News Update - July 30, 2011DOS Strict Enforcement of DS-160 Non-immigrant Visa Application Form Personal Signature Requirement too Onerous for Many.As of June 2011, the Department of State has reengineered the DS-160 form to include a strict requirement that applicants must electronically sign and submit their own non-immigrant applications unless they qualify for an exception, and that this means that an applicant must click the "Sign Application" button, even if someone else helps to fill out the application. DOS added the following language, "If someone else clicks the button instead of you, your application may not be accepted." A regulatory exception is only allowed for an applicant under the age of 16 or one physically incapable of completing an application. In such cases, the application can be completed and executed by a parent or guardian, or if the applicant has no parent or guardian, by any person having legal custody of, or a legitimate interest in, the applicant. The problem is that the DS-160 can only be submitted electronically and many people who are overseas have no access to computers and must rely upon friends or relatives with computers who are far distant or in other countries. This is especially a problem with the elderly, many of whom are not computer literate and wish to visit family members in the U.S. Although the signature requirement is in the regulations, it was not strictly followed by DOS previously. The lax attitude of the past would best serve the goal of allowing people to apply for U.S. visas and not being unduly discouraged by the technical difficulties of the application process. If DOS insists upon a strict enforcement of the signature requirement, it should also afford an alternative paper process by which these applicants can submit paper applications to the consulates as was done in the past.
† The author is a 30+ 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 © 2011 Alan Lee, Esq.
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