[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8617 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8617

 To establish a new nonimmigrant category for alien family members of 
  United States citizens and permanent residents seeking to enter the 
   United States temporarily to visit their relatives, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 16, 2020

   Mr. Peters (for himself and Mr. Rooney of Florida) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To establish a new nonimmigrant category for alien family members of 
  United States citizens and permanent residents seeking to enter the 
   United States temporarily to visit their relatives, 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 ``Temporary Family Visitation Act''.

SEC. 2. NEW NONIMMIGRANT CATEGORY FOR FAMILY MEMBERS OF UNITED STATES 
              CITIZENS AND PERMANENT RESIDENTS SEEKING TO ENTER THE 
              UNITED STATES TEMPORARILY.

    Section 101(a)(15)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(B)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and who is visiting the United States 
        temporarily for business or temporarily for pleasure;'' at the 
        end; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following: ``and who is 
        visiting the United States temporarily for--
                    ``(i) business;
                    ``(ii) pleasure; or
                    ``(iii) family purposes.''.

SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO SECTION 101(A)(15)(B)(III) VISAS.

    (a) In General.--Section 214 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
(8 U.S.C. 1184) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(s) Requirements Applicable to Section 101(a)(15)(B)(iii) 
Visas.--
            ``(1) Definition.--For the purpose of this subsection and 
        section 101(a)(15)(B)(iii)--
                    ``(A) the term `family purposes' means any visits 
                to relatives for social, occasional, or other purposes; 
                and
                    ``(B) the term `relative' means the spouse, 
                children, sons, daughters, grandchildren, parents, 
                grandparents, siblings, uncles, aunts, nieces, and 
                nephews of a citizen or permanent resident of the 
                United States.
            ``(2) Requirement.--Any alien who seeks admission under a 
        visa issued under section 101(a)(15)(B)(iii) is inadmissible 
        under this paragraph unless--
                    ``(A) the person petitioning for the alien 
                relative's admission or any additional sponsor has 
                executed an affidavit of support described in section 
                213 with respect to such alien; and
                    ``(B) the alien has obtained a travel medical 
                insurance policy for the duration of stay with minimum 
                policy requirements determined by the Secretary of 
                Homeland Security.
            ``(3) Period of authorized admission.--The period of 
        authorized admission under section 101(a)(15)(B)(iii) shall not 
        exceed 120 days.''.
    (b) Attestation.--Section 213A(f)(1)(D) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 
1183A(f)(1)(D)) is amended by striking ``section 204'' and inserting 
``section 204 and 101(15)(B)(iii)''.

SEC. 4. RESTRICTION APPLICABLE TO SECTION 101(A)(15)(B)(III) VISAS.

    Section 248(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1258(a)(1)) is amended to read as follows:
            ``(1) an alien classified as a nonimmigrant under 
        subparagraph (B)(iii), (C), (D), (K), or (S) of section 
        101(a)(15).''.

SEC. 5. WAIVERS APPLICABLE TO SECTION 101(A)(15)(B)(III) VISAS.

    The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of 
Homeland Security, may waive any requirement applicable to section 
101(a)(15)(B)(iii) visas for humanitarian purposes, to assure family 
unity, or when it is otherwise in the public interest. The Secretary of 
State shall provide for the annual reporting to Congress of the number 
of waivers granted under this paragraph in the previous fiscal year and 
a summary of the reasons for granting such waivers.
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