Temporary Family Visitation Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1635 To establish a new nonimmigrant category for alien relatives of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents seeking to enter the United States temporarily for family purposes, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 13, 2021 Mr. PAUL (for himself and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To establish a new nonimmigrant category for alien relatives of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents seeking to enter the United States temporarily for family purposes, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Temporary Family 4 Visitation Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1635.IS S1635 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1635 IS SEC. 2. FAMILY PURPOSE NONIMMIGRANT VISAS FOR REL- 1 ATIVES OF UNITED STATES CITIZENS AND 2 LAWFUL PERMANENT RESIDENTS SEEKING 3 TO ENTER THE UNITED STATES TEMPO- 4 RARILY. 5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW NONIMMIGRANT VISA 6 CATEGORY.—Section 101(a)(15)(B) of the Immigration 7 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(B)) is amend- 8 ed by striking ‘‘and who is visiting the United States tem- 9 porarily for business or temporarily for pleasure;’’ and in- 10 serting ‘‘and who is visiting the United States temporarily 11 for— 12 ‘‘(i) business; 13 ‘‘(ii) pleasure; or 14 ‘‘(iii) family purposes;’’. 15 (b) REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO FAMILY PUR- 16 POSE VISAS.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 214 of the Immigra- 18 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184) is amend- 19 ed by adding at the end the following: 20 ‘‘(s) REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO FAMILY PUR- 21 POSE VISAS.— 22 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection and sec- 23 tion 101(a)(15)(B)(iii): 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1635.IS S1635 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1635 IS ‘‘(A) FAMILY PURPOSES.—The term ‘fam- 1 ily purposes’ means any visit by a relative for 2 a social, occasional, or any other purpose. 3 ‘‘(B) RELATIVE.—The term ‘relative’ 4 means the spouse, child, son, daughter, grand- 5 child, parent, grandparent, sibling, uncle, aunt, 6 niece, and nephew of a citizen of the United 7 States or an alien lawfully admitted for perma- 8 nent residence. 9 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—A relative seeking admis- 10 sion pursuant to a visa issued under section 11 101(a)(15)(B)(iii) is inadmissible unless— 12 ‘‘(A) the individual petitioning for such ad- 13 mission, or an additional sponsor, has sub- 14 mitted to the Secretary of Homeland Security 15 an undertaking under section 213 in the form 16 of a declaration of support (Form I–134); and 17 ‘‘(B) such relative has obtained, for the 18 duration of his or her stay in the United States, 19 a health insurance policy (such as an additional 20 travel health insurance policy or an existing 21 health insurance policy that includes travel 22 health care costs) with minimum policy require- 23 ments, as determined by the Secretary. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1635.IS S1635 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1635 IS ‘‘(3) PERIOD OF AUTHORIZED ADMISSION.— 1 The period of authorized admission for a non- 2 immigrant described in section 101(a)(15)(B)(iii) 3 shall not exceed 90 days. 4 ‘‘(4) PETITIONER REQUIREMENT.— 5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An individual may not 6 petition for the admission of a relative as a 7 nonimmigrant described in section 8 101(a)(15)(B)(iii) if the individual previously 9 petitioned for the admission of such a relative 10 who— 11 ‘‘(i) was admitted to the United 12 States pursuant to a visa issued under that 13 section as a result; and 14 ‘‘(ii) overstayed his or her period of 15 authorized admission. 16 ‘‘(B) PREVIOUS PETITIONERS.—An indi- 17 vidual petitioning for the admission of a relative 18 as a nonimmigrant described in section 19 101(a)(15)(B)(iii) who has previously petitioned 20 for such a relative shall submit to the Secretary 21 of Homeland Security evidence demonstrating 22 that the relative on behalf of whom the indi- 23 vidual previously petitioned did not overstay his 24 or her period of authorized admission.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1635.IS S1635 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1635 IS (c) RESTRICTION ON CHANGE OF STATUS.—Section 1 248(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 2 U.S.C. 1258(a)(1)) is amended to read as follows: 3 ‘‘(1) an alien classified as a nonimmigrant 4 under subparagraph (B)(iii), (C), (D), (K), or (S) of 5 section 101(a)(15),’’. 6 (d) FAMILY PURPOSE VISA ELIGIBILITY WHILE 7 AWAITING IMMIGRANT VISA.—Notwithstanding section 8 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 9 1184(b)), a nonimmigrant described in section 10 101(a)(15)(B)(iii) of that Act who has been classified as 11 an immigrant under section 201 of that Act (8 U.S.C. 12 1151) and is awaiting the availability of an immigrant visa 13 subject to the numerical limitations under section 203 of 14 that Act (8 U.S.C. 1153) may be admitted pursuant to 15 a family purpose visa, in accordance with section 214(s) 16 of that Act, if the individual is otherwise eligible for ad- 17 mission. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1635.IS S1635 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS