I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1125 
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for new procedures 
pertaining to the processing of petitions and applications for immigrant 
or nonimmigrant visas, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 16, 2017 
Mr. BANKS of Indiana introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Home-
land Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide 
for new procedures pertaining to the processing of peti-
tions and applications for immigrant or nonimmigrant 
visas, 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 ‘‘Visa Investigation and 
Social Media Activity Act of 2017’’ or as the ‘‘VISA Act 
of 2017’’. 
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SEC. 2. PETITION AND APPLICATION PROCESSING FOR 
VISAS AND IMMIGRATION BENEFITS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 2 of title II of the Immi-
gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1181 et seq.) is 
amended by inserting after section 211 the following: 
‘‘SEC. 211A. BACKGROUND CHECKS AND OTHER SCREEN-
ING REQUIREMENTS. 
‘‘(a) COMPREHENSIVE SECURITY AND BACKGROUND 
CHECK.—No petition or application filed with the Sec-
retary of Homeland Security or with a consular officer re-
lating to the issuance of a visa to or to the admission of 
an alien to the United States as an immigrant or as a 
nonimmigrant may be approved unless a background 
check to determine whether or not the alien is a national 
security threat or is otherwise ineligible for such visa or 
admission is completed for— 
‘‘(1) the petitioner or applicant; and 
‘‘(2) each beneficiary or derivative of the peti-
tion or application. 
‘‘(b) REVIEW
OF SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITY.—The 
background check under subsection (a) shall include a re-
view of the alien’s publicly available interactions on and 
posting of material to the Internet (including social media 
services). 
‘‘(c) INTERVIEWS.—No petition or application filed 
with the Secretary of Homeland Security for any benefit 
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under this Act, except for work authorization, by or on 
behalf of an alien present in the United States may be 
approved unless the Secretary conducts an in-person inter-
view with that alien. The Secretary may waive such re-
quirement in the case of any alien who would be 10 years 
of age or younger at the time of the interview. 
‘‘(d) TRANSLATION REQUIREMENT.—No document 
submitted in support of a petition or application for a non-
immigrant or immigrant visa may be accepted by a con-
sular officer if such document contains information in a 
foreign language, unless such document is accompanied by 
a full English translation, which the translator has cer-
tified as complete and accurate, and by the translator’s 
certification that he or she is competent to translate from 
the foreign language into English. 
‘‘(e) REQUESTS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.—In 
an instance where the Secretary of Homeland Security or 
a consular officer requests any additional information re-
lating to a petition or application filed with the Secretary 
or consular officer relating to the issuance of a visa or 
to the admission of an alien to the United States as an 
immigrant or as a nonimmigrant, such petition or applica-
tion may not be approved unless all of the additional infor-
mation requested is provided in complete form and is pro-
vided on or before any deadline included in the request.’’. 
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(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
for such Act is amended by inserting after the item relat-
ing to section 211 the following: 
‘‘211A. Background checks and other screening requirements.’’. 
SEC. 3. FRAUD PREVENTION. 
(a) PROSPECTIVE ANALYTICS TECHNOLOGY.— 
(1) PLAN
FOR
IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later 
than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall sub-
mit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the House 
of Representatives and the Committee on the Judici-
ary of the Senate a plan for the use of advanced 
analytics software to ensure the proactive detection 
of fraud in immigration benefits applications and pe-
titions and to ensure that any such applicant or peti-
tioner does not pose a threat to national security. 
(2) IMPLEMENTATION
OF
PLAN.—Not later 
than 1 year after the date of the submission of the 
plan under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Home- 
land Security shall begin implementation of the plan. 
(b) BENEFITS FRAUD ASSESSMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 
Security, acting through the Fraud Detection and 
Nationality Security Directorate, shall complete a 
benefit fraud assessment by fiscal year 2021 on each 
of the following: 
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(A) Petitions by VAWA self-petitioners (as 
such term is defined in section 101(a)(51) of 
the Immigration and Nationality Act). 
(B) Applications or petitions for visas or 
status under section 101(a)(15)(K) of such Act 
or under section 201(b)(2) of such Act, in the 
case of spouses. 
(C) Applications for visas or status under 
section 101(a)(27)(J) of such Act. 
(D) Applications for visas or status under 
section 101(a)(15)(U) of such Act. 
(E) Petitions for visas or status under sec-
tion 101(a)(27)(C) of such Act. 
(F) Applications for asylum under section 
208 of such Act. 
(G) Applications for adjustment of status 
under section 209 of such Act. 
(H) Petitions for visas or status under sec-
tion 201(b) of such Act. 
(2) REPORTING ON FINDINGS.—Not later than 
30 days after the completion of each benefit fraud 
assessment under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 
submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on the 
Judiciary of the Senate such assessment and rec-
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ommendations on how to reduce the occurrence of 
instances of fraud identified by the assessment. 
SEC. 4. EXPEDITIOUS EXPANSION OF ASSIGNMENT OF 
HOMELAND SECURITY EMPLOYEES TO DIP-
LOMATIC AND CONSULAR POSTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 428 of the Homeland Se-
curity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 236) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (e)— 
(A) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 4 years 
after the date of the enactment of the Visa Inves-
tigation and Social Media Activity Act of 2017, the 
Secretary shall assign employees of the Department 
to each diplomatic and consular post at which visas 
are issued, and shall communicate such assignments 
to the Secretary of State.’’; and 
(B) by amending paragraph (2)(B) to read 
as follows: 
‘‘(B) Review all such applications and sup-
porting documentation prior to the adjudication 
of such an application.’’; and 
(2) by striking subsection (i). 
(b) EXPEDITED CLEARANCE AND PLACEMENT OF 
DHS PERSONNEL.—Notwithstanding any other provision 
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of law, and the processes set forth in National Security 
Defense Directive 38 (dated June 2, 1982) or any suc-
cessor Directive, not later than one year after the date 
on which the Secretary of Homeland Security commu-
nicates to the Secretary of State the assignment of per-
sonnel to a diplomatic or consular post under section 
428(e) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 
236(e)), as amended by this Act, the Chief of Mission of 
such a post shall ensure that such personnel have been 
stationed and accommodated at that post and are able to 
carry out their duties. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated $60,000,000 for each of fis-
cal years 2018 and 2019, which shall be used to expedite 
the implementation of section 428(e) of the Homeland Se-
curity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 236(e)), as amended by this 
Act. 
SEC. 5. GAO REPORT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 
General of the United States shall conduct a review and 
report to Congress on the security of nonimmigrant and 
immigrant visa application processes. Such a review shall 
address— 
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(1) how the United States Government con-
ducts security screening and background checks for 
nonimmigrant and immigrant visa petitions and ap-
plications, including the agencies and partners in-
volved and the systems and databases used; and 
(2) how the Departments of Homeland Security 
and State consider the results of such screening and 
background checks in adjudicating nonimmigrant 
and immigrant visa petitions and applications. 
(b) AGENCY COOPERATION.—Each agency involved 
in the processes for conducting and considering the results 
of such security screening and background checks shall 
fully cooperate with, and provide timely access to, the 
Comptroller General any requests for records and infor-
mation. 
Æ 
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