It has been suggested again here http://diplopundit.blogspot.com/2009...reer-fair.html that the Nonimmigrant visas (NIV) function be removed from State and transferred to DHS. As is stands now the NIV is permission to apply for admission at the port of entry (POE). This theoretically enables the bearer to travel to the POE to apply for admission. In fact, even that option is limited since to fly to the US on an NIV one needs an APIS clearance to fly from Customs and Border Patrol (CPB): http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/in...nformation.xml

Before the B-1/B-2 business/tourist NIV can be issued the applicant must convince a consular officer of his/her intention to return home after a temporary visit to the US. Before applying the applicant has been photographed and fingerprinted and the consular officer has the feedback from running this biometric information against criminal databases. A namecheck against the CLASS lookout system is also conducted. The Nigerian kid who tried to blow up the Delta/NW flight had an NIV issued in London within the last two years. At the time he was issued his name was not in CLASS. It was also not in the CPB (DHS) lookout system when he cleared APIS from Ghana after buying his round trip ticket to Detroit, this despite his father having expressed concern about his son's radicalization and requested USG assistance in locating him. The Embassy reported this information to the NCTC (DNI)/NTC (FBI) which concluded the information did not rise to the level of including him on the no fly list or revoking his visa. This decision was not made by the State Department or the Embassy in Abuja.

So the suggestion that the State Department dropped the ball on this one is incorrect as far as we know.

So a terrorist from a visa waiver country or someone "adopting" the identity of such is used.

Then there's the ones who have immigrant visas, green cards or who are citizens of the US...

I would pay no attention to this diatribe from a Bush-era political appointee who clearly has no experience with consular affairs. The canards and stereotypes he propagates play well to his intended audience, but have no basis in fact. I could do a point by point refutation, but it is not worth my time.

Impostors may be a problem. But with more biometrics that is getting harder. Alien Resident Cards and US passports present a challenge to POE inspectors. Every visa issuance is vetted against the lookout system. Visa waiver country travelers to the US are subjected to an ESTA clearance before they fly.

True or not it is a widely held misconception.

And what about K visas? They are considered non-immigrant even though they carry an intent to immigrate.

Ciao,
FH

just a small point - NW/DL flight

Nice one, calling a 23 year old graduate of a major university "BOY".

Is it cos I is black?

Not at all. Because he has been described as young looking and he is way younger than me. Still a kid in my eyes.

corrected. i have my alliances crossed.

Would you call a black man at home "Boy"?

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009...-Timeline.html

2009

--January: Abdulmutallab attends the University of Wollongong in Dubai.

--May 2009: Britain refuses to grant Abdulmutallab a student visa because the school on his application form was not a government-approved institution.

--August to early December: Abdulmutallab visits Yemen after receiving a visa to study Arabic in a school in Sana'a, according to the Yemeni Foreign Ministry.

--Nov. 19: Abdulmutallab's father goes to the U.S. embassy in Abuja, Nigeria, to express concern his son was in Yemen and had fallen under the influence of extremists.

--Nov. 20: The U.S. embassy sends a so-called ''VISAS VIPER'' cable with the information that Abdulmutallab's father had provided. The cable is sent to all U.S. diplomatic missions and the State Department in Washington, where it was also shared with the interagency National Counterterrorism Center for review.

--Nov. 20, 2009, Abdulmutallab's name is entered into the National Counterterrorism Center's Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE) database based on information provided by his father.

--Dec. 16: Abdulmutallab's round-trip plane ticket is purchased in Accra, Ghana, for $2,831 in cash, presumably by Abdulmutallab himself, according to Nigerian officials.

--Dec. 24: Abdulmutallab re-enters Nigeria for only one day to board a flight from Lagos to Detroit, via Amsterdam.

--Dec. 25: Abdulmutallab allegedly tries to bring down Northwest Airlines Flight 253 as it approaches Detroit. The plane lands safely and he is taken to the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., for treatment of burns.

--Dec. 27: Abdulmutallab is transferred to a federal prison in Michigan.

there are several niv categories where the intent to return foreign is not required. k is one. i am talking about the b tourist category of visa he had.

DHS is a messed up organization and has trouble enough even attempting to "fix" the TSA. No need to give DHS more control over current State Department functions.

If that is your issue, you should have specified it earlier.