Little background:
I am from a special registration country and registered in March 2003. I went to canada on July 4, 2003 and came back to USA using 30 days revalidation rule. While exiting I did register at the airport. When I was coming back to USA, the immigration officer did not register me at the airport.
People are wondering whether I needed to report to the local INS office within 30 days.
I have just spend my entire working day at the local INS office. Here is what the local INS special registraton office has explained to me:
When I registered in March, they eventually opened a file for me tracking me where I am. The rule of thumb is "Guilty until proven otherwise". When I registered at the airport while leaving USA, that tracking file eventually got closed. So, there is no tracking anymore. Now, when I was coming back, as the immigration officer did not register me, it implies that I do not pose threat to USA. If I was registered that means immigration officer thought I pose some threat or I need to be tracked. Now, what happens if you get registered at border while entering USA:
--you need to do report to the local INS office within 30 days of your entry date if you were registered at the border when you were entering USA. This basically means your file is reopened and you are just following it up by showing your face to the local INS office. and also you need to close it when you exit USA next time. if you do not exit within one year then you need to report to the local INS within one year from the date you have registered this time.
If you do not get registered at the border then
-you do not need to go to the local INS office within 30 days.
-also as your file was not reopened when you were entering last time, you do not need to close it anymore within one year. That means you do not need to register at the border while exiting USA within one year. if you stay in USA for more than one year without leaving then you need to report to the local INS office just after a year from your last entry. I argued with the officer about this a lot saying i will not be allowed back to come back if i do not register while exiting USA. Anyway he says this is what really the rule implies. And he was wondering why it is so difficult for us to understand from the published documents. (I guess he thought we all are dumb ass!!)
So, I was not registered at the local INS office even though I did spend my entire working day in getting this info. I had to wait three hours as there was only one guy working on special registration.
Anyway here is what I think one should do:
1. Go to the local INS office every time you enter USA even though you were not registered at the border. It may cost you the entire day of working but you will have peace of mind.
2. While going out of USA, go and register again at the exiting port. Make sure you get a stamp at the airport saying you registered. Forget about file open and file close concept.
Why saying these after the discussion with the officer:
Because nobody knows what the real rule is. This officer might have interpreted the rule in this manner but others may do it in a different way. So, do not take chance. Go and waste your entire day to know that you need to know to do even though you knew that to start with !!!! This is like 30 days revalidation rule. Some officer thinks you need visa even though you were gone for less than 30 days and some think you dont need. As a result some gets lucky in coming back to USA and some are not using this rule.
muntasir
I am from a special registration country and registered in March 2003. I went to canada on July 4, 2003 and came back to USA using 30 days revalidation rule. While exiting I did register at the airport. When I was coming back to USA, the immigration officer did not register me at the airport.
People are wondering whether I needed to report to the local INS office within 30 days.
I have just spend my entire working day at the local INS office. Here is what the local INS special registraton office has explained to me:
When I registered in March, they eventually opened a file for me tracking me where I am. The rule of thumb is "Guilty until proven otherwise". When I registered at the airport while leaving USA, that tracking file eventually got closed. So, there is no tracking anymore. Now, when I was coming back, as the immigration officer did not register me, it implies that I do not pose threat to USA. If I was registered that means immigration officer thought I pose some threat or I need to be tracked. Now, what happens if you get registered at border while entering USA:
--you need to do report to the local INS office within 30 days of your entry date if you were registered at the border when you were entering USA. This basically means your file is reopened and you are just following it up by showing your face to the local INS office. and also you need to close it when you exit USA next time. if you do not exit within one year then you need to report to the local INS within one year from the date you have registered this time.
If you do not get registered at the border then
-you do not need to go to the local INS office within 30 days.
-also as your file was not reopened when you were entering last time, you do not need to close it anymore within one year. That means you do not need to register at the border while exiting USA within one year. if you stay in USA for more than one year without leaving then you need to report to the local INS office just after a year from your last entry. I argued with the officer about this a lot saying i will not be allowed back to come back if i do not register while exiting USA. Anyway he says this is what really the rule implies. And he was wondering why it is so difficult for us to understand from the published documents. (I guess he thought we all are dumb ass!!)
So, I was not registered at the local INS office even though I did spend my entire working day in getting this info. I had to wait three hours as there was only one guy working on special registration.
Anyway here is what I think one should do:
1. Go to the local INS office every time you enter USA even though you were not registered at the border. It may cost you the entire day of working but you will have peace of mind.
2. While going out of USA, go and register again at the exiting port. Make sure you get a stamp at the airport saying you registered. Forget about file open and file close concept.
Why saying these after the discussion with the officer:
Because nobody knows what the real rule is. This officer might have interpreted the rule in this manner but others may do it in a different way. So, do not take chance. Go and waste your entire day to know that you need to know to do even though you knew that to start with !!!! This is like 30 days revalidation rule. Some officer thinks you need visa even though you were gone for less than 30 days and some think you dont need. As a result some gets lucky in coming back to USA and some are not using this rule.
muntasir