In October 2021, new travel rules were announced. The rules required proof of COVID-19 vaccination and applied to all nonimmigrant travelers to the USA and were supposed to expire on November 8, 2022. However, they were renewed again.

Overview

• All nonimmigrant foreign nationals are required to present proof of being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 prior to boarding a flight to the United States from a foreign country
• Applies only to nonimmigrant foreign nationals entering the United States.
• Nonimmigrant means someone who is NOT a: U.S. citizen, U.S. national, lawful permanent resident, or traveling to the United States on an immigrant visa
• This latest requirement is an extension of a previous requirement which was set to expire on November 8, 2022

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has extended the requirement for all nonimmigrant foreign nationals to present proof of being fully vaccinated prior to entering the United States. Below, we have defined “fully vaccinated” along with the documentation required to establish proof as well as exceptions to this requirement.

Definition of Fully-Vaccinated
This becomes effective November 9, 2022, and continues the requirement for all nonimmigrant foreign nationals to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination prior to boarding a flight to the United States. The definition of a Fully Vaccinated Against COVID-19 includes:

• two weeks (14 days) since a person received one dose of an accepted single-dose-series COVID-19 vaccine (e.g., Janssen/J&J); OR
• two weeks (14 days) since a person’s second dose in a two-dose series of an accepted COVID-19 vaccine; OR
• two weeks (14 days) since a person received the full series of an accepted COVID-19 vaccine (not placebo) in a clinical trial; OR
• two weeks (14 days) since the person received two doses of any “mix-and-match” combination of accepted COVID-19 vaccines administered at least 17 days apart
• NOTE: A full 14 days must have passed since the day the COVID-19 vaccine series was completed. For example, if the vaccine series was completed on the first day of the month, the person is considered fully vaccinated on the 15th of that month.

Several types of documentation are acceptable for proof of COVID-19 vaccination, including verifiable (digital or paper), non-verifiable paper records, and non-verifiable digital records.

• A verifiable vaccination record, also known as a verifiable vaccination credential, may be paper or digital and typically includes a QR code (Quick Response code) that links to information confirming the credential was generated from an immunization record in an official database and is protected from tampering. When available, verifiable records are preferred as they indicate that the verifiable credential was generated from an immunization record in an official database and that the credential is valid and legitimate.
• A non-verifiable vaccination record is an official record of vaccination that is not digitally linked to an official database with official immunization records and is protected from tampering.
• All forms of proof of COVID-19 vaccination must have personal identifiers (full name plus at least one other identifier such as date of birth or passport number) that match the personal identifiers on the passenger’s passport or other travel documents.
• Airlines and aircraft operators must determine when the translation of documentation of vaccination is necessary for review.

Exceptions (for nonimmigrants)
​The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has established certain exceptions to this requirement, including:

• Persons on diplomatic or official foreign government travel
• Children under 18 years of age
• Participants in certain COVID-19 vaccine trials
• Persons with medical contraindications to receiving a COVID-19 vaccine
• Persons issued a humanitarian or emergency exception
• Persons with valid nonimmigrant visas (excluding B-1 [business] or B-2 [tourism] visas) who are citizens of a country with limited COVID-19 vaccine availability (Table 4)
• Members of the U.S. Armed Forces or their spouses or children (under 18 years of age)
• Sea crew members traveling pursuant to a C-1 and D nonimmigrant visa
• Persons whose entry would be in the U.S. national interest, as determined by the Secretary of State, Secretary of Transportation, or Secretary of Homeland Security (or their designees)

A complete list of required documentation for excepted travelers can be found on the CDC website.

CDC and USCIS Covid-19 vaccination requirements for IMMIGRANTS were updated in July 2022:

"Effective July 25, 2022, the lower age limit for the COVID-19 vaccine requirement is 6 months of age. Any applicant 6 months through 4 years of age who presents for a medical examination on or after this date will be subject to this requirement... This is in addition to older applicants who are already subject to these requirements."

For more, visit the CDC website.

Alcohol-related crimes, charges, convictions are a health-related ground of inadmissibility to the United States.

USCIS, DHS, ICE, Department of State and other immigration authorities are now following the new policy regarding the individuals who have alcohol-related charges, arrests or offenses. Immigrants should keep in mind the consequences of having even one alcohol related criminal charge or offense, which means that USCIS possibly can find them ineligible for an extension of status, change of status, adjustment of status request.

In some cases (not always) it could be possible to leave the U.S.A. and apply for a visa at the U.S. Consulate abroad. However, U.S. Consulates abroad can require applicants to be evaluated by a designated panel physician who will evaluate whether the visa applicant has a physical or mental disorder associated with alcohol use that may pose a threat to the property, safety or welfare of others in the United States.

It should be noted that the U.S. Consulates are now often revoking already issued and valid visas of affected foreign nationals when they receive a law enforcement report of a DUI-related arrest or conviction regardless of whether individuals are in the United States or abroad at the time. A person can receive a phone call or email asking him or her to come to the U.S. Consulate with a passport (no explanations given), so a visa can be physically revoked (cancelled). Most people are unaware that their visas are revoked until they try to return to the United States after travel abroad.  ​Some people with alcohol-related charges receive letters from the U.S. Department of State notifying them of their visa revocation. 

Because these negative consequences are result of the health-related ground of inadmissibility, it means that no conviction is necessary (arrest and charged are enough). 

Until recently, the only affected groups of people were the visa holders with a single alcohol-related arrest or conviction within the last five years, or two or more alcohol-related arrests or convictions.

Under the current policy, it only takes a single alcohol-related charge to trigger action by U.S. authorities. USCIS is now identifying alcohol-related offenses and denying requests for an extension of status in any visa classification.

Until recently and before this policy change, U.S. Consulates only referred visa holders to a panel physician for evaluation when a new visa application was made. Now, U.S. Consulates are responding to law enforcement reports proactively by revoking the already approved and issued visas of anyone who has an alcohol-related charge even in situations where an individual hasn’t made a new visa application.

If USCIS denied an application for extension or change of status, the applicant will have to leave the country and apply for a visa at a U.S. consulate abroad, in his home country. “Every nonimmigrant alien who applies for admission to, or an extension of stay in, the United States must establish that he or she is ​admissible to the United States, or that any ground of inadmissibility has been waived.” In other words, it is an applicant's burden to prove that he/she is not inadmissible. 

An alcohol-related charge is a health ground of inadmissibility, which means that a conviction is not required and charges alone can trigger inadmissibility. Visa holders affected by this rule are not removable (not deportable on this ground) from the United States.

If a visa is denied, can a visa applicant file an appeal of denial of a Visa Application at the U.S. Consulate abroad?  No, you can't appeal a visa denial. There is no appeal process to challenge a consular officer’s decision to deny a visa application. The doctrine of "nonreviewability of consular decisions" was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015 in the case Kerry v. Din .

Another important moment to keep in mind is that neither the visa applicant nor the attorney can review the panel physician’s medical report.

What else can be done? People can ask for an Advisory Opinion from the Department of State’s Visa Office. Also, visa applicants can dispute the findings of the panel physician by asking the consular officer to request an Advisory Opinion from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which the consular officer can refuse to do without recourse. Both of these options take a lot of time. As a result, most of the nonimmigrant visa applicants have to obtain a nonimmigrant waiver of inadmissibility through the DHS, which could take six months or longer to process, and during this time the visa applicant has to wait abroad. Approval of any immigrant or nonimmigrant visa waiver is not guaranteed.

During October 19, 2017 meeting, AILA asked the US Department of State Liaison Committee and the Visa Office the following question:

"AILA has received reports of visa holders whose visas were prudentially revoked for DUI arrests while they are in the United States being charged by ICE as removable under INA §237(a)(1)(B), for being physically present in the United States with a revoked nonimmigrant visa. Based on our previous conversations, it is our understanding that a prudential revocation only becomes effective once the alien departs the United States. Has VO discussed this issue with DHS? If prudential revocations are now leading to the initiation of removal proceedings, would VO be willing to revisit the issue to ensure that the prudential revocation only precludes future travel to the United States?"

DoS answer: "We’ve discussed this with ICE, and there has not been a policy change."

New USCIS waiver policy memorandum (08/23/2017).

Updated USCIS Policy Manual, Chapter 7, Physical or Mental Disorders.

Nonimmigrant waiver application.

Immigrant waiver application.

On August 31, 2017, the US Department of State announced it will close down the Russian consulate in San Francisco, CA, as well as annexes in Washington, DC and New York, NY in response to mandated 755 staff cuts at the US mission in Russia in July 2017

The move comes one day before September 1st Moscow's deadline for US personnel to leave their positions and will take effect Saturday.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that the decision to close the Russian diplomatic facilities was made directly by President.

In late 2016, President Obama ordered the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats, and the seizure of two Russian government compounds in response to alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election.

Earlier in August 2017, the U.S, Consulates in Russia stopped issuing nonimmigrant visas to Russian citizens in response to Russian sanctions announced in July 2017.

Briefly in Russian:

Госдеп США объявил сегодня о закрытии Российского Консульства в Сан Франциско, Калифорнии, и двух консульских отделов в Вашингтоне и Нью-Йорке.

По словам пресс секретяря Белого Дома, это решение было принято лично президентом.

Напомню, что еще в 2016 президент Обама выдворил из США 35 российских дипломатов и конфисковал два объекта недвижимости за подозрение во вмешательстве в выборы президента США.

Read here.

​

On June 12, 2017 the U.S. Supreme Court issued a new decision on acquisition of U.S. citizenship from birth by a child born abroad and out of wedlock, when one parent is a U. S. citizen and the other a citizen of another nation, striking down on equal protection grounds the distinction in INA 309 between the physical presence required for unwed fathers and mothers when the child is born out of wedlock: 
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/16pdf/15-1191_2a34.pdf.

Applicable to married couples, the main rule in effect at the time here relevant, 8 U. S. C. §1401(a)(7) (1958 ed.), required the U.S.-citizen parent to have ten years’ physical presence in the United States prior to the child’s birth, “at least five of which were after attaining” age 14.

The same rule is made applicable to unwed U.S.-citizen fathers by §1409(a), but §1409(c) created an exception for an unwed U. S.-citizen mother, whose citizenship can be transmitted to a child born abroad if she has lived continuously in the United States for just one year prior to the child’s birth. 

Under the US Supreme Court ruling, the government (USCIS and US Dept of State) is going to equally apply to mothers and fathers the more restrictive rule for fathers (10 years of physical presence), rather than the much less restrictive rule (exception) for mothers (one-year rule).

This should apply (probably, not clear at this time) only to children of unwed mothers who are born after June 12, 2017, because citizenship is automatically acquired at birth, and a later decision can't strip you of it.

This new law will be relevant in many N-600 applications.

Read the U.S. Supreme Court decision here.

In Russian:

12 июня 2017 Верховный Суд США вынес решение по делу автоматического получения американского гражданства внебрачным ребенком, рожденным за пределами США, когда один из родителей (мать или отец) являются гражданином США, и когда родители не состоят в законном браке.

По старому закону, правила были более жесткие по отношению к отцу внебрачного ребенка.

Теперь после решения суда от 12 июня 2017, суд ужесточил закон о по отношению детей, рожденных вне брака, где американская гражданка - это мать ребенка. По новому закону, мать должна доказать физическое проживание в США в течение как минимум 10 лет (ранее это был всего год).

Пока закон не изменится Конгрессом США, это новое правило будет применяться везде в США и за пределами США во всех посольствах и консульствах.

Решение суда можно почитать тут. 

​

 On March 06, 2017, President signed a new Executive Order replacing the previous EO. 

On Monday, March 06, 2017, the President signed a new "Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States" (to replace the previous EO, so called "Travel Ban" or "Muslim Ban" which was placed on hold by the courts). 

New executive order narrowed a scope of the travel ban to block only new applicants for visas from 6 countries (LIst of Six instead of List of Seven), and removed Iraq from its coverage.

The new order, which goes into effect one minute after midnight on March 16, 2017, prohibits entry into the United States for citizens of six countries—Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen—for 90 days for those who do not already hold a valid visa. Iraq was removed from the "List of Seven".

New visas will not be issued and expired visas will not be renewed for citizens from the six countries during the 90-day period.

DHS had clarified the new ban: "If you're in the United States on the effective date of this order, which is March 16 2017, it does not apply to you. If you have a valid visa on the effective date of this order, it does not apply to you."

Like its predecessor, the new order shuts down the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for 120 days, effectively halting the admission of new refugees into the United States for four months. But March 6th order no longer includes the January 27 2017 order’s permanent ban on Syrian refugee admissions. Syrian refugees resettlement is temporarily halted for 120 days (not permanently as it was in the previous EO).

The new executive order will not apply to anyone who already holds a green card or a valid U.S. visa or has been granted official refugee or asylum status. 

The new executive order restores visas that were revoked “as a result of” the previous order. 

Sec.12 (d): "Any individual whose visa was marked revoked or marked canceled as a result of Executive Order 13769 shall be entitled to a travel document confirming that the individual is permitted to travel to the United States and seek entry.  Any prior cancellation or revocation of a visa that was solely pursuant to Executive Order 13769 shall not be the basis of inadmissibility for any future determination about entry or admissibility."

And it removes Iraq from the list of targeted countries, creating a "List of Six" from the previous "List of Seven".

Moreover, the new order expands the government’s ability to issue “case-by-case waivers” to immigrants affected by the ban. The old ban allowed these waivers only when they were “in the national interest”. Under the new order, Customs and Border Protection agents, as well as consular officers, may grant a waiver to immigrants from the six targeted countries if they fall under a number of categories. 

Those waiver categories include:

- foreign students stranded outside the United States on the day the order is signed; 
- immigrants with “previously established significant contacts” with the U.S. who are outside the country when the order is signed; 
- foreign nationals with “significant business or professional obligations” in the U.S.; 
- foreign nationals “seeking to enter the United States to visit or reside with a close family member … who is a United States citizen, lawful permanent resident, or alien lawfully admitted on a valid nonimmigrant visa”; 
- children and those in need of “urgent medical care", or “someone whose entry is otherwise justified by the special circumstances of the case”; and
- immigrants who have previously served on behalf of the U.S. government (if they can prove their service).

The updated and revised executive order on immigration took into consideration many legal objections to its predecessor, and the court of appeals decision. However, the second revised EO is not immune to litigation. We will keep you posted.
​
#EO #executiveorder #travelban #muslimban

The number of U.S. citizens who renounced their U.S. citizenship or terminated their permanent residency during 2016 is at a record high. This number is growing every year, which is an interesting trend. 

On Friday, February 9th 2017, the Treasury Department published the names of 2,365 individuals who expatriated during the fourth quarter of 2016. Total number for 2016 came to 5,411 American expatriates over the whole year in FY 2016.

In FY 2015, 4,279 US citizens renounced US citizenship, which is 26 percent less than in FY 2016.

According to the International Tax Blog, the escalation of offshore penalties over the past two decades could be a contributing factor in this rise. 

According to Bloomberg, the Treasury began taxing Americans abroad around the time of the Civil War, to prevent citizens from fleeing the country to avoid fighting. Nowadays, the goal of the list is to make sure that all of the income of U.S. citizens — both in the country and abroad — is reported to the Internal Revenue Service.

#renounce #renounceuscitizenship #expat #expatriate #uscitizenship #usacitizenship

In Russian:

В 2016 году выросло количество американцев, отказавшихся от американского гражданства. В 2016 таких было 5 411, что на 26 процента больше, чем  в 2015 году, когда 4 279 американца вышли или отказались от американского гражданства.

Этот интересный тренд усилился после того как американское правительство ужесточило санкции за неуплату налогов на доходы полученные по всему миру, за пределами США, и контроль за счетами американских граждан в банках иностранных стран.

На практике лица, отказавшиеся от гражданства США, имеют второе гражданство или вид на жительство в другой стране, и основная, но "скрытая" причина отказа от гражданства - это нежелание платить налог на доход, полученный за пределами США в Казначейство США. Хотя официально эта причина не указывается, так как это может привести к стутусу невъездного в США.

02/02/2017 UPDATE:

C 7 февраля 2017 года ФСБ России вводит режим пограничной зоны вдоль границы с Белоруссией. 
​
Пределы пограничной зоны устанавливаются в Брянской, Смоленской и Псковской областях вдоль белорусской границы. Приказы главы ФСБ вступают в силу 7 февраля 2017. Сами документы датированы 29 декабря.

Как известно, в феврале 2017 года в Белоруссии начинает действовать безвизовый режим для граждан 80 стран, включая весь Евросоюз и США. Новые правила будут применяться только к туристам, прибывающим в Белоруссию не более чем на пять суток.

Власти Белоруссии подчеркивали, что новый порядок не будет распространяться на лиц, намеревающихся осуществить вылет в аэропорты России, и лиц, прилетающих из российских аэропортов. Пограничный контроль на таких рейсах сейчас не осуществляется.

О введении Белоруссией безвизового режима было объявлено 9 января 2017. Через неделю белорусские СМИ сообщили о том, что на рейсах из Минска в Москву во всех аэропортах прилета начали проверять пас​порта.

​Read more here. 

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Belarus signed a new law: effective February 9, 2017, citizens of 80 countries, including USA, Canada, EU, Japan, can visit Belarus for up to 5 days without a visa, visa-free, if arriving in Belarus at Minsk International Airport. Effective date is Feb 9, 2017.

This is a very welcome news for many Americans, citizens of Poland, EU and many other countries, who can now visit their families in Belarus without having to apply for a visitor's visa.

Беларусь вводит пятидневный безвизовый режим для граждан 80 стран, включая граждан США, Канада, Евросоюз, Япония, при условии, что они прилетают в Беларусь через международный аэропорт в Минске и имеют медстраховку.

​Официальный источник - офис Президента - 
http://president.gov.by/ru/news_ru/view/belarus-vvodit-pjatidnevnyj-bezvizovyj-rezhim-dlja-grazhdan-80-stran-15342/