I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4974 
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to render overstaying a 
visa a criminal offense, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 7, 2018 
Mr. SMUCKER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to render 
overstaying a visa a criminal offense, 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. VISA OVERSTAYS CRIMINALIZED. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Immigration and Nationality 
Act is amended by inserting after section 274D the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘SEC. 274E. VISA OVERSTAYS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 
(b), any alien who remains in the United States for any 
period of time after the date on which any visa or status 
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under which the alien is lawfully present has expired 
shall— 
‘‘(1) for the first commission of any such of-
fense, be fined under title 18, United States Code, 
or imprisoned no more than 6 months, or both; and 
‘‘(2) for a subsequent commission of any such 
offense, be fined under title 18, United States Code, 
or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both. 
‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.—If the Secretary of Homeland Se-
curity determines on an individual case-by-case basis that, 
because of reasons of a medical necessity, public safety, 
or national security, the alien violated subsection (a), the 
alien shall not be subject to the penalties under subsection 
(a). 
‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON REENTRY.— 
‘‘(1) FIRST
OFFENDERS.—Subject to section 
222(g)(2), any alien convicted of a violation of sub-
section (a)(1)— 
‘‘(A) may not be admitted to the United 
States for a period of 5 years, beginning on the 
date of the conviction; and 
‘‘(B) may not be granted a visa for a pe-
riod of 10 years, beginning on the date of the 
conviction. 
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‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT OFFENSES.—Notwithstand-
ing section 222(g)(2), any alien convicted of a viola-
tion of subsection (a)(2)— 
‘‘(A) may not be admitted to the United 
States; and 
‘‘(B) may not be granted a visa. 
‘‘(d) DISCLOSURE OF PENALTIES.—In the case of 
any application or petition by or on behalf of an alien for 
admission to the United States, the Secretary of State or 
the Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide the alien 
with notice of the penalties under this section and section 
275 on receipt of the application or petition, and again 
at the time of admission.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
of the Immigration and Nationality Act is amended by in-
serting after the item relating to section 274D the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘274E. Visa overstays.’’. 
SEC. 2. EFFECT OF VISA REVOCATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 221(i) of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)) is amended by in-
serting before the final sentence the following: ‘‘A revoca-
tion under this subsection shall automatically cancel any 
other valid visa that is in the alien’s possession.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enact-
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ment of this Act and shall apply to revocations under sec-
tion 221(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1201(i)) occurring on or after such date. 
SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF INTENT REGARDING TAXPAYER- 
PROVIDED COUNSEL. 
Section 292 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
(8 U.S.C. 1362) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘In any removal proceedings be-
fore an immigration judge and in any appeal pro-
ceedings before the Attorney General from any such 
removal proceedings’’ and inserting ‘‘In any removal 
proceedings before an immigration judge, or any 
other immigration proceedings before the Attorney 
General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or any 
appeal of such a proceeding’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘(at no expense to the Govern-
ment)’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following ‘‘Not-
withstanding any other provision of law, in no in-
stance shall the Government bear any expense for 
counsel for any person in proceedings described in 
this section.’’. 
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SEC. 4. SHARING VISA RECORDS WITH FOREIGN GOVERN-
MENTS. 
Section 222(f) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1202(f)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting a semicolon; 
(2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para-
graph (3); and 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(2) the Secretary of State on a case-by-case 
basis may provide to a foreign government copies of 
any record of the Department of State and of diplo-
matic and consular offices of the United States per-
taining to the issuance or refusal of visas or permits 
to enter the United States, or any information con-
tained in those records, if the Secretary determines 
that it is in the national interests of the United 
States; and’’. 
SEC. 5. ACCESS TO NATIONAL CRIME INFORMATION CEN-
TER FILES FOR VISA ADJUDICATIONS RELAT-
ING TO DIPLOMATS AND OTHER GOVERN-
MENT OFFICIALS. 
Section 222 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
(8 U.S.C. 1202) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘(i) In the case of an alien described in one of clauses 
(i) through (iv) of subsection (h)(2)(E) who has applied 
for a visa, the Attorney General and the Director of the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation shall provide the Sec-
retary of State with access to the criminal history record 
information contained in files maintained by the National 
Crime Information Center for the purpose of determining 
whether the visa should be issued.’’. 
Æ 
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