US tourist visa means
30-day stay
Posted: 1:45 AM (Manila Time) | Apr. 15, 2002
By Crispin R. Aranda
Inquirer News Service
Visit limits
Using the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks as an excuse for limiting visits, the INS said the "attacks . . . demonstrated that (the one-year maximum stay in the US for tourists) is susceptible to abuse by aliens who seek to plan and execute acts of terrorism."
Since virtually all legitimate tourists and business visitors are able to accomplish the purposes of their visit in less than six months, the INS reduced the maximum allowable stay for tourists from the current one-year period to only six months. Now it is 30 days.
If a tourist visa holder needs to extend his or her authorized stay in the United States, such an extension would be granted only "in cases that resulted from unexpected events - which are out of the alien's control - compelling humanitarian reasons, such as for emergency or continuing medical treatment . . ."
The INS rule states that when requesting an extension, the tourist visa holder must provide documentary evidence "showing ties to the country of residence and possession of sufficient financial means to remain in the country for the requested period of time."
Proof of financial means would include current bank records and lease or real property ownership documents in the tourist's country of residence or nationality.
The INS move followed embarrassing revelations the agency had approved the visa applications of two of the hijackers who rammed planes into the World Trade Center. The two principal hijackers entered the United States with valid tourist visas, which they later converted to student status (F-1).
Flight school
The gaffe elicited a public rebuke from President George W. Bush and US legislators who renewed calls to overhaul, if not abolish, the immigration service.
The two Sept. 11 hijackers - Mohamed Atta of Egypt and Marwan al-Shehhi of the United Arab Emirates - came to the United States on visitor visas.
They enrolled in a Florida flight school in July 2000, more than one year before the INS approved their student visas. Under the new INS rule, such enrolments would be prohibited.
The Immigrant Visa Center, an immigrant advocacy firm in Quezon City, expects more exclusions or airport-to-airport proceedings against legitimate visa holders simply because they might not be able to answer questions according to the INS officer's liking.
In effect, US non-immigrant visa holders face stricter scrutiny when applying for a visa and when using the visa to gain admission into the United States.
Before the INS rule, tourist visa holders had little to worry about since they had already hurdled the questioning of a consular officer in their country of origin.
The fundamental rule of US immigration law - under Section 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act - the bible of US immigration laws – states that all non-immigrants are considered to be "intending immigrants" unless they could prove otherwise.
Now, they have to prove harder, or face the prospect of being deported even before they were admitted.
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Crispin R. Aranda is a US-based immigrant specialist. He has offices in San Francisco, California, and is the first and only Filipino with broadcast and print updates on US immigration and visa matters. He hosted the program, "Amerika, Atbp.," on IBC-13. He also has a regular column on immigration in The Philippine News, the national newspaper of Filipinos in the United States. His firm, US Immigrant Service Network, has been serving Filipino and immigrant communities in the United States since 1986.
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