December 14, 2007 - The Department of State (DOS) has announced two changes to the visa application process at consular posts abroad. Effective January 1, 2008, DOS is increasing the non-immigrant visa application fee from $100 to $131, in order to recover costs associated with increased security measures and other enhancements to the application process implemented by DOS over the last few years. Applicants who apply and pay the current $100 fee before January 1 and are scheduled for interviews in January 2008 will not have to pay the higher fee. All other applicants will be required to pay the new $131 application fee.

Another key change to eligibility verification has already caused most consular posts to warn applicants of potential delays in issuing visas. Non-immigrant visa categories requiring petition approval from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), such as H-1B and L-1 work visas, will now be verified by consular officers through the Petition Information Management System (PIMS), a new DOS database of approval notices and related documents from USCIS. Applicants who previously only needed to present an original I-797 approval notice to the consulate for immediate visa issuance, will now have to wait for PIMS verification. While most PIMS queries are supposed to receive a response within a few hours, there have been reports of technical failures due to increased usage, as well as missing records. DOS advises that most verification issues will be resolved within 48 hours but that further interagency cooperation from USCIS will be needed to ensure all approvals are recorded in PIMS.

BAL Comment: The updated visa fees are not as alarming as the recent delays seen at consular posts due to the PIMS rollout. For example, the U.S. Consulate in Vancouver began advising all applicants that a minimum of four business days would be required for visa processing, instead of same day issuance. Further, there is no mechanism in place for applicants to confirm the petition approval has been recorded in PIMS in advance of the visa appointment. Despite the promise of PIMS eventually rendering the I-797 approval notices unnecessary, BAL recommends applicants continue to carry the original I-797 when applying for an H1B or L-1 visa. Applicants should also anticipate a possible increased delay of two or more days between the visa interview and receipt of the visa stamp, and should plan their international travel accordingly. Increased holiday travel and a potential surge in visa applicants prior to the fee increase may also cause short-term delays in visa processing.

Fortunately, given the recent window of opening for adjustment of status filings, many employees and their families now have received Advance Parole travel authorization from USCIS. The Advance Parole document can be used in lieu of a visa for return to the U.S., eliminating the uncertainty that the PIMS procedures have caused. Alternatively, many foreign nationals already in the U.S. who wish to renew their visas can avoid much of the extensive travel and uncertainty associated with returning to their home country for visa processing by applying for visa renewal at a consulate in Mexico or Canada. BAL's global services include arranging and accompanying groups of visa renewal applicants to the U.S. Consulate in Matamoros, Mexico, which appears to be able to process PIMS requests promptly and generally issue visas on a same or next day basis. Regardless of which consulate is chosen, applicants with an arrest or conviction, a material change in their job, security clearance risk, or any type of status violation should contact their BAL attorney before departing the United States.