[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 79 (Thursday, April 24, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 19925-19927]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-10613]


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UNITED STATES INFORMATION AGENCY

22 CFR Part 514


Reinstatement of Exchange Visitors Unlawfully Present in the 
United States

AGENCY: United States Information Agency.

ACTION: Statement of agency policy.

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SUMMARY: Pending a formal rulemaking, this Statement of Agency Policy 
sets forth the circumstances under which the Agency will reinstate an 
exchange visitor (J Visa) who is unlawfully present in the United 
States.

DATES: This statement of Agency policy is effective April 24, 1997.

ADDRESS: United States Information Agency, Office of the General 
Counsel, 301 Fourth Street, SW, Room 700, Washington, DC 20547-0001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Exchange Visitor Program Office, United States Information Agency, 301 
Fourth Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20547; telephone (202) 401-9810.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 632 (``Elimination of Consulate 
Shopping for Visa Overstays'') of the Illegal Immigration Reform and 
Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-208) (IIRAIRA) 
amended Section 222 of the Immigration and Nationality Act by adding a 
new paragraph ``(g).'' That new paragraph, in pertinent part, provides 
that an alien who has been admitted on the basis of a nonimmigrant visa 
and ``remained in the United States beyond the period of stay 
authorized by the Attorney General, such visa shall be void beginning 
after the conclusion of such period of stay.'' An alien who remained in 
the United States beyond the period of stay authorized by the Attorney 
General is ineligible for readmission to the United States on the 
previously issued nonimmigrant visa. The alien must have a new visa 
issued after the overstay violation from a consular office in the 
alien's country of nationality or, where extraordinary circumstances 
are found to exist, at a consular office outside the alien's country of 
nationality.

[[Page 19926]]

    The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has provided 
interim guidelines with respect to the above-described section. Those 
guidelines construe the terms ``beyond the period of stay authorized'' 
to mean past the date entered for departure on a nonimmigrant's Form I-
94. For J visa nonimmigrants whose Form I-94 authorizes admission for 
``Duration of Status'' (D/S), the ``period of stay authorized'' ends on 
the date of expiration of the 30 day grace period after the alien 
completes, concludes, ceases, interrupts, graduates from or otherwise 
terminates his or her course of study or exchange program.
    The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 
1996 contains another provision which affects nonimmigrants who remain 
in the United States beyond the period of stay authorized. Section 301 
of that Act deems an alien to be ``unlawfully present in the United 
States'' if the alien is present in the United States after the 
expiration of the period of stay authorized by the Attorney General. If 
the alien was unlawfully present in the United States for a period of 
180 days but less than one year, voluntarily departed the United States 
prior to the commencement of removal proceedings, and again seeks 
admission to the United States, the alien is inadmissible for three 
years from the date of departure. If the alien was unlawfully present 
in the United States for one year or more, and again seeks admission, 
the alien is inadmissible for 10 years from the date of departure or 
removal from the United States.
    The effective date of Section 301 of IIRAIRA is April 1, 1997. 
Section 632 became effective on September 30, 1996.
    Because the above two sections of the Act may have serious 
repercussions for aliens who become ``unlawfully present in the United 
States,'' depart the United States, and then subsequently seek 
readmission to the United States, it obviously behooves such aliens to 
timely depart the United States on or before the end of the authorized 
period of stay or apply to extend their status if regulations permit.
    The current Exchange Visitor Program regulations permit a 
Responsible Officer to extend an exchange visitor's participation in 
the program up to the limit of the permissible period of participation 
authorized for his or her specific program category. When this occurs, 
the Responsible Officer issues to the exchange visitor a duly 
authorized Form IAP-66 reflecting such extension and provides a 
notification copy of such form to the Agency. [22 CFR 514.43 (a) and 
(b).] Where the exchange visitor seeks an extension in excess of the 
period of time authorized for his or her specific category of 
participation, the Responsible Officer is required to notify USIA and 
seek prior written approval for such extension. [See 22 CFR 514.43(c) 
and 514.20(j)(2)(i).]
    While it is not the responsibility of the sponsor to ensure that 
the exchange visitor timely departs the U.S., the Exchange Visitor 
Program regulations do require that a sponsor monitor its participating 
exchange visitors [22 CFR 514.10(e).] Among other things, the sponsor 
shall ensure that the activity in which the exchange visitor is engaged 
is consistent with the category and activity listed on the exchange 
visitor's Form IAP-66 [22 CFR 514.10(e)(1)]. The sponsor is also 
required to monitor the progress and welfare of the exchange visitor to 
the extent appropriate for the category [22 CFR 514.10(e)(2)]. Finally, 
the sponsor shall require the exchange visitor to keep the sponsor 
apprised of his or her address and telephone number, and maintain such 
information [22 CFR 514.10(e)(3)].
    The Agency believes that the monitoring requirements set forth in 
the existing Exchange Visitor Program regulations implicitly require 
the sponsor to monitor the exchange visitor's Form IAP-66 to ensure 
that such form accurately reflects the activities and the program dates 
of the exchange visitor and that the exchange visitor is advised of the 
limitations on his or her activities and authorized stay in the United 
States. (Existing regulations also explicitly require the sponsor to 
notify the Agency in writing when the exchange visitor has withdrawn 
from or completed a program thirty or more days prior to the ending 
date on his or her Form IAP-66 or when the exchange visitor has been 
terminated from his or her program [22 CFR 514.13(c)].) Moreover, 
IIRAIRA implicitly requires the exchange visitor to monitor his or her 
status.
    The Agency acknowledges that most program participants do not 
knowingly or willfully engage in practices that would jeopardize their 
status in the United States. However, the Agency is aware that on 
occasion, whether through circumstances beyond the control of the 
exchange visitor or through administrative oversight, inadvertence, or 
neglect on the part of a Responsible Officer or an exchange visitor, or 
both, the exchange visitor may become ``unlawfully present in the 
United States.'' The Exchange Visitor Program regulations are silent 
with respect to the issue of whether a Responsible Officer is 
authorized to reinstate an exchange visitor who is in the United States 
``beyond the period of stay authorized by the Attorney General.''
    After a careful review of Sections 301 and 632 of IIRIRA and 
working in consultation with the Immigration and Naturalization 
Service, the Agency has concluded that a Responsible Officer is not 
authorized to reinstate, nunc pro tunc, an exchange visitor once the 
exchange visitor is in the United States beyond the period of stay 
authorized by the Attorney General. Indeed, new section 222(g) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act states ``such visa shall be void 
beginning after the conclusion of such period of stay.''
    However, the Agency, in consultation with the Immigration and 
Naturalization Service, has concluded that under the authority 
conferred on the Director of USIA pursuant to Section 101(a)(15)(J) of 
the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended [8 U.S.C. 
1101(a)(15)(J)], the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 
1961, as amended (22 U.S.C. 2451, et seq.,) and Reorganization Plan No. 
2 of 1977, the Agency does have the authority to reinstate to lawful 
status an exchange visitor who remains in the United States beyond the 
period of stay authorized by the Attorney General and who thereby has 
become ``unlawfully present in the United States.'' As noted above, in 
the case of J visa immigrants whose Form I-94 authorized admission for 
Duration of Status, the period of stay authorized by the Attorney 
General ends on the date of expiration of the 30 day grace period after 
the exchange visitor completes, concludes, ceases, interrupts, 
graduates from or otherwise terminates his or her course of study or 
exchange program.
    The Agency is therefore promulgating this statement of policy as a 
preliminary and interim measure, which will be followed by the Agency 
until a formal rulemaking is published. During this interim period, it 
will be Agency policy that the Agency will consider reinstating to 
lawful status a J-1 exchange visitor who makes a request for 
reinstatement through his or her Responsible Officer. In such cases, 
the Responsible Officer is to direct a letter to the Exchange Visitor 
Program Services office explaining that the violation of status 
resulted from circumstances beyond the control of the exchange visitor 
or from administrative oversight, inadvertence, or neglect on the part 
of the Responsible Officer or the exchange visitor and that failure to 
receive reinstatement to lawful status would result in unwarranted 
hardship to the exchange visitor. The letter is to contain a 
declaration that the exchange visitor is pursuing the exchange

[[Page 19927]]

program activity for which he or she was admitted to the United States.
    The request for reinstatement also is to include copies of all of 
the exchange visitor's Forms IAP-66 issued to date and a new complete 
Form IAP-66 which indicates the date to which reinstatement is sought 
(namely, the program end date.) If the Agency determines that 
reinstatement is warranted, Box 6 on the new Form IAP-66 will be 
stamped by the Agency to indicate that reinstatement has been granted, 
effective as of the date that the request for reinstatement was 
received by the Agency. The new Form IAP-66 (minus the yellow copy) 
will be returned to the Responsible Officer. If the Agency does not 
approve the request for reinstatement the time for which the 
application was under review will count toward unauthorized status.
    For purposes of Section 212(a)(9)(B) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (as amended by Section 301(b) of IIRAIRA), if the 
Agency approves the reinstatement, the calculation of the period of 
time specified in paragraph (B) will be tolled as of the date the 
request for reinstatement is received by the Agency. The Agency will 
deal expeditiously with all applications, and it is expected that most 
can be handled on a pro forma basis.
    There are certain issues that this statement of policy purposely 
does not address. For example, if an exchange visitor wilfully fails to 
maintain the health and accident insurance required under 22 CFR 
514.14, that exchange visitor is in violation of the regulations and is 
subject to being terminated from the exchange visitor program. (22 CFR 
514.14 (h) and (i)). An exchange visitor terminated from the exchange 
visitor program for wilfull failure to maintain health and accident 
insurance is not eligible for reinstatement.
    Nor are employment-related issues dealt with in this statement of 
policy. Any exchange visitor who engages in unauthorized employment is 
subject to termination by the sponsor. Existing regulations require the 
sponsor to ensure that the activity in which the exchange visitor is 
engaged is consistent with the category and activity listed on the 
exchange visitor's Form IAP-66 (22 CFR 514.10(e)(1); 514.40.) An 
exchange visitor who is terminated from participation in his or her 
exchange program for unauthorized employment is not eligible for 
reinstatement.
    Thus, while an exchange visitor may be in violation of the Agency's 
regulations regarding insurance coverage or employment, such violations 
would not in and of themselves make the exchange visitor ``unlawfully 
present in the United States'' within the meaning of IIRIRA. Those 
violations shall be dealt with under the existing Exchange Visitor 
Program regulations, and if the exchange visitor is terminated from the 
exchange program for such violations, he or she is ineligible for 
reinstatement.
    The Agency anticipates that a Proposed Final Rule will be published 
in the Federal Register by July 1, 1997. Interested parties will have 
an opportunity to comment in writing on the proposed rule.

    Dated: April 18, 1997.
Les Jin,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 97-10613 Filed 4-23-97; 8:45 am]
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