As many of you know, citizens of certain countries can enter the US without a visa.   For the most part, they are citizens of European countries and countries such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore.   The idea is that these are countries from which only a small number of people stay in the US illegally.  The citizens of these countries are rewarded by being able to come for 90 days without a visa.   Countries where a high percentage of people try to stay in the US are not allowed to participate in the Visa Waiver program.

However, there is growing concern that terrorists, like the ones in France, might use the Visa Waiver program to enter the US.   Therefore, a recent bill last year added new restrictions.   People who are from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, or Yemen will not be allowed to use the Visa Waiver program, even if they are also a citizen of one of the Visa Wavier countries.

More significantly, if a person even visits one of those countries, then that person will not be allowed to use the Visa Waiver program.   That person may still be able to enter the US, but they will be required to get a visa.

The reason I am bringing this up is that you or your spouse could be a person who often enters the US on the visa waiver program, but you believe G*d is calling you to visit one of those countries.   You or your spouse will still be able to apply for a visa to come to the US, but you will not be able to continue to come on the Visa Waiver program.    This means that it could take longer and be more difficult to enter the United States after taking a trip to one of those countries.

I hope that all makes sense.  It gets complicated.   Remember, it is not stating that people will be forbidden to enter the US.  It just means that it will not be as simple for some people.

I hope this is interesting and helpful.   Remember that this is not legal advice.  It is just a summary of certain aspects of immigration law which may or may not apply to your situation.   I encourage you to consulate an attorney if you think any of this may apply to your situation.

Most people, if they want to come to the US temporarily, need a visa.   They have to pay the visa application fee, go on-line and fill out an extensive visa application, schedule an appointment at the consulate, bring relevant supporting evidence regarding their reason for coming to the US and, often, their ties to their home country, and then hope that they get approved for the visa.   If they do get approved for the visa, they still have to go through border processing where they border guards have the full authority to refuse them entry if the border guard believes that they are entering for the wrong purpose — for example, if they want to work while here on a tourist visa.

Canadians have it quite a bit easier.   They do not have to apply for a visa for a temporary visit, they just come up to the border and bring the evidence to show why they qualify to be admitted.  The lack of a visa requirement is partly because Canada and the US have had a close relationship for many years, and there is a lot of business that goes on between the US and Canada.   But also because Canada has always had a good economy, and very few people come from Canada to the US with the intent to stay permanently.

However, there are a number of countries around the world who also have good economies, who have close economic ties with the US, and whose citizens rarely overstay their visas to the US.   These are countries like those found in Europe, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Australia.   For these countries, the US has developed the Visa Waiver program.   The Visa Waiver program allows certain citizens of these countries to visit the US without a visa if they are coming as B visitors.   People from those countries who wish to come under other visa categories will still need to get a visa.

Most visits to the US (whether as tourists or for business purposes) are done under the B visitor category.   Remember, the B category allows persons to visit if they want to tour or visit friends or family or volunteer or for business purposes, but they are not allowed to work in the US.   Also, they must have significant ties to their home country, and a residence outside of the US which they do not intend to abandon.   Because there are some many people from these countries who come to the US in B status, having the Visa Waiver program frees up time at the consulates for other types of visas, and it makes it easier for the free flow of information, business, and, of course, tourists bringing money to spend.

The Visa Waiver program is pretty straightforward.   You need to go to the ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) website, https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/esta.html, and complete the on-line application and pay the small fee (currently $14).  If you are approved by ESTA, then you may use that ESTA approval to travel to the US for up to two years (or the expiration of your passport if that is less than two years).   You do not need a visa, you can just get on the plane and come to the US.    You still need to be prepared for questions about your intent in coming to the US — they are looking for people who might want to work in the US or who might intend on staying in the US, or who have other improper intents — but, in general, since you are from a Visa Waiver country, they expect that you are coming for a proper purpose and intend to abide by the terms of the B visitor category.  They generally do not give a lot of hassle to people who are coming on the Visa Waiver program, but if they think that you are not going to abide by the rules, they will forbid you entrance to the US.

There are a few things to remember about the Visa Waiver program.   First off, to use it, you need to have an e-passport.   That is a passport with an electronic chip in it.  Most visa waiver countries have transitioned to an e-passport, but if your passport is older, it might not be an e-passport.

Also, a person who comes on Visa Waiver is more restricted than a person who comes on a B visa or who comes from Canada.   If you enter under the Visa Waiver program, you are given 90 days.   You cannot be given more than 90 days, and you must leave within those 90 days.   You cannot extend your stay here in the US past 90 days.   You are free to leave for a day or two and then return to the US under the Visa Waiver program for another 90 days, but, of course, there is no guarantee that they will let you back in.   And, if you do that too often, they will be suspicious, and will probably not let you back in.

If they deny you entry even one time, you are no longer allowed to use the Visa Waiver program to come to the US.   Even if you feel that they improperly refused to allow you to enter, you will never again be allowed to come under the Visa Waiver program.   You can always go and apply for a B visa and, if you get one, come back, but you will not be allowed back under Visa Waiver.   Of course, if they do deny you entrance under the Visa Waiver program, it might be difficult to get a B visa for a number of years, but, eventually, you will probably be able to get a B visa to return to the US.

Another limitation is that a person who enters on Visa Waiver cannot change his non-immigrant status.   In other words, you cannot enter in B status and then change to F status or to R status or any other status.    The only changes you can make are to get married to a US citizen and file for a green card based on your marriage to the US citizen.    However, as I have pointed out before, you are not allowed to enter the US with the intent to file for a green card.

An important point to also know about Visa Waiver is that when you sign up for Visa Waiver, you waive (give up) your rights to defend yourself against deportation.    If they decide that you have violated your status and want to deport you, they can, and you don’t have any right to contest that in court.  This is not likely to happen often, but it does happen.

Also, check back next week for a more recent restriction on travel under the Visa Waiver program if you have recently visited certain Islamic countries.

The Visa Waiver program is very useful for people from certain countries who want to come for a short trip to the US.   It won’t work for everybody, but for most people who are citizens of the Visa Waiver countries, it opens up a quick, easy way to come and visit.

I hope this is interesting and helpful.   Remember that this is not legal advice.  It is just a summary of certain aspects of immigration law which may or may not apply to your situation.   I encourage you to consulate an attorney if you think any of this may apply to your situation.

This is a tricky question — from a lot of angles.   The simple answer is that a person who is here in the US in B status cannot attend school.  And, if you tell the Immigration Officer at the Border that you are planning on attending school, he will not let you in.

But, as always, it is not that simple.   You definitely cannot attend a regular school in its regular program.   In order to attend school, you need to switch to a F visa, and you are absolutely not allowed to enroll before your change to F status is approved.   But, what if you just visit the class and attend without being enrolled?   If you are not registered as a student, you are not “studying”, you are just enjoying learning for the sake of learning.   But, if you do this while you are waiting for the change to F, and then once the change to F is approved, you try to get credit for your attendance at the class before the change to F  — that gets sticky.  You probably shouldn’t do that.

By the way, you are not supposed to enter the US as a B visitor with the intent to change to an F (student) visa after you enter the US.  It seems that it is easier to enter as a B than to enter as an F.   So people do that, and it is frowned upon — but people do it anyway.

I know that the USCIS/DOS (Department of State) will let people come to the US on a B visa to attend programs that are educational but are also fun — perhaps a dance camp or a music camp or a science camp.   I think that, arguably, they can come for a m-ssions training program.   I can’t say that for sure it is allowable, but people do it — I don’t know what they say to the person at the border or at the Consulate when they apply for the visa.   Now, it gets stickier if that training program also qualifies to accept F visa students.   I think that if a border guard knew that someone was coming to the US to attend a training program at a school which also accepts F visa students, the Border guard would probably not let the person in, but I can’t say for sure.

There is a similar issue if the student coming for a m-ssions training program is coming on a B-1 m-ssionary visa.   Someone coming on a m-ssionary visa should be coming to be a m-ssionary, not to be a student.   I think attending a m-ssions training program could be a problem.   But on the other hand, you can make the argument that they training program also includes significant opportunities to perform outreach.

I hope that is helpful.  I really don’t have much guidance here because there is a clear rule, but there can be a lot of exceptions depending on how you shape those exceptions.   But, on the other hand, there is no guarantee that those “exceptions” will work and keep you out of trouble.

I hope this is interesting and helpful.   Remember that this is not legal advice.  It is just a summary of certain aspects of immigration law which may or may not apply to your situation.   I encourage you to consulate an attorney if you think any of this may apply to your situation.

Well, here we go again!!   There is a new Revised Executive Order from President Trump.    Those who agree with his position on security in regard to immigration will cheer.   The main stream media will claim it is discriminatory.   As for me, I don’t agree with either.

Anyway, he did a much better job in writing this Executive Order.   The first one was a shoot-from-the-hip sort of job.   This one was much more carefully written in order to increase the chances that it will survive a court attack.   This version more carefully sets out the reasoning behind the decisions in the Executive Order.   This is done so that it is harder for someone to say that this Executive Order is arbitrary or based on prejudice.  That doesn’t mean that the courts have to agree with the reasoning in the Executive Order, but they have to at least give it reasonable consideration.

The main changes in this Executive Order are as follows:

1. Iraq is left off the list of nations whose nationals are not admissible.   There are now only six nations on the list.  The order says that Iraq has been working hard on helping us vet visa applicants (to be honest, I think it was a political decision — it looked bad to exclude people from Iraq).
2. The EO specifies that a person from those six nations can still enter if he has a US green card, if he already has a visa (or if he had one when the first EO was issued and then lost it due to the first EO), if he has already been granted refugee status, or if he also has a passport from a second country and is entering using that.   So, essentially, the EO just states that you can’t get a new visa if you are from one of those countries.
3. The EO no longer states that priority will be given to religious minorities in the refugee process.
4. The EO says that states and localities should be able to have a say in regard to whether refugees are resettled there.

The main things that were in the First EO and are continued in the Revised EO.

1. The 90 day limitations on entry by nationals of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
2. The Refugee program will be suspended for 120 days to allow the US to determine what additional precautions are needed.
3. The US Government will make a survey of countries around the world to make sure that they are providing the US with information necessary for the US to vet visa applicants.   And, if some countries are lacking in what they provide the US and the countries can’t or won’t improve, the US could take further actions — such as restrictions or limitations to protect US interests.  This was in the first EO, but was, in my opinion, not laid out clearly.  It is much more specific in this Revised EO.

So, in reality, this EO only affects people from those six nations who do not currently have visas, and refugees from all over the world.  And, currently it only affects people for 90 days if they are from those six countries, and 120 days if they are refugees.   Whether or not you agree with this EO, and I don’t, I still think those are not unreasonable limitations when a new leader is trying to grapple with what is, I think, a difficult situation.  Hopefully, within those timeframes, he will make an honest effort to fairly evaluate what steps can be taken to both provide for people who want to come here and for our security.   We can pray for that.

As far as this being a discriminatory Executive Order, I don’t see it based on the rationale provided in the Executive Order.   As I wrote in my earlier post, the seven countries on the list were all countries where the government either cannot or won’t cooperate with the US in making sure that visa applicants are well vetted.   The vast majority of Muslim countries are not on this list.    Also, the refugee restriction limits access to Christians and other religions as well as Muslims.   Furthermore, this Revised EO pointed out something that I had not realized — all six of these countries had been identified by the Obama administration as either State Sponsors of Terrorism or as a “country of concern” based on factors relating to terrorism and national security.   So it isn’t only Trump who has concerns about these countries.  Now, people can feel free to believe that this is a discriminatory Executive Order (and maybe they are correct), but I would suggest that that conclusion is driven by facts outside of what the EO actually says.

How does this affect you?   If you are not a refugee or a person from one of those six countries who does not have a visa, it does not affect you at all.  If you are from one of those six countries, you won’t get a new visa.  If you are here in the US from one of those six countries and your visa expires (remember that you are allowed to stay here as long as you have “status”, which is unrelated to when your visa expires) or you have a single-entry visa, if you leave the US you will not be allowed back in.

One other thing to keep in mind — there is a chance that a limitation on the granting of visas from other countries could occur in the future once the US has reviewed the world-wide visa situation.   To be honest, I don’t really expect that, but it could occur.

In case you are interested in my opinion — I don’t like these executive orders.  I think that they are reasonable attempts to resolve a difficult world-wide problem, but I don’t think that they really will help.    I really don’t think that there is a way to effectively vet people from a section of the world where lawlessness is rampant and governments are breaking down.   In my opinion, from what I have seen in almost two decades of doing immigration law, the people that interview the visa applicants act on hunches and emotions more than anything else — to be honest, their job is almost impossible — there really isn’t any way to see into the hearts of the people standing before them.  That won’t change even with additional vetting — usually, the information just isn’t there.  I think it will increase the denials of innocent people, but it won’t necessarily make us safer.  We have the best law enforcement in the world — I think that they are doing a great job, and they protect us well.   I think we now have probably the best balance we can have between security and receiving the aliens that God has called us to reach out to and care for.  I think that the level of security that this Executive Order is trying to accomplish cannot really be attained, but it may result in people whom God commands us to receive instead being turned away.

I think that is all.  We will see how it plays out in the courts.    What I really hope is that we would pray for God to guide President Trump and give him Godly wisdom in his decisions.  I also wish that we could discuss these matters without accusing the other side of being racist or anti-American.

I hope this is interesting and helpful.   Remember that this is not legal advice.  It is just a summary of certain aspects of immigration law which may or may not apply to your situation.   I encourage you to consulate an attorney if you think any of this may apply to your situation.