Under the 'NATO Burden Sharing Enforcement Act,' the Secretary of State would be authorized — though not required — to stop granting visas to people from NATO member countries that fail to spend at least 2 percent of their gross domestic product on national defense, the alliance's established spending benchmark. Several NATO members, including some major U.S. allies, have historically fallen below that threshold. The bill amends existing immigration law, which already allows visa restrictions against countries that refuse to accept deported immigrants, to add this defense-spending trigger as an additional basis for restriction. Decisions would be made at the executive branch's discretion, and the bill does not specify how long a visa moratorium could last or what process would end it.
Congressional Summary
NATO Burden Sharing Enforcement ActThis bill requires the Department of State to discontinue granting visas to citizens, subjects, nationals, and residents of a country that is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and does not spend at least 2% of its gross domestic product on national defense.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2025-04-17
- Date Added
- 2026-06-28
- Source
- Congress.gov →
Like reading a bill in plain English?
We're building an app that does this for every bill in Congress and lets you tell your reps how you want them to vote. We're a small team getting ready to launch, and we're trying to show investors that real people want this. Be one of them. Help us get it built. Leave your email and we'll tell you the moment the app is ready.