made in writing to the Board within 60
days after receipt of notice of the denial, revocation,
or cancellation.
‘‘(d) INTERESTED PARTIES.—The Board shall review
each decision described in subsection (b) upon request of
the alien or any of the following interested parties:
‘‘(1) The petitioner or beneficiary of an immi-
grant visa petition approved under section 203(a),
203(b)(1), 203(b)(4), 203(b)(5), or 203(c), or the
petitioner of an immigrant visa petition approved
under section 203(b)(2) or 203(b)(3).
‘‘(2) The petitioner of a nonimmigrant visa pe-
tition.
‘‘(3) The postsecondary educational institution
approved for the attendance of nonimmigrant stu-
dents 
under 
section 
101(a)(15)(F)(i) 
or
101(a)(15)(M)(i) which has provided notice of the
acceptance of the alien in its program.
‘‘(4) A recognized international agency or orga-
nization approved as a program sponsor under sec-
tion 101(a)(15)(J) which has provided notice of the
acceptance of the alien in its program.
‘‘(5) A treaty investor or trader individual or
organization in the United States that, under section
101(a)(15)(E), has made an offer of employment to
an alien to perform executive or supervisory manage-
ment functions.
‘‘(e) LIMITATION.—A review may not be requested
under this section more than once in any 24-month period.
‘‘(f) CONSTRUCTION.—This section may not be con-
strued to restrict any right to further administrative or
judicial review established under any other provision of
law.
‘‘(g) FEES.—The Secretary of State shall charge, and
collect, an appropriate fee associated with a request to the
Board for a review. Such fee shall be sufficient to cover
the cost of the administration of this section.’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATES.—
(1) The amendment made by subsection (a)
shall take effect 120 days after the date of the en-
actment of this Act.
(2) Proposed regulations with respect to the
amendment made by subsection (a) shall be promul-
gated not later than 30 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(3) Members of the Board of Visa Appeals
under section 225 of the Immigration and Nation-
ality Act (as inserted by subsection (a)) shall be ap-
pointed not later than 120 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(c) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—
(1) Section 222(f) of the Immigration and Na-
tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1202(f)) is amended—
(A) by striking ‘‘except that’’ and all that
follows up to the period; and
(B) by adding at the end: ‘‘An interested
party under section 225(d) or court shall be
permitted to inspect the record of proceeding as
described in subsections (c)(2) and (c)(3) of
section 225.’’.
(2) Section 104(a)(1) of such Act (8 U.S.C.
1104(a)(1)) is amended by striking the ‘‘except’’ and
inserting ‘‘including’’.
(3) The table of contents of such Act is amend-
ed by inserting after the item relating to section 224
the following new item:
‘‘Sec. 225. Board of Visa Appeals.’’.
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