The Hindu Business Line : US to discontinue domestic visa service for 6 categories

IN a move that will affect thousands of Indians residing in the United States, the State Department has announced that it is discontinuing domestic visa service for six categories of visas. The groups are E (Trader/ Investor), H (Speciality occupation workers), I (Journalists), L (Intra-company transferee), O (Workers with extraordinary abilities) and P (Athletes and entertainers).

The State Department will stop accepting applications for these visa categories on July 16, even as it has announced that it will continue to process diplomatic and official visas of the A, G and NATO categories in Washington and in New York.

By way of explanation, it is said that the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act required the State Department to incorporate a biometric in every US visa issued after October 26, 2004. The Department has said that all visa issuing posts will be having fingerprint-scanning equipment installed before the October deadline.

"Persons residing in the United States in one of the affected visa classes may continue to reside in the country for the period granted by the Department of Homeland Security Officers at ports of entry. If these persons depart the United States and require new visas to re-enter after July 16, they must seek adjudication of a new visa application at a US Embassy or Consulate abroad," the State Department has said in a media note.

In the course of the regular briefing the State Department spokesman, Mr Richard Boucher, acknowledged that the new requirements need not be simple or "quite convenient"; but made it known that the policy of secured borders and open doors is that the process must protect the US and all people who come here to work.

"That's our first obligation; and the second one is to do it in as efficient and considerate a manner as we can," Mr Boucher said.

The spokesman said that he did not have the precise numbers of people who would be affected in the six categories but that there were some indications. "Primary beneficiaries of the service in the United States have been foreign workers in computer and technology industries. Almost 50 per cent of the applicants were Indian nationals, citizens of Japan, China, the United Kingdom and Korea round out the top five," Mr Boucher said.

According to him, more than 50,000 cases were processed last year.

The State Department is making the point that, for instance, not all of the 25,000 Indians may be showing up in New Delhi for re-issuance of their visas; rather that some might end up picking it up from third countries. But Washington also acknowledges the difficulties of picking up a visa in a third country. However, the argument is that if an applicant had proper documentation, has permission from the Department of Homeland Security to stay in this country an application in a third country can be processed. "We've done that," says Mr Boucher.

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