Note: Information presented in this table comes from §101(a)(15), §212, and §214 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and §214 of 8 CFR. When a cell in the table is blank, it means the law and regulations are silent on the subject. Order Code RL31512 Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web Visa Issuances: Policy, Issues, and Legislation Updated July 31, 2002 Ruth Ellen Wasem Specialist in Social Legislation Domestic Social Policy Division Congressional Research Service The Library of Congress Visa Issuances: Policy, Issues, and Legislation Summary Since the September 11 terrorist attacks, considerable concern has been raised because the 19 terrorists were aliens who apparently entered the United States legally despite provisions in immigration laws that bar the admission of terrorists. Fears that lax enforcement of immigration laws regulating the admission of foreign nationals into the United States may continue to make the United States vulnerable to further terrorist attacks have led many to call for revisions in the policy and possibly changes in who administers immigration law. Foreign nationals not already legally residing in the United States who wish to come to the United States generally must obtain a visa to be admitted, with certain exceptions noted in law. Under current law, two departments - the Department of State (DOS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) each play key roles in administering the law and policies on the admission of aliens. DOS's Bureau of Consular Affairs is the agency currently responsible for issuing visas, and DOJ's Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) plays a key role in approving immigrant petitions and in inspecting all people who enter the United States. In FY2000, DOS issued approximately 7.5 million visas and rejected over 2 million aliens seeking visas. House Majority Leader Dick Armey, Chair of the Select Committee on Homeland Security, introduced the President's proposal for a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as H.R. 5005. As introduced, H.R. 5005 would bifurcate visa issuances so that DHS would set the policies and DOS would retain responsibility for implementation. It would give the Secretary of the new department exclusive authority through the Secretary of State to issue or refuse to issue visas. The House Committees on Judiciary, International Relations, and Government all approved language on visa issuances that retained DOS's administrative role in issuing visas, but added specific language to address many of the policy and national security concerns raised during their respective hearings. Breaking with the Administration, the House Judiciary Committee approved language that would place much of INS's adjudication and service responsibilities — including its role in approving petitions - with a new Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services headed by an Assistant Attorney General at DOJ. When the House Select Committee on Homeland Security marked up H.R. 5005 on July 19, 2002, it approved language on immigrant processing and visa issuances consistent with the House Judiciary Committee recommendations. An amendment to move the consular affairs visa function to DHS failed when the House passed H.R. 5005 on July 26. The latest version of S. 2452, the National Homeland Security and Combating Terrorism Act of 2002 (as acted on by Senate Governmental Affairs Committee July 25), differs somewhat on the issues of immigration adjudications and visa issuances from the Administration's proposal and H.R. 5005 as passed. The Senate draft substitute would not alter the State Department's administrative role in issuing visas but would establish an Under Secretary for Immigration Affairs in DHS who would issue regulations on visa issuance, oversee immigration enforcement and border functions, and be responsible for all immigration and naturalization adjudications. Visa Issuances: Introduction In the months following the September 11 terrorist attacks, considerable concern has been raised because the 19 terrorists were aliens (i.e., noncitizens or foreign nationals) who apparently entered the United States legally on temporary visas. Fears that lax enforcement of immigration laws regulating the admission of foreign nationals into the United States may continue to make the United States vulnerable to further terrorist attacks have led many to call for revisions in the visa policy and possibly changes in who administers immigration law. Foreign nationals not already legally residing in the United States who wish to come to the United States generally must obtain a visa to be admitted.' Under current law, two departments the Department of State (DOS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) — each play key roles in administering the law and policies on the admission of aliens.2 DOS's Bureau of Consular Affairs (Consular Affairs) is the agency currently responsible for issuing visas, and DOJ's Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) plays a key role in approving immigrant petitions and in inspecting all people who enter the United States. This report addresses the current policy on immigration visa issuances and options for reassigning this function to the proposed Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It opens with an overview of visa issuances, with sections on procedures for aliens coming to live in the United States permanently and on procedures for aliens admitted for temporary stays. An analysis of the grounds for excluding aliens follows. The report summarizes the debate on transferring visa 'Authorities to except or to waive visa requirements are specified in law, such as the broad parole authority of the Attorney General under §212(d)(5) of INA and the specific authority of the Visa Waiver Program in §217 of INA. 2Other departments, notably the Department of Labor (DOL), and the Department of Agriculture (USDA), play roles in the approval process depending on the category or type of visa sought, and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) sets policy on the health-related grounds for inadmissibility discussed below. 3 For a fuller account of INS restructuring proposals and the possible transfer to homeland security, see CRS Report RL31388, Immigration and Naturalization Service: Restructuring Proposals in the 107th Congress, by Lisa M. Seghetti; and CRS Congressional Distribution Memorandum, Analysis of President's Plan to Include the Immigration and Naturalization Service in the Proposed Department of Homeland Security, by Lisa M. Seghetti and Ruth Ellen Wasem. "For a broader discussion, see CRS Report RS20916, Immigration and Naturalization Fundamentals, by Ruth Ellen Wasem. |