October 10, 2019
Visitors to the U.S. Need to Beware of New Grounds
Foreign nationals visiting the U.S. can now be denied entry, or those already in the country can be asked to leave, on the basis of a new ground – if such individuals fail to follow through on their stated plans for three months. The Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, in a recent cable sent out to all American embassies, wrote that visitors who require a visa before entering the U.S. must then follow through on their stated plans for at least three months. If in that period they do something they had failed to disclose in an interview with a consular officer – such as marry an American citizen, go to school or get employed – it will be presumed that they have deliberately lied. This would make it difficult for such visitors to renew a visa, get a new one or change their status. And if they were still in the U.S., it would make those visitors eligible for deportation.
Source: The New York Times at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/18/us/politics/us-visa-rules-tillerson.html?mcubz=3 (Accessed on September 20, 2017)
Zeenat Phophalia, Esq., Senior Associate
