| 
Department of State to End Visa Revalidations
in United States
The Department of State (DOS) has announced that
it will end its revalidation program in the United States for
C, E, H, I, L, O, and P visas on July 16, 2004. Any applications
for revalidations of these types of visas received after July
16, 2004 will be returned to sender at the sender's expense.
To be processed, applications must be received by the DOS application
acceptance facility in St. Louis by July 16, 2004. Any application
received after this date will be returned, using the sender's
required self-addressed, stamped envelope or pre-paid courier
airbill.
This announcement means that all future visa revalidations
will have to be done at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate abroad.
Nonimmigrant visa holders will no longer be able to obtain new
visas while remaining in the United States. DOS suggests that
visa revalidations occur in the alien's home country, although
embassies and consulates in Mexico and Canada have some limited
capacity to handle third-country-national visa applications.
DOS is discontinuing the reissuance of visas in
these categories because of increased interview requirements
and the requirement of Section 303 of the Enhanced Border Security
and Visa Entry Reform Act that U.S. visas issued after Oct.
26, 2004, include biometric identifiers. It is not feasible
for DOS to collect the biometric identifiers in the United States.
Please note that DOS ceased processing applications
for reissuance of A-3, G-5 and NATO-7 visas in the United States
in September 2002. DOS will continue to receive applications
for reissuance of qualifying diplomatic and official visas in
Washington, DC.
If you have questions or would like more
information, please contact any member of DWT’s immigration
practice team, including:
This Immigration Law Advisory is a publication of the Employer
Services Department of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. Our purpose
in publishing this Advisory is to inform our clients and friends
of recent developments inimmigration law. It is not intended,
nor should it be used, as a substitute for specific legal advice
as legal counsel may only be given in response to inquiries
regarding particular situations.
Copyright © 2004, Davis Wright
Tremaine LLP.
return to Advisory
Bulletins main page
|
