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CONTROVERSIAL RULE LIMITING VISITOR’S STAY
TO 30 DAYS IS WITHDRAWN BY I.N.S.
by Michael J. Gurfinkel, Esq.
Visitors to the United States can now heave a sigh
of relief. A controversial rule which would have limited the time
visitors may stay in the U.S. to only 30 days, had been withdrawn
by the Bush Administration.
The withdrawal was in response to numerous concerns
and complaints by the tourism and housing industries that the
measure has slowed down the entry of tourists into the U.S. and
the sale of vacation homes, particularly in South Florida, whose
governor is President Bush’s brother, Jeb Bush.
The proposed plan would have resulted in most visitors
being admitted for a period of only
30 days, instead of the usual six months, in response to
the security needs of the United States following the September
11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Under current procedures, visitors are typically
admitted for a period of six months. Visitors could apply for
a six-month extension of stay, enabling some visitors to stay
up to one full year in the United States, without violating the
terms of their stay.
The proposed rules governing visitor’s visas,
on the other hand, would have, if enacted:
- Eliminated the minimum 6-month admission period
for B-2 non-immigrant visitors, and instead limit the admission
period to “a period of time that is fair and reasonable
for completion of the purpose of the visit,” meaning the
amount of time needed to accomplish the purpose of the trip
(in many cases 30 days).
- Required visitors to explain to the INS inspector
the nature and purpose of their visit.
- Reduced the maximum initial admission period
for all B non-immigrant visitors from one year to six months.
- Limited the conditions for which an extension
of stay in B non-immigrant visa status can be granted, and reduce
the maximum length of that extension. Extensions would have
been granted only for “unexpected or compelling humanitarian
reasons.”
- Prohibited non-immigrants admitted in B-visitor
status from changing to student status unless they stated an
intention to study at the time of admission, to the Immigration
officer at the Port of Entry (airport).
Officials at the now-defunct INS were reportedly
open to a tourism industry compromise of guaranteeing most holders
of tourist visas to a 90-day stay – similar to what’s
already offered to Western European and Japanese visitors, but that
was vetoed by senior advisors to Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Tourists were complaining that they could not make concrete vacation
plans in America because their stay was dependent on their ability
to prove their case to an immigration official at the port of entry.
South Florida developers, on the other hand, complained that sales
of luxury vacation condominiums and townhouses have slowed down
because Latin American buyers were not certain if they could stay
more than 30 days in the U.S.
Let’s hope the Administration will continue in its movement
towards having a more lenient attitude towards immigration and aliens,
and instead target only terrorists. This proposed rule would have
unfairly hurt “legal” and law-abiding aliens, in an
ill-fated attempt to restrict terrorist activities. A terrorist
will not cease his activities merely because he is given a 30-day
stay.
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