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Consular Visa Processing Changes Mandated By New Law
by Samuel G. McTyre
Thursday, September 05, 2002
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Visa procedures in the consulates and at ports of entry will undergo a comprehensive overhaul and will employ technology based interagency systems to detect individuals who are a security threat.
On May 14, 2002, the President signed into law H.R. 3525, the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002 (“EBSVRA”). This law requires the Secretary of State to implement enhanced security measures for the review of visa applicants.
The Department of State has been engaged, with other U.S. government agencies, in an extensive and ongoing review of visa issuing practices as they relate to security. EBSVRA mandates many of the procedures that were already being revised.
Among the changes prompted by the law is an increase of the Machine Readable Visa (“MRV”) fee to $65 as well as an additional surcharge of $10 for issuance of the MRV in a non-machine-readable passports. The law enforcement mandates of the Act are numerous and comprehensive.
The law will require unprecedented reliance on technological safeguards. Among the new security measures to be implemented under this law are the following:
- Law enforcement and intelligence agencies will share information relevant to admissibility and deportability of aliens with the Department of State (“DOS”) and the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (a.k.a. INS) pending development of a comprehensive data sharing plan
- An integrated data system will be implemented as an interoperable interagency system
- The new integrated system will employ a technology standard to identify aliens and shall be available to consular officers and other officials responsible for determining admissibility of or investigating or identifying aliens
- The system will have advanced name-searching capability, including the capacity for linguistically sensitive searches
- DOS will provide to BCIS (a.k.a. INS) an electronic version of the visa file of an alien who has been issued a visa to ensure that the data is available to BCIS (a.k.a. INS) inspectors before the arrival of the alien at the port of entry
- Implementation of an integrated entry and exit database containing arrival and departure information from machine-readable visas, passports, and other travel and entry documents possessed by aliens
- By October 26, 2004, the DOS and BCIS (a.k.a. INS) will issue only machine-readable, tamper-resistant visas, and other travel and entry documents that use biometric identifiers
- The Secretary of State will establish a terrorist lookout committee at each mission which will utilize all the resources of the mission to identify known and potential terrorists and to develop a lookout database for use by consular officials and BCIS (a.k.a. INS) inspectors.
EBSVRA also provides for special visa processing procedures for applicants from North Korea, Cuba, Syria, Sudan, Iran, Iraq, and Libya. Under these procedures all applicants from these state sponsors of terrorism, age 16 and over, irrespective of gender, must without exception, complete form DS-157, in addition to form DS-156, and must appear for an interview with a consular officer. An exception to the requirement for an interview may be made at the discretion of the consular officer only in cases of diplomats.
Through the use of supplemental application forms and other measures, visa applications are now subject to a greater degree of scrutiny than in the past. This has prompted DOS to warn visa applicants that this heightened scrutiny means that visa applications, in most cases will take longer to process.
Related links:
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