TheNewsGuru

Tag: VISA

  • U.S intensifies clampdown on Nigerians, Brazilians, others with overstayed visas

    U.S intensifies clampdown on Nigerians, Brazilians, others with overstayed visas

    Indications have emerged that a crackdown on visitors with visa overstays is imminent in the United States of America with Nigeria, Brazil, Venezuela, China and Colombia listed as countries with the most total overstays that do not participate in the visa waiver programme.

    The Trump Administration says it has a problem with visa overstays in the country and is now determined to step up enforcement to try to cut down on the violations.

    Consequently, the government is introducing a face scan for all US citizens travelling abroad.

    The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said this is aimed mainly at better tracking visa overstays and also at tightening security.

    The agency said it’s the only way to successfully expand a programme that tracks non immigrant foreigners.

    A report in May showed that more than 54 million visitors checked in last year – and nearly 630,000 of them didn’t go back home.

    John Wagner, the Customs deputy executive assistant commissioner in charge of the programme, confirmed in an interview that U.S. citizens departing on international flights will submit to face scans.

    The number of visa overstays was about 200,000 higher than the previous 12-month period.

    Libya, a country of special interest because of terrorism concerns, saw 43 percent of its students refuse to leave on time, while a staggering 75 percent of students from Eritrea broke the terms of their deal, the report said.

    Jessica Vaughan, policy studies director at the Centre for Immigration Studies, said those kinds of rates should force a rethink at the State Department, which issues visas, and should spur immigration officials to put more effort into deterring and deporting overstays in the U.S.

    “The fact that more than 700,000 visits were overstayed last year shows just how much we need to step up interior enforcement to create more of a deterrent, not only by identifying and deporting overstays, but by weakening the job magnet by cracking down on employers who hire illegal workers,” she said.

     

     

  • Trump goes hard on immigrants, approves tougher visa vetting, social media checks

    President Donald Trump has approved the use of new questionnaires for U.S. visa applicants worldwide that asks for social media handles for the last five years and biographical information dating back to the last 15 years.

    The new questions, part of an effort to tighten vetting of would-be visitors to the U.S., was approved on May 23 by the Office of Management and Budget in spite of criticism from a range of education officials and academic groups during a public comment period.

    Critics argued that the new questions would be overly burdensome, lead to long delays in processing and discourage international students and scientists from coming to the U.S.

    Under the new procedures, consular officials can request all prior passport numbers, five years’ worth of social media handles, email addresses and phone numbers and 15 years of biographical information including addresses, employment and travel history.

    Officials will request the additional information when they determine “that such information is required to confirm identity or conduct more rigorous national security vetting,” a State Department official said on Wednesday.

    The State Department said earlier the tighter vetting would apply to visa applicants “who have been determined to warrant additional scrutiny in connection with terrorism or other national security-related visa ineligibilities.”

    President Donald Trump has vowed to increase national security and border protections, proposing to give more money to the military and make Mexico pay to build a wall along the southern U.S. border.

    He has tried to implement a temporary travel ban on people from six Muslim-majority nations that a U.S. appeals court refused to reinstate, calling it discriminatory and setting the stage for a showdown in the Supreme Court.

    The Office of Management and Budget granted emergency approval for the new questions for six months, rather than the usual three years.

    While the new questions are voluntary, the form says failure to provide the information may delay or prevent the processing of an individual visa application.

    Immigration lawyers and advocates say the request for 15 years of detailed biographical information, as well as the expectation that applicants remember all their social media handles, is likely to catch applicants who make innocent mistakes or do not remember all the information requested.

    The new questions grant “arbitrary power” to consular officials to determine who gets a visa with no effective check on their decisions, said Babak Yousefzadeh, a San Francisco-based attorney and president of the Iranian American Bar Association.

    Yousefzadeh said: “The U.S. has one of the most stringent visa application processes in the world.

    “The need for tightening the application process further is really unknown and unclear.”

     

     

    (Reuters/NAN)

  • Israel reviews visa application procedure for Nigerians, applicants to now apply online

    The Embassy of Israel in Nigeria has introduced a new visa application procedure for Nigerians with effect from Jan. 1.

    The embassy made the announcement in a statement by its media unit on Friday in Abuja.

    According to the embassy, under the new procedure, Nigerians applying for visa must first visit the embassy’s website and fill the appropriate forms as applicable.

    “The applicant must then scan all required forms and documents and email them to the address found on the Embassy’s website: (www.abuja.mfa.gov.il)

    “Thereafter, the applicant will be invited for a scheduled interview at the embassy.

    “Previously, applicants were required to collect the visa application forms, fill and submit them at the embassy,” the embassy stated