New news for those that have minor violations outstanding...
'No-risk' visitors to US to be excused
A new policy of ‘one-time’ parole for visitors under the Visa Waiver Programme (VWP) has been announced by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commission. The initiative is conceived as a means of greatly reducing incidents of visitors to the US being handcuffed and detained on entry for minor visa-related violations.
Under previous procedures, visitors from the 27 designated VWP countries - which includes the UK and permits its citizens to travel to the US for purposes of tourism, business or pleasure without visas - could be handcuffed and detained upon arrival for violations as minor as overstaying a previous visit under the VWP.
In August, though, Robert Bonner, the CBP commissioner, announced that CBP officers have new discretionary powers to grant one-time parole to travellers who have committed a minor VWP-related infringement but are classified as ‘no risk’.
Announcing the policy, Bonner explained that “A number of situations have come to my attention where CBP officers have denied entry to travellers from Visa Waiver countries on their arrival at US airports because of brief, prior overstays, sometimes just a few days, of the Visa Waiver Programme, although these travellers posed no threat whatsoever to the US.
“The consequence of the decision is that the person has been detained, often overnight, and handcuffed while transported to and from the detention facility,” Bonner continued, adding that “This treatment is grossly disproportionate to the inadvertent prior overstays”.
[msnsmile2]
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