“…requiring interviews for children is patently absurd.”
What To Know
In a notice published on Thursday, the State Department outlined the changes to its visa waiver policy.
The waiver program, which was expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce in-person interviews, will now be limited to a narrow set of categories.
Those exempt from interviews include individuals applying for diplomatic or official visas, namely A-1, A-2, C-3, G-1 through G-4, NATO-1 through NATO-6, and TECRO E-1.
Certain visa renewals are also eligible for a waiver. These are full-validity B-1, B-2, or B1/B2 visas, H-2A visas and Border Crossing Cards for Mexican nationals, as long as the renewal takes place within 12 months of the prior visa’s expiration and the applicant was at least 18 when the previous visa was issued.
Even if applicants meet the waiver criteria, they could still require an in-person interview on a case-by-case basis, the State Department said.
The new rules come into effect as data published by the State Department in August showed that appointment wait times for visitor and tourist visas have soared.
Between January and August, wait times for visitor visas rose 69 percent, while interviews for student visas grew by more than 250 percent.
Cecilia Esterline, a senior immigration policy analyst at the Niskanen Center, previously told Newsweek that the new changes could create unforeseen complications, such as children being required to attend a visa interview when their parents are not.
“A parent could have a valid visitor visa, and they could come as a tourist themselves without having to go to a U.S. Consulate. They could even renew their tourist visa without having to visit a consulate in person,” she said.
“However, if they have a child who needs a new visa, including a few-week-old infant, that child would have to go to an interview, which is an absurd idea to think about the fact that a six-week-old would need to go to have an interview but a parent would not, but that’s the reality of it.”
What People Are Saying
A State Department spokesperson told Newsweek in August that the Trump administration was protecting the nation and its citizens “by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety.”
Houston-based immigration attorney Steven Brown wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in July: “This will lead to longer waits for appointments and is significantly less efficient for renewals of visas. Also requiring interviews for children is patently absurd.”
What Happens Next
The updated interview waiver guidance will take effect October 1.
Trumps racists are just trying to reduce the number of nonwhites in the U.S. by clogging the pipelines.
https://www.newsweek.com/us-visa-interviews-change-october-2132510