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Department of State: * DOS indicated it plans to end the visa and passport exemptions for Commonwealth Citizens residing in Canada. Currently, citizens of British Commonwealth countries are not required to obtain nonimmigrant visas to enter the United States and do not need passports if they enter the U.S. from a Western Hemisphere country. New regulations would end the current visa and passport exemptions for these individuals. * On June 4, 2002, DOS warned Americans to cease travel to India in response to the tension along the India-Pakistan border. The U.S. Consulate General in Karachi was re-opened on June 18 and is resuming normal functions. Other U.S. Consular Posts in India are maintaining normal schedules for the processing of nonimmigrant and immigrant visas at this time. * Immigrant Visa application fee is now $325.00. Those applicants who have already paid the previous fee of $260.00 must pay an additional $65.00 fee at the time of the interview. Department of Justice: * DOJ has issued a proposed regulation initiating a National Security Entry-Exit Registration System. The proposed regulation will require certain nonimmigrant visa holders to be fingerprinted and photographed at ports of entry, where identity information will be cross-referenced against a database of known criminals and terrorists. The INS will then require these certain foreign nationals to periodically register with the U.S. government and inform the INS when they depart the U.S. This component is intended to aid in identifying those individuals who overstay their visas. The Attorney General stated that the entry-exit program will apply to any foreign national who might pose a threat to national security. Green card holders will be exempt from the new regulation. Immigration and Naturalization Service: * The new Department of Homeland Security’s Border and Transportation Security department may incorporate certain units of the current INS. The INS Commissioner expects such reorganization to improve the delivery of services, as well as substantially improve enforcement efforts. * INS has announced its intention to strictly enforce the requirement that all non-citizens keep the INS updated of address change(s). Failure to do so is a status violation that can result in a $200 fine and 30 days in jail. It is also a ground of deportation for which there is no waiver available. * For individuals required to register with the INS (which currently includes persons from Iran, Iraq, Libya and Sudan, as well as nationals from as many as 33 countries to be named later and any other person an INS inspector determines should be required to register), failure to apprise the INS of an address change may result in a $1000 fine and up to six months in jail. Internal Revenue Service: * IRS has recently announced it will begin to assess penalties against employers filing Forms W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, with mismatched names and Social Security numbers. Penalties of $50 per incorrect form may apply to Forms W-2 filed for tax year 2002 and later. The IRS intends to issue notices of proposed penalties starting in June 2004 for tax year 2002 W-2’s.

 

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