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November 19, 2001 - Foreign nationals who are not citizens or residents of Canada or Mexico and have a nonimmigrant visa appointment at a U.S. consulate in Canada or Mexico may soon be hearing from the State Department to cancel their appointment. Reliable sources state that the processing of visa applications for third country nationals at border posts in Canada and Mexico who are not residents of the consular district has been suspended and existing nonimmigrant visa appointments are being cancelled, as of November 16, 2001. It appears that the suspension is across the board for all nationalities at the moment. Sources at the U.S. Department of State (DOS) state that this is a temporary measure. At this time, those individuals with appointments should consider postponing their trip to Canada or Mexico until this report is confirmed. The DOS has indicated a further concern with the possibility that INS may be changing its practices on the borders, particularly with respect to the practice of allowing re-entry to the U.S. after brief visits of less than 30 days from territories considered to be contiguous to the United States. Until this time, a foreign national with a valid I-94 card was allowed to reenter the U.S. after a brief visit to Canada, Mexico or other "contiguous territory" as that term is defined, without a current visa stamp pursuant to a policy known as "Automatic Revalidation." Many foreign nationals have used this provision to obtain a visa stamp from a U.S. consulate in our contiguous, or neighboring countries, under the assurance of returning to the U.S. in case the consular visit was unsuccessful. A third country national simply had to prove to INS that his or her visit was for less than 30 days, that the I-94 card was still valid, the passport was still current and that he or she did not violate any other immigration laws. It is possible that this may no longer be in effect, at least temporarily. We do not have full details or official verification of the scope and duration of these policies, however, it is suggested that third country nationals consider postponing nonimmigrant visa appointments in Canada and Mexico until we have more reliable information. We will post updated information as soon as it becomes available. |
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