I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3181
To establish a temporary moratorium on the issuance of visas for non-
immigrant foreign students and other exchange program participants,
to improve procedures for issuance of nonimmigrant student visas, and
to enhance procedures for admission at ports of entry to the United
States.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 30, 2001
Mr. BILIRAKIS (for himself, Mrs. ROUKEMA, Mr. DUNCAN, and Mr. HUNTER)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary
A BILL
To establish a temporary moratorium on the issuance of
visas for nonimmigrant foreign students and other ex-
change program participants, to improve procedures for
issuance of nonimmigrant student visas, and to enhance
procedures for admission at ports of entry to the United
States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
‘‘(2) Each alien who applies for a nonimmigrant visa
shall submit a photograph and a biometric identifier (such
as the fingerprints or handprint of the alien) that is ma-
chine readable, at such time and in such manner as shall
be determined by regulation by the Attorney General and
the Secretary of State. A photograph and biometric identi-
fier shall be required to be contained on the visa or other
documentation required for admission at the port of entry.
The Attorney General may, in the discretion of the Attor-
ney General and on the basis of reciprocity pursuant to
such regulations as the Attorney General may prescribe,
waive the requirement of a biometric identifier in the case
of any nonimmigrant.’’.
(b) MATCH REQUIREMENT FOR ADMISSION.—Sec-
tion 221(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1201(f)) is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(f)’’; and
(2) by inserting at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(2) Each alien presenting a nonimmigrant visa and
other documents required at the port of entry is not per-
mitted to enter the United States unless the photograph
and biometric identifier contained on the documents
matches the appropriate facial and biometric characteris-
tics of the alien.’’.
(c) DATABASE CROSSCHECK.—The Attorney General
and the Secretary of State, jointly, shall by regulation re-
quire that prior to the issuance of a nonimmigrant visa,
the photograph and biometric identifier of each applicant
shall be crosschecked with all appropriate databases (in-
cluding the IDENT System of the Immigration and Natu-
ralization Service, the interagency border inspection sys-
tem of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and
the Customs Service, the Integrated Automated Finger-
print Identification System (IAFIS) of the Federal Bu-
reau of Investigation, and the Consular Lookout and Sup-
port System (CLASS) of the Department of State) for in-
formation regarding the alien.
(d) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Attorney General and
the Secretary of State shall ensure that officials at con-
sular offices abroad with the responsibility to consider ap-
plications for nonimmigrant visas and immigration offi-
cials at points of entry have the technology and training
to carry out this section and the amendments made by
this section.
SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF INFORMATION ON ACCOMPANYING
SPOUSE AND CHILD IN THE PROGRAM TO
COLLECT INFORMATION RELATING TO NON-
IMMIGRANT FOREIGN STUDENTS AND OTHER
EXCHANGE PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS.
Section 641 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and
Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 is amended in sub-
section (c)(1)—
(1) in subparagraph (C) by striking ‘‘and’’ at
the end;
(2) in subparagraph (D) by striking the period
at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph:
‘‘(E) the names, ages, and other appro-
priate information concerning any accom-
panying spouse or child.’’.
Æ