[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4116 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4116

  To provide for the waiver of fees in the case of certain visas, to 
   modify the schedule for implementation of certain border crossing 
                 restrictions, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 23, 1998

  Mr. Kolbe introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for the waiver of fees in the case of certain visas, to 
   modify the schedule for implementation of certain border crossing 
                 restrictions, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Border Visa Simplification Act''.

SEC. 2. BORDER CROSSING-RELATED VISAS.

    (a) Waiver of Fees for Certain Visas.--
            (1) Requirement.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        law, the Secretary of State shall waive the fee for the 
        processing of any application for the issuance of a visa under 
        section 101(a)(15)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act in 
        the case of any alien under 15 years of age where the 
        application for the visa is made in Mexico by a citizen of 
        Mexico who has at least one parent or guardian who has a visa 
        under such section or is applying for a visa under such section 
        as well.
            (2) Period of validity of visas.--
                    (A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph 
                (B), if the fee for a visa issued under section 
                101(a)(15)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
                has been waived under paragraph (1) for a child under 
                15 years of age, the visa shall be issued to expire on 
                the date on which the child attains the age of 18.
                    (B) Exception.--At the request of the parent or 
                guardian of any alien under 15 years of age otherwise 
                covered by subparagraph (A), the Secretary of State may 
                charge a fee for the processing of an application of 
                the issuance of a visa under section 101(a)(15)(B) of 
                the Immigration and Nationality Act provided that the 
                visa is issued to expire as of the same date as is 
                usually provided for visas issued under that section.
    (b) Modified Schedule for Implementation of Border Crossing 
Restrictions.--
            (1) Modified schedule.--Paragraph (2) of section 104(b) of 
        the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act 
        of 1996 (division C of Public Law 104-208; 110 Stat. 3009-555; 
        8 U.S.C. 1101 note) is amended to read as follows:
            ``(2) Clause b.--Clause (B) of such sentence shall apply as 
        follows:
                    ``(A) As of October 1, 2000, to not less than 25 
                percent of the border crossing identification cards in 
                circulation as of April 1, 1998.
                    ``(B) As of October 1, 2001, to not less than 50 
                percent of such cards in circulation as of April 1, 
                1998.
                    ``(C) As of October 1, 2002, to not less than 75 
                percent of such cards in circulation as of April 1, 
                1998.
                    ``(D) As of October 1, 2003, to all such cards in 
                circulation as of April 1, 1998.''.
            (2) Earlier deadlines.--Such section 104(b) is further 
        amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Earlier deadlines.--If the Secretary of State and the 
        Attorney General jointly determine that sufficient capacity 
        exists to replace border crossing identification cards in 
        advance of any of the deadlines otherwise provided for under 
        paragraph (2), the Secretary and the Attorney General may by 
        regulation advance such deadlines.''.
    (c) Processing in Mexican Border Cities.--The Secretary of State 
shall continue, until at least October 1, 2003, or until all border 
crossing identification cards in circulation have otherwise been 
required to be replaced under section 104(b)(3) of the Illegal 
Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (as added 
by subsection (b)(2)), to process applications for visas under section 
101(a)(15)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act at the following 
cities in Mexico located near the international border with the United 
States: Nogales, Nuevo Laredo, Ciudad Acuna, Piedras Negras, Agua 
Prieta, and Reynosa.
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