[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1220 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1220
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to direct the Secretary of
State to increase the fee imposed on aliens filing an application
abroad for a visa authorizing admission to the United States as a
nonimmigrant described in section 101(a)(15)(B) who are nationals of
certain countries, and for other purposes.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 11, 2025
Mrs. Wagner (for herself and Mr. Gill of Texas) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to direct the Secretary of
State to increase the fee imposed on aliens filing an application
abroad for a visa authorizing admission to the United States as a
nonimmigrant described in section 101(a)(15)(B) who are nationals of
certain countries, 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 ``Fee Increases for Reckless
Mismanagement Act of 2025'' or ``FIRM Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. FEE INCREASE FOR CERTAIN NONIMMIGRANT VISA APPLICANTS.
(a) In General.--The Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101
et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 281 the following:
``SEC. 281A. FEE INCREASE FOR CERTAIN NONIMMIGRANT VISA APPLICANTS.
``(a) Fee Increase.--The Secretary of State shall increase the fee
imposed under section 281 on an alien filing an application abroad for
a visa authorizing admission to the United States as a nonimmigrant
described in section 101(a)(15)(B) in accordance with subsection (b)
for any alien who is a national of a country with respect to which the
Secretary determines any of the following:
``(1) The Secretary of Homeland Security has reported to
the Secretary of State under section 243(d) that the government
of the country has denied or unreasonably delayed accepting an
alien who is a citizen, subject, national, or resident of that
country after the Secretary of Homeland Security asked whether
the government would accept the alien.
``(2) The Secretary of State has designated the country as
a state sponsor of international terrorism (as such term is
defined in section 214(c)(4)(F)(ii)).
``(3) The country is listed as a tier 3 country in the most
recent Trafficking in Persons report of the Office to Monitor
and Combat Trafficking in Persons of the Department of State.
``(b) Amount of Increase.--The Secretary shall increase the fee
described in subsection (a) as follows:
``(1) If the Secretary determines that the country meets
one of the criteria described in paragraphs (1) through (3) of
subsection (a), the Secretary shall increase such fee by not
less than 50 percent.
``(2) If the Secretary determines that the country meets
two of the criteria described in paragraphs (1) through (3) of
subsection (a), the Secretary shall increase such fee by not
less than 100 percent.
``(3) If the Secretary determines that the country meets
three of the criteria described in paragraphs (1) through (3)
of subsection (a), the Secretary shall increase such fee by not
less than 150 percent.
``(c) Periodic Review.--On the first day of each month, the
Secretary shall review the determinations under subsection (a), to
determine whether any increase imposed should be reduced, or whether an
increase should be imposed on nationals of any additional countries.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for the Immigration
and Nationality Act is amended by inserting after the item related to
section 281 the following:
``281A. Fee increase for certain nonimmigrant visa applicants.''.
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