I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5387 
To require United States persons visiting or residing in highly dangerous 
foreign countries to register with the Department of State, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 
Mr. SHERMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To require United States persons visiting or residing in high-
ly dangerous foreign countries to register with the De-
partment of State, 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 ‘‘Secure American For-
eign Evacuation Act’’. 
SEC. 2. LIST OF HIGHLY DANGEROUS FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall sub-
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mit to Congress a list of foreign countries or parts thereof 
that meet one or more of the following conditions: 
(1) The foreign country is a country the gov-
ernment of which the Secretary of State determines 
has repeatedly provided support for international 
terrorism pursuant to— 
(A) section 1754(c)(1)(A) of the Export 
Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 
4318(c)(1)(A)); 
(B) section 620A of the Foreign Assistance 
Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371); 
(C) section 40 of the Arms Export Control 
Act (22 U.S.C. 2780); or 
(D) any other provision of law. 
(2) The foreign country is a country in which 
the United States has deployed armed forces that 
are engaged in hostilities as defined by the War 
Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1541 et seq.). 
(3) The President has made determination that 
the foreign country or any part thereof is very haz-
ardous, based on the potential for violence and 
armed conflict in the country or part thereof, and 
there is a high probability that United States per-
sons visiting or residing in such country or part 
thereof will need to be evacuated. 
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(b) REFERENCE.—A foreign country or part thereof 
included on the list required by subsection (a) shall be des-
ignated as a ‘‘Highly Dangerous Foreign Country’’ for 
purposes of this Act. 
(c) UPDATES.—The President shall submit to Con-
gress an updated list under subsection (a)— 
(1) not later than 180 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act and every 180 days there-
after; and 
(2) as new information becomes available. 
SEC. 3. REGISTRATION SYSTEM FOR UNITED STATES PER-
SONS VISITING OR RESIDING IN HIGHLY DAN-
GEROUS FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall re-
quire a United States person intending to visit or reside 
in a Highly Dangerous Foreign Country to register with 
the Department of State under existing protocols and to 
meet the requirements described in subsection (b). 
(b) REQUIREMENTS DESCRIBED.—A United States 
person intending to visit or reside in a Highly Dangerous 
Foreign Country shall meet the following requirements: 
(1) The person shall notify the Department of 
State of the proposed visit or residence not later 
than 5 days after the person’s departure from the 
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United States or another foreign country for pur-
poses of undertaking the visit or residence. 
(2) If the person violates the requirement of 
paragraph (1), the Secretary of State shall impose 
and collect a fee of $500 from the person— 
(A) as soon as practicable after the viola-
tion occurs; or 
(B) at the time of renewal of the person’s 
United States passport. 
(c) WAIVER.—The Secretary of State may adopt reg-
ulations to waive the fee required under subsection (b)(2) 
in extraordinary circumstances. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE; TRANSITION PROVISIONS.— 
(1) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section takes ef-
fect on the date of the enactment of this Act and ap-
plies with respect to any United States person in-
tending to visit or reside in a Highly Dangerous 
Foreign Country after the date that is 60 days after 
such date of enactment. 
(2) TRANSITION
PROVISIONS.—Any United 
States person— 
(A) visiting or residing in a Highly Dan-
gerous Foreign Country before the date de-
scribed in paragraph (1) shall register with the 
Department of State under existing protocols 
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and meet the requirements of subsection (b) not 
later than 180 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act; and 
(B) visiting or residing in a Highly Dan-
gerous Foreign Country that is included on the 
list required by section 2(a) after the date de-
scribed in paragraph (1) shall register with the 
Department of State under existing protocols 
and meet the requirements of subsection (b) not 
later than 6 days after the date on which the 
Country is included on the list. 
SEC. 4. PRIORITY IN EVACUATING UNITED STATES PER-
SONS FROM HIGHLY DANGEROUS FOREIGN 
COUNTRIES. 
The United States Government shall, when evacu-
ating United States persons from a Highly Dangerous 
Foreign Country, give priority to those United States per-
sons who have complied with the requirements of section 
3. 
SEC. 5. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to Con-
gress a report on the registration system for United States 
persons visiting or residing in highly dangerous foreign 
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countries described in section 3 and how to improve the 
system in the future. 
SEC. 6. UNITED STATES PERSON DEFINED. 
In this Act, the term ‘‘United States person’’ means 
a United States citizen or alien admitted for permanent 
residence to the United States. 
Æ 
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