State Department issues new visa rules
The State Department has issued two rules that aim to crack down on visa fraud and save the government money by streamlining the application process for a popular immigration program.
The rules, published in Monday's Federal Register, restrict the automatic re-validation of visas for certain visitors and require applicants to the diversity visa lottery program to submit their forms electronically. The lottery program each year allows 50,000 people from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States to apply for permanent residency in this country.
The automatic revalidation of visas allowed certain visitors to re-enter the United States after a visit of 30 days or less to a "contiguous territory," including Canada and Mexico, without obtaining a new visa prior to re-entry. In March 2002, the department published an interim rule that denied the automatic visa re-validation privilege to foreigners from countries categorized by the U.S. government as state sponsors of terrorism. These countries include Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Sudan, North Korea and Cuba. That rule also denied the benefit to those who chose to apply for a new visa while traveling in one of the United States'contiguous territories.
Monday's final rule is intended to protect against the possibility that automatic re-validation would enable those visa applicants who were eventually rejected to return to the United States while their applications were pending.
The final rule, which goes into effect Aug. 18, mirrors the 2002 interim rule. It does not preclude foreigners who are in the U.S. and plan to go abroad temporarily from applying for a new visa prior to leaving this country.
The State Department received about 300 comments on the rule, some of which criticized the changes, calling them ineffective, unfair to innocent foreigners and inconvenient, particularly to foreigners studying in the United States and who travel abroad frequently. But the department emphasized that the visa benefit was a privilege, not a right, and the changes reflect a post-Sept. 11 world. "These are difficult and different times, and certain conveniences must be foregone," the rule stated.
The interim rule on the diversity visa lottery program, which would move the process from a paper-based one to an electronic format, is designed to reduce the number of duplicate applications from individuals seeking immigrant visas. The department is more apt to catch applicants fraudulently submitting multiple applications electronically than it would by sifting through piles of paperwork, according to the rule, which took effect Monday. The department also hopes that the new format will help the government reduce the cost of receiving, storing and handling massive amounts of paperwork. In recent years, the department has received up to 13 million applications to the diversity visa program annually, the rule said.
In response to any adverse effect on applicants from poorer countries who may not have Internet access, the rule said that concern is "offset, especially after Sept. 11, 2001, by the security advantages and cost-saving of the electronic procedure." The rule also said that competition among the global Internet café community, computer service providers and other "third parties" would likely keep the cost down for those applying to the diversity visa program.
The comment period on changes to the diversity visa program ends on Oct. 17. Send comments by fax to 202-663-3898, by e-mail to VisaRegs@state.gov, or by mail to:
Chief, Legislation and Regulations Division
Visa Services
State Department
Washington, D.C. 20520-0106