S. 2362: Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015

114th Congress · introduced 2015-12-07 · Immigration · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

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Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2015-12-07 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. Johnson, Ron [R-WI] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015

Plain summary

Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015 This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act regarding the visa waiver program to require that an alien, when applying for program admission, possess a valid unexpired passport that: is machine-readable, tamper-resistant, incorporates document authentication identifiers, and otherwise satisfies the internationally accepted standard for machine readability; and beginning on April 1, 2016, is an electronic passport that is fraud-resistant, contains relevant biographic and biometric information, and satisfies internationally accepted standards for electronic passports. A program country must certify that: it issues passports that satisfy the internationally accepted standard for machine readability, and as of April 1, 2016, passports that satisfy internationally accepted standards for electronic passports; and by October 1, 2016, except for travel between countries within the Schengen Zone (26 European countries that have abolished passport and any other border control at their common borders), it has in place mechanisms to validate such passports at each key port of entry. An alien shall be ineligible for program participation who: has been present, at any time on or after March 1, 2011, in Iraq or Syria, in a country designated as one that has repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism, or in any other country or area of concern designated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); and regardless of whether the alien is a national of a program country, is not a national of Iraq or Syria, a country designated as a country that has repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism, or any other country or area of concern. Such prohibitions shall not apply to an alien who was present in such a country to perform military or official government service for a program country. DHS may waive such prohibitions if in U.S. law enforcement or national security interests. DHS shall determine and review annually whether such prohibitions shall apply to any country or area using specified criteria. A program country shall: report the loss or theft of one of its national's passports to the United States within 24 hours; and except in the case of a country without an international airport, and except for travel between countries within the Schengen Zone, certify to DHS that it is screening each entering or departing non-citizen or non-national for unlawful activity by using Interpol databases and notices, or other means designated by DHS. If DHS and the State Department jointly determine that a program country is not sharing information or conducting required screening, DHS shall terminate the country's program status, subject to specified conditions for reinstatement. DHS shall evaluate program countries annually and identify and suspend from program participation any country whose nationals present a high U.S. security risk, taking into consideration specified criteria. DHS shall expand Federal Air Marshal operations. The electronic travel authorization system is renamed the electronic system for travel authorization. It is the sense of Congress that: the International Civil Aviation Organization should establish electronic passport standards and obligate member countries to utilize them as soon as possible, and such passports should be a combined paper and electronic passport that contains biographic and biometric information that can be used to authenticate identity through an embedded chip.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Johnson, Ron [R-WI] · 2 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Johnson, Ron [R-WI] reported raising $1.2 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (3)

Authorization: A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Securities: Financial investments that can be bought and sold, such as stocks and bonds.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-114s2362.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/114/s>

Record fed-us-cong114-s2362 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong114 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong114