I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2946 
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for certain addi-
tional means of qualification for the Visa Waiver Program, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 23, 2019 
Mr. LIPINSKI (for himself and Mr. SMITH of New Jersey) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide 
for certain additional means of qualification for the Visa 
Waiver Program, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Allied Nations Travel 
Modernization Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) In 2016, 23 million people entered the 
United States under the Visa Waiver Program 
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(VWP). Visitors through VWP constituted roughly 
1⁄3 of all temporary visitors. According to the De-
partment of Commerce, VWP travelers in fiscal year 
2014 spent approximately $84 billion on goods and 
services. 
(2) Due to the VWP, the U.S. Government 
saved from $1.9 billion to $3.2 billion for the cost 
of interviewing visitors in 2010. 
(3) All VWP countries are required to enter 
into information-sharing agreements with the United 
States on whether the citizens or nationals of that 
country traveling to the United States represent a 
security or criminal threat to the United States. 
(4) VWP countries have provided the United 
States with information on more than 6,000 known 
or suspected terrorists as a result of VWP informa-
tion sharing arrangements. 
(5) VWP countries have provided nearly 70 per-
cent of the records in INTERPOL’s Stolen and Lost 
Travel Document Database, which DHS utilizes in 
its daily vetting of ESTA applications and Advance 
Passenger 
Information/Passenger 
Name 
Record 
data. 
(6) According to a Department of State FY 
2018 annual report, the United States issued over 
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120,000 nonimmigrant visas to Polish nationals and 
over 50,000 nonimmigrant visas to Romanian na-
tionals. 
(7) A Fiscal Year 2017 Report by the Depart-
ment of Homeland Security found that the suspected 
in-country overstay rate was 1.17 percent for Poland 
and 1.19 percent for Romania. 
(8) Poland has taken a serious stance against 
terrorism in recent years. This has included with-
drawing from a refugee relocation plan by the EU 
after the 2015 Paris terror attacks. 
(9) Romania deployed approximately 730 troops 
to Afghanistan and Iraq and has signed all twelve 
of the international protocols and conventions per-
taining to terrorism. 
(10) Congress should continue to promote the 
economy and provide government agencies with the 
necessary resources through the VWP. The inclusion 
of Poland and Romania in the VWP program would 
contribute to program goals. 
SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF PROGRAM COUNTRIES. 
Section 217(c) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1187(c)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (2)(A)— 
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(A) in the heading for the subparagraph, 
by inserting after ‘‘LOW NONIMMIGRANT VISA 
REFUSAL
RATE’’ the following: ‘‘; LOW
VISA 
OVERSTAY RATE’’; 
(B) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 
end; 
(C) in clause (ii), by striking the period 
and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 
(D) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(iii) in the case of any other coun-
try— 
‘‘(I) the visa overstay rate (as 
such term is defined in paragraph (8)) 
for that country was not more than 2 
percent during the previous 2 fiscal 
years; 
‘‘(II) the country is a signatory 
to and has committed, during the pre-
vious two fiscal years, sufficient re-
sources to support its obligations 
under the Wales Summit Declaration, 
issued at the meeting of the North At-
lantic Council in Wales on September 
5, 2014; and 
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‘‘(III) the Department of State 
has not, in the previous fiscal year, 
issued a travel advisory other than 
‘exercise normal precautions’ for trav-
el to the country.’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (3), to read as follows: 
‘‘(3) CONTINUING
AND
SUBSEQUENT
QUALI-
FICATIONS.—For each fiscal year after the initial pe-
riod— 
‘‘(A) 
CONTINUING
QUALIFICATION.—In 
the case of a country which was a program 
country in the previous fiscal year, a country 
may not be designated as a program country 
unless— 
‘‘(i) the sum of— 
‘‘(I) the total of the number of 
nationals of that country who were de-
nied admission at the time of arrival 
or withdrew their application for ad-
mission during such previous fiscal 
year as a nonimmigrant visitor, and 
‘‘(II) the total number of nation-
als of that country who were admitted 
as nonimmigrant visitors during such 
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previous fiscal year and who violated 
the terms of such admission, 
was less than 2 percent of the total num-
ber of nationals of that country who ap-
plied for admission as nonimmigrant visi-
tors during such previous fiscal year; or 
‘‘(ii) in the case of that country— 
‘‘(I) the visa overstay rate (as 
such term is defined in paragraph (8)) 
for that country was not more than 2 
percent during the previous 2 fiscal 
years; 
‘‘(II) the country is a signatory 
to and has committed, during the pre-
vious two fiscal years, sufficient re-
sources to support its obligations 
under the Wales Summit Declaration, 
issued at the meeting of the North At-
lantic Council in Wales on September 
5, 2014; and 
‘‘(III) the Department of State 
has not, in the previous fiscal year, 
issued a travel advisory other than 
‘exercise normal precautions’ for trav-
el to the country. 
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‘‘(B) NEW COUNTRIES.—In the case of an-
other country, the country may not be des-
ignated as a program country unless one of the 
following requirements under clause (i) or (ii) is 
met: 
‘‘(i) LOW
NONIMMIGRANT
VISA
RE-
FUSAL RATE.—The average number of re-
fusals of nonimmigrant visitor visas for na-
tionals of that country— 
‘‘(I) during the two previous full 
fiscal years was less than 2 percent of 
the total number of nonimmigrant vis-
itor visas for nationals of that country 
which were granted or refused during 
those years; and 
‘‘(II) during either of such two 
previous full fiscal years was less than 
2.5 percent of the total number of 
nonimmigrant visitor visas for nation-
als of that country which were grant-
ed or refused during that year. 
‘‘(ii) LOW VISA OVERSTAY RATE.—In 
the case of that country— 
‘‘(I) the visa overstay rate (as 
such term is defined in paragraph (8)) 
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for that country was not more than 2 
percent during the previous 2 fiscal 
years; 
‘‘(II) the country is a signatory 
to and has committed, during the pre-
vious two fiscal years, sufficient re-
sources to support its obligations 
under the Wales Summit Declaration, 
issued at the meeting of the North At-
lantic Council in Wales on September 
5, 2014; and 
‘‘(III) the Department of State 
has not, in the previous fiscal year, 
issued a travel advisory other than 
‘exercise normal precautions’ for trav-
el to the country.’’. 
SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this 
Act may be construed to require or direct the termination 
of the designation of a country as a program country 
under section 217 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
(8 U.S.C. 1187). 
Æ 
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