Sec. 302. Consular fee restructuring
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It is the sense of Congress that— Consular Affairs, as a wholly fee-funded operation, should have a fee structure that allows it to be self-sufficient, efficient, and transparent; the current fee structure for Consular Affairs has significant flaws and should be reformed; and fees charged for services provided by Consular Affairs should generally cover the cost of the services for which the fees are charged. Congress makes the following findings: Due to the existence of multiple cross-subsidies— the fee charged for a service provided by Consular Affairs bears little, if any, relationship to the costs of that service; and it is difficult to track which fees are being used to cover which costs.
Fees from visa services in excess of estimated amounts are available to Consular Affairs to fund other operations, giving Consular Affairs an incentive to underestimate visa demand and resulting in inefficiencies and a lack of transparency. Not later than the beginning of the first fiscal year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the passport fee structure, including authorities used by Consular Affairs, shall be modified so that— all fees collected for the issuing of passports are retained by the Department; except as permitted under subsection (j), the fees retained by the Department under paragraph
(1)are only used to cover the cost of passport operations and the consular protection of United States citizens and their interests in foreign countries for which no fee is collected; and not later than 12 months after the end of each fiscal year, all fees retained by the Department under paragraph
(1)during such fiscal year that were not used to cover the costs described in paragraph
(2)(other than such amounts, which shall remain available until expended, that the Secretary determines, and notifies the appropriate congressional committees pursuant to section 34 of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 ( 22 U.S.C. 2706 ), are required for costs of services described in paragraph
(2)that extend beyond that fiscal year) are deposited into the General Fund of the Treasury. Not later than the beginning of the first fiscal year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the visa fee structure, including authorities used by Consular Affairs, shall be modified so that— all fees collected for nonimmigrant and immigrant visas operations are retained by the Department, except for special surcharges authorized by statute to be returned to the Treasury; except as permitted under subsection (j), any fees retained by the Department under paragraph
(1)are only used to offset the cost of visa operations; and not later than 12 months after the end of each fiscal year, all fees retained by the Department under paragraph
(1)that were not used to offset the costs described in paragraph
(2)(other than such amounts, which shall remain available until expended, that the Secretary determines, and notifies to the appropriate congressional committees pursuant to section 34 of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 ( 22 U.S.C. 2706 ), are required for costs of support services related to visa operations that extend beyond that fiscal year) are deposited into the General Fund of the Treasury. Not later than the beginning of the first fiscal year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the fee structure, including authorities used by Consular Affairs for services other than services related to passports and visas, shall be modified so that— all fees collected for the provision of documentary and authentication services, judicial assistance services, services related to vessels and seamen, administrative services, and any other consular service provided for which a fee is collected are retained by the Department; except as permitted under subsection (j), the fees described in paragraph
(1)are only used to cover the cost of providing the services described in paragraph (1); the fees described in paragraph
(1)are authorized to be set at a level that is sufficient to cover the cost of providing the services described in paragraph (1), but may be set at a higher level, as appropriate and documented through the rulemaking process; and not later than 12 months after the end of each fiscal year, all fees retained by the Department under paragraph
(1)during such fiscal year that were not used to provide the services described in paragraph
(1)(other than such amounts, which shall remain available until expended, that the Secretary determines, and notifies the appropriate congressional committees pursuant to section 34 of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 ( 22 U.S.C. 2706 ), are required for costs of the services described in paragraph
(2)that extend beyond that fiscal year), are deposited into the General Fund of the Treasury. Not later than November 1 of each year, the Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees that identifies— the amounts expended and retained during the previous fiscal year, in accordance with this section, for each type of fee or service collected or provided by Consular Affairs; and the amounts deposited into the General Fund of the Treasury under this section for each type of fee or service for such fiscal year. The fees collected pursuant to this section are subject to audit by the Inspector General and by the Comptroller General of the United States. Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs shall submit a plan to the appropriate congressional committees for implementing the requirements under this section. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs is authorized to implement and revise the structure of the passport, visa, and other consular fees as may be necessary to carry out the requirements under this section. The Secretary shall maintain the fees described in subsections (c)(1), (d)(1), and (e)(1) in a separate consular fees account. The Department shall track funding within the consular fees account by fee type to facilitate the reporting under subsection (f). Such funds may be reprogrammed within and between the different fees described in subsections (c)(1), (d)(1), and (e)(1), subject to section 34 of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 ( 22 U.S.C. 2706 ). The Secretary may obligate any funds within the account in support of activities, including information technology initiatives, that support work by Consular Affairs across the range of operations described in subsections (c)(1), (d)(1), and (e)(1). Not earlier than 15 days after giving written notice to the appropriate congressional committees, the Secretary may transfer and merge funds from the consular fees account to other Department appropriations for the purpose of funding consular support activities funded out of other Department appropriations. Not later than the beginning of the first fiscal year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit a written certification to the appropriate congressional committees confirming that the fee structure used by Consular Affairs meets the requirements set forth in this section.
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Sec. 302
Consular fee restructuring
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