The Association of Professionals for Spouse Reunification has hired a lobbyist to work to promote measures to reverse the situation where permanent residents and citizens are sometimes forced to wait several years to bring a spouse into the country. According to the APSR, the solution with the most viability is one where President Clinton would use his executive power to order the State Department and Immigration and Naturalization Service to stop denying B-2 visitor visas for spousal visits based on the fear that spouses will
overstay. The group believes that such a measure can be implemented in a matter of months, or even weeks, after the Administration made the decision to go that route.

APSR believes the executive order option is feasible for the following reasons:

* the threat of being subject the new 3 and 10 year re-entry bars for people overstaying a visa would provide a powerful incentive to comply with the visa rules

* the sunset of Section 245i reduces incentives for spouses to violate the terms of their visitor visas

* the new entry-exit control system that will soon be implemented at the border will make it easier for the INS to track visa overstays

* the scale of spousal separation has nearly doubled in the last few years with waiting times now longer than ever

Representatives of the APSR recently met with INS and report that the INS for the first time appeared opened to the idea of changing its policies on B-2 visas for spouses.

APSR is appealing to supporters of its efforts to consider providing financial support to the organization. For more information on the activities of APSR, visit the Web page at
http://www.apsr.org.