Visa Issuances: Policy, Issues, and Legislation (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Jan. 24, 2008 |
| Report Number |
RL31512 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Ruth Ellen Wasem, Domestic Social Policy Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
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Summary:
Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, considerable concern has been raised because the 19 terrorists were aliens who apparently entered the United States with temporary visas despite provisions in immigration laws that bar the admission of terrorists. Foreign nationals not already legally residing in the United States who wish to come to the United States generally must obtain a visa to be admitted, with certain exceptions noted in law. The report of the 9/11 Commission maintained that border security was not considered a national security matter prior to September 11, and as a result the State Department's consular officers were not treated as full partners in counterterrorism efforts. The 9/11 Commission made several recommendations that underscored the urgency of implementing the provisions on visa policy and immigration control that Congress enacted several years ago.
As enacted, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (P.L. 108-458) further broadens the security and terrorism grounds of inadmissibility to exclude aliens who have participated in the commission of acts of torture or extrajudicial killings abroad or who are members of political, social, or other groups that endorse or espouse terrorist activity. It also includes provions to deploy technologies (e.g., biometrics) to detect potential terrorist indicators on travel documents; establish an Office of Visa and Passport Security; and train consular officers in the detection of terrorist travel patterns. The conferees retained the provision on visa revocation as a ground of inadmissibility but permit limited judicial review of removal if visa revocation is the sole basis of the removal.
As these more stringent visa policies have gone into force, however, new concerns have arisen about visa processing delays. Visa applicants often face extensive wait times for interviews. From September 2005 through February 2006, GAO found that 97 of DOS's 211 visa-issuing posts reported maximum wait times of 30 or more days in at least one month. Whether these delays are having a deleterious effect on travel and commerce has become an issue. Some now question whether sufficient resources and staff are in place to manage visa issuances in the post-September 11 world.
Meanwhile, nonimmigrant (i.e., temporary) visas issued abroad dipped to 4.9 million in FY2003 after peaking at 7.6 million in FY2001. The FY2005 data (most recent published source) indicated an upturn, as 5.4 million nonimmigrant visas were issued. Combined, visitors for tourism and business comprised the largest group of nonimmigrants visas issued in FY2005, about 3.7 million down from 5.7 million in FY2000. Other notable categories were temporary workers (17%) and students or cultural exchange (9.4%). The number of permanent resident visas issued each year by consular officers abroad has held steady at about 0.4 million over the past decade.
DOS excluded 38,434 potential immigrants in FY2005 and refused 270,615 potential immigrants in FY2005 because their visa application did not comply with provisions in the INA. In terms of temporary visas, DOS excluded 25,212 potential nonimmigrants in FY2005 and refused almost 2 million potential nonimmigrants in FY2005 because the alien was not qualified for the visa.
