CONSULAR FOCUS: NEW STATE DEPARTMENT RULES FOR CANADIAN AND MEXICAN CONSULATES

Thousands of non-immigrant visa applicants who are in the United States choose to process at US Consulates in Canada or Mexico rather than traveling back to their home countries. Of late, consulates in the US and Mexico have been altering their policies, some liberalizing their stances on accepting third country nationals for processing, others making the rules tougher. The Department of State has recently issued new guidelines for all of its posts in North America regarding processing of non-immigrant visa applications from non-resident third country nationals in order to establish uniform procedures.

The Department of State has established a centralized system for all of the border posts. A contractor in Ottawa, Canada will be administering the system. Applicants have to pay to call a 900 telephone number in order to schedule an appointment. The number in the US is 900-443-3131. The number in Canada is 900-451-2778. Applicants can call between 9 am and 10 pm Eastern Standard Time. Operators can schedule appointments at any border posts for applicants anywhere in the US or in Canada. Unlike the present system, applicants can choose to process at any post that has available appointments regardless of their visa category of their place or residence in the US.

Consular officials have been advised that they can refuse to issue a visa and refer the applicant to their home country for processing in cases where the post believes the case fits into a profile indicating fraud is a distinct possibility or where the applicant has been out of status (though this will be of varying importance depending on the type of NIV case, the length of time out of status and the reasons for being out of status). Persons who entered the US under the Visa Waiver Pilot Program are also subject to difficulties in processing. Finally, first time E visa applicants will need to apply in their home districts.