RELO NEWS
Department of Homeland Security
Designated classes of non-immigrant visa holders will soon be required to enrol in the new Electronic Visa Update System (EVUS) before travelling to the United States, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced.
Foreign nationals travelling on a passport issued by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and a U.S. B-1/B-2, B-1 or B-2 visitor visa valid for 10 years will be the first group required to register for travel that takes place on or after November 29, 2016.
The Department of Homeland Security is proposing increases in the filing fees for many USCIS petitions and applications. The proposed regulation would raise the fees for most employment-based petitions and applications by an average of 21%, though fee increases for some filings would be significantly higher. According to DHS, the higher fees reflect the current cost of processing immigration applications and petitions; some portion of the increased fees would provide additional funding for refugee and citizenship programs as well as system support for inter-agency immigration status verification databases.
The FY 2016 appropriations legislation enacted last week contains significant revisions to the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). The new law (1) prohibits citizens of VWP member countries from entering under the program – i.e., visa-free – if they have visited or have dual nationality with certain countries of concern; and (2) imposes more stringent passport requirements on VWP travellers.
Though several key provisions of the new law took effect when the law was passed on December 18, the Departments of Homeland Security and State have not yet provided guidance on how they will be implemented. Therefore, many questions about the impact of the new law – particularly the travel restrictions – remain unanswered for now.
The following are Fragomen’s preliminary responses to frequently asked questions about the new VWP passport requirements, travel restrictions and the potential impact of the new law on U.S. citizens travelling to VWP partner countries. These FAQs will be updated as the government provides more clarity about the revised rules.
The House of Representatives late Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to increase the security requirements of the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) through “The Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act” (H.R. 158). If enacted, the bill would require all VWP travellers to present an e-passport with a biometric-enabled chip by April 1, 2016. It would also bar most travellers who have visited Iraq and Syria since March 2011 from entering the United States under the program, and instead require them to go through the formal visa process, which includes an in-person interview.
The White House announced a plan on Monday to further enhance the security of the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks. The new security measures are intended to thwart similar attacks in the United States by increasing intelligence sharing between VWP countries and information collection about travellers’ past visits to countries considered terrorist safe havens. Though the Obama Administration has taken a series of steps over the past year to improve the security of the VWP, Monday’s announcement is expected to accelerate these changes and add additional safeguards.
