[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 888 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 888

   To provide for the admission to the United States of nonimmigrant 
                    business facilitation visitors.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 7, 2007

   Mr. Meeks of New York (for himself and Mr. Feeney) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide for the admission to the United States of nonimmigrant 
                    business facilitation visitors.

    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 ``Business Travel Facilitation Act of 
2007''.

SEC. 2. BUSINESS FACILITATION VISITORS.

    Section 214 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(s) Business Facilitation Visitors.--
            ``(1) In general.--For purposes of section 101(a)(15)(B), 
        the term `visiting the United States temporarily for business' 
        includes visiting the United States temporarily as a business 
        facilitation visitor, as defined in paragraph (2).
            ``(2) Definition of business facilitation visitor.--For 
        purposes of this subsection, a business facilitation visitor is 
        an alien who is visiting the United States temporarily to--
                    ``(A) provide services pursuant to a qualifying 
                services contract, as defined in paragraph (7); or
                    ``(B) with respect to personnel of a United States 
                entity--
                            ``(i) to provide management or technical 
                        training to such personnel; or
                            ``(ii) to receieve management or technical 
                        training from such personnel.
            ``(3) Conditions.--
                    ``(A) In general.--No alien may be admitted or 
                provided status as a business facilitation visitor 
                unless--
                            ``(i) the alien is a national of a country 
                        that the Secretary of Homeland Security has 
                        certified as having entered into arrangements 
                        with the United States to combat fraud in the 
                        application for visas to the United States 
                        through the use of measures such as machine 
                        readable passports and biometric technology; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) the consular officer to whom the 
                        alien applies for a visa under the provisions 
                        of section 101(a)(15)(B) determines, based on 
                        evidence provided by the alien, that the 
                        conditions described in this paragraph have 
                        been met.
                    ``(B) Conditions with respect to provision of 
                services.--In the case of the provision of services as 
                described in paragraph (2)(A), the conditions described 
                in this paragraph are that--
                            ``(i) all of the alien's remuneration and 
                        expenses related to the provision of such 
                        services will be paid by the alien's employer; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) the alien is qualified to provide 
                        such services, as demonstrated by the alien's 
                        possession of--
                                    ``(I) expert knowledge of the 
                                entity's technology or operations on 
                                the basis of technical training or 
                                experience; and
                                    ``(II) all licenses or other 
                                authorizations required to provide the 
                                services in the United States.
                    ``(C) Conditions with respect to provision or 
                receipt of management or technical training.--In the 
                case of the provision or receipt of management or 
                technical training as described in paragraph (2)(B), 
                the conditions described in this paragraph are that--
                            ``(i) the alien is an employee of a firm, 
                        corporation, or other legal entity that--
                                    ``(I) is affiliated through 
                                ownership or control with the United 
                                States entity whose personnel will be 
                                providing or receiving the training;
                                    ``(II) has entered into a joint 
                                venture or similar agreement with the 
                                United States entity; or
                                    ``(III) has purchased, or is 
                                considering purchasing, goods or 
                                services from, or has sold goods or 
                                services to, the United States entity, 
                                and the training is related to such 
                                purchase or sale;
                            ``(ii) all of the alien's remuneration and 
                        expenses related to the provision or receipt of 
                        such training will be paid by the alien's 
                        employer;
                            ``(iii) in the case of an alien seeking to 
                        provide management training, the alien has--
                                    ``(I) at least five years of 
                                experience directly related to 
                                management or management training; and
                                    ``(II) detailed knowledge of the 
                                business operations of the alien's 
                                employer; and
                            ``(iv) in the case of an alien seeking to 
                        receive management training, the alien holds, 
                        or will hold within one year of completing the 
                        training, a management level position within 
                        the alien's employer.
            ``(4) Period of authorized admission.--
                    ``(A) Business facilitation visitors providing 
                services.--The period of authorized admission for an 
                alien admitted as a business facilitation visitor 
                providing professional services as described in 
                paragraph (2)(A) shall not exceed one year. However, 
                the Secretary of Homeland Security may grant such alien 
                a single extension of not more than six months if the 
                Secretary determines, based on evidence provided by the 
                alien, that--
                            ``(i) there has been an unforeseen delay in 
                        completing the provision of services described 
                        in the qualifying services contract; and
                            ``(ii) replacing the alien with another 
                        provider of professional services would further 
                        delay or otherwise inhibit fulfillment of the 
                        terms of the contract.
                    ``(B) Business facilitation visitors providing or 
                receiving management or technical training.--The period 
                of authorized admission for an alien admitted as a 
                business facilitation visitor providing or receiving 
                management or technical training, as described in 
                paragraph (2)(B), may not exceed one year.
            ``(5) No change of status.--Notwithstanding any other 
        provision of this Act, an alien admitted as a business 
        facilitation visitor shall not be eligible for a change of 
        nonimmigrant status or for an adjustment from nonimmigrant to 
        immigrant status during the alien's stay in the United States.
            ``(6) Authorization to counter pattern of fraud.--If the 
        Secretary of Homeland Security finds that nationals of a 
        country have engaged in a pattern of fraud involving visa 
        applications or other immigration matters, the Secretary may 
        prohibit such nationals from admission to the United States as 
        business facilitation visitors for such period of time as the 
        Secretary determines to be appropriate.
            ``(7) Definition of qualifying services contract.--For 
        purposes of this subsection, a qualifying services contract is 
        a contract between a foreign provider of professional services 
        and a United States entity, the terms of which include--
                    ``(A) the time period during which the alien will 
                be required to be present in the United States in order 
                to fulfill the terms of the contract;
                    ``(B) the duties to be performed by the alien in 
                the United States;
                    ``(C) provisions stating that--
                            ``(i) the alien's remuneration and expenses 
                        will be paid by the foreign provider;
                            ``(ii) the United States entity will 
                        provide the alien with working conditions 
                        comparable to those of similarly situated 
                        providers of professional services to the 
                        entity and consistent with the applicable 
                        requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 
                        1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.); and
                            ``(iii) the alien possesses the credentials 
                        necessary to provide the services covered by 
                        the contract, including any licenses or other 
                        authorizations required to provide the services 
                        in the United States; and
                    ``(D) a provision stating the respective 
                responsibilities of the foreign provider for ensuring 
                the alien's--
                            ``(i) compliance with the terms of the 
                        alien's admission to the United States; and
                            ``(ii) return to the alien's home country 
                        at the conclusion of the period for which the 
                        alien is admitted.''.
                                 <all>