(日本語)

• DHS TRIP (Traveler Redress Inquiry Program)(March, 25, 2008)
  On February 21, 2007, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced its launch of the Traveler Redress Inquiry Program (TRIP). TRIP offers legitimate travelers a central online location to address concerns and seek relief from screening-related difficulties they may have experienced during their travel to and from the U.S. This may include being:

  a) denied or delayed airline boarding;
  b) denied or delayed entry into and exit from the U.S. at a POE or border checkpoint;
  c) continuously referred to secondary screening.

  Travelers seeking redress may file a complaint online at https://trip.dhs.gov/ and track its status by using the control number assigned to their inquiry.

  
  

• Application Fees for Non-Immigrant Visas to Increase On January 1, 2008
(December, 14, 2007)


We would like to inform you that due to a computer error, some applicants who paid their MRV fees between January 4, 2008 and January 8, 2008, BUT who had registered their numbers in December 2007, were automatically charged the old MRV fee of $100 at the ATM. These applicants will need to pay a make-up fee of $31 at the Embassy/Consulate casher. The MRV fee increased to $131 on January 1, 2008, and all applicants should have been charged a $131 MRV fee effective January 1 2008.

Effective January 1, 2008, the application fee for a U.S. non-immigrant visa will increase from $100 to $131. This increase allows the State Department to recover the costs of security and other enhancements to the non-immigrant visa application process. This increase applies both to non-immigrant visas issued on machine-readable foils in passports and to border crossing cards issued to certain applicants in Mexico.

Applicants who paid the prior $100 application fee before January 1 will be processed only if they are scheduled and appear for a visa interview before January 31. Applicants who paid the prior $100 application fee and appear for visa interviews after January 31, 2008 must pay the difference - $31 - before they will be interviewed. In this case, applicants will be able to pay the supplemental $31 dollar fee on their interview day at the embassy or Consulate where they are being interviewed. The Embassy and Consulate cashiers can accept Yen or US dollars.

The State Department is required by law to attempt to recover the cost of processing non-immigrant visas through the collection of the Machine-Readable Visa application fee. Because of new security-related costs, new information technology systems, and inflation, the $100 Machine-Readable Visa fee is lower than the actual cost of processing non-immigrant visas. In fact, the $100 fee was already lower than the cost of processing non-immigrant visas when the fee was reviewed as a part of the cost of service study in 2004. The State Department has been absorbing the additional cost. We are now collecting 10 fingerprints from each applicant, and the cost charged by the FBI to review those fingerprints no longer allows us to do this. The application fee has increased twice since September 11, 2001, the last time in 2002.

• Application Fees for Immigrant Visas to Increase On January 1, 2008



Effective January 1, 2008, the application fee for a U.S. immigrant visa will increase from $335 to $355. The fee accurately reflects the cost of enhanced biometric security features which have been added to the immigrant visa system.

Applicants who paid the prior $335 application fee before January 1, 2008 will be processed without further payment even if they appear for an immigrant visa interview after January 1, 2008. Most IV applicants pay their fees through the Department of State's National Visa Center (NVC) in the United States. Fee bills sent by NVC will reflect this change effective January 1, 2008.

Applicants who make their payment after January 1, 2008 will be required to pay the increase even if their original fee bill sent prior to January 1, 2008 displays the fee of $335.

This fee increase also impacts Diversity Visa applicants, who pay this fee at the time of interview at post.

• Registration for DV-2009 Visa Lottery Program is closed

(December 03, 2007)

• DV-2009 visa lottery program

(September, 29, 2007)

The Diversity Visa (DV) 2009 Lottery online entry begin at Noon EDT on October 3, 2007, and end at Noon EST on December 2, 2007.

• New Visa Inquiry Service

(September 25, 2007)

Effective September 27, 2007, the telephone number and E-mail address for the US Embassy’s Visa Information Service will be changed. See here.

• 10-finger Biometric Collection Begins
  (September 25, 2007)

  In May 2007, the Department of State announced that it would implement 10-print biometric collection for NIV and IV applicants worldwide by December 21, 2007.

  Effective October 1, 2007, the US Embassy in Tokyo and the Consulate-General in Sapporo will start ten-finger biometric collection expanding from the current two finger scanning. Naha will begin its 10-finger biometric collection on October 8. Osaka and Fukuoka will begin at later in 2007. This easy process still adds only 1 minute to each interview.

• Persons required to submit DS-157 and DS-158 (Supplemental Non-immigrant Visa Application Forms)
  (July 6, 2007)

  Effective July 9, 2007, there will be changes in submission requirements for Forms DS-157 or DS-158.

  For details, see here.

• USCIS Sets Final Fee Schedule to Build an Immigration Service for the 21st Century
  (May 29 2007)

  U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced a new fee schedule effective on July 30, 2007 for immigration benefit applications and petitions.

  For details, see here

  
  

• Visa Services to be Resumed at Consulate Fukuoka
  (Apr 27 2007)

  Beginning May 9, 2007, U.S. Consulate Fukuoka will resume accepting non-immigrant visa applications from individuals interested in traveling to the U.S.

  Ever since visa services at Consulate Fukuoka were transferred to U.S. Consulate General Osaka-Kobe in 1995, visa applicants residing in the Kyushu-Yamaguchi region have had to appear at Consulate General Osaka-Kobe for a personal interview.

  Visa interviews will be conducted at the Consulate Fukuoka 2-4 times a month depending on seasonal demand. Interviews are by appointment only, and applicants must schedule their interview dates through our website.

  For application procedures, see here.

  
  

• Revised I-130 Petitioning Procedures for U.S. Citizens resident in Japan
  (Mar 22 2007)

  Effective immediately, consular offices in countries where there is no USCIS presence may now accept family-based I-130 petitions from American citizens who are resident in their district for at least the preceding 6 months.

  As of January 22, 2007, consular offices abroad were instructed to cease accepting certain immigrant visa petitions because consular officers lacked the means to perform the required criminal background checks on American citizen petitioners, as required by the Adam Walsh Act.

  Subsequently, the Department of State and USCIS worked to develop a mechanism to perform these checks on petitions accepted abroad by consular officers.

  For I-130 petitioning procedures, see here.
  For further information on revised I-130 petitioning procedures, see here.

  
  

• New Non-Immigrant Visa Appointment System
  (Feb. 1, 2007)

  To improve customer services, the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Japan will switch from a unique system to a State Dept. standard appointment system.

  To make a non-immigrant visa appointment, see here.

See also: visa news archives.