Wrong: Foreign Visitors To US Must Check-In For 30-Day Stays

In an absurd and disappointing turn, foreign visitors to the United States must check-in for 30-day or longer stays or face a severe penalty. 

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Foreign Visitors Required To Register For 30-day Stays Or Longer

In the latest development of the ever-changing foreign policy of the United States, the office of the President has clarified an Executive Order initially signed on inauguration day which is now in effect following a comment period.

The rule states that some foreign visitors to the United States must now register upon reaching 30 days into their stay as well as any time their address in the United States changes (within 10 days.) First, here’s who is exempt from the rule:

“You do not need to register if you have already received one of the following:

• A Green Card (Lawful Permanent Resident status)
• An immigrant or nonimmigrant visa issued before arrival
• A Form I-94 or I-94W (entry document)
• An Employment Authorization Document (EAD)
• A Border Crossing Card
• Any pending or approved application for lawful permanent residence (Form I-485, I-687, I-691, I-698, I-700)
• A Notice to Appear in removal proceedings

If you hold any of these documents, you have already met the registration requirement and do not need to take further action.

Who Is Not Registered?

You may not be registered if you:

• Entered the U.S. without inspection or parole

• Are a Canadian visitor who entered at a land border without receiving registration documents

• Applied for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) or Temporary Protected Status (TPS) but were not issued proof of registration” – Richards Immigration Law

Who does that leave, you might ask?

“You must register if you:

• Are 14 or older and were not registered when applying for a visa and have stayed in the U.S. for 30 consecutive days or more.

• Are a parent or legal guardian of a child under 14 who remains in the U.S. for 30 consecutive days or more.

• Turn 14 years old in the U.S. and were previously registered as a child. You must re-register within 30 days of your 14th birthday.” – Richards Immigration Law”

This applies to a limited but important subset of foreign visitors to the United States, those likely to spend the most money, travel to several cities, and who have already gone through a rigorous set of requirements to arrive.

Counter To Reciprocal Agreements

American visitors to the European Union can stay up to 90 days consecutively and 180 days in one year. While American visitors, like their European counterparts, will soon have to file a similar document to the ESTA (the UK has its own version) they are not required to register with the EU after 30 days on the continent.

Many other countries that have visitor agreements with the United States do not require any sort of check-in, though some visas may. When my wife and I moved to Thailand on a one-year visa, we were required to leave and re-enter the country every 90 days. In one case, this involved a common visa renewal by riding a bus to the Cambodian border just to walk through a turnstile and immediately return to Thailand. On another “visa-run” we spent a couple of days in Hong Kong (my eighth post ever of now more than 1,360.) We were required to check-in with the local police station in Thailand making them aware of our presence.

No Exit Customs Process

Some countries (Germany and China come to mind) require visitors to pass through Customs upon departure. This process helps to identify visa overstayers in an easier way than the happenstance approach the US has now. Do overstayers represent a considerable concern?

Is There Not Enough In Place Already?

For longer than a decade, visitors to the United States from friendly NATO countries (and others) were required to file an ESTA and pay a small fee. This pre-clearance process allows the United States to vet foreign visitors prior to their arrival and for visitors from certain countries to avoid applying for a visa to come to the United States.

The United States already deploys perhaps the most rigorous visitor entry process(es) in the world. Extensive background checks, frequently denied visitor visas from second and third-world countries create a long and expensive process for foreign nationals as it is. Further, the United States is the only country for which I am aware that operates pre-clearance customs and border protection on foreign soil, ostensibly rendering arriving flights as domestic. This allows the US to avoid handling unwanted or unsavory travelers on US soil and for travelers, is a benefit of avoiding long lines upon arrival and aiding onward connections.

The process is already too much for visitors from some countries who may wait years for the opportunity to visit but instead of waiting they head to other countries without the complex requirements, cost, and wait. The only problem this potentially solves is those overstaying a visa. This doesn’t address illegal immigration (which at this point is mostly a non-issue with just 7,180 crossings in March vs 163,672 from March 2023.)

This new rule solely affects those who have permission to be in the United States 30 days or longer, have already passed every legal entry requirement, and have funds to support their stay (a significant amount for most visitors.) While narrow in scope, this creates yet another requirement to the most qualified, “best customers” of the country.

Living in the UK, it seemed like every person we spoke with had a holiday booked, either some place sunny (the Canary Islands, Corfu, etc.) or the US as their destination with New York, Los Angeles, Orlando, and Las Vegas the most common. For many, their trips to the United States were seminal. Some may be scared away from additional processes just as this writer from Business Insider commented:

“When I shared my concerns with American friends, they advised me not to say that I’m a writer at the border and to pack a “burner phone” with me instead of my real one if I visit the US. (Folks in online travel forums and even Canadian immigration lawyers have suggested using “burner phones” while traveling to the US, too.)” – Business Insider

While there have only been two noted incidents I am aware of where a European was turned away at the border under heightened conditions, his feelings are valid. While both of those incidents were met with huge caveats and statistical anomalies, adding useless new requirements like this one add to reasonable concerns about visiting the US right now.

Conclusion

This new and superfluous requirement only further antagonizes the most desirable visitors to the United States. It accomplishes very little, but angers many. For an administration that has publicly stated it wants to be on the side of 80/20 issues, this seems like an odd red herring to add to the mix that solves a problem that isn’t real. Congress should act to dismantle this quickly.

What do you think?