Visa Revalidation Process Terminated by the Department of State
August 2004
The U.S. Department of State has ended business-related
visa revalidation because it is unable to obtain the biometric identifiers all
visas must contain as of October 26, 2004. Ending this type of revalidation
will be an inconvenience to the international business community, necessitating
their return to their home countries to revalidate visas.
by Paul
J. Siegel, Esq.
Jackson Lewis
LLP
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has announced it is ending its program
for visa revalidation for temporary nonimmigrants as of July 16, 2004. This
information was announced in Public Notice 4747 from the Department of State
and was reported at 69 Federal Register 35121 on June 23, 2004.
The revalidation program, originally designed to provide nonimmigrant services
to foreign government officials, was eventually extended to include reissuance
opportunities for several other classes of visa holders, i.e., C, E, H, I, L,
O, and P. The service allowed these classes to renew their visas in the United
States, thus relieving them of the burden of traveling back to their home countries
to do so. The termination of the program will not affect the revalidation service
for qualifying diplomatic and official visas in Washington, D.C., but only visa
classes C, E, H, I, L, O, and P.
While the State Department realizes that this decision to end business-related
visa revalidation will be an inconvenience to the international business community,
the DOS is unable to overcome the lack of capacity domestically to continue
the service. Specifically, the DOS is not able to obtain the biometric identifiers
all visas must contain as of October 26, 2004. To lessen the inconveniences
that inevitably will come with this termination, the State Department will implement
a priority basis for assisting applicants of the revalidation process.
Only applications received at the St. Louis acceptance facility by the July
16, 2004, deadline are eligible for revalidation. An exception to the July 16
date will be made for pending applications for which additional information
has been requested under INA Section 221(g) as of that date. The State Department
has stressed that applicants should apply as soon as possible in their home
countries, and reminds applicants that it is imperative to schedule interview
appointments before traveling.
Although the State Department has said it has no plans to reinstate the revalidation
process, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), together with
other business groups, plans to put pressure on the DOS to revive the process
as soon as possible. Despite this planned effort, the AILA is not optimistic
about the return of the process in the near future.
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