[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 900 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 900

 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to remove from an alien 
   the initial burden of establishing that he or she is entitled to 
  nonimmigrant status under section 101(a)(15)(B) of such Act, in the 
    case of certain aliens seeking to enter the United States for a 
 temporary stay occasioned by the serious illness or death of a United 
 States citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 17, 2005

Mr. Case (for himself, Mr. Honda, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Towns, Mr. Crowley, 
Mr. Meeks of New York, Ms. Bordallo, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Abercrombie, Ms. 
 Jackson-Lee of Texas, and Mr. Faleomavaega) introduced the following 
       bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to remove from an alien 
   the initial burden of establishing that he or she is entitled to 
  nonimmigrant status under section 101(a)(15)(B) of such Act, in the 
    case of certain aliens seeking to enter the United States for a 
 temporary stay occasioned by the serious illness or death of a United 
 States citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, 
                        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 ``Compassionate Visitor Visa Act''.

SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF INITIAL BURDEN OF ESTABLISHING ENTITLEMENT TO 
              NONIMMIGRANT STATUS FOR CERTAIN ALIENS SEEKING ENTRY DUE 
              TO TEMPORARY FAMILY OBLIGATION.

    Section 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1184(b)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``(b)'' and inserting ``(b)(1)'';
            (2) by striking ``101(a)(15))'' and inserting ``101(a)(15) 
        or paragraph (2))''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(2) In the case of an alien seeking nonimmigrant status under 
section 101(a)(15)(B) in order to enter the United States for a 
temporary stay occasioned by, and relating to, the serious illness or 
death of a United States citizen, or an alien lawfully admitted for 
permanent residence, who is a grandchild, grandparent, parent, sibling, 
spouse, or child of the applicant (or other emergency or compelling 
circumstances involving such a citizen or permanent resident alien as 
the Secretary of Homeland Security may establish by regulation), the 
applicant shall be presumed to be entitled to such nonimmigrant status 
unless the consular officer, at the time of application for a visa, or 
the immigration officer, at the time of application for admission, 
determines, based on specific facts, that the applicant--
            ``(A) is inadmissible to the United States under section 
        212(a); or
            ``(B) does not intend to depart from the United States 
        after the expiration of the period of authorized admission.''.
                                 <all>