Why Would We Double The Number Of SA Visas Granted?

[Annie]

:duh3:


http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150885867182&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

Number of US visas to Saudis doubles
Michael Freund, THE JERUSALEM POST Jun. 28, 2006

For the first time since the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, the US State Department has begun to sharply increase the number of entry visas granted to Saudi Arabian nationals seeking to visit the United States, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

Figures obtained by the Post reveal that after three years of steady decline, 2005 saw the number of US visas issued to Saudis remain relatively stable, while this year the number has more than doubled.

In an e-mail to the Post, Amanda D. Rogers-Harper, a spokeswoman for the US State Department, confirmed that as of June 10, a total of 18,683 non-immigrant US visas had been issued to Saudi citizens since the start of the current fiscal year.

"This," she noted, "is twice as many as the 9,338 issuances to Saudis" in the corresponding period last year, marking an increase of over 100 percent in just the past 12 months.

The US government's fiscal year begins October 1.

By contrast, the number of visas issued to Saudis in all of fiscal year 2005 was 22,521, which was nearly equal to the 22,235 that were granted the year before.

"We are pleased to see an increase in visa applicants at posts around the world, including Saudi Arabia," Rogers-Harper said, adding that this year's increase could be attributed to "a new student scholarship program funded by the government of Saudi Arabia, which encourages students to pursue their studies in the US.

"We hope to see a continuation of this positive momentum," she added.

In 2001, the US granted 83,761 non-immigrant visas to Saudis, but that number plummeted after 9/11. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers who carried out the attacks were Saudi citizens.

Subsequently, in fiscal year 2002, the number of visas given to Saudis slumped to 30,065, followed by a further decline in 2003 to 23,254.

Asked what measures were being taken to ensure that potential terrorists do not exploit the increase in the number of visas to the US, Rogers-Harper said: "The security of our visa processing continues to be of paramount concern to the Department of State and the Bureau of Consular Affairs. All applications are carefully screened in real time against a database and name-check system that has been dramatically expanded since September 11, 2001.

"The department," she continued, "has also increased data-sharing with other agencies and law enforcement organizations to ensure that those who receive US visas have been fully screened against these databases."

Figures regarding the number of Saudi applications for visas that were turned down were unavailable, as the State Department declined to release them.

"We do not release refusal rates for any posts around the world because they are constantly changing and there are different types of refusals, including a number of temporary categories," Rogers-Harper said.

 

[waltky]

Nobody keepin' track of temporary visitors to the U.S....

Temporary Visitors to U.S. At All-Time High, Nobody’s Keeping Track of Them
September 4, 2013 – Visas for temporary visitors entering the United States have increased 61 percent since 1992, according to data released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). But the federal government has no way to make sure they leave when their visas expire.

Out of 165 million non-immigrant admissions to the U.S. last year, 53.9 million were “temporary visitors for business and pleasure,” according to the Office of Immigration Statistics’ 2012 Annual Flow Report. In 1992, this number was 20.9 million, marking a 61 percent increase in temporary admissions over the past 21 years. In 2012, 78 percent of non-immigrant admissions were foreigners who came to the U.S. as tourists, up from 76.4 percent in 2011 and 75.6 percent in 2010, according to the report.

Non-immigrants may be granted visas for “temporary visits for business or pleasure, academic or vocational study, temporary employment, or to act as a representative of a foreign government or international organization.” Most of the visas issued in 2012 to temporary visitors, workers, and students went to visitors from Mexico (31 percent), the United Kingdom (8.3 percent), and Japan (7.7 percent), the “leading countries of citizenship for I-94 admissions.” Upon arrival in the U.S., tourists complete an I-94 “Arrival/Departure” form, which must then be approved by the U.S. Border Patrol to authorize the visit. Visitors are generally required to return their I-94s upon departure from the U.S.

CNSNews previously reported that the Congressional Budget Office concluded that the Senate immigration bill passed in June, which would put illegal aliens on a pathway to citizenship, would also “allow the flow of new illegal aliens into the United States to continue at a rate equal to 75 percent of the current rate of illegal immigration,” partly “because of people who overstay temporary work visas that will be authorized by the bill.” A House hearing in June revealed that the U.S. Border Patrol does not have an exit program to track individuals leaving the U.S., and thus cannot track visa overstays. Approximately “40 percent of the 11 million or more illegal aliens living in the United States entered the country legally with a visa but overstayed the date for departure.” Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) referred to the lack of an exit program as “the biggest gaping hole we have on our border.”

Rebecca Gambler, director of the Homeland Security and Justice Team for the Government Accountability Office (GAO), testified in May that the DHS has not been able to locate 266 potentially dangerous foreign nationals who overstayed their visas since 2011 out of 1,901 temporary visitors considered threats to national security. “All the hijackers who committed the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks . . . entered the country legally on a temporary visa, mostly tourist visas with entry permits for six months,” according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform. Some of the hijackers had expired visas at the time of the attack. DHS did not answer CNSNews’ requests for further information.

Temporary Visitors to U.S. At All-Time High, Nobody?s Keeping Track of Them | CNS News

See also:

Americans turn in passports as new tax law hits
September 5, 2013: The number of Americans choosing to give up their citizenship has spiked dramatically this year as the government works to implement a new disclosure law aimed at stamping out tax evasion.

Some of the rush may be caused by Americans hoping to avoid the new disclosure requirements. Others living abroad say they are giving up their U.S. passport because they are tired of dealing with overly complicated tax filings. Unlike most countries, the U.S. continues to tax citizens on all income, regardless of where it is earned or where they reside. For expats, filing taxes in two countries often means wrestling with a huge mountain of paperwork. "Every year, I was spending about $600 to $700 having somebody do the tax paperwork," said Kim-Fredrik Schneider, who now resides in the U.K. and retains his Swedish passport.

Schneider, who hasn't lived in the U.S. for about 13 years, was one of at least 1,800 people to renounce U.S. citizenship or give up their green cards in the first half of 2013. In the second quarter alone, there were 1,130 renunciations according to government data -- more than the 932 recorded for all of last year. The increase comes as the U.S. prepares to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, a new law that requires foreign institutions to report all assets owned by Americans. The measure, approved by Congress in 2010, is aimed at recouping some of the hundreds of billions the government says it loses each year in unpaid taxes. The law also requires individuals with overseas assets to file additional forms.

Most people renouncing citizenship are "hardly the 'fat cat' tax exiles," said Eugene Chow of Hong Kong immigration firm Chow King & Associates. Instead, Chow said, clients who choose to give up their citizenship are often "really very ordinary people" who find it difficult to comply with the ever-changing tax code. Immigration lawyer Melissa Vincenty of Fragomen recalled one client, a woman nearing retirement age, who gave up her citizenship for the same reason. She had been filing taxes as an expat for nearly four decades, and didn't want to deal with it anymore, Vincenty said. While the paperwork is certainly a burden, concerns over wealth preservation can also be a contributing factor.

Eduardo Saverin, one of Facebook's four co-founders, is one of the wealthiest individuals to give up his passport, and has since taken up residency in Singapore. Saverin officially expatriated from the U.S. last year, before Facebook's IPO. The Brazilian native insists he did not renounce his citizenship for tax reasons, but his move still drew criticism from high-profile lawmakers. Even individuals who are not among the super rich are considering giving up their citizenship -- especially when lower tax rates beckon in other countries. Americans are looking down the road at how their investments such as retirement funds will be taxed, Vincenty said. Giving up your US citizenship, she said, is a "realistic option to be able to manage those tax burdens."

More Americans turn in passports as new tax law hits - Sep. 4, 2013