Union Calendar No. 308
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3767
[Report No. 106–564]
A BILL
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to
make improvements to, and permanently author-
ize, the visa waiver pilot program under section
217 of such Act.
APRIL 6, 2000
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union,
and ordered to be printed
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 ‘‘Visa Waiver Permanent
Program Act’’.
TITLE I—PERMANENT PROGRAM
AUTHORIZATION
SEC. 101. ELIMINATION OF PILOT PROGRAM STATUS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 217 of the Immigration
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1187) is amended—
(1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘PILOT’’;
(2) in subsection (a)—
(A) in the subsection heading, by striking
‘‘PILOT’’;
(B) in the matter preceding paragraph (1),
by striking ‘‘pilot’’ both places it appears;
(C) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘pilot
program period (as defined in subsection (e))’’
and inserting ‘‘program’’; and
(D) in paragraph (2), in the paragraph
heading, by striking ‘‘PILOT’’;
(3) in subsection (b), in the matter preceding
paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘pilot’’;
(4) in subsection (c)—
(A) in the subsection heading, by striking
‘‘PILOT’’;
(B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘pilot’’;
(C) in paragraph (2)—
(i) by striking ‘‘subsection (g)’’ and in-
serting ‘‘subsection (f)’’; and
(ii) by striking ‘‘pilot’’; and
(D) in paragraph (3)—
(i) in the matter preceding subpara-
graph (A), by striking ‘‘(within the pilot
program period)’’;
(ii) in subparagraph (A), in the mat-
ter preceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘pilot’’
both places it appears; and
(iii) in subparagraph (B), by striking
‘‘pilot’’;
(5) in subsection (e)(1)—
(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph
(A), by striking ‘‘pilot’’; and
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking
‘‘pilot’’;
(6) by striking subsection (f) and redesignating
subsection (g) as subsection (f); and
(7) in subsection (f) (as so redesignated)—
(A) in paragraph (1)(A) by striking
‘‘pilot’’;
(B) in paragraph (1)(C), by striking
‘‘pilot’’;
(C) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking
‘‘pilot’’ both places it appears;
(D) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘pilot’’;
and
(E) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking
‘‘pilot’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(1) DOCUMENTATION
REQUIREMENTS.—Clause
(iv) of section 212(a)(7)(B) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(7)(B)(iv)) is
amended—
(A) in the clause heading, by striking
‘‘PILOT’’; and
(B) by striking ‘‘pilot’’.
(2) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents
for the Immigration and Nationality Act is amended,
in the item relating to section 217, by striking
‘‘pilot’’.
TITLE II—PROGRAM
IMPROVEMENTS
SEC. 201. EXTENSION OF RECIPROCAL PRIVILEGES.
Section 217(a)(2)(A) of the Immigration and Nation-
ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1187(a)(2)(A)) is amended by inserting
‘‘, either on its own or in conjunction with one or more
other countries that are described in subparagraph (B) and
that have established with it a common area for immigra-
tion admissions,’’ after ‘‘to extend)’’.
SEC. 202. MACHINE READABLE PASSPORT PROGRAM.
(a) REQUIREMENT ON ALIEN.—Section 217(a) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1187(a)) is
amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through (7)
as paragraphs (4) through (8), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(3) MACHINE READABLE PASSPORT.—On and
after October 1, 2006, the alien at the time of applica-
tion for admission is in possession of a valid unex-
pired machine-readable passport that satisfies the
internationally accepted standard for machine read-
ability.’’.
(b) 
REQUIREMENT
ON
COUNTRY.—Section
217(c)(2)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
U.S.C. 1187(c)(2)(B)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(B) MACHINE READABLE PASSPORT PRO-
GRAM.—
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to clause
(ii), the government of the country certifies
that it issues to its citizens machine-read-
able passports that satisfy the internation-
ally accepted standard for machine read-
ability.
‘‘(ii) DEADLINE FOR COMPLIANCE FOR
CERTAIN
COUNTRIES.—In the case of a
country designated as a program country
under this subsection prior to May 1, 2000,
as a condition on the continuation of that
designation, the country—
‘‘(I) shall certify, not later than
October 1, 2000, that it has a program
to issue machine-readable passports to
its citizens not later than October 1,
2003; and
‘‘(II) shall satisfy the requirement
of clause (i) not later than October 1,
2003.’’.
SEC. 203. DENIAL OF PROGRAM WAIVER BASED ON GROUND
OF INADMISSIBILITY.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 217(a) of the Immigration
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1187(a)), as amended by sec-
tion 202, is further amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(9) AUTOMATED SYSTEM CHECK.—The identity
of the alien has been checked using an automated elec-
tronic database containing information about the in-
admissibility of aliens to uncover any grounds on
which the alien may be inadmissible to the United
States, and no such ground has been found.’’.
(b) VISA APPLICATION SOLE METHOD TO DISPUTE
DENIALS OF WAIVER BASED ON GROUND OF INADMIS-
SIBILITY.—Section 217 of the Immigration and Nationality
Act (8 U.S.C. 1187), as amended by section 101(a)(6) of
this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(g) VISA APPLICATION SOLE METHOD OF DISPUTING
GROUND OF INADMISSIBILITY FOUND IN AUTOMATED SYS-
TEM.—In the case of an alien denial a waiver under the
program by reason of a ground of inadmissibility uncovered
through a written or verbal statement by the alien or a use
of an automated electronic database required under sub-
section (a)(9), the alien may apply for a visa at an appro-
priate consular office outside the United States. There shall
be no other means of administrative or judicial review of
such a denial, and no court or person otherwise shall have
jurisdiction to consider any claim attacking the validity
of such a denial.’’.
(c) PAROLE AUTHORITY.—Section 212(d)(5) of the Im-
migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)) is
amended—
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘subpara-
graph (B)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (B) or (C)’’;
and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(C) The Attorney General may not parole
into the United States an alien who has applied
under section 217 for a waiver of the visa re-
quirement, and has been denied such waiver by
reason of a ground of inadmissibility uncovered
through a written or verbal statement by the
alien or a use of an automated electronic data-
base required under section 217(a)(9), unless the
Attorney General determines that compelling
reasons in the public interest, or compelling
health considerations, with respect to that par-
ticular alien require that the alien be paroled
into the United States.’’.
SEC. 204. EVALUATION OF EFFECT OF COUNTRY’S PARTICI-
PATION ON LAW ENFORCEMENT AND SECU-
RITY.
(a) INITIAL DESIGNATION.—Section 217(c)(2)(C) of
the 
Immigration 
and 
Nationality 
Act 
(8 
U.S.C.
1187(c)(2)(C)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(C) LAW ENFORCEMENT AND SECURITY IN-
TERESTS.—The Attorney General, in consulta-
tion with the Secretary of State—
‘‘(i) evaluates the effect that the coun-
try’s designation would have on the law en-
forcement and security interests of the
United States (including the interest in en-
forcement of the immigration laws of the
United States);
‘‘(ii) determines that such interests
would not be compromised by the designa-
tion of the country; and
‘‘(iii) submits a written report to the
Committee on the Judiciary of the United
States House of Representatives and of the
Senate regarding the country’s qualification
for designation that includes an expla-
nation of such determination.’’.
(b) CONTINUATION OF DESIGNATION.—Section 217(c)
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1187(c))
is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(5) WRITTEN REPORTS ON CONTINUING QUALI-
FICATION; DESIGNATION TERMINATIONS.—
‘‘(A) PERIODIC EVALUATIONS.—
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney Gen-
eral, in consultation with the Secretary of
State, periodically (but not less than once
every 5 years)—
‘‘(I) shall evaluate the effect of
each program country’s continued des-
ignation on the law enforcement and
security interests of the United States
(including the interest in enforcement
of the immigration laws of the United
States);
‘‘(II) shall determine whether any
such designation ought to be continued
or terminated under subsection (d);
and
‘‘(III) shall submit a written re-
port to the Committee on the Judiciary
of the United States House of Rep-
resentatives and of the Senate regard-
ing the continuation or termination of
the country’s designation that includes
an explanation of such determination
and the effects described in subclause
(I).
‘‘(ii) 
EFFECTIVE
DATE.—A 
termi-
nation of the designation of a country
under this subparagraph shall take effect on
the date determined by the Attorney Gen-
eral, but may not take effect before the end
of the 30-day period beginning on the date
on which notice of the termination is pub-
lished in the Federal Register.
‘‘(iii) REDESIGNATION.—In the case of
a termination under this subparagraph, the
Attorney General shall redesignate the coun-
try as a program country, without regard
to subsection (f) or paragraph (2) or (3),
when the Attorney General, in consultation
with the Secretary of State, determines that
all causes of the termination have been
eliminated.
‘‘(B) AUTOMATIC TERMINATION.—
‘‘(i) REQUIREMENT.—On and after Oc-
tober 1, 2005, the designation of any pro-
gram country with respect to a report de-
scribed in subparagraph (A)(i)(III) has not
been submitted in accordance with such sub-
paragraph during the preceding 5 years
shall be considered terminated.
‘‘(ii) 
EFFECTIVE
DATE.—A 
termi-
nation of the designation of a country
under this subparagraph shall take effect on
the last day of the 5-year period described
in clause (i).
‘‘(iii) REDESIGNATION.—In the case of
a termination under this subparagraph, the
Attorney General shall redesignate the coun-
try as a program country, without regard
to subsection (f) or paragraph (2) or (3),
when the required report is submitted, if the
report includes a determination by the At-
torney General that the country should con-
tinue as a program country.
‘‘(C) EMERGENCY TERMINATION.—
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a
program country in which an emergency oc-
curs that the Attorney General, in consulta-
tion with the Secretary of State, determines
threatens the law enforcement or security
interests of the United States (including the
interest in enforcement of the immigration
laws of the United States), the Attorney
General shall immediately terminate the
designation of the country as a program
country.
‘‘(ii) DEFINITION.—For purposes of
clause (i), the term ‘emergency’ means—
‘‘(I) the overthrow of a democrat-
ically elected government;
‘‘(II) war (including undeclared
war, civil war, or other military activ-
ity);
‘‘(III) disruptive social unrest;
‘‘(IV) a severe economic or finan-
cial crisis; or
‘‘(V) 
any 
other 
extraordinary
event that threatens the law enforce-
ment or security interests of the United
States (including the interest in en-
forcement of the immigration laws of
the United States).
‘‘(iii) REDESIGNATION.—The Attorney
General may redesignate the country as a
program country, without regard to sub-
‘‘(ii) a waiver under this section that
is provided to such a national for a period
described in subsection (a)(1) shall not, by
such a designation termination, be deemed
to have been rescinded or otherwise rendered
invalid, if the waiver is granted prior to
such termination.’’.
SEC. 205. USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 217 of the Immigration
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1187), as amended by section
203(b), is further amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(h) USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS.—
‘‘(1) AUTOMATED
ENTRY-EXIT
CONTROL
SYS-
TEM.—
‘‘(A) SYSTEM.—Not later than October 1,
2001, the Attorney General shall develop and im-
plement a fully automated entry and exit control
system that will collect a record of arrival and
departure for every alien who arrives by sea or
air at a port of entry into the United States and
is provided a waiver under the program.
‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—The system under
subparagraph (A) shall satisfy the following re-
quirements:
‘‘(i) 
DATA
COLLECTION
BY
CAR-
RIERS.—Not later than October 1, 2001, the
records of arrival and departure described
in subparagraph (A) shall be based, to the
maximum extent practicable, on passenger
data collected and electronically transmitted
to the automated entry and exit control sys-
tem by each carrier that has an agreement
under subsection (a)(4).
‘‘(ii) DATA PROVISION BY CARRIERS.—
Not later than October 1, 2002, no waiver
may be provided under this section to an
alien arriving by sea or air at a port of
entry into the United States on a carrier
unless the carrier is electronically transmit-
ting to the automated entry and exit control
system passenger data determined by the
Attorney General to be sufficient to permit
the Attorney General to carry out this para-
graph.
‘‘(iii) CALCULATION.—The system shall
contain sufficient data to permit the Attor-
ney General to calculate, for each program
country and each fiscal year, the portion of
nationals of that country who are described
in subparagraph (A) and for whom no
record of departure exists, expressed as a
percentage of the total number of such na-
tionals who are so described.
‘‘(C) REPORTING.—
‘‘(i) PERCENTAGE OF NATIONALS LACK-
ING DEPARTURE RECORD.—Not later than
January 30 of each year (beginning with
the year 2003), the Attorney General shall
submit a written report to the Committee
on the Judiciary of the United States House
of Representatives and of the Senate con-
taining the calculation described in sub-
paragraph (B)(iii) for each program coun-
try for the previous fiscal year.
‘‘(ii) SYSTEM
EFFECTIVENESS.—Not
later than October 1, 2004, the Attorney
General shall submit a written report to the
Committee on the Judiciary of the United
States House of Representatives and of the
Senate containing the following:
‘‘(I) The conclusions of the Attor-
ney General regarding the effectiveness
of the automated entry and exit control
system to be developed and imple-
mented under this paragraph.
‘‘(II) The recommendations of the
Attorney General regarding the use of
the calculation described in subpara-
graph (B)(iii) as a basis for evaluating
whether to terminate or continue the
designation of a country as a program
country.
‘‘(2) AUTOMATED DATA SHARING SYSTEM.—
‘‘(A) SYSTEM.—The Attorney General and
the Secretary of State shall develop and imple-
ment an automated data sharing system that
will permit them to share data in electronic form
from their respective records systems regarding
the admissibility of aliens who are nationals of
a program country.
‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—The system under
subparagraph (A) shall satisfy the following re-
quirements:
‘‘(i) SUPPLYING INFORMATION TO IM-
MIGRATION OFFICERS CONDUCTING INSPEC-
TIONS AT PORTS OF ENTRY.—Not later than
October 1, 2002, the system shall enable im-
migration officers conducting inspections at
ports of entry under section 235 to obtain
from the system, with respect to aliens seek-
ing a waiver under the program—
‘‘(I) any photograph of the alien
that may be contained in the records of
the Department of State or the Service;
and
‘‘(II) information on whether the
alien has ever been determined to be
ineligible to receive a visa or ineligible
to be admitted to the United States.
‘‘(ii) SUPPLYING PHOTOGRAPHS OF IN-
ADMISSIBLE ALIENS.—The system shall per-
mit the Attorney General electronically to
obtain any photograph contained in the
records of the Secretary of State pertaining
to an alien who is a national of a program
country and has been determined to be in-
eligible to receive a visa.
‘‘(iii) MAINTAINING RECORDS ON AP-
PLICATIONS
FOR
ADMISSION.—The system
shall maintain, for a minimum of 10 years,
information about each application for ad-
mission made by an alien seeking a waiver
under the program, including the following:
‘‘(I) The name of each immigra-
tion officer conducting the inspection
of the alien at the port of entry.
‘‘(II) Any information described
in clause (i) that is obtained from the
system by any such officer.
‘‘(III) The results of the applica-
tion.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 217(e)(1) of
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1187(e)(1))
is amended—
(1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at
the end;
(2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period
at the end and inserting ‘‘, and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(D) to collect, provide, and share passenger
data as required under subsection (h)(1)(B).’’.
SEC. 206. CONDITIONS FOR VISA REFUSAL ELIGIBILITY.
Section 217(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(8 U.S.C. 1187(c)), as amended by section 204(b) of this
Act, is further amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(6) COMPUTATION OF VISA REFUSAL RATES.—
For purposes of determining the eligibility of a coun-
try to be designated as a program country, the cal-
culation of visa refusal rates shall not include any
visa refusals which incorporate any procedures based
on, or are otherwise based on, race, sex, sexual ori-
entation, or disability, unless otherwise specifically
authorized by law or regulation.’’.