News Update - May 14, 2007

By Alan Lee, Esq.

DHS Moving Ahead with US-Visit Biometric Exit Procedures

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on May 4, 2007 that it will integrate biometric exit procedures with the international visitor departure process. DHS seeks to fully implement biometric exit procedures, taking steps during the next year including completion of the three-year biometric checkout program for international visitors at select airports and seaports. As of May 6, 2007 international visitors are no longer required to use the US-VISIT kiosks when they leave the U.S. Those who received form I-94 from US Customs and Border Protection still must return the form to the airline or ship representative upon departure from the U.S.

DHS will implement exit procedures in the commercial air environment and will publish a regulation in the future implementing what it calls an “integrated air strategy.” You may obtain further information at www.dhs.gov/us-visit.


The author is a 26+ year practitioner of immigration law based in New York City. He was awarded the Sidney A. Levine prize for best legal writing at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1977 and has written extensively on immigration over the past years for the ethnic newspapers, World Journal, Sing Tao, Pakistan Calling, Muhasha and OCS. He has testified as an expert on immigration in civil court proceedings and was recognized by the Taiwan government in 1985 for his work protecting human rights. His article, "The Bush Temporary Worker Proposal and Comparative Pending Legislation: an Analysis" was Interpreter Releases' cover display article at the American Immigration Lawyers Association annual conference in 2004, and his victory in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in a case of first impression nationwide, Firstland International v. INS, successfully challenged INS' policy of over 40 years of revoking approved immigrant visa petitions under a nebulous standard of proof. Its value as precedent, however, was short-lived as it was specifically targeted by the Administration in the Intelligence Reform Act of 2004.

This article © 2007 Alan Lee, Esq.

 

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