Department of Homeland Security suspends some, not all, NSEERS requirements

News Release from Jewell & Associates - December 4, 2003 In an interim rule effective December 2, 2003, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has suspended the 30-day and annual re-registration requirements of the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS).  It is important to note, however, that other NSEERS requirements remain intact.  Registered individuals still must notify the U.S. Department of Homeland Security of changes of address or employment and must comply with departure control requirements whenever leaving the United States.  Willful failure to comply with the special registration provisions or with any future call-in notice or additional registration requirements would make a subject foreign national removable from the United States.

As background, The National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) requires foreign national nonimmigrants (non-green card holders) who are either from certain countries or who fit certain profiles to register as they enter and depart the United States.  NSEERS also includes a "call-in" component under which the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has required certain nonimmigrants from specific countries to register at a local office.  NSEERS countries designated to date are: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Egypt, Eritrea, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

For complete, up-to-date information on NSEERS requirements, see the web site of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at http://www.ice.gov/graphics/enforce/imm/imm_sr.htm.

© Jewell & Associates 2003