Welcoming Business Travelers and Tourists to America Act of 2011 - Directs the Secretary of State to: (1) set a visa processing standard of 12 or fewer calendar days at U.S. diplomatic and consular missions in China, Brazil, and India; and (2) use machine readable nonimmigrant visa fees to hire a sufficient number of Foreign Service officers and limited non-career appointment consular officers to maintain such standard.
Directs the Secretary to: (1) conduct a two-year pilot program for the processing of nonimmigrant visas using secure remote video-conferencing technology for visa interviews, and (2) work with other federal agencies that use such secure communications to help ensure security of the video-conferencing transmission and encryption.
Directs the Secretary to provide Congress with an annual forecast of demand through 2020 for nonimmigrant visas in the high-growth markets of Brazil, China, and India.
Authorizes the Secretary to modify or enter into agreements with certain countries on a non-reciprocal basis to allow for longer visa validity periods if doing so causes no adverse effects to the United States.
[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3039 Introduced in House (IH)]
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3039
To promote job creation in the United States by directing the Secretary
of State to address inefficiencies in the visa processing system that
discourage overseas business and leisure travel to the United States,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 23, 2011
Mr. Heck (for himself, Mr. Mack, Mr. Amodei, Ms. Berkley, Mr. Wilson of
South Carolina, and Mr. Posey) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To promote job creation in the United States by directing the Secretary
of State to address inefficiencies in the visa processing system that
discourage overseas business and leisure travel to the United States,
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 ``Welcoming Business Travelers and
Tourists to America Act of 2011''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) International travel to the United States generates
more than $134 billion annually in exports and supports 1.8
million United States jobs.
(2) Each overseas visitor spends an average of $4,000 at
hotels, restaurants, and other United States businesses.
(3) As an industry sector, travel and tourism creates one
of the country's only balance-of-trade surpluses, valued at
$31.7 billion in 2010.
(4) Global travel spending is expected to double over the
next decade, reaching $2.1 trillion.
(5) While world-wide long-haul international travel grew by
40 percent between 2000 and 2010, the United States market
share of long-haul travel dropped from 17 percent in 2000 to 12
percent during the same timeframe.
(6) Over that decade, the United States lost the
opportunity to welcome 78 million visitors and generate $606
billion in direct and downstream spending.
(7) The volume of travel to the United States, as compared
with other global destinations, is particularly uncompetitive
from emerging markets with fast growing demand.
(8) Lagging overseas arrivals result in large part from a
United States visa application process that is perceived by
potential business and leisure travelers as inefficient, time
consuming, and inaccessible.
(9) The Government Accountability Office has reported that
the Department of State's efforts to address staffing,
facilities, and other consular constraints are generally
temporary, unsustainable, and insufficient to meet expected
increases in demand for nonimmigrant visa applications.
(10) Instituting new procedures to make the visa process
more efficient without reducing security protocols and
developing longer-term plans that accurately meet increasing
workload demand can systemically address visa application
backlogs and inefficiencies.
(11) By regaining 17 percent of the long-haul travel market
in 2015 and sustaining it through 2020, the United States can
attract 98 million more visitors, create 1.3 million additional
jobs, and generate $859 billion in United States economic
output by 2020.
(12) Increased international travel to the United States
also achieves United States foreign policy objectives by
introducing foreign visitors the United States and to
Americans, who are the United States best goodwill ambassadors.
(13) The Department of State recently implemented some
reforms to accelerate visa application processing in China and
Brazil, laying the foundation to increase capacity, but still
requires additional reforms to meet demand on a permanent,
systemic basis.
(14) Removing the self-imposed barriers in the visa
application process that currently discourage inbound
international travel to the United States would yield
significant economic and public diplomacy benefits for the
United States.
SEC. 3. VISA PROCESSING.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of State
shall set a visa processing standard of 12 or fewer calendar days at
United States diplomatic and consular missions in China, Brazil, and
India, and use machine readable nonimmigrant visa fees to hire a
sufficient number of Foreign Service officers and limited non-career
appointment consular officers to meet and maintain such standard
throughout the year.
SEC. 4. VISA VIDEO-CONFERENCING.
(a) Pilot Program.--The Secretary of State shall conduct a two-year
pilot program for the processing of nonimmigrant visas using secure
remote video-conferencing technology as a method for conducting visa
interviews of applicants, and shall work with other Federal agencies
that use such secure communications to help ensure security of the
video-conferencing transmission and encryption.
(b) Rulemaking.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall initiate a
rulemaking process to establish the pilot program described in
subsection (a), criteria for participation in such program, and the fee
for such program in accordance with subsection (d).
(c) Participation.--The Secretary of State shall ensure that the
pilot program described in subsection (a) includes as many visa
applicants as practicable by--
(1) establishing a reasonable cost of enrollment;
(2) providing such applicants with clear and consistent
eligibility guidelines; and
(3) making program enrollment convenient and easily
accessible.
(d) Fees.--The Secretary of State may impose a fee for the pilot
program described in subsection (a). Such fee may not exceed the
aggregate costs associated with such program and shall be credited to
the Department of State for purposes of carrying out such program.
Amounts so credited shall remain available until expended.
(e) Report.--Not later than one year after initiating the pilot
program described in subsection (a) and again not later than 90 days
after the conclusion of the two-year period referred to in such
subsection, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee on
Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Foreign Relations of the Senate a report on such pilot program. Each
such report shall assess the efficacy of using secure remote video-
conferencing technology as a method for conducting visa interviews of
applicants, including any effect such method may have on an
interviewer's ability to determine an applicant's credibility and
uncover fraud, and shall include recommendations on whether such
program should be continued, broadened, or modified.
SEC. 5. DATA ON VISA INTERVIEW WAIT TIMES.
The Secretary of State shall post on the Web site of the Department
of State the following data relating to nonimmigrant visas for each
United States diplomatic and consular mission:
(1) The monthly median wait times measured in calendar days
for the past 12 months for a nonimmigrant visa interview
appointment.
(2) The monthly median wait times measured in calendar days
for the past 12 months for a nonimmigrant visa to be processed.
SEC. 6. VISA SYSTEM PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT.
The Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign
Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign
Relations of the Senate a report that includes the following:
(1) An annual forecast of demand through 2020 for
nonimmigrant visas in the key high-growth markets of Brazil,
China, and India.
(2) A description of the methodology used to determine the
annual demand forecasts in accordance with paragraph (1) for
nonimmigrant visas in Brazil, China, and India, including--
(A) details on the internal and external studies
utilized to prepare such forecasts; and
(B) details on whether such methodology utilizes
the Department of Commerce's analysis of visitor
arrival projections.
(3) A comparison of the Department of State's nonimmigrant
visa demand projections and the Department of Commerce's yearly
visitor arrival projections for Brazil, China, and India
through 2020 and details on whether the Department of State's
workload projections for each such country align with the
Department of Commerce's yearly visitor arrival projections.
(4) A description of the practices and procedures currently
used by each United States diplomatic and consular mission in
Brazil, China, and India to manage nonimmigrant visa workload.
(5) Information on short- and long-term plans developed to
meet the forecasted demand for nonimmigrant visas through 2020
in Brazil, China, and India, including facility expansion
needs.
(6) The total number of limited non-career appointment
(LNA) consular officers the Department of State would need to
hire annually through 2020 to maintain a 12 or fewer calendar
day nonimmigrant visa processing standard in Brazil, China, and
India, in accordance with section 3.
(7) Information on the strategies the Department of State
will use to maximize existing consular and embassy space to
accommodate the new LNA personnel referred to in paragraph (6).
SEC. 7. VISA VALIDITY PERIOD.
If the Secretary of State can demonstrate no adversarial effects to
the United States, the Secretary may modify or enter into agreements
with certain countries on a non-reciprocal basis to allow for longer
visa validity periods than the periods with such countries that are in
existence as of the date of the enactment of this Act.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement.
Subcommittee Hearings Held.
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