NEWS UPDATES

DHS Announces New Land and Sea Travel Document Procedures

All employers are required to complete a Form I-9 for each new employee hired in the United States.  Key to the Form revision is the removal of documents for proof of both identity and employment eligibility.  After April 3, 2009, employers are required to use the new Form I-9.

International Trusted Traveler Program Now Available At LAX, Miami, Chicago, Atlanta

U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced 10/27/2008 that Global Entry enrollment centers are now open at four additional international U.S. airports. Global Entry is a new program to allow approved U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents returning to the U.S. to use the Global Entry kiosk as an alternative to the regular passport control line. For more information on this or other CBP trusted traveler programs, or for an application to enroll in the Global Entry pilot program, please visit www.GlobalEntry.gov.

Effective 1/18/09, additional categories of visitors will be required to provide fingerprints when entering the United States at airports:
-Lawful permanent residents of the United States (LPRs);
-Persons entering on immigrant visas;
-Persons entering as refugees and asylees;
-Canadian citizens who are required to obtain a Form I-94 or who require a waiver of inadmissibility to enter the United States (this excludes most Canadians entering the United States for tourism or short business trips );
-Persons paroled into the United States;
-Persons applying for admission under the Guam VWP. 
At a land border, US VISIT discretionery.

ADDITIONAL COUNTRIES TO ENTER THE VISA WAIVER PROGRAM (VWP) AND NEW ESTA PROGRAM

Effective 12/30/08, Malta will be designated as a VWP country. Effective 11/17/08, the citizens of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, and South Korea will be designated as VWP countries. This will increase the Program to 35 countries from 27.  The VWP allows citizens of qualifying countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business without obtaining a visa. Nationals participating in the VWP must travel only for business, pleasure, or transit; stay in the United States for 90 days or less; and, if arriving by sea or air, hold a valid ticket for return or onward travel and enter the United States aboard an air or sea carrier designated as a participant in the VWP.

Beginning Jan. 12, 2009, all visitors from such VWP countries must apply for and receive an approved travel authorization via ESTA prior to traveling to the United States. ESTA is a free program. For additional information about the new ESTA requirement, please visit http://www.cbp.gov/esta.

Department of State Announces Increase in Visa Application Fee
Effective January 1, 2008, the application fee for a U.S. nonimmigrant visa will increase from $100 to $131.

USCIS Announces New Citizenship Test
On September 27, 2007 USCIS announced the 100 questions and answers that comprise the civics component of the new naturalization test.  If an applicant applies AFTER October 1, 2008, he or she will take the redesigned version.

Passport Requirement for Air Travel Begins January 23, 2007
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Department of State issued a reminder that beginning Jan. 23, 2007, citizens of the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Bermuda are required to present a passport to enter the United States when arriving by air from any part of the Western Hemisphere. Since announcing this requirement last November, the departments have been encouraging all travelers to obtain passports before they travel.

The Guide clarifies changes in passport and e-Passport requirements for visitors traveling to the U.S as part of the VWP. Any passport issued on or after October 26, 2006, by a VWP country must be an e-Passport for travelers to be eligible to enter the U.S. without a visa. E-Passports are not required until the traveler's existing passport expires in the following cases: a VWP traveler with a valid, machine-readable passport with a digital photograph where the photograph was issued prior to October 26 and a VWP traveler with a valid, machine-readable passport without a digital photograph where the passport was issued prior to October 26. The guide is available at http://www.dhs.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/vwp_travelerguide.pdf

DHS AND DOS ADVISE THAT ALL VWP TRAVELERS TO THE U.S. MUST POSSESS MACHINE READABLE PASSPORTS
The Department of Homeland Security reminded travelers from 27 Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries that as of June 26, 2005, they must have a machine-readable passport to enter the United States without a visa. Transportation carriers will be fined for transporting any VWP traveler to the United States without a machine-readable passport. Similarly, VWP travelers arriving in the United States on that date without a machine-readable passport should not anticipate being granted one-time entry into the country. As an alternative for persons with immediate travel plans who are unable to obtain a machine-readable passport in time, the individual may apply for a U.S. visa at a U.S. Consulate or Embassy abroad.

Change of Address Notification
The USCIS requires all foreign nationals over the age of fourteen who remain in the U.S. for more than thirty days to notify the USCIS of any change in their address, and provide the new address within ten days of moving. Applicants can now change their address online at: https://egov.immigration.gov/crisgwi/go?action=coa