On March 6, 2017, a Presidential Memorandum directed the Departments of State, Justice, and Homeland Security to implement heightened screening and vetting of applications for visas and other immigration benefits. In light of this memorandum, a notice was published on May 4, 2017 in the Federal Register in which the Department of State proposed an emergency review and approval for the expansion of visa application questions to more rigorously evaluate visa applicants for national security-related visa ineligibilities, such as terrorism. If granted by May 18, the emergency approval will be valid for 180 days.
This expansion of visa application questions will include asking visa applicants about their travel history, address and employment history, social media platforms and identifiers used, and other biographic information. Applicants may also be requested to provide details and documentation of their international or domestic travel if it appears to the consular officer that the applicant has been in an area while it was under the operational control of a terrorist organization.
The SWLG, P.C. team will keep you informed of any further developments regarding this matter.
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