Visa Delays in Arab Countries

[LynnandAhmed 0]

Restrict Arab Visa Applications, Not Mexican Immigrants

by Daniel T. Griswold

Daniel Griswold is associate director of the Center for Trade Policy Studies at the Cato Institute. He is author of the new Cato study, "Willing Workers: Fixing the Problem of Illegal Mexican Migration to the United States."

In the year since the terrorist attacks of September 11, long-time opponents of immigration have tried to exploit legitimate concerns about border security by tarring millions of peaceful, hardworking immigrants with the stain of terrorism. The incessant message from the Federation for American Immigration Reform, the Center for Immigration Studies, certain columnists at National Review, and Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), head of the House Immigration Reform Caucus, has been to blame the straw man of "open borders" for allowing terrorists into the country. Their only solution is a drastic cut in the number of immigrants allowed into the United States.

Opponents of immigration demand the wrong solution for the wrong problem. The most likely profile of a terrorist is not an immigrant entering from Mexico, but a non-immigrant entering from a small group of Muslim-majority countries. Like a laser-guided smart bomb, we should aim our border-control efforts at the most likely sources and channels through which terrorists would enter our country.

Immigrants -- foreigners who come to the United States to settle permanently -- are only a small subset of the tens of millions of foreigners who cross our borders every year. In fiscal year 2000, 33.7 million foreigners entered the United States, only about 1 million of them to immigrate. More than 95 percent arrived as temporary visitors for business and pleasure, the rest as students, government officials, temporary workers, or their family members. Almost all left the country within a few weeks or months of arriving.

None of the 19 Sept. 11 terrorists came as immigrants. None of them applied to the INS for permanent residency. None entered via the Mexican border. Like most aliens who enter the United States, they were here on temporary tourist and student visas. Even if we cut immigration to zero, that would not stop terrorists from slipping into the country on non-immigrant visas.

Most members of Congress understand that willing workers from Mexico are not a threat to America's national security. Of the 48 foreign-born terrorists known to have plotted attacks dating back to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, all were Muslim males and all but three were from Arab countries. More than half came from Saudi Arabia or Egypt. Others came from Sudan, the Palestinian territories, Algeria, Lebanon, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.

The new border security law takes the modest step of restricting visas for aliens from any country designated a "state sponsor" of terrorism. Section 306 stipulates, "No nonimmigrant visa ... shall be issued to any alien from a country that is a state sponsor of international terrorism unless the Secretary of State determines, in consultation with the Attorney General and the heads of other appropriate United States agencies, that such alien does not pose a threat to the safety or national security of the United States." But the list includes only seven states: Libya, Sudan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, North Korea and Cuba.

Visas should be restricted not only for countries where the state actively sponsors terrorism, but also for those where terrorists are most likely to originate -- and that means the Arab Middle East and other Muslim countries where terrorists are known to operate. In November 2001, the State Department began to delay the issuance of visas to males age 16 to 45 from Muslim-majority countries in order to scrutinize their applications more closely, but U.S. policy should be to stop, not just delay, those visas until we can be sure that any individual entering from those countries is not a security threat. The scope of the new border security law should be extended to a wider circle of countries.

Of course, most visitors and immigrants from Arab countries have no intention of committing terrorist attacks against the United States. But we also know that almost all the terrorists who have entered the United States were from that small group of countries. Here is a case where profiling is both rational and justified. It is absurd not to subject visa applicants from Arab countries to a higher level of scrutiny than we apply to a grandmother on holiday from Denmark.

If a more restrictive visa policy had been applied to Arab countries in 2000 or earlier, the Sept. 11 attacks would not have unfolded as they did, and probably would have been thwarted altogether. In an ideal world of perfect knowledge, we could treat all visa applicants strictly as individuals. But with imperfect knowledge and limited resources, we need to play the odds, and the odds are that future terrorists, like those of Sept. 11, will be adult males originating from a relatively small group of Muslim-majority countries. Restricting visas and immigration from that part of the world offers the best hope of keeping terrorists out without sacrificing the benefits of an economy open to peaceful trade and immigration.

[LynnandAhmed 0]

And more info for those of us waiting in case you haven't realized it already:

Consular Security Checks. For visa applicants at any State Department consular post outside of the United States, a security “hit†will create a delay requiring FBI clearance prior to visa issuance. The length of time for the FBI clearance can range between 1 week and 6 months. The Department of State is unable to control the time it takes for the checks, and asks that candidates from any of the countries listed as potential security concerns check with the individual post in advance of international travel and allow significant lead time for processing of visas. A common occurrence is that nationals of 26 countries that the State Department has indicated may pose security concerns encounter both a visa interview and FBI clearance request across consular posts. The 26 countries are: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Security “hits†may also occur for nationals of other countries, as well as for those who have traveled to the 26 countries recently. Consular Visa Interview for Nationals of Seven State Sponsors of Terrorism. The State Department has deemed seven states as sponsors of terrorism. The seven states are: North Korea, Cuba, Syria, Sudan, Iran, Iraq, and Libya. All applicants from these seven countries who are age 16 and over, irrespective of gender, must without exception complete form DS-157, in addition to form DS-156, and must appear for an interview with a consular officer. An exception to the requirement for an interview may be made at the discretion of the consular officer in cases of A and G visa applicants (except for A-3 and G-5 applicants, who must be interviewed). Posted by Shaw Pittman on December 12, 2002.

Also, found this........says mostly the same:

2) Security clearances for some visa applications

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), together with the DOS have indicated that the process of issuing visas to some individuals will be slowed due to “name check†security clearances. The DOS has stated that their goal is to issue the security clearances within a 30-day period.

The following categories are used to determine who may be subject to this process.

By citizenship, nationality or country of birth

Special scrutiny is now imposed on visa applicants who were born in or are nationals or citizens of certain countries. The list has varied since 2001, and it is often unclear whether or not a particular country is still officially on the list or not. The list was originally designed to apply to male visa applicants between the ages of 16 and 45. However this designation has not been applied consistently, and female applicants have also been subject to security procedures.

In fact there are two lists of countries. The first list has been in place consistently for many years as countries the DOS has identified as “state sponsors of terrorismâ€. Male and female visa applicants from these countries are subject to security clearance procedures :

A security clearance may also be required by the U.S. consulate if a visa applicant is born in or is a citizen or national of certain countries. The list of countries is not published, but seems to include the following:

Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and the territories of Gaza and West Bank. This list will continue to change.

Edited March 22, 2008 by LynnandAhmed

[LynnandAhmed 0]

And some suggestions on improving the process from NAFSA:

3. Create A Timely, Transparent And Predictable Visa Process

• The White House should institute standard guidelines for inter-agency reviews of visa applications:

- Establish a 15-day standard for responses to the State Department from other agencies in the inter-agency clearance process.

- Implement a 30-day standard for the completion of the entire inter-agency review process, including the response to the consulate’s security clearance request.

- Flag for expedited processing any application not completed within 30 days, and advise the consulate of the delay and the estimated processing time remaining.

- In the case of applications not completed within 30 days, the applicant, or the program to which the applicant seeks access, should be able to inquire about the application’s status, and the estimated processing time remaining, via a call-in number or email inbox.

- Establish a special review process to resolve any cases not decided within 60 days.

IMPLEMENTATION STATUS: DOS has streamlined this process by moving from a paper-based system to electronic transmission of clearance requests—meaning that clearance requests no longer get “lost” as they did in the previous system. DOS has also worked with the other agencies involved to speed up the time in which the overwhelming majority of these requests are processed. While there is still little transparency in the process for individuals whose clearances are not processed within 30 days, the reported average processing time for Mantis cases continues to be less than 14 days.

• Make ground rules predictable by imposing them prospectively, not on those already in the application pipeline.

4. Provide The Necessary Resources, And Manage Within Them.

• Congress must act to bring the resources appropriated for the consular affairs function into line with the increased scrutiny of visa applications that Congress demands, and the State Department must manage within the available resources.

• Adequate resources must be provided to ensure the interoperability of data systems necessary for the efficient functioning of the inter-agency review process.

IMPLEMENTATION STATUS: Since 9/11, Congress has increased funding for consular officers, and over the past five years, DOS has created 570 new consular Foreign Service positions. DOS also continues to automate obsolete visa processing systems. DOS has developed a fully electronic visa application, and DOS and DHS have successfully piloted a “paperless” visa application system, with plans to introduce this by early 2008. DOS and DHS, working with other agencies, also plan to standardize screening criteria and create a virtual clearinghouse of unified data.

NAFSA Visa Recommendations issued: April 2004

Implementation status last updated: January 1, 2008

[Martin&Nat 0]

Hey

It's a shame to hear that you may be waiting a little longer for your visa to be approved, although on the bright side it does say the extended FBI checks can be done in a week.

It is interesting to see that they reserve the right to do extended checks on citizens from other countries who have visited the countries on their 'watch list'. I nearly visited Egypt last year - in a way, I am glad I didn't now!

- Martin