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Progress Report on Improvements to Visa and Foreign Visitor Processing

Media Note

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC
September 19, 2012

Today, the Administration released a 180 Day Progress Report on its efforts to build capacity, leverage resources, and improve the visa application and entry process – without compromising security – as directed by the President in a January 2012 Executive Order.

• Foreign visitors to the U.S. who need to prove their legal-visitor status—to employers, schools/universities or government agencies--during their first two months in the U.S. may need information in addition to the Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record that they received from Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

   

  CBP is experiencing a delay in processing foreign visitors’ travel information into the I-94 database. This does not affect the majority of foreign travelers visiting for business or leisure and will not affect any visitor’s record of departure.

   

Online registration for the DV-2014 Program will begin on Tuesday, October 2, 2012 at 12:00 noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), and conclude on Saturday, November 3, 2012 at 12:00 noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4).

See the Diversity Visa Program Instructions webpage for the DV 2014 Instructions and any available translations.

• [Federal Register Volume 77, Number 180 (Monday, September 17, 2012)]
  [Rules and Regulations]
  [Pages 57012-57013]
  From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
  [FR Doc No: 2012-22862]

  DEPARTMENT OF STATE

  [Public Notice: 8026]

  22 CFR Parts 22 and 42

  RIN 1400-AD06

  Schedule of Fees for Consular Services, Department of State and
  Overseas Embassies and Consulates

  AGENCY: Bureau of Consular Affairs, Department of State.

• One-page SSA handout providing information to individuals granted deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA) on the requirements and process for applying for a social security number.

Please check the attachment for details.

• What GAO Found

• The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) is aware of current difficulties that some F and M students have when applying for a Social Security number (SSN) or driver’s license. SEVP and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) Program are working on a solution that they will implement on September 14, 2012.

USCIS and the Office of the Mayor of the City of Los Angeles are committed to strengthening immigrant integration efforts in Los Angeles through proactive citizenship awareness, education, and outreach activities.

The partnership between USCIS and the City of Los Angeles was first established in January 2010 when the two parties entered into a Letter of Agreement for a two-year period. Launched initially as a pilot project concluding in January 2012, USCIS and the City of Los Angeles renewed the agreement for an additional year in April 2012. 

[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 173 (Thursday, September 6, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Page 54944]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-21975]

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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice 8016]

The United States Embassy in India today announced it is implementing a new visa processing system throughout India that will further standardize procedures and will simplify fee payment and appointment scheduling through a new website at www.ustraveldocs.com/in.  Minister Counselor for Consular Affairs, Julia Stanley, announced at a press conference here today that beginning September 26, 2012 U.S.