Temporary Family Visitation Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3215 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 13, 2021 Mr. PETERS (for himself, Mrs. BICE of Oklahoma, Mr. HIMES, and Ms. SALA- ZAR) introduced the following bill; which was 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 21:46 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3215.IH H3215 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3215 IH 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.—Section 214 of the Immigration and Na- 17 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184) is amended by adding at 18 the end the following: 19 ‘‘(s) REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO FAMILY PUR- 20 POSE VISAS.— 21 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection and sec- 22 tion 101(a)(15)(B)(iii): 23 ‘‘(A) FAMILY PURPOSES.—The term ‘fam- 24 ily purposes’ means any visit by a relative for 25 a social, occasional, or any other purpose. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3215.IH H3215 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3215 IH ‘‘(B) RELATIVE.—The term ‘relative’ 1 means the spouse, child, son, daughter, grand- 2 child, parent, grandparent, sibling, uncle, aunt, 3 niece, and nephew of a citizen of the United 4 States or an alien lawfully admitted for perma- 5 nent residence. 6 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—A relative seeking admis- 7 sion pursuant to a visa issued under section 8 101(a)(15)(B)(iii) is inadmissible unless— 9 ‘‘(A) the individual petitioning for such ad- 10 mission, or an additional sponsor, has sub- 11 mitted to the Secretary of Homeland Security 12 an undertaking under section 213 in the form 13 of a declaration of support (Form I–134); and 14 ‘‘(B) such relative has obtained, for the 15 duration of his or her stay in the United States, 16 a health insurance policy (such as an additional 17 travel health insurance policy or an existing 18 health insurance policy that includes travel 19 health care costs) with minimum policy require- 20 ments, as determined by the Secretary. 21 ‘‘(3) PERIOD OF AUTHORIZED ADMISSION.— 22 The period of authorized admission for a non- 23 immigrant described in section 101(a)(15)(B)(iii) 24 shall not exceed 90 days. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3215.IH H3215 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3215 IH ‘‘(4) PETITIONER REQUIREMENT.— 1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An individual may not 2 petition for the admission of a relative as a 3 nonimmigrant described in section 4 101(a)(15)(B)(iii) if the individual previously 5 petitioned for the admission of such a relative 6 who— 7 ‘‘(i) was admitted to the United 8 States pursuant to a visa issued under that 9 section as a result; and 10 ‘‘(ii) overstayed his or her period of 11 authorized admission. 12 ‘‘(B) PREVIOUS PETITIONERS.—An indi- 13 vidual petitioning for the admission of a relative 14 as a nonimmigrant described in section 15 101(a)(15)(B)(iii) who has previously petitioned 16 for such a relative shall submit to the Secretary 17 of Homeland Security evidence demonstrating 18 that the relative on behalf of whom the indi- 19 vidual previously petitioned did not overstay his 20 or her period of authorized admission.’’. 21 (c) RESTRICTION ON CHANGE OF STATUS.—Section 22 248(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 23 U.S.C. 1258(a)(1)) is amended to read as follows: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3215.IH H3215 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3215 IH ‘‘(1) an alien classified as a nonimmigrant 1 under subparagraph (B)(iii), (C), (D), (K), or (S) of 2 section 101(a)(15),’’. 3 (d) FAMILY PURPOSE VISA ELIGIBILITY WHILE 4 AWAITING IMMIGRANT VISA.—Notwithstanding section 5 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 6 1184(b)), a nonimmigrant described in section 7 101(a)(15)(B)(iii) of that Act who has been classified as 8 an immigrant under section 201 of that Act (8 U.S.C. 9 1151) and is awaiting the availability of an immigrant visa 10 subject to the numerical limitations under section 203 of 11 that Act (8 U.S.C. 1153) may be admitted pursuant to 12 a family purpose visa, in accordance with section 214(s) 13 of that Act, if the individual is otherwise eligible for ad- 14 mission. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3215.IH H3215 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS