False Positive CLASS Hit or Visa Revocation
My brother in law had confirmed seats and was going to be traveling to U.S (from Karachi Pakistan) with his parents to visit his sister (my wife). He got a call from Emirates 3 hours before the departure time telling him that they cannot let him board the flight, per the instructions from the local U.S embassy. Emirates told him to contact U.S embassy immediately. U.S embassy was obviously closed at that time. Emirates also canceled his flight later. He still has to figure out how he will get his refund back from the airline 9or the travel agent) but he is baffled at the sequence of events that have occured. He has a valid passport that doesn't expire for another 3 years. He has a 5-year multiple entry visit Visa to the U.S. He has travled here twice before. He is going to contact the U.S embassy on Monday first thing but this has upset his entire plans and left him frustrated to not be able accompany his parents. His parents boarded flight alone and they are on the plane as I am typing this.
I wanted to know if anyone has this ever happened before or even remotely heard about somthing similar or have insights, opinions or just thoughts and comments, I would REALLY like to know.
Thanks, !!!
I am sorry that this has happened to your brother-in-law. I am sure that the Embassy will advise him regarding what needs to be done especially since you stated that he has a valid visa and current passport. However, I don't know what recourse he will have with the airline regarding a refund. Hopefully he will be able to rebook his flight, once the matter is resolved, without penalty. It was not his fault that he didn't travel.
The flight was not cancelled, he was denied boarding.
I can only think of two reasons why he was not permitted to enter the United States:
1. This was perhaps as a precautionary measure due to security concerns.
From my aviation experience (retired), I do know that passenger name records (PNR) are released to DHS within two days of departure and reviewed by several American federal security agencies. The PNRs and other passenger data goes through many levels of scrutiny for any security risks which is vetted by these agencies.
Possibly his name was a "false positive" hit (having the same name as someone on the No-Fly or Watch List) which was perhaps picked up in the by CLASS (Consular Lookout and Support System)? The various Watch List, No Fly List, etc are constantly updated, which did not affect your brother-in-law during his previous travels.
Under procedures negotiated between the United States and various foreign countries, U.S. agencies -- particularly an interagency "Terrorist Screening Center" run by the FBI with input from others including the Homeland Security Department and the intelligence community -- are supposed to run the names through American counter-terrorism databases to see if any would-be passengers present potential threat.
In order to be cleared, a ‘false positive’ passenger must present identification that sufficiently differentiates them from the person on the no-travel list. This can include, but is not limited to, date and place of birth, middle name, citizenship, passport number, etc. This info will be updated in Secure Flight Passenger Data.
If this is indeed what has happened, he will be assigned a passenger Redress Number which will hopefully clear the problem.
http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/layers/secureflight/faqs.shtm
2. Another possibility is that it was determined by the Department of State or Consular Officer that your BIL'S visa was revoked and notified Emirates. Has he moved / changed address since receiving his Visitor Visa? Perhaps the Department of State / Embassy Visa Section sent him a revocation letter to a previous address, thus he was caught unaware of this situation until he was leaving for the airport.
Here is a sample of the airline letter sent from the Embassy:
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/87516.pdf
I hope this will be resolved when your BIL contacts the Embassy on Monday. Good luck!
