Immigration Visa Attorney Blog

The citizens of some countries are allowed to enter the USA as touristic or business visitors without first obtaining a B-1/B-2 visitor visa. As Los Angeles immigration lawyers, Fong & Chun often receives questions about whether a particular country is eligible for this Visa Waiver Program (VWP).

Today, the US Department of Homeland Security announced that citizens of Greece are now eligible to enter the USA as visitors, using the VWP. Eligibility for the VWP is based on a country's compliance with security and data-sharing requirements--such as law enforcement and security-related data sharing with the United States; timely reporting of lost and stolen passports; and maintenance of strong law enforcement, counterterrorism, border, aviation, and document security protocols. In turn, citizens of Greece will be permitted to travel to the United States for up to 90 days as visitors without first obtaining a visa.

Any Greek citizen that wishes to enter the USA as a visitor using the VWP must first register him/her self under the US government's Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). This registration must take place prior to boarding any flight to the USA. Information about ESTA is available here. --jcf

The powerful earthquake that hit Chile moved the entire city of Concepcíon, Chile 3 meters to the west! When such a natural calamity strikes a particular country, the immigration lawyers at Fong & Chun in Los Angeles receive many calls and e-mails from citizens from that country about the possibility of staying in the USA, because of the problems back home.

The US government sometimes permits citizens from that country to remain in the USA -- even after their visas or landing permits have expired -- due to the emergency circumstances in the home country. This designation -- which is called Temporary Protected Status (TPS) -- is made by the US government. At the present time, Chile has not yet been designated a TPS-eligible country by the US government.

A veces, por situaciones de urgencia nacional, el gobierno estadounidense les permite a ciudadanos de algunos paises de quedar en los EE.UU. -- aunque sus visas o permisos sean vencidos. Esta designación se llama Estado Protegido Temporal (TPS, en inglés). En este momento, los ciudadanos de La República de Chile todavía no han sido nombrado como eligible por TPS por el gobierno estadounidense.

If you are from Chile and wish to contact the attorneys at Fong & Chun to discuss your options, please call to make an appointment. --jcf

Beginning January 4, 2010, applicants for visas or greencards will no longer be considered inadmissible for being HIV positive. Early last month, the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) removed HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) from the definition of a "communicable disease of public health significance."

This marks a major success by immigration advocates like Fong & Chun, LLP and HIV/AIDS health advocates. J Craig Fong was cited in a recent Los Angeles Times article as one of the few immigration attorneys in the nation who work with HIV positive immigrants and who has been extremely successful in HIV waiver applications with the USCIS to overcome this ban.

Fong & Chun, LLP applauds the Centers for Disease Control, the HHS, and USCIS in recognizing that the ban against nonimmigrant visa and permanent residency applications by HIV positive individuals was wrong. --ecf

The immigration law firm of Fong & Chun in Los Angeles has received several calls about artists who have been involved in the preparations for the series of Michael Jackson concerts which were scheduled to take place in London beginning this summer. The performer's recent death has thrown arrangements for those concerts into chaos.

Although the Jackson concerts were to take place in the United Kingdom, extensive preparations were taking place both in the UK and in the United States. In preparation for any big rehearsal, event, performance, or concert, teams of make-up artists, costume designers, hair stylists, choreographers, dancers, back-up vocalists, special effects personnel, music arrangers, musicians, lighting engineers, etc. etc. come together to create the shows that so many enjoy. The number of people involved with a complex series of high-tech, music and dance spectaculars can be upwards of 50 -100 people, not all of them American.

Renowned performers and artists can qualify for the O-1 visa ("extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics) to enter the USA. However, when something catastrophic happens -- like the death of a performer -- the performance or concert on which the O-1 visa is based is cancelled, the performer or artist risks falling out of legal immigration status.

For individuals who have visas which are predicated on a set of facts -- an individual employer, a detailed job description, a specific person, a particular school or academic program, etc., -- it is vital to consult a knowledgeable immigration attorney if there has been any substantial change, in order to preserve visa status. --jcf

The nonimmigrant visa (B-1 / B-2) rules for HIV-positive people who want to visit the USA have been issued by the US Department of State (DOS).  Los Angeles-based immigration law firm Fong & Chun counsels and represents many HIV-positive persons, and unfortunately, the new nonimmigrant HIV Waiver Authorization puts HIV-positive people in a difficult position.

US immigration law denies entry to the USA to aliens who are HIV-positive.  For nonimmigrants who wish to come to the USA as business or touristic visitors, the procedure has been to apply for a waiver under Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) sec. 212(d)(3)(A)(i).  This waiver procedure is expensive, time-consuming, and exposes the applicant to possible arbitrary, capricious, or AIDS-phobic decisions of some adjudicating officers.

DOS has put into effect a procedure where the visa officer now has the authority to grant otherwise-visa-qualified HIV-positive applicants a B-1 / B-2 visitor visa, provided the alien signs a declaration (DS-5512) that:

(1) admits that s/he is HIV-positive; 

(2) s/he does not currently exhibit symptoms indicative of an "active, contagious" opportunistic infection; 

(3) s/he knows and has been counseled on the nature, severity, and communicability of the medical condition; 

(4) s/he is a minimal risk to public health to, and is unlikely to transmit HIV to any other person in, the United States; 

(5) s/he has an adequate supply of HIV meds for the anticipated stay and has sufficient assets, such as insurance that is accepted in the United States, to cover any medical care in the United States; 

(6) s/he will not create any cost to the United States, or a State or local government or agency, without prior written consent of the agency; 

(7) s/he is coming to visit the USA for touristic or business-visitor purposes only;

(8) that no single admission to the US will exceed thirty (30) days; 

(9) s/he is not subject to any other grounds of admissibility to the USA; 

(10) s/he admits and acknowledges that s/he cannot be admitted under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP); 

(11) s/he acknowledges that any failure to meet with ALL the conditions relating to the visa and to admission to the USA will make him/her ineligible for future authorization under this new provision; and 

(12) if s/he is admitted to the USA using this waiver procedure, s/he waives any chance to apply for an extension of stay, a change of status, or adjustment of status.  (An exception is made for applications for asylum.)

Although this procedure is more streamlined than the prior waiver, it puts the applicant in the position of signing a declaration -- admitting or acknowledging a great many facts -- which will stay on record with the US government.  The declaration includes statements which could subject the applicant to difficulties, even persecution, in his/her own country. 

Anyone thinking of signing the DS-5512 declaration to get a B-1 or B-2 visitor visa should consult experienced and HIV-sensitive counsel to discuss the ramifications.  --jcf

Something as innocent as obtaining a nonimmigrant extension of stay (EOS) can be fraught with difficulty.  As immigration lawyers here in Los Angeles, Fong & Chun sees many people who have filed the the I-539 EOS application themselves, and the application has been denied or rejected because the applicants did not provide the immigration authorities with appropriate information.  Always be sure: