[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 888 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 888
To provide for the admission to the United States of nonimmigrant
business facilitation visitors.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 7, 2007
Mr. Meeks of New York (for himself and Mr. Feeney) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for the admission to the United States of nonimmigrant
business facilitation visitors.
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 ``Business Travel Facilitation Act of
2007''.
SEC. 2. BUSINESS FACILITATION VISITORS.
Section 214 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184)
is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(s) Business Facilitation Visitors.--
``(1) In general.--For purposes of section 101(a)(15)(B),
the term `visiting the United States temporarily for business'
includes visiting the United States temporarily as a business
facilitation visitor, as defined in paragraph (2).
``(2) Definition of business facilitation visitor.--For
purposes of this subsection, a business facilitation visitor is
an alien who is visiting the United States temporarily to--
``(A) provide services pursuant to a qualifying
services contract, as defined in paragraph (7); or
``(B) with respect to personnel of a United States
entity--
``(i) to provide management or technical
training to such personnel; or
``(ii) to receieve management or technical
training from such personnel.
``(3) Conditions.--
``(A) In general.--No alien may be admitted or
provided status as a business facilitation visitor
unless--
``(i) the alien is a national of a country
that the Secretary of Homeland Security has
certified as having entered into arrangements
with the United States to combat fraud in the
application for visas to the United States
through the use of measures such as machine
readable passports and biometric technology;
and
``(ii) the consular officer to whom the
alien applies for a visa under the provisions
of section 101(a)(15)(B) determines, based on
evidence provided by the alien, that the
conditions described in this paragraph have
been met.
``(B) Conditions with respect to provision of
services.--In the case of the provision of services as
described in paragraph (2)(A), the conditions described
in this paragraph are that--
``(i) all of the alien's remuneration and
expenses related to the provision of such
services will be paid by the alien's employer;
and
``(ii) the alien is qualified to provide
such services, as demonstrated by the alien's
possession of--
``(I) expert knowledge of the
entity's technology or operations on
the basis of technical training or
experience; and
``(II) all licenses or other
authorizations required to provide the
services in the United States.
``(C) Conditions with respect to provision or
receipt of management or technical training.--In the
case of the provision or receipt of management or
technical training as described in paragraph (2)(B),
the conditions described in this paragraph are that--
``(i) the alien is an employee of a firm,
corporation, or other legal entity that--
``(I) is affiliated through
ownership or control with the United
States entity whose personnel will be
providing or receiving the training;
``(II) has entered into a joint
venture or similar agreement with the
United States entity; or
``(III) has purchased, or is
considering purchasing, goods or
services from, or has sold goods or
services to, the United States entity,
and the training is related to such
purchase or sale;
``(ii) all of the alien's remuneration and
expenses related to the provision or receipt of
such training will be paid by the alien's
employer;
``(iii) in the case of an alien seeking to
provide management training, the alien has--
``(I) at least five years of
experience directly related to
management or management training; and
``(II) detailed knowledge of the
business operations of the alien's
employer; and
``(iv) in the case of an alien seeking to
receive management training, the alien holds,
or will hold within one year of completing the
training, a management level position within
the alien's employer.
``(4) Period of authorized admission.--
``(A) Business facilitation visitors providing
services.--The period of authorized admission for an
alien admitted as a business facilitation visitor
providing professional services as described in
paragraph (2)(A) shall not exceed one year. However,
the Secretary of Homeland Security may grant such alien
a single extension of not more than six months if the
Secretary determines, based on evidence provided by the
alien, that--
``(i) there has been an unforeseen delay in
completing the provision of services described
in the qualifying services contract; and
``(ii) replacing the alien with another
provider of professional services would further
delay or otherwise inhibit fulfillment of the
terms of the contract.
``(B) Business facilitation visitors providing or
receiving management or technical training.--The period
of authorized admission for an alien admitted as a
business facilitation visitor providing or receiving
management or technical training, as described in
paragraph (2)(B), may not exceed one year.
``(5) No change of status.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of this Act, an alien admitted as a business
facilitation visitor shall not be eligible for a change of
nonimmigrant status or for an adjustment from nonimmigrant to
immigrant status during the alien's stay in the United States.
``(6) Authorization to counter pattern of fraud.--If the
Secretary of Homeland Security finds that nationals of a
country have engaged in a pattern of fraud involving visa
applications or other immigration matters, the Secretary may
prohibit such nationals from admission to the United States as
business facilitation visitors for such period of time as the
Secretary determines to be appropriate.
``(7) Definition of qualifying services contract.--For
purposes of this subsection, a qualifying services contract is
a contract between a foreign provider of professional services
and a United States entity, the terms of which include--
``(A) the time period during which the alien will
be required to be present in the United States in order
to fulfill the terms of the contract;
``(B) the duties to be performed by the alien in
the United States;
``(C) provisions stating that--
``(i) the alien's remuneration and expenses
will be paid by the foreign provider;
``(ii) the United States entity will
provide the alien with working conditions
comparable to those of similarly situated
providers of professional services to the
entity and consistent with the applicable
requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act of
1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.); and
``(iii) the alien possesses the credentials
necessary to provide the services covered by
the contract, including any licenses or other
authorizations required to provide the services
in the United States; and
``(D) a provision stating the respective
responsibilities of the foreign provider for ensuring
the alien's--
``(i) compliance with the terms of the
alien's admission to the United States; and
``(ii) return to the alien's home country
at the conclusion of the period for which the
alien is admitted.''.
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