VISA WAIVER PROGRAM EXPIRES
INS ANNOUNCES INTERIM MEASURES

The Visa Waiver Pilot Program expired on April 30, 2000.  AILA has been working with Congressional offices regarding renewal of the visa waiver pilot program.  Supporters of a permanent extension are planning to move a measure quickly. If efforts succeed, we could have a new law in the next few weeks.

INS is expecting that the program will be renewed, and has advised AILA about how the agency will handle VWPP issues in the interim.  The following is from emails from Linda Dodd-Major, INS Director of Business Liaison.

Entry of Visitors

INS will make every effort to facilitate the entry of those visitors who would have used the VWPP during a 30-day period beginning May 1, and ending at 00:01 (edt) May 30, 2000.   To facilitate travel during this period, ports-of-entry (POEs) have been instructed to parole for 90 days all applicants who would have been VWPP eligible if the program had been continued.  The parole will be granted for the public benefit, pursuant to section 212(d)(5)(a) of the Act.

The alien must complete both the front and back of form I-94W prior to application for admission.  If the alien would have been admissible under the VWPP, INS inspectors have been instructed to place the admission stamp on the I-94W (both the arrival and departure portion):

  1. In the admission block, a line will be drawn through the word "admitted" that appears in red security ink and the word "paroled" inserted in its place.  The same notations will be placed in the alien's passport.
  2. For the paroled code, the officer will write, "cp," the code corresponding to public benefit parole.
  3. Under cp, the officer will parole the alien for 90 days (unless the alien withdraws the application for admission, is ordered removed, paroled for prosecution, etc.).  In a case where the alien is denied admission and returned abroad or paroled for another reason, the appropriate disposition result will be noted in both the arrival and departure block of form I-94W.
  4. In box 12, under "government use only", the appropriate disposition code, "wt," "wb," "wd," "er," "ef," etc.  will be indicated.  Inadmissible aliens will be subject to withdrawal and/or expedited removal.  The "wr" code will not be used during the effective period (5/1 through 5/30). v. To insure uniformity, POEs will assign a person(s) to ensure the I-94Ws for each flight are completed in accordance with this procedure.

During the 30-day period, participating VWPP transportation lines will not incur any fines under section 273 of the Act for transporting persons who would otherwise have been admissible under the VWPP.

Land Border I-94W Processing Fee:

The $6.00 fee will be collected when the Form I-94W is processed, even though applicants may be paroled.

Revalidation:

WT and WB admissions will not be revalidated during the VWPP expiration period. Instead, aliens will have to complete new I-94W forms and may be paroled if they would have been eligible for the VWPP.  Inspections officers may allow aliens paroled during the VWPP expiration period (on or after May 1, 2000) to apply for reparole and to reenter the U.S. for the period of time remaining on the parole I-94W if they remain eligible. 

INSPASS:

VWPP applicants who would have used INSPASS if the VWPP had not expired may not use INSPASS during the expiration period.  VWPP applicants without passports who would have otherwise used the INSPASS line would not be eligible for an I-193 waiver (212(d)(4)(A) unless the alien can demonstrate that, due to an unforeseen emergency, he or she cannot present a valid passport.  Generally, it is anticipated that an INSPASS VWPP applicant will have a valid passport because the INSPASS agreement requires INSPASS passengers to carry passports.  (Example: if a business woman who would have been paroled as a VWPP applicant forgets her passport during the program's expiration period, normally, the 212(d)(4)(A) waiver would not be in order and the alien would be denied admission (or denied parole during the VWPP expiration period).  An unforeseeable emergency typically is an accident, medical emergency, or truly unforeseeable event.