H.R. 3039 (112th): Welcoming Business Travelers and Tourists to America Act of 2011

HR 3039 IH

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.

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

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.

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