3.0.0 417 2023-01-11T13:46:32Z 2023-01-11T13:46:32Z Senate S 2021-02-24 117 ssju00 Judiciary Committee Senate Standing Referred to 2021-02-24T22:00:51Z 2021-02-24 ssju00 Judiciary Committee Senate Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. IntroReferral 2021-02-24 Introduced in Senate IntroReferral 10000 9 Library of Congress C001095 Sen. Cotton, Tom [R-AR] Tom Cotton R AR N S001217 Sen. Scott, Rick [R-FL] Rick Scott R FL 2021-02-24 True B001243 Sen. Blackburn, Marsha [R-TN] Marsha Blackburn R TN 2021-02-24 True C001098 Sen. Cruz, Ted [R-TX] Ted Cruz R TX 2021-02-24 True R000595 Sen. Rubio, Marco [R-FL] Marco Rubio R FL 2021-02-24 True B001310 Sen. Braun, Mike [R-IN] Mike Braun R IN 2021-03-01 False Immigration Asia China Congressional oversight Hong Kong Human rights Navigation, waterways, harbors Pacific Ocean Racial and ethnic relations Religion Sovereignty, recognition, national governance and status Taiwan Tibet Trade secrets and economic espionage Travel and tourism Visas and passports Immigration 00 2021-02-24 Introduced in Senate 2021-04-06T15:37:59Z Visa Security Act

This bill limits the validity period of B-1 (business visitor) and B-2 (tourist) visas issued to Chinese nationals until the Department of State makes certain certifications to Congress regarding the Chinese government.

Specifically, the State Department may not issue such a visa with a validity period of more than one year unless it certifies to Congress that the Chinese government has taken certain actions, including (1) stopping its campaign of economic and industrial espionage against the United States; (2) ending its provocative and coercive behavior towards Taiwan; (3) withdrawing its national security law in Hong Kong and upholding its obligations to respect Hong Kong's autonomy; and (4) ending its systematic oppression of minority ethnic groups in China, including the Uyghurs and Tibetans. (Currently, such visas may be valid for up to 10 years.)

These restrictions shall not apply to visa applicants from Taiwan or certain applicants from Hong Kong, generally those Hong Kong residents that the State Department has no reason to believe are acting on behalf of the Chinese government.

(Taiwan is self-governing but the Chinese government considers it a part of China, while Hong Kong is a part of China but is supposed to have a largely separate legal and economic system.)

]]> Visa Security Act Display Title Visa Security Act Official Title as Introduced A bill to prohibit the Secretary of State from issuing B1 and B2 visas to nationals of the People's Republic of China for periods of more than one year unless certain conditions are met. Introduced in Senate IS Short Title(s) as Introduced Visa Security Act Introduced in Senate IS Introduced in Senate 2021-02-24T05:00:00Z https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-117s417is/xml/BILLS-117s417is.xml 2021-02-24 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress This file contains bill summaries and statuses for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.