HR 3039 112th Congress House Immigration Administrative law and regulatory procedures Asia Brazil China Competitiveness, trade promotion, trade deficits Congressional oversight Department of State Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management India International law and treaties Latin America Telephone and wireless communication Travel and tourism User charges and fees Visas and passports

Welcoming Business Travelers and Tourists to America Act of 2011

Introduced: September 23, 2011 See on congress.gov

Everywhere this bill has been 4 steps

Introduced

In committee

Reported out

Passed House

Passed Senate

To President

Became law

May 17, 2012

Subcommittee Hearings Held.

Oct 12, 2011

Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement.

Sep 23, 2011

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.

Sep 23, 2011

Introduced in House

Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

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.

What's happening now May 17, 2012

Subcommittee Hearings Held.

Committees of jurisdiction 3