H.R. 640: Student Visa Security Improvement Act

Introduced:
Feb 13, 2013 (113th Congress, 2013–2015)
Sponsor:
Rep. Gus Bilirakis [R-FL12]
Status:
Referred to Committee

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.

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Status

This bill was assigned to a congressional committee on February 13, 2013, which will consider it before possibly sending it on to the House or Senate as a whole.

Progress
Introduced Feb 13, 2013
Referred to Committee Feb 13, 2013
Reported by Committee ...
Passed House ...
Passed Senate ...
Signed by the President ...
Prognosis

4% chance of getting past committee.
1% chance of being enacted.

Only 11% of House bills made it past committee and only 3% were enacted in 2011–2013. [show factors | methodology]

Cosponsors
3 cosponsors (3R) (show)
Committees

House Judiciary

↪ Immigration and Border Security

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to strengthen student visa background checks and improve the monitoring of foreign students in the United States, and for other purposes.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

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Last updated Feb 13, 2013.
8 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

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Citation

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GovTrack’s Bill Summary

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Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

2/13/2013--Introduced.
Student Visa Security Improvement Act - Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to:
(1) require DHS employees to review the applications, conduct in-person interviews where appropriate, and conduct on-site reviews of applications and supporting documentation with respect to student and exchange program visa applicants prior to final visa adjudication, with emphasis on determining whether an applicant is inadmissible for terrorist-related activities;
(2) require an institution or exchange visitor program participating in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program to ensure that each covered student or exchange visitor is an active program participant, is observed, and is reported to DHS if he or she transfers institutions or academic majors;
(3) provide Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) access to appropriate employees of a SEVIS program sponsor under specified circumstances; and
(4) require a SEVIS upgrade to add data fields that include verification that students are meeting minimum academic standards.

House Republican Conference Summary

The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.

No summary available.

House Democratic Caucus Summary

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The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

United States Code

The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)