22 U.S.C. § 5726 — Treatment of Hong Kong applicants for visas to study or work in the United States
submitted 7 years ago by Pub. L. 102-383 to r/title-22-FOREIGN-RELATIONS-AND-INTERCOURSE · 379 words · no verdicts yet
Otherwise qualified people who lived in Hong Kong in 2014 or later cannot be denied certain United States visas mainly because of politically motivated government action. The Secretary of State must train officials, support application checks, update information, and work with other democratic countries.
(a) An otherwise qualified applicant who resided in Hong Kong* in 2014 or later may not have an application to enter, study, or work in the United States denied mainly because the applicant was subjected to politically motivated arrest, detention, or other adverse government action.
(b) The Secretary of State must take needed steps to ensure consular officers know and carry out this policy, with training and support so affected people do not face discrimination or unnecessary visa-processing delay. This includes (1) specialized training for consular officers posted to the United States Embassy in Beijing or a United States consulate in China, Hong Kong, or Macau; (2) instructing the United States Consulate in Hong Kong to keep an active list of people known to have been formally charged, detained, or convicted by the Hong Kong or Chinese governments, or their intermediaries, for politically motivated reasons connected to exercising rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, so applications by Hong Kong residents can be checked against it; and (3) updating relevant United States Government websites with the policy.
(c) The Secretary must contact appropriate representatives of other democratic countries, especially those receiving many Hong Kong student or employment-visa applicants, to (1) tell them the United States policy on arrests for nonviolent Hong Kong protests and (2) encourage similar steps protecting nonviolent protesters from discrimination based on actions by the Hong Kong or Chinese governments.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, applications for visas to enter, study, or work in the United States, which are submitted by otherwise qualified applicants who resided in Hong Kong in 2014 and later, may not be denied primarily on the basis of the applicant’s subjection to politically-motivated arrest, detention, or other adverse government action.
The Secretary of State shall take such steps as may be necessary to ensure that consular officers are aware of the policy described in subsection (a) and receive appropriate training and support to ensure that the policy is carried out so that affected individuals do not face discrimination or unnecessary delay in the processing of their visa applications, including—
providing specialized training for all consular officers posted to the United States Embassy in Beijing or to any United States consulate in the People’s Republic of China, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, or the Macau Special Administrative Region;
instructing the United States Consulate in Hong Kong to maintain an active list of individuals who are known to have been formally charged, detained, or convicted by the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or by the Government of the People’s Republic of China, or intermediaries of such governments, based on politically-motivated considerations related to their exercise of rights enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, done at Paris December 10, 1948, or the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, done at New York December 19, 1966, to facilitate the cross-checking of visa applications for Hong Kong residents; and
updating any relevant United States Government websites with information on the policy described in subsection (a).
The Secretary of State shall contact appropriate representatives of other democratic countries, particularly those who receive a large number of applicants for student and employment visas from Hong Kong—
to inform them of the United States policy regarding arrests for participation in nonviolent protests in Hong Kong; and
to encourage them to take similar steps to ensure the rights of nonviolent protesters are protected from discrimination due to the actions of the Government of Hong Kong and of the Government of the People’s Republic of China.
Source credit: (Pub. L. 102–383, title II, § 206, as added Pub. L. 116–76, § 4(b), Nov. 27, 2019, 133 Stat. 1165.)
- 2019Enacted · Pub. L. 102-383 · 133 Stat. 1165
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 102-383 on 2019-11-27.
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