Automatic Visa Revalidation

State Department Elimiates "Automatic Revalidation of Visa" Benefit for Some Aliens (03/14/2002) - In a rule published on March 7, 2002, the State Department modified the "automatic revalidation of visa" benefit that allows certain nonimmigrants to re-enter the United States after a 30-day or less visit to "contiguous territory" (Canada, Mexico, and, in the case of F and J nonimmigrants, the "adjacent islands other than Cuba") without having to obtain a new visa prior to re-entry.

There are two changes to the benefit, both of which are effective April 1, 2002.

• Citizens of "state sponsors of terrorism" (as designated in the State Department's annual "Patterns of Global Terrorism" report) will no longer be eligible for the "automatic revalidation of visa" benefit. The most recent State Department report (year 2000) was released on April 30, 2001, and lists the following countries as "state sponsors of terrorism:" Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Sudan, North Korea, and Cuba. Prior to this rule change, only citizens of Iraq were excluded from the automatic revalidation of visa benefit. (NOTE: "State sponsors of terrorism" is the State Department's language, not the language of the OIS).
• Individuals who choose to apply for a new visa while in contiguous territory are no longer eligible for " automatic revalidation of visa" benefit. Although the automatic revalidation benefit is meant to relieve someone of having to obtain a visa, many individuals choose to apply for a visa anyway (often to facilitate future entries to the U.S. after travel to non-contiguous territory). Under the new rule, any nonimmigrant (not just someone from the 7 countries listed above) who chooses to apply for a new visa while in contiguous territory will no longer be eligible for the "automatic revalidation" benefit during the course of that same trip. Rather, the nonimmigrant would have to wait until the visa is granted in order to re-enter the United States. This change prevents someone whose visa application is denied from then reentering the U.S. under the automatic revalidation provision. (NOTE: The broad language in the regulation could also be taken to prevent an individual whose visa application is still pending from using the automatic revalidation provision to reenter the U.S. before the visa is granted or denied.)

The rule does not appear to affect the availability of the "automatic revalidation of visa" benefit for those who choose not to apply for a new visa while in "contiguous territory," as long as they are not from one of the "state sponsor of terrorism" countries.

It is important to remember, however, that the list of seven "state sponsors of terrorism" is different from the classified list of countries connected with the post-September 11th 20-day security check procedure. The Department of State (DOS) implemented a number of important measures that may affect certain current and new foreign students and scholars who need to apply for a visa or travel and reenter. For more information on this security-check, please see below.

State Department to Introduce New Security Check for Certain Arab and Muslim Men (11/13/2001) The State Department has announced that beginning next week, all men between ages 16 and 45 from certain Arab and Muslim countries will be subject to a waiting period on non-immigrant visa applications that will add an additional period of up to 20 days to the application process. The move, confirmed yesterday by Secretary of State Colin Powell in an interview on the Fox News Channel, is intended to allow the State Department to cross check applicants names with the FBI's terrorism databases. Secretary Powell said he hoped the measures would be temporary. Applicants subject to the new security screening will also be required to complete a new background questionnaire form that will cover previous military service and weapons training, previous travels and whether the applicant has previously had any other passports.

The State Department has expanded the number of countries subject to the new visa restrictions beyond the countries included on the list of countries that sponsor or support terrorist activities. The new list of countries reportedly includes the following: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.