With a 407-19 vote, bill intends to prevent foreign nationals who have visited Iraq, Syria and other countries in past five years from entering US without visa

By an overwhelming bipartisan majority, the House of Representatives passed legislation intended to strengthen the visa waiver program in the aftermath of attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California.

The legislation, which was approved by a vote of 407-19, would prevent any foreign national who has visited Iraq, Iran, Syria or the Sudan in the past five years from entering the US without a visa.

The legislation is considered likely to advance through the Senate and become law by the end of the year.

The change applies to citizens of the 38 countries that currently participate in the visa waiver program. The program allows citizens of those countries, which includes most of Europe as well as Pacific Rim countries like Australia and Japan, to visit the US for 90 days without a visa.

The proposal also contains provisions to make it easier for the US to remove countries from the visa waiver program if they do not cooperate with law enforcement and the intelligence community.

The measure has been supported by the White House, which saw it as a reasonable security step in the aftermath of the Paris attacks on 13 November when seven members of Isis murdered 130 people in a series of bombings and shootings.

Senators Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, and Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican, originally authored the proposal with these provisions as a bipartisan alternative to legislation passed by the House in the immediate aftermath of the Paris attacks that would make it more difficult for refugees from Syria and Iraq to enter the US.

Separately, some lawmakers are also talking about looking at the fiancé visa program that Tashfeen Malik, one of the shooters in the recent terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California, reportedly used to come to the country. The Homeland Security Department has already announced a review of that program.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.