INS Issues Field Guidance on Special Registration Procedures

Upon initial implementation of the Special Call-In Registration program, no guidancewas given to local INS offices on how they should carry out registration interviews.Each office therefore developed its own set of questions and procedures. Registrationexperiences reported by members of the American Immigration Lawyers Association(AILA) initially indicated no uniformity in registration procedures from one INS office tothe next. Some offices were telling attorneys that they could not be present for theinterviews, while other offices allowed counsel to be present; some offices were placingout-of-status registrants into deportation proceedings even though their Adjustment ofStatus applications were pending, while others were not. These inconsistencies made theregistration process frightening and unpredictable.

Fortunately, the INS has recently issued field guidance on special registration procedures.All INS offices that perform registration interviews must follow the same memo. TheINS has not released this memo, so we do not know its entire contents. However, AILAhas found out that the memo offers specific guidance on what checks to complete on eachregistrant; on how to determine appropriate action; and how to determine whether aregistrant should be taken into custody. The most important provision of the memo isthat if a registrant has an application pending, and approval of that application in and ofitself would result in lawful status, either temporary or permanent, then the person shouldnot be referred to investigations. This provision is extremely helpful for beneficiaries ofpending petitions who have been out of status due to lengthy INS adjudication periods,but who are attempting to gain status.

Special Registration Deadlines Extended

Any aliens from Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya,Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United ArabEmirates, or Yemen who were subject to call-in registration but failed to register by thedeadlines, can now be registered between January 27 and February 7, 2003 withoutpenalty for late registration. Excepting the dates of registration, all terms of the initialregistration notice remain in effect. This news comes in the form of a Notice publishedby the Attorney General.

Nationals of Five Additional Countries Subject to Special Call-In Registration

Any male aliens over the age of 16 who are natives or citizens of Bangladesh, Egypt,Indonesia, Jordan, or Kuwait shall be subject to call-in registration if they were lastadmitted as nonimmigrants on or before September 30, 2002, and will remain in theUnited States after March 28, 2003. Registration dates for this group of registrants willbe between February 24, 2003 and March 28, 2003, inclusive. A notice to this effect willbe placed in the Federal Register and will be effective as of February 24, 2003.

Aliens subject to special registration must report to any of the designated local INSoffices listed on the INS website, at the following link:http://www.ins.gov/graphics/lawenfor/specialreg/List_Interview.pdf

Special registrants must answer questions under oath at the time of the registrationinterview. They must also provide proof of the following: residence (lease or title deed);employment (recent pay stubs); and lawful status (I-94’s, I-797 Approval Notices, visas,passports, etc.). They should also bring driver’s licenses, Social Security cards, and anyother form of government issued identification. Questions asked under oath will includeinquiries about any time spent out of status. Anyone who is subject to special registrationand who has ever been out of status should contact our office before reporting to INS for special registration.

Aliens who engage in special registration must report back to INS annually, within 10days of the initial registration interview. These annual registrations will be similar incontent and form to the initial registration interview.

Anyone who is subject to special registration and who fails to appear for an interviewmay be placed in removal proceedings for violating his nonimmigrant status.

Certain Ports of Departure to be Used by Aliens Who Leave the United States After Engaging in Special Registration

Any alien who engages in Special Registration is required to leave the United Statesthrough certain designated Ports of Departure. A complete list of these ports, completewith directions, can be found on the INS website at the following link:http://www.ins.gov/graphics/lawenfor/specialreg/BLISTOFP.pdf.

If a registered alien leaves the United States through a port that is not on this list, he willbe considered to have violated his nonimmigrant status, and he will not be re-admitted tothe United States. Detailed information about Special Registration can be found atwww.ins.gov.

TN Category in the Toilet: INS Severely Restricts Admission of Scientific Technicians and Technologists under the North American Free Trade Agreement

The Immigration and Naturalization Service periodically issues memoranda to theirofficers, offering guidance on implementation of the law or regulations. Recently, theINS issued a memo providing new criteria on which to evaluate the admissibility ofscientific technicians and technologists. The new criteria is so restrictive that very fewpeople who would once have qualified for TN status under this category will qualify inthe future.

Prior to the issuance of the infamous “Sci. Tech. Memo,” the category was open to awide range of professionals who, although they did not have degrees, worked in supportof higher-level, degreed Engineers. The category was most frequently used by softwareand hardware technicians, and the criteria for admission were fairly straightforward andsimple. Those were the days.

Under the new memo, very few people will qualify as ScientificTechnicians/Technologists. The memo reiterates the long-standing rule that theTechnician must work in support of degreed professionals. In addition, the memo addsthe rule that the work of the Technician must be inter-related with that of the supervisoryprofessional. In addition, the Technician must have successfully completed at least twoyears of training in a relevant educational system. That education must be documentedby copies of the appropriate degrees, certificates, diplomas, etc.

Perhaps the most restrictive criterion laid out in the memo is that “ScientificTechnicians/Technologists cannot be admitted to perform job functions that are primarilyassociated with other job titles.” While this sounds reasonable, in practice it means thatanyone who could possibly fall under another TN category will not be granted TN statusas a Technician. For example, Computer Systems Analyst is another TN category thatbears some semblance to the Sci. Tech. category. The job of a Computer SystemsAnalyst is defined by the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, in part, as follows:“...

one who analyzes user requirements, procedures, and problems to automateprocessing or to improve existing computer systems; confers with personnel oforganizational units involved to analyze current operational procedures, identifyproblems, and learn specific input and output requirements, such as forms of data input,how data is to be summarized, and formats for reports. They write detailed descriptionsof user needs, program functions, and steps required to develop or modify computerprograms. The review computer system capabilities, workflow, and schedulinglimitations to determine if requested program or program change is possible withinexisting system. The study existing information processing systems to evaluateeffectiveness and develops new systems to improve production or workflow as required.” 3A great deal of overlap exists between the TN categories of Computer Systems Analystand Software Engineering Technician. But under the new memo, when it is unclearwhether a person would better fit as a Technician or as a Computer Systems Analyst, theScientific Technician/Technologist category cannot be used. And the Computer SystemsAnalyst category, unlike the Scientific Technician/Technologist category, requires theapplicant to have a Bachelor’s Degree.

The last, but certainly not the least, criterion established by the Sci Tech memo is that noone engaged in the construction trades (welders, boiler makers, carpenters, electricians,etc.) is admissible as a Scientific Technician/Technologist.

As far as we know, no TN’s have been revoked from current Technicians. However,unless Technicians qualify under the new regulations, they will not be issued new TN’swhen their current status expires. Anyone who will be affected by this change in INSpolicy should contact his or her attorney immediately.

INS Will Share Data with the Social Security Administration to Facilitate Issuance of Social Security Numbers to Aliens

Since September 11, 2001, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has been underpressure to verify the immigrant and nonimmigrant status of aliens before issuing SocialSecurity Numbers to them. Historically, the SSA has relied on documents provided byalien applicants to verify lawful immigrant or nonimmigrant status. However, theprevailing problem of document fraud has led the SSA to change its method of verifyingaliens’ status. Instead of asking the alien for proof of status, the SSA now asks the INSfor proof of an alien’s status before issuing a Social Security Number. Until recently, theverification process between the SSA and the INS has been performed manually, and hastaken a long time. The result was that many bona fide nonimmigrants and immigrantswere kept from working for a time. According to a report published by the Office of theInspector General, the INS is currently working on a computerized system with whichthey will be able to share information on aliens’ status with the SSA. The data sharingsystem will work differently for nonimmigrants and immigrants.

Nonimmigrants

Since September 1, 2002, the SSA has been manually verifying aliens’ nonimmigrantstatus with INS before issuing new SSN’s to aliens. In order to facilitate and quicken theverification process, the INS has begun to provide the SSA with electronic access toportions of its databases. The INS is currently working to streamline the electronicverification process for the SSA.

Immigrants

In order to work in the U.S., a nonimmigrant alien must receive a Social Security card with alegend across the top stating that he/she may work only with INS authorization. After the alienbecomes a Permanent Resident of the United States, the legend needs to be removed. PermanentResidents have to apply for a new Social Security card that does not have the legend. 4Under the current system, immigrants report to Social Security offices to complete formsSS-5 in order to get new cards. The immigrants must present proof of age, identity, andproof of Permanent Resident status. The SSA then manually verifies the alien’simmigrant status with INS within 10-20 days.

A plan is in the works that would radically improve the process of issuing social securitynumbers to immigrants. The INS and the Department of State have been sharing adatabase called Interagency Border Inspection System (IBIS) since 1995. IBIS is a toolthat the INS uses to verify an alien’s status. When an alien travels to a U.S. Consulateabroad to apply for an immigrant visa and the immigrant visa is granted, the Departmentof State updates IBIS to indicate show that the alien has received an immigrant visa. Thealien then enters the U.S. through a Port of Entry, at which time an INS officer inspectsthe alien. In the process of inspection, the officer checks IBIS to see whether it has beenupdated by the Department of State, and whether an immigrant visa has been issued tothe alien.

Since the IBIS database contains a limited amount of information about the alien, butdoes contain verification of immigrant status, it is a valuable tool for sharing informationwith the Social Security Administration. The INS is currently working with the SSA tocoordinate databases. If the everything works according to plan, aliens who travel abroadto apply for immigrant visas will be asked to sign a statement granting the SSA access tohis or her IBIS entry. If the immigrant signs this authorizing statement, then the SSAwill automatically issue a new Social Security card to the alien. The alien will not haveto appear in person at a Social Security office in order to apply; the card will be mailed tohis or her U.S. residence automatically. The Inspector General has not offered a timeframe for implementation of this new policy. It is in the works.

U.S. Embassy in London, England Changes Procedures for Issuance of Nonimmigrant Visas

As of January 6, 2003, any nonimmigrant applying for a visa at the U.S. Embassy inLondon, England will be required to attend an interview with a consular officer. Theseinterviews will be conducted by appointment only. Walk-ins will not be permitted. Thechange in procedure was announced on the Embassy’s website: www.usembassy.org.uk.The only people exempt from interviews are applicants under 16 years of age; applicantsover 60 years of age who were not born in, and are not passport holders of one of the 7state sponsors of terrorism; and those who are applying for O, P, or I Visas or are airlinecrewmembers applying for C-1 or D visas.

Applicants who wish to schedule nonimmigrant visa interview appointments must call09055-444-546 from within the U.K. If the applicant cannot be present in the U.K. tomake the phone call, then someone else can make the appointment for him/her fromwithin the U.K. However, every applicant who is not exempt the interview must bephysically present at the Embassy at the time of the actual interview.

Anyone who arrives more than 30 minutes late for the scheduled interview will not beaccommodated. Applicants should expect to spend at least 4 hours at the Embassy on theday of the interview. They should bring the following documents to the Embassy:

1. Stamped, self-addressed Special Delivery envelope

2. Completed form DS-156 and, if necessary, DS-157;

3. Completed fee documentation;

4. Passport; and

5. Any other required documents.Visas for routine visa applicants will be mailed back to the applicant in the U.K. within 2 work days in the Special Delivery envelope.

It is important that anyone subject to the nonimmigrant visa interview leaves him/herselfsufficient time in the U.K. before planning to return to the U.S. This particularly applieswhere anyone checks “yes” to any of the questions in box 33 of the form DS-156 relatingto potential grounds of ineligibility.

The nonimmigrant visa issuance procedures implemented at the Embassy in London areindicative of changes to come at other consular posts in the not so distant future.

INS to Require Advance Submission of Passenger Data

According to a News Release issued by the Department of Justice on December 31, 2002,the INS has begun to require all commercial carries to submit passenger manifests to INSelectronically before an aircraft arrives or departs from the U.S. This policy waspublished in the Federal Register on January 3, 2003 and is scheduled to go into effectafter a 30-day comment period. The goal of the policy is, of course, to enforce U.S.immigration laws.

The information contained in this newsletter is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice.