Teacher:In this task, you are given text for US Congressional and California state bills, your task is to generate a summary for this bill.
Teacher: Now, understand the problem? Solve this instance: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ''Consular Review Act of 1996''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF A BOARD OF VISA APPEALS.

(a) In General.--The Immigration and Nationality Act is amended by
inserting after section 224 the following new section:

''board of visa appeals

''Sec. 225. (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of State shall
establish within the Department of State a Board of Visa Appeals. The
Board shall be composed of 5 members who shall be appointed by the
Secretary. No more than 2 members of the Board may be consular
officers. The Secretary shall designate a member who shall be
chairperson of the Board.
''(b) Authority and Functions.--The Board shall have authority to
review any discretionary decision of a consular officer with respect to
an alien concerning the denial, revocation, or cancellation of an
immigrant visa and of a nonimmigrant visa or petition and the denial of
an application for waiver of one or more grounds of excludability under
section 212. The review of the Board shall be made upon the record for
decision of the consular officer, including all documents, notes, and
memoranda filed with the consular officer, supplemented by affidavits
and other writings if offered by the consular officer or alien. Upon a
conclusive showing that the decision of the consular official is
contrary to the preponderance of the evidence, the Board shall have
authority to overrule, or remand for further consideration, the
decision of such consular officer.
''(c) Procedure.--Proceedings before the Board shall be in
accordance with such regulations, not inconsistent with this Act and
sections 556 and 557 of title 5, United States Code, as the Secretary
of State shall prescribe. Such regulations shall include requirements
that provide that--
''(1) at the time of any decision of a consular officer
under subsection (b), an alien, attorney of record, and any
interested party defined in subsection (d) shall be given
notice of the availability of the review process and the
necessary steps to request such review,
''(2) a written record of the proceedings and decision of
the consular officer (in accordance with such sections 556 and
557) shall be available to the Board, and on payment of
lawfully prescribed costs, shall be made available to the
alien,
''(3) upon receipt of request for review under this
section, the Board shall, within 30 days, notify the consular
officer with respect to whose decision review is sought, and,
upon receipt of such notice, such officer shall promptly (but
in no event more than 30 days after such receipt) forward to
the Board the record of proceeding as described in subsection
(b),
''(4) the appellant shall be given notice, reasonable under
all the circumstances of the time and place at which the Board
proceedings will be held,
''(5) the appellant may be represented (at no expense to
the Government) by such counsel, authorized to practice in such
proceedings, as the appellant shall choose, and
''(6) a request for review under this section must be made
in writing to the Board within 60 days after receipt of notice
of the denial, revocation or cancellation.
''(d) Interested Parties.--The Board shall review each decision
described in subsection (b) upon request of the alien or any of the
following interested parties:
''(1) The petitioner or beneficiary of an immigrant visa
petition approved under section 203(a), 203(b)(1), 203(b)(4),
203(b)(5), 203(c), or the petitioner of an immigrant visa
petition approved under sections 203(b)(2) and 203(b)(3).
''(2) The petitioner of a nonimmigrant visa petition.
''(3) The postsecondary educational institution approved
for the attendance of nonimmigrant students under section
101(a)(15)(F)(i) or 101(a)(15)(M)(i) which has provided notice
of the acceptance of the alien in its program.
''(4) A recognized international agency or organization
approved as a program sponsor under section 101(a)(15)(J) which
has provided notice of the acceptance of the alien in its
program.
''(5) A treaty investor or trader individual or
organization in the United States that, under section
101(a)(15)(E), has made an offer of employment to an alien to
perform executive or supervisory management functions.
''(e) Limitation.--A review may not be requested under this section
more than once in any 24 month period.
''(f) Construction.--This section may not be construed to restrict
any right to further administrative or judicial review established
under any other provision of law.
''(g) Fees.--The Secretary of State shall charge, and collect, an
appropriate fee associated with a request to the Board for a review.
Such fee shall be sufficient to cover the cost of the administration of
this section.''.
(b) Effective Dates.--
(1) The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect
120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(2) Proposed regulations with respect to the amendment made
by subsection (a) shall be promulgated not later than 30 days
after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(3) Members of the Board of Visa Appeals under section 225
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (as inserted by
subsection (a)) shall be appointed not later than 120 days
after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(c) Technical Amendments.--
(1) Section 222(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(8 U.S.C. 1202(f)) is amended--
(A) by striking ''except that'' and all that
follows up to the period, and
(B) by adding: ''An interested party under section
225(d) or court shall be permitted to inspect the
record of proceeding as described in subsections (c)(2)
and (c)(3) of section 225,''.
(2) Section 104(a)(1) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1104(a)(1)) is
amended by striking the ''except'' and inserting ''including'',
(3) The table of contents of such Act is amended by
inserting after the item relating to section 224 the following
new item:

''Sec. 225. Board of Visa Appeals.''.
Student:
Consular Review Act of 1996 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish within the Department of State a Board of Visa Appeals to review consular decisions regarding specified visa applications, revocations, and cancellations.
Provides that Board review requests shall be a fee-based service.