HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

174

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

urging hawaii's Congressional delegation to work with the Department of Homeland Security to ease existing restrictions to allow foreign movie and film production personnel to enter the United States to produce movies or films.

 

 

WHEREAS, under the authority of the Department of Homeland Security, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, a citizen of a foreign country who wishes to enter the United States, not as an immigrant, must first obtain a visa for a temporary stay; and

WHEREAS, the nonimmigrant visitor visa for persons desiring to enter temporarily for business is the B-1 visa and for pleasure or medical treatment is the B-2 visa; and

WHEREAS, foreign nationals entering the United States temporarily for a specific purpose are restricted to the activity for which their visas were issued; and

WHEREAS, general requirements for such foreign nationals include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) The purpose of the visit must be temporary;

(2) The foreign national must agree to depart at the end of the authorized stay or extension;

(3) The foreign national must be in possession of a valid passport;

(4) A foreign residence must be maintained by the foreign national, in most instances;

(5) The foreign national may be required to show proof of financial support;

(6) The foreign national must be admissible or have obtained a waiver for any ground of inadmissibility; and

(7) The foreign national must abide by the terms and conditions of admission; and

WHEREAS, visitors from twenty-seven nations can also enter the country under the Visa Waiver Program -- administered by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Consular Services -- which allows citizens of those countries to enter the United States without a visa for tourism or business for up to ninety days; and

WHEREAS, these twenty-seven countries are: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom; and

WHEREAS, the visitor industry remains the backbone of Hawaii's economy, and any restriction that impedes visitors' access to Hawaii correspondingly hurts the economy; and

WHEREAS, although certain travel restrictions are reasonable, especially in light of the continuing threat of terrorism, other restrictions not only are illogical but also hurt states like Hawaii that depend heavily on the visitor industry; and

WHEREAS, for example, foreign film production personnel who wish to travel to Hawaii to produce movies and films may not stay more than ninety days, regardless of whether they are citizens of a Visa Waiver Program nation or not; and

WHEREAS, very often, film production at a certain location requires either more than ninety continuous days or multiple entries; and

WHEREAS, this is a major obstacle for citizens of nations not in the Visa Waiver Program, such as the People's Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of China (Taiwan), and the Philippines; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2004, the Senate concurring, that Hawaii's Congressional delegation is urged to work with the Department of Homeland Security to ease existing restrictions to allow foreign movie and film production personnel to enter the United States to produce movies or films; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Secretary for Homeland Security and members of Hawaii's Congressional delegation.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Ease Visa Restrictions; Foreign Film Production Personnel