Title: Protecting Children Through Eliminating Visa Loopholes Act
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
Protecting Children Through Eliminating Visa Loopholes Act
This bill requires an alien who seeks to qualify for a nonimmigrant visa as the fiance or spouse of a U.S. citizen to be at least 18 years old, and the sponsoring U.S. citizen must also be at least 18 years old. The bill also establishes that the terms "spouse," "wife," and "husband" shall not apply to any individual less than 18 years old for the purposes of the immigration and nationality laws.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1738 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1738

        To protect children through eliminating visa loopholes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 13, 2019

Mr. Sensenbrenner introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
  the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on 
  Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
        To protect children through eliminating visa loopholes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Children Through 
Eliminating Visa Loopholes Act''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the laws of the United States and the policies of the 
        Department of State aim to prevent and reduce the risks of 
        child marriages, sex trafficking, and sexual abuse occurring 
        throughout the world;
            (2) major loopholes in Federal law have allowed thousands 
        of minors to be subjected to child marriages;
            (3) under the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
        1101 et seq.)--
                    (A) a United States citizen child may petition for 
                an immigrant visa for a spouse or fiance living in 
                another country; and
                    (B) a United States citizen adult may petition for 
                an immigrant visa for a minor spouse or fiance living 
                abroad;
            (4) the United States Government has advocated for 
        preventing and reducing the occurrence of child marriages 
        throughout the world;
            (5) Congress passed the Violence Against Women 
        Reauthorization Act of 2013 (Public Law 113-4), which requires 
        the Secretary of State to establish and implement a multiyear 
        strategy--
                    (A) to ``prevent child marriages''; and
                    (B) to ``promote the empowerment of girls at risk 
                of child marriage in developing countries'';
            (6) acknowledges that although the Federal Government is 
        limited in its ability to address child marriage within 
        individual States, establishing a minimum age of 18 years for 
        marriage-based and fiance-based immigrant visa petitions is an 
        immediate and viable solution for preventing child marriage 
        through exploitation of the United States immigration system;
            (7) affirms that child well being is a foremost priority 
        and consideration when imposing strict age requirements for 
        visa spousal and fiance petitions within the United States 
        immigration system;
            (8) recognizes that under the current immigration legal 
        framework, individuals may exploit visa marriage and fiance 
        petitions for nefarious purposes, including--
                    (A) coercing forced marriages; and
                    (B) the trafficking and abuse of children; and
            (9) acknowledges that between 2007 and 2017--
                    (A) loopholes in the United States immigration laws 
                resulted in the approval by U.S. Citizenship and 
                Immigration Services of 8,868 petitions involving 
                minors for spousal or fiance entry into the United 
                States; and
                    (B) girls were the younger party in 95 percent of 
                such petitions.

SEC. 3. PROTECTING CHILDREN THROUGH ELIMINATING VISA LOOPHOLES.

    (a) Definitions.--Section 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (15)(K)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking 
                ``(p) of section 214, an alien'' and inserting ``(r) of 
                section 214, an alien who is at least 18 years of 
                age''; and
                    (B) by inserting ``who is at least 18 years of 
                age'' after ``a citizen of the United States'' each 
                time such term appears; and
            (2) in paragraph (35), by adding at the end the following: 
        ``Such terms do not include any individual who is younger than 
        18 years of age or who is married to an individual who is 
        younger than 18 years of age.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--
            (1) K nonimmigrants.--The amendments made by subsection 
        (a)(1)--
                    (A) shall take effect on the date of the enactment 
                of this Act; and
                    (B) shall apply to any petition or application 
                seeking nonimmigrant status for any alien under section 
                101(a)(15)(K) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
                U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(K)) that is pending before any 
                agency, officer, or employee of the United States on or 
                after such date of enactment.
            (2) Spouse; wife; husband.--The amendment made by 
        subsection (a)(2)--
                    (A) subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), shall 
                take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act;
                    (B) subject to subparagraph (C), shall apply to 
                marriages entered into before, on, or after such date 
                of enactment; and
                    (C) shall apply to any petition or application for 
                any status or benefit under the immigration laws (as 
                defined in section 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and 
                Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17)) that is filed or 
                otherwise submitted on or after such date of enactment, 
                except for a petition under section 216 of such Act (8 
                U.S.C. 1186a) to remove the conditional basis of lawful 
                permanent residence based upon a grant of conditional 
                lawful permanent resident status before such date of 
                enactment.
    (c) Rule of Construction.--The amendment made by subsection 
(a)(2)--
            (1) shall apply to the immigration laws (as defined in 
        section 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
        U.S.C. 1101(a)(17));
            (2) may not be construed to affect or modify any reference 
        to, or legal effect of, any marriage under any provision of the 
        immigration laws using a term not defined by such amendment, 
        including whether any person is married or has been born in 
        wedlock or legitimated for purposes of determining whether such 
        person is a child or is a married or unmarried son or daughter; 
        and
            (3) may not be construed to limit or modify the eligibility 
        of any VAWA self-petitioner (as defined in section 101(a)(51) 
        of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(51)) 
        for any available relief under the immigration laws.
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