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This bill would declare that if an immigrant visa was issued on or after March 27, 2013 for a child who has been legally adopted, or is coming to the U.S. to be adopted by an American citizen that certain visa fees may be waived or refunded.

Specifically, immigrant visa fees for the renewal or replacement of the visa could be waived or refunded if:

The child was unable to use the original immigrant visa during the period of its validity as a direct result of extraordinary circumstances, including the denial of an exit permit;
The inability to use the visa was due to factors beyond the control of the adopting parent or parents.

Current law provides a six month window for an immigrant visa for an adopted child to be used, and after it expires it costs $325 to renew.

","official_title":"A bill to amend the section 221 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide relief for adoptive families from immigrant visa fees in certain situations.","short_title":"Adoptive Family Relief Act","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The expanded summary of the Senate reported version is repeated here.)\n\nAdoptive Family Relief Act\n\n(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to declare that if an immigrant visa was issued on or after March 27, 2013, for a child who has been lawfully adopted, or who is coming to the United States to be adopted, by a U.S. citizen, any statutory immigrant visa fees relating to a renewal or replacement of such visa may be waived or refunded if:\n\n the child was unable to use the original immigrant visa during the period of its validity as a direct result of extraordinary circumstances, including the denial of an exit permit; and such inability was attributable to factors beyond the control of the adopting parent or parents.","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.","impact":"Adopted children who were prevented from using their original immigrant visa, the adoptive families, and immigration authorities.","argument_for":"This change would help adoptive families whose child was prevented from using their original immigrant visa cover the costs of replacing the expired visa and get their child to the U.S.","argument_against":"The circumstances that prevented the adopted child from using their original visa are irrelevant, the government can’t hand out waivers or refunds for fees paid for that visa.","bill_type":"s","published":true,"type":"FederalBill","id":"s1300-114","bill_id":"s1300-114","formal_id":"S. 1300","chamber":"senate","congress":114,"last_action_at":"2015-10-16T00:00:00.000Z","active":true,"enacted":true,"enacted_at":"2015-10-16","vetoed":false,"last_vote_at":"2015-10-06T21:47:32.000Z","debated_on":null,"congress_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th/senate-bill/1300","plain_text_url":"https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-114s1300enr/html/BILLS-114s1300enr.htm","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/s1300-114.png","congress_full_text_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th/senate-bill/1300/text","is_current_congress":false,"last_version_on":"2015-05-12","related_bill_ids":["s1635-114","hr2922-114"],"progress":"Enacted","house_passage_result":true,"senate_passage_result":true,"position_count":62,"committees":[{"name":"Committee on the Judiciary","chamber":"senate","committee_id":"SSJU","subcommittee":false}],"links":{"rollCalls":"/api/roll_calls?bill_id=s1300-114","details":"/api/bills/s1300-114/details","sharingMessage":"/api/sharing_messages/s1300-114","positionsFor":"/api/bills/s1300-114/positions/for","positionsAgainst":"/api/bills/s1300-114/positions/against"},"upcoming":false,"cosponsors_count":21,"slug":"s1300-114-adoptive-family-relief-act","latest_chamber_votes_id":null,"official_url":null,"target_video":true,"following":false,"vote_count":1180,"yea_vote_count":886,"nay_vote_count":290,"passed_house":true,"passed_senate":true,"vote_id":null,"my_position_id":null,"topic_ids":["immigration","international-trade-and-affairs"],"issue_ids":["immigration","international-trade-and-affairs","federal-agencies"],"sponsor_id":598}],"votes":[],"issues":[{"id":"immigration","name":"Immigration","slug":"immigration","description":"Whether you want to refer to the U.S. as a cultural melting pot or a cultural mosaic, immigrants make up a substantial portion of the country. 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Waiving Certain Visa Fees for Adoptive Parents and Their Children