S. 417 · 117th Congress
Visa Security Act
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Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 117th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.
R
CottonSponsor5 cosponsors · 5 R
4 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.
This bill limits the validity period of B-1 (business visitor) and B-2 (tourist) visas issued to Chinese nationals until the Department of State makes certain certifications to Congress regarding the Chinese government.
What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in Senate · Feb 24, 2021
Visa Security Act
This bill limits the validity period of B-1 (business visitor) and B-2 (tourist) visas issued to Chinese nationals until the Department of State makes certain certifications to Congress regarding the Chinese government.
Specifically, the State Department may not issue such a visa with a validity period of more than one year unless it certifies to Congress that the Chinese government has taken certain actions, including (1) stopping its campaign of economic and industrial espionage against the United States; (2) ending its provocative and coercive behavior towards Taiwan; (3) withdrawing its national security law in Hong Kong and upholding its obligations to respect Hong Kong's autonomy; and (4) ending its systematic oppression of minority ethnic groups in China, including the Uyghurs and Tibetans. (Currently, such visas may be valid for up to 10 years.)
These restrictions shall not apply to visa applicants from Taiwan or certain applicants from Hong Kong, generally those Hong Kong residents that the State Department has no reason to believe are acting on behalf of the Chinese government.
(Taiwan is self-governing but the Chinese government considers it a part of China, while Hong Kong is a part of China but is supposed to have a largely separate legal and economic system.)
Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov
About this bill and sources
Official title: Visa Security Act
Latest action (Feb 24, 2021): Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Policy area: Immigration · Origin: Senate · Introduced: Feb 24, 2021
Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)
No recorded floor vote found.