Since 9/11, the State Department has had had to confront the demon of granting visas to Saudi hijackers with virtually no scrutiny. Interviews are no longer waived, applicants are fingerprinted and security clearances are lengthy. All arguably make the visa issuing process more secure, but visa applicants certainly are not thrilled with how cumbersome the process has become.

Starting July 16th, another convenience goes away. Applications for visa renewals for C, E, H, I, L, O and P may no longer be processed by mail in the United States as has been the case for many years. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Catherine Barry broke this news at the annual meeting of the American Immigration Lawyers Association last week in Philadelphia. She originally stated that visa revalidation applications would be accepted up until July 6th, but AILA is reporting the extension in the termination date for the program. Applications filed before the cut off date will be processed.

The State Department has offered the rationale that they do not have the capacity to acquire the biometric identifiers that will become part of the visa issuing process on October 26, 2004. And there are no plans to reinstate the process later.

The end of the program is disappointing. The alternative is now consular processing. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with consular processing, but there are practical problems that are unfortunate. The US does not offer visa processing in every country and in many large countries in-person applications are required in a single location. Getting to a visa appointment is not always easy. In many countries, backlogs are so long that an applicant must wait several weeks outside the US to be interviewed and then for a security clearance. For the business traveler looking to take a quick overseas trip, a delay this long can be devastating.

The State Department could benefit with some creative thinking on how to make the visa issuing process safe, expeditious and convenient. Obviously, technology can play a role. E-filing the visa application form is a welcome addition and technology can make the security clearance process less cumbersome and more likely to achieve its purposes. But what about new ideas like creating visa issuing consulates in the United States where applicants can be interviewed and biometrics collected?

The State Department can’t simply use security as the excuse to implement policies that make the US an undesirable place for people to visit, study and work. They have an obligation not just to protect Americans from people who mean us harm or don’t intend to comply with immigration laws. They also need to make sure that getting to the US is not so difficult that people simply don’t bother trying.

*****

Just as we were hitting our deadline, we received the good news that DHS is finally coming around and is planning to extend the status of F-1 students seeking October 1st H-1B visas. No word yet on J-1s, but we hope to hear on that soon.

*****

We received a nice honor this week that is worth a little bragging. Siskind Susser’s Visalaw.com web site was chosen as the nation’s best law firm web site for the second year in a row by Internetmarketingattorney.com, the major web site ranking service for law firms. You can see all the rankings at http://www.visalaw.com/news/2004imaaward.html. Our web site is ten years old this month and the fact that we’re still winning these kind of awards gives us the motivation to continue producing a great publication.

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