The Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services required all Pakistanis and Saudi Arabian citizens to submit to Special Registration by today, March 21, 2003. There is no indication yet whether this deadline will be extended. This is the third group of required registrant whose deadline has passed. The program covers men over the age of sixteen who are citizens of 25 Middle Eastern, North African and Central Asian countries in addition to North Korea and Indonesia. The countries are those classified by the US Justice Department as bases for terrorist groups.

By April 25th, men from Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan and Kuwait must register. More specifically, male citizens or nationals of these countries who were born on or before February 24, 1987, who were inspected and last admitted to the U.S. as nonimmigrants on or before September 30, 2002 and who will remain in the U.S. after March 28, 2003 should register.

The Special Registration interview includes questions such as the alien's place of birth and the names, addresses and birth dates of his parents. They are also asked for other identifying numbers such as credit card numbers and bank accounts numbers. These are just a few questions that the men may have to answer about their immigration status, their families and their finances and interviews can go on for as long as an hour. The men also have to produce their passports and should be prepared to document their legal status. Every registrant is fingerprinted, photographed and given a registration stamp. The motivation for asking for information on one's parents is believed to be tied to the government's desire to track individuals after they return home.

A complete summary of the special registration process can be found online at http://www.ailf.org/lac/911PA.htm.