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:
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Entered the U.S. without inspection or parole
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Are a Canadian visitor who entered at a land border without receiving registration documents
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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:
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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.
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Are a parent or legal guardian of a child under 14 who remains in the U.S. for 30 consecutive days or more.
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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 formal passport control 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?
Are you sure you are aware of the difference between customs and immigration? There are no outbound customs checks in Germany or indeed anywhere within the Schengen zone.
Attention to detail is lacking many times with this weekend blogger.
Of course there are, if you’re about to leave Schengen, at your departing German airport.
There aren’t. There’s passport control, but no outbound customs checks, forms to fill etc.
Had several of the previous administrations (of both parties) actually enforced existing US laws, none of this would be an issue. Resolving these open borders problems are going to affect everyone now.
@Kenin … Yep . And somewhat amazed that the writer is somehow unaware of the millions of illegals and overstays.
The actual most recent number is 399,000. Not millions. This is directly from DHS as to annual reporting. Further, that accounts for a little over 1% of all arrivals. For those with ESTA I imagine that percentage is even less. So, you see a blanket ruling like this to be justified when 99% of all arrivals in this country by normal channels are perfectly within guidelines?
I should clarify that this specifically relates to overstays.
Agreed. Government is evil. The same police thugs who violate freedoms of citizens don’t use good judgment and discretion when applying recent policy changes regarding immigration. People with visas should not be detained if they are revoked. They should be given time to leave or fix issues. Students should not be deported for speech because the “chosen” people are angry their abuses are called out. These ICE have the ability to not detain these people. Unfortunately, this all started because we had millions of illegals pouring through the border because prior administrations allowed them in against the will of the public. Tough measures are needed to reverse the insanity. Detaining and deporting illegals is great. They are violating the property rights of the public. Because of all those illegals and failures of the government, we have some people being caught in this mess who shouldn’t be.
We should criticize inappropriate enforcement but cheer the borders being sealed and illegals deported.
Stupid advice.
“they advised me not to say that I’m a writer”
The #1 rule. Don’t lie.
@Eskimo … Yep . And #2 rule = follow the rules .
It is too soft. The U.S. should reciprocate the bad treatment that Americans get in Canada. Ban Canadians from buying a house in the U.S. Tax Canadians who already own a house and make them file a special yearly tax return not required specially directed at foreigners. Make Canadians wait a long time in customs and immigration lines.
The US has always, and continues to, apply outbound Immigration. When you leave the country by air (the most common route) you won’t be aware of this because it’s done by the airline giving passport details to the INS. If you return to the country, the INS officer will see precisely when you last entered and left the country.
The INS….lol
Is there a risk of getting into trouble if I enter the USA with my British passport and give the airline my EU one when leaving the country (whether I’m flying back to Europe or going to another country in the Americas)? I can imagine having a lot of fun at passport control if I visit again and their systems indicate that I have never left!
Always use the same passport for entry and exit, unless you’re looking for trouble.
But that’s not the question. Checking in for the next destination isn’t tantamount to exiting a country, and it’s not like you can put two passports in the API.
Another way to chase foreign visitors away who spend money in the United States. This administration is doing everything it can to destroy the US economy, and succeeding at it. The Police state is rising rather quickly. Let’s see how long it lasts.
” ever changing foreign policy ” When visitors cannot trust this government to be stable, choices to visit become unattractive.
” Congress should act to dismantle this quickly ” This action would require courage to stand up to retribution and become a perceived enemy.
Wow, I had to do just this, register with authorities within some days of arrival, when I lived in Kazakhstan in 2015.
I would have thought that the APIS data sent ahead of every flight and shared with about 2 dozen agencies would serve this purpose?
first, while this is a travel blog, the impact of foreign travel is relatively small compared to massive changes in stocks, bonds including US treasuries, and the dollar.
Nothing like what is being sought has ever happened on this scale in a western country so it is far from clear if it will achieve what is intended, let alone be worth the transition costs.
The root of the issue here is legal immigration and, as others have noted, it has been broken for decades with no likelihood of it getting fixed anytime soon. When something doesn’t work, all kinds of workarounds on both sides pop up.
there will clearly be damage to tourism to the US and the only question is how much and for how long. Perhaps as United and other airlines report their earnings, there will be more clarity; Delta, the only airline that has reported so far, did so too close after the tariff announcements for travel decisions to begin to be tallied.
The US has the Most Rigorous Entry Process???Not in the last 4 years as we let anyone walk in illegally and gave them more benefits than our own citizens!!
The entry process once you are speaking with the immigration officer. It’s up to them to let you in or not.
You are sick
I think dee is an elderly person cairns uses as a flying monkey. I base this conclusion on what I have observed on omaat.
You are clearly ignorant in confusing illegal crossings with everyday people coming in normally to the U.S. Dear God, no wonder America is a complete f fest of idiocy.
So I’m trying to understand this. And thanks Kyle for posting this as I was not aware. I hope the EU imposes the same requirements for Americans. It’s the only way this will ever get corrected.
Perhaps I am not understanding the rules entirely. Am I reading it correctly that if you come, say, for three weeks, but during that time you change hotels or decide to go visit a friend for a few days or perhaps just want to drive up the Pacific coast for two weeks without set bookings – that you have to register every time you change an address??? What the actual…? That is the most archaic thing I have ever seen if correct. I mean, it’s America, it’s vast, it’s open and a fun place to road trip and have flexible itineraries.
Honestly, this is inching closer and closer to becoming like traveling to North Korea. What’s next? All visits must be guided and staffed by Government employees?
Don’t forget the mandatory stop that requires reverential bowing to a gargantuan statue of the Mad Orange God King,
This decree is purely political. It will cost a fortune to administer whilst achieving very little in practical terms, except perhaps for inducing other countries to apply reciprocal edicts to travelers with US passports. As pointed out by others in these comments, the numbers of over-stayers who enter the country through formal border control is very small, and those who sneak in without immigration inspection aren’t going to register anyway.
I just want to correct some of the journalistic errors:
-You confuse EU with Schengen Area. Monaco, Andorra, San Marino, Switzerland, Norway, and Iceland are in the Schengen Area, but not the EU. Ireland and Cyprus are in the EU but not the Schengen Area.
-You mention “exit customs,” but you go on to discuss immigration (passport control). Customs deals with importation of goods (tariffs could be relevant), and the overwhelming majority of countries (including the US) do not have customs formalities upon exit.
-Precleareance: admittedly you concede you’re not 100% certain, but lots of countries do this. Uruguay has immigration facilities in Argentina, St. Vincent has immigration facilities in Grenada. France has immigration facilities in St. Pancras Station in London for Eurostar.
You wrote a good article, just try to be accurate in what you write. You may not care and you may view these as small, unimportant nuances, but you want to appeal to your smartest reader, not your dumbest.
Technically, that’s a Deadwood v. Airliner.
The Buquebus in Buenos Aires is very similar to the Victoria Clipper headed towards Seattle.
The crazy point is that, previously, reactionary administrations recognized that they could satisfy their voters with a few high-profile cases; now, the goal seems to be to abuse and deport enough legitimate tourists to ensure that nobody thinks about coming to this miserable country.
Good catch on Buquebus, but it’s still a valid point. SVG absolutely has immigration at other Caribbean airports, though.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Canada is considering evicting the US preclearance facilities, given all the “51st state” rhetoric which is (or gives a very public impression of being) a threat to Canada’s sovereignty.
I have no problem with it. I don’t find it absurd at all. Please come visit. But then go back home. Don’t stay unless you are legally allowed to.
Exactly. There are Europeans that stay for years illegally too and get jobs. I knew of 1 in the early 90s. I didn’t know he was illegally here but the company decided to check after he was working there a while and fired him. E-verfify must be mandatory.
I remember being asked for an address of where I was staying when entering the UK. I didn’t have it. It was with a relative. They let me in any way.
Italian hotels would collect your passport and register you with the local police. I don’t know if they still do that.Do you complain about that?
But make it “papers please” with significant expense and time for those who account for less than 1% in overstays beyond 90 days? And y’all complained about Covid protocols for entry? Sorry, when 99% of all entries into the U.S. are not overstaying the 90 days (and probably less than that with ESTA entries) this is beyond absurd. Imagine, you people, the great government waste advocates, how much this will cost U.S. taxpayers to enforce for what is a nothing burger.
Can’t wait for the EU to reciprocate. Watch MAGA scream and shout as a result.
“It accomplishes very little, but angers many.” I didn’t know American travel bloggers where in the know of all intelligence information from our three letter government agencies to make assessments?
The United States is changing. It is becoming more like China politically and governmentally; very sad. In the coming decades, perhaps sooner, and right now, the USA will be closed off and seen as an unfree country.
Don’t assume that you are welcome here just because you have a green card. I’m a ‘naturalized’ citizen, and I feel that I am not welcome here. Everybody’s perception is different, but there are a lot of negative feelings in society about that right now.
More akin to Putin’s Russia than to China.
China is a very problematic country but it doesn’t have a mad king ruling it. Putin and Trump are super corrupt, hyper-greedy, fragile ego nincompoops with bad strategy for economically improving the country for the average person because their sense of success is their own personal power over others and get away with doing crazy things.
Yes. But one of them is intelligent. The other aspires to look intelligent.
Tony N
You are not alone. I worry for everyone. There are no guarantees of our laws being followed.
Your laws, let alone constitutional rights!
If I remember right, US citizens had to get a Visa to enter France in 1987. Were we being antagonized? I am not sure when that stopped.
We are a global society. No matter how much “America First” wants to say otherwise. We have binds that are immeasurable to many places and people. Especially our neighbors and close allies.
Here is my case study and how it affects wrongly a significant number of people who will enter the U.S. My girlfriend lives and works in the EU. I live and work in the U.S. We are both middle aged and successful. However, we are both digital and can be mostly anywhere at times throughout the year. She loves to come to the U.S. for two month stays. With that I go to the EU for some weeks alternatively. In between we meet elsewhere in the world. It’s a beautiful life and a wonderful existence. Neither of us are interested in citizenship outside of our countries or wish to be married. It’s a reasonable and non woke lifestyle that is quite common in the world.
For now, I can freely enter the EU for 90 days. No one questions or cares. For her, entering the U.S. has now become an incredible burden beyond a quick (for her) 30 days or less stay. Not to mention the questioning and issues involved with a middle aged woman traveling alone to America and the CBP harassment that often comes with it and thus makes even a short stay questionable. The fear always as to if she will be turned away and sent back for no reason. We wrongly live with this anxiety constantly despite her never over staying her ESTA – or even close.
I love my country. She loves hers. We love each other. Neither of us wants to change our lifestyle. But now, for an extended stay of 60 days, she must register, answer questions, and fingerprint “somewhere” (even though she would be within the 90 days allowed). As well, she faces the reality that she could be refused beyond 30 days for no reason and, frankly, probably will.
All of this because, as someone pointed out above, 1% of the entries overstay their 90 days. Yes, 1%. I am so ashamed of America. I am so ashamed of my countrymen who support this lunacy
“The root of the issue here is legal immigration and, as others have noted, it has been broken for decades with no likelihood of it getting fixed anytime soon.”
This times 10.
Is it not the case that most visitors already do this (register) when they enter the country?
Arthur, those that perused a path toward legal citizenship. ( finding employment and paying taxes that US citizens refused ) found the rug pulled out from under them . What is the gain to now expel a positive?
Of course, that is what ESTA does or gaining a tourist visa achieves if resident of another country. The guardrails are already more than there. Which makes this nonsense. For legal and normal entries we already have one of the most stringent systems in the world.
The reality is that who this affects has absolutely no impact (1%) on illegal immigration in America. In turn, this unfairly burdens tens of millions who legally enter the U.S. and do not violate their stay. Especially Canadians and EU residents, our closest allies, who are unfairly punished for absolutely no reason.
Good luck travel industry to and in the U.S. This is going to bludgeoned the industry.
Some EU countries (such as Czechia and Slovenia) require registration after 30 or even 3 days. Many people travel to Indonesia for vacation – they also require registration after 3 days. Of course China and India require registration every day and many other countries do, too. I’m not sure what the big deal is.
Every hotel that I’ve ever stayed at in Europe or the Middle East take and scan my passport when I check in. They don’t just want my name and credit card, the want my PASSPORT. This is done to track me while I’m in their country. I don’t care that they do this as it’s a REQUIREMENT to be a guest in their country. I don’t have a choice…..well I do actually….I can leave in protest which is silly. Foreign countries have rules to follow in order to be a guest. Now. The USA does too. For decades, the world has abused our immigration system….visa overstays, student visa fraud or simply saying the “magic word” at the border….asylum.
This. Stops. Now.
Don’t want to participate is a relatively simply requirement then don’t travel here.
Nonsense, hotels do not participate in the immigration system. Your passport is scanned as a back up to failed card payments or other damage you might do to their property.
This is a flawed comparison. First off, if staying with friends in Europe neither you are they are required to “report” your whereabouts. As far as hotels in Europe they scan ALL passports, including those living in the EU. This is not a tracking system more so than a record kept should it be needed by law enforcement etc. Further, those visiting the EU are not required to report any changes to addresses which is completely archaic in principle.
Once again, I will inform here of the “massive abuse” you cite. Overstays account for a total of 1% of all visits to the U.S. From those with ESTA that percentage is even lower. Please, stop with the hyperbole. Illegal border crossings and asylum seekers are NOT at all compared to normal every day travelers coming from Canada and the EU as two examples.
Oh so it’s okay to share my information with the LOCAL police or as you say “record kept should it be needed by law enforcement etc.” but not FEDERAL law enforcement ie: Immigration.
Look, you cheerfully shared these details of your whereabouts, who you met, where you stayed, for how long etc. during the global panic so what’s the problem now?
You can opt out of the rules of being a guest in the United States by not coming.
We’ll be just fine. I promise.
Oh, Chris. Where do I even start. By law enforcement it is specifically for use should you not pay for your room, engage in illegal activity within the hotel, destroy property, etc. Men in little rooms are not scouring your information in the EU to track you. It is no different than showing your ID at hotels in the U.S. to confirm identity. Hotels in Europe just happen to do so with passports and keep the information on file. Really, this is NOT even close to the same as requiring visitors to report on an APP their exact location should it change at any time. Further, there is no mandate in the EU that if staying beyond 30 days you need to seek approval and be fingerprinted at an unknown location. Further, the EU does not care if you stay with friends. The U.S. does and wants to know with who and where now.
Second, as to comparing this to Covid, I agree. I hated this as much as you did. Though, in the case of the EU it was hardly a huge deal. I was on “essential business” to the EU repeatedly during the first year of the pandemic. The only information I was required to present was my location information during the quarantine period until test results were returned. That’s it. And to show my vaccination card at hotels and public spaces. Hardly even close to the cumbersome nature of what the U.S. is now requiring and will be outrageously expensive to administer.
Umm, and I am a U.S. citizen, lol. That also lives part time overseas. So, save me your ‘don’t come” speech. The world is very much intertwined and you sound like a hayseed with comments like that.
More evidence as if any were needed that visitors are no longer welcome in Trumpton. It’s no wonder decent people are staying away and will continue to.
For those throwing around the “but it’s only 1% overstays” number. While 1% sounds low and east to dismiss, the true number of overstays is around 600-800k people per year. That means in the last 10 years there have been around 8 million people who overstayed their visa. And we all know they didn’t just overstay by 1 day, most of them are most likely still here.
You are speculating with no information. The DHS clearly reports on this each year and those are the facts I go with. Nor do you know that ALL of them are still here. Further, it is widely known that there are reporting errors in people who did leave but were not registered as such. In fact, a friend in Munich was documented as that and had to go through months of paperwork to show that he had left to be allowed back in the U.S.
Lastly, you can Google the breakdown of the countries where overstays tend to originate from. Those with ESTA have so for a reason as the numbers are crazy low. Canadians and EU residents are simply not flooding our nation with overstays. If you want to implement this new procedure for those from countries like India, Brazil, or the like…fine. But you do not wall off your country to the entire world when there is just not a problem here to fix with most places.
I still have seen no evidence this would affect, say, an EU visitor coming to the US for, say, 80 days. You arrive at JFK (or whevere), go through passport control, and have no requirement to register after 30 days? Any informed disagreement?
Specifically, wouldn’t virtually any non-US-citizen tourist arriving at a U.S. airport clear entry with an I-94 or I-94W which is in the “not required to register” category?
This is actually a very good observation and catch. It might be that the lack of clear explanation from DHS is confusing everyone. I’m reading their summary and it’s vague. For me, let alone for foreign nationals, But, I think you may be right and this seems more towards land crossings coming in from Mexico and Canada. It might be good for Kyle to gather some more information and post an update.