By Lloyd Williams, Senior Associate EditorCOME WEDNESDAY, December 31, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will be implementing its 'US-VISIT' programme to enable it to effectively track visitors to the country.
Officially stated, the programme will enable the U.S. Government to more accurately verify the identity of incoming visitors and confirm compliance with visa and immigration policies, thus enhancing its entry and exit system.
Specifically, "The goals of US-VISIT (for Visitor and Immigration Status Indicator Technology) are to:
Enhance the security of our citizens and visitors
Expedite legitimate travel and trade
Ensure the integrity of the immigration system
Safeguard the personal privacy of our visitors."
But a major focus of the programme's target will be visitors who overstay their visas that is foreign citizens who enter the United States legally but do not leave when their authorised period of admission expires, even though they have not been granted an extension or a change of status. The issue of overstaying has been getting serious attention in the U.S. because four of the 9/11 hijackers who entered the U.S. on legal visas had overstayed their time. The focus among DHS agencies now is on the extent of overstaying, weaknesses in overstaying tracking systems and how weaknesses in the the overstaying tracking system and the level of overstaying might affect domestic security.
The most notable change the US-VISIT system will bring and that which will impact most on international visitors, including Jamaicans, will be new exit procedures, verifying their departure from the United States.
"As part of US-VISIT, most visitors who require a visa will eventually need to verify their departure," the DHS states. "The US-VISIT system is being designed to make this check-out process easy by planning the placement of automated self-service workstations in the international departure areas of airports and seaports. By scanning travel documents and capturing fingerprints on ... (an) inkless device, the system is intended to validate the visitors' identity, verify their departure, and confirm their compliance with U.S. immigration policy.
"Compliance with these new security procedures is critical because the exit information will also be added to the individuals' travel record to protect their status for future visits to the United States."
The new system will certainly kill the racket whereby Jam-aicans in the USA who had overstayed their visas, used to send their passports back to Jamaica to be stamped by certain immigration officers (for a fee), then returned to them, indicating that they had actually come back to the island, when in fact they had not. Departure forms usually stapled in visitors' passports on arrival and later collected by airlines when the visitors check in to leave, will now be collected at the new outgoing 'immigration' workstations.
According to the Office of Public Affairs of the U.S. Em-bassy in Kingston, in the fiscal year 1999 (October 1,1999 to September 30, 2000) the U.S. Consulate in Kingston issued 72,588 non-immigrant (visitors') visas; in 2000 the figure was 83,013; in 2001 it was 71,851 and in 2002 it was 45,955. In the fiscal year 2003 (October 1, 2002 to September 30, 2003) it issued 35,902 non-immigrant visas.
TRAVEL INFORMATION
The US-VISIT capability which U.S. law requires be implemented at airports and seaports by December 31, 2003, will involve collecting travel information and 'biometric identifiers' (such as fingerprints, using a simple, inkless device) from visitors to assist the border officer in making admissibility decisions. The identity of visitors who need a visa to travel to the U.S. will be verified upon their arrival and departure.
These entry and exit procedures, according to the DHS, "will address our critical need for tighter security and our on-going commitment to expedite travel for the millions of legitimate visitors we welcome each year to conduct business, learn, see family or tour the country."
The verification process is expected to strengthen security by more accurately verifying the identity of visitors who legitimately travel into the United States, the DHS states. By capturing 'biometrics' through the use of simple fingerprint scanners, "We will be able to conduct this verification process more quickly and with more certainty than by searching databases by name alone."
Many of the visitor arrival processes will remain unchanged and will be familiar to international visitors, according to the DHS. At an airport or seaport, travel documents such as a passport and a visa will be reviewed and a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer will ask specific questions regarding the visitor's stay in the U.S.
INKLESS DEVICE
As apart of the enhanced procedures, most visitors travelling on visas will have two fingerprints scanned by an inkless device and a digital photograph taken. All of the data and information is then used to assist the border inspector in determining whether to admit the traveller. These enhanced procedures will add only seconds to each visitor's overall processing time, the DHS states.
And the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, (USCIS) a branch of the Department of Homeland Security, is reminding immigrants in the USA to obtain 'Advance Parole' before travelling abroad. 'Advance Parole' (Form I-131 Application for Travel Document) is permission to re-enter the United States after travelling abroad, and allows for the continuation of processing for an adjustment of status to that of lawful permanent resident.
USCIS warns that travel outside of the USA without 'Advance Parole' may have severe consequences for certain immigrants who are in the process of adjusting their status. Such immigrants may be unable to return to the United States and their applications may be denied.
It urges all immigrants with pending applications for adjustment of status to consult its National Customer Service Centre, an immigration attorney, or an immigration assistance organisation accredited by the Board of Immigration Appeals before making any travel plans.
