The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that they will institute changes with the Special Registration Program, which is formally known as the National Security Entry/Exit Registration System (NSEERS).
Under this program, individuals who enter the United States on any non-immigrant visa such as a work visa (ex. H1-B visa), student visa, or visitor visa were required to register their entries and departures from the United States with DHS and re-register their presence after 30 days of entry or one year of continuous presence. The individuals whom this program applied to were "registered" by being fingerprinted, photographed and interrogated upon their arrival to the United States and for those already in the country at a designated immigration office.

This registration program applied to citizens of: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Egypt, Eritrea, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Lebanon, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (greencard holders), refugees, asylum applicants, asylees, diplomats and others admitted under "A" and "G" visas were not required to register even if they were from the above listed countries.

However, changes have been made to this program. DHS has suspended the one year and thirty-day re-registration requirements for most nonimmigrants. Citizens from the above listed countries are still required to register their entries at the port of entry and their exits from the United States, but do not have to re-register as they were required to do before this change. However, DHS still may impose registration requirements to certain nonimmigrants as a matter of discretion, on a case by case basis. The nonimmigrants who are still required to re-register will be specifically told by the office at the time of entry or later through a notice.

Nonimmigrants are still required to notify DHS of any changes in address within 10 days of that change by filing Form AR-11. However, students are no longer required to inform DHS of their change of address if they notify their school or educational institution of the change. The educational institution will notify DHS of the change in any student's address through the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS).

If you have any questions regarding the changes with the NSEERS program, please contact our law office or visit www.uscis.gov for further information.

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