[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5041 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5041

   To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to continue the visa 
 waiver pilot program and to authorize, under certain conditions, the 
creation of a probationary status for certain participants in the visa 
                         waiver pilot program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 13, 1994

 Mr. McCollum (for himself, Mr. Machtley, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, 
 Mr. McCloskey, and Mr. Schumer) introduced the following bill; which 
             was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to continue the visa 
 waiver pilot program and to authorize, under certain conditions, the 
creation of a probationary status for certain participants in the visa 
                         waiver pilot program.

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

SECTION 1. EXTENSION OF VISA WAIVER PILOT PROGRAM.

    Section 217(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1187(f)) is amended by striking ``September 30, 1994'' and inserting 
``September 30, 1996''.

SEC. 2. CREATION OF PROBATIONARY STATUS FOR PARTICIPANT COUNTRIES IN 
              THE VISA WAIVER PROGRAM.

    Section 217 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1187) 
is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(2)(B) by inserting before the period 
        ``or is designated as a pilot program country with probationary 
        status under subsection (g)''.
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(g) Pilot Program Country With Probationary Status.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Attorney General and the Secretary 
        of State acting jointly may designate any country as a pilot 
        program country with probationary status if it meets the 
        requirements of paragraph (2).
            ``(2) Qualifications.--A country may not be designated as a 
        pilot program country with probationary status unless the 
        following requirements are met:
                    ``(A) Nonimmigrant visa refusal rate for previous 
                2-year period.--The average number of refusals of 
                nonimmigrant visitor visas for nationals of the country 
                during the two previous full fiscal years was less than 
                3.5 percent of the total number of nonimmigrant visitor 
                visas for nationals of that country which were granted 
                or refused during those years.
                    ``(B) Nonimmigrant visa refusal rate for previous 
                year.--The number of refusals of nonimmigrant visitor 
                visas for nationals of the country during the previous 
                full fiscal year was less than 3 percent of the total 
                number of nonimmigrant visitor visas for nationals of 
                that country which were granted or refused during that 
                year.
                    ``(C) Low exclusions and violations rate for 
                previous year.--The sum of--
                            ``(i) the total number of nationals of that 
                        country who were excluded from admission or 
                        withdrew their application for admission during 
                        such previous fiscal year as a nonimmigrant 
                        visitor, and
                            ``(ii) the total number of nationals of 
                        that country who were admitted as nonimmigrant 
                        visitors during such previous fiscal year and 
                        who violated the terms of such admission,
                was less than 2.5 percent of the total number of 
                nationals of that country who applied for admission as 
                nonimmigrant visitors during such previous fiscal year.
                    ``(D) Machine readable passport program.--The 
                government of the country certifies that it has or is 
                in the process of developing a program to issue 
                machine-readable passports to its citizens.
            ``(3) Continuing and subsequent qualifications for pilot 
        program countries with probationary status.--The designation of 
        a country as a pilot program country with probationary status 
        shall terminate if either of the following occurs:
                    ``(A) The sum of--
                            ``(i) the total number of nationals of that 
                        country who were excluded from admission or 
                        withdrew their application for admission during 
                        the preceding fiscal year as a nonimmigrant 
                        visitor, and
                            ``(ii) the total number of nationals of 
                        that country who were admitted as visitors 
                        during the preceding fiscal year and who 
                        violated the terms of such admission,
                is more than 2.0 percent of the total number of 
                nationals of that country who applied for admission as 
                nonimmigrant visitors during such preceding fiscal 
                year.
                    ``(B) The country is not designated as a pilot 
                program country under subsection (c) within 3 fiscal 
                years of its designation as a pilot program country 
                with probationary status under this subsection.''.
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