Episode 37: State Department interviews, USCIS fees, passport delays

It’s Aug. 17, and this is your BAL Immigration Report.

• The State Department publishes a new proposal on allowing third parties at interviews for U.S. citizen services.
• Foreign musicians and artists express concern about proposed filing fee increases.
• A look at how passport applications have swamped the State Department and what that means for business.

“More Americans are also applying for passports than before — and, in fact, more Americans have a U.S. passport today than at any time in our history.”

—Tiffany Derentz, BAL Senior Counsel

U.S. news

Third parties may now attend certain interviews

The State Department has published a proposed rule that would allow third parties to attend interviews for certain U.S. citizen services. Under the proposal, third parties — including attorneys and interpreters — would be able to attend:

• Appointments in support of an application for U.S. passports;
• Appointments related to a request for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad or a Certificate of Loss of Nationality of the United States; and
• Appointments for certain other services offered by American Citizens Services units at U.S. embassies and consulates overseas.

While State Department guidance has permitted third-party attendants at some appointments in the past, there are no regulations on the issue, and policies vary from post to post. The State Department is accepting comments on the proposal until Sept. 25.

Foreign musicians, artists concerned about fee increases

Foreign musicians and artists are expressing concern about how U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ proposed fee increases may impact their ability to tour in the U.S. These artists often need O-1 or P-1 visas for these tours, the fees of which are proposed to more than double in cost from $460 each to $1,055 for the O-1 and $1,015 for the P-1. The fees more than triple when you add in the agency’s proposed $600 asylum fee. Smaller artists may be hardest hit, as they may not have the money upfront to pay the fees before their tours begin.

BAL’s Gabriel Castro provided his expert analysis on this matter in a recent Dallas Observer article, saying the impact of fee increase would not affect just musicians and artists but also the venues that host them and surrounding local businesses.

U.S. news roundup

• The Labor Department posted updated PERM and prevailing wage determination processing times.
• The Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman provided updated information for F-1 students applying for employment authorization.
• S. Customs and Border Protection announced that citizens of the Dominican Republic would be eligible to apply for the U.S.’s Global Entry program.

Spotlight

A conversation with Tiffany Derentz, BAL senior counsel, and Paulina Morelos, BAL immigration manager: delays in U.S. passport issuance.

BAL Immigration Report: Passport delays have not only ruined tourist travel plans this summer; they’ve also snarled companies’ ability to conduct their affairs abroad. The disruptions have impacted everyone from C-suite executives to field technicians who are required to travel. The State Department’s posted timelines show that processing routine applications can take 10 to 13 weeks, while expedited processing can take seven to nine weeks. However, these times have not been updated since March and, in practice, delays may be more substantial — in recent months, expedited processing has taken anywhere from seven to 15 weeks.

We sat down with Tiffany Derentz, senior counsel in BAL’s Washington, D.C., office, and Paulina Morelos, an immigration manager in BAL’s Los Angeles office, to learn more about what’s causing the delays and what companies can do. We started by asking Derentz about the factors contributing to the current backlog.

Derentz: Many people think that passport processing delays stem from Americans’ renewed travel interest following the pandemic. But in reality, I think that this is really just one piece of it. You actually have to go back to 2017. I was still in the government at the State Department at the time, when there was the U.S. passport surge, and here’s what happened then. In 2007, the U.S. government issued a record number of passports, and since those passports are valid for 10 years, a lot of people were going to need to renew their passport. In addition, demand had been increasing over the years. So in anticipation of the surge in applications, the government tried to prepare as best they could. But then during this time, there were hiring freezes, the passport office lost some of its staff and so the backlog started to grow. And then COVID hit, which significantly impacted operations. Now demand is so high that the State Department expects to exceed last year’s fiscal numbers, which means they expect to issue over 22 million passports this year alone. To give you a better idea of what the government is seeing, if you just listen to the numbers that they have released, it really reflects the demand. So between January through May, they received 500,000 applications per week, and they’ve been receiving around 400,000 applications per week this summer. So that’s a lot of applications that are coming in on a regular basis.

BAL: We asked Derentz what options are available for those who need a passport fast.

Derentz: This is where things get tricky. Once an application is already in process, there may be little that can be done, unfortunately. Previously, a U.S. citizen could make an appointment to visit a nearby passport agency and apply in person. However, demand is so high that in-person appointments are not available. Every once in a while you can find one, but it’s super hard.
The State Department’s website has a lot of helpful information on it, but ultimately it directs applicants to a call-in line, and the wait times are very long and people are finding themselves on hold for hours. So the first question I always ask people is whether they paid for expedited processing — to the U.S. government, not to a third party — and that if they haven’t, to call the passport line and have the case upgraded to an expedite. If the travel is less than 14 days, the National Passport Center should alert the Passport Agency of the travel date, but that doesn’t guarantee that the passport will be issued on time. So many are finding themselves in a pretty stressful situation if they do have travel. I think one thing to keep in mind is that if an applicant has not already applied for their passport, BAL can assist with this service — and there might be more that we could do, as opposed to once that application is already filed.

BAL: Morelos said passport delays are impacting companies in a few different ways.

Morelos: We have seen a lot of companies that have to cancel or just severely delay urgent business travel because of passport issues. This is causing their employees to miss important meetings and just not be available when they need to be available to travel. There’s also a lot of staff changes that have to be made because the companies have to meet the deadlines, and if an employee is not available due to a lack of passport, they have to just ask someone else to go to that trip. That’s also causing issues. We also have seen affected families, because families tend to relocate at the same time — and, usually, children or spouses don’t have passports, there’s newborns involved — and this has also delayed a lot of the transfers and work residents processes because of lack of passports.

BAL: Morelos said with the demand for passports so high, scams are on the rise.

Morelos: We have seen cases in which scammers prey on people’s vulnerability right now because of the urgency for them to get a passport, and they’re promising to obtain passports from the same-day processing or shorter periods of time. For the most part, scammers are just capitalizing on the current situation because they’re potentially stealing money from clients or they’re stealing their identities in some cases. So we really do recommend companies and individuals to pay a lot of attention to who they’re hiring to assist them with this type of processes.

BAL: We asked Morelos what companies can do to make sure employees get their passports on time — and to avoid business disruptions.

Morelos: We really strongly recommend that companies discuss the current delays in passport processes with their employees. I think that’s key because they really need to start planning in advance. They need to communicate the importance of always having a valid passport, especially to frequent travelers. This is where evaluating the need of a second passport comes in. It’s a very, very convenient thing for individuals to have a second passport when they’re frequent travelers. So it’s something that we’re able to explore with them as well if needed. 

BAL: As for what comes next, international travel will taper off as the summer comes to an end. But Derentz says officials should prepare for the high demand for passports to continue in the months and years ahead.

Derentz: Looking ahead, I think that we’re going to continue to see high passport demand, which could cause processing delays unless and until efficiencies are found and resources are secured. If you look at statistics for the 10 years prior to 2020, so pre-pandemic, passport demand was above that of the preceding 10 years. More Americans are also applying for passports than before — and, in fact, more Americans have a U.S. passport today than at any time in our history. So if the 10 years prior to COVID were higher than the 10 years prior to that, and we continue to see more Americans apply for passports, the demand over the next 10 years will be even higher than it has been in the past. And so I think that this is something that the government is going to have to deal with and that U.S. citizens are going to have to plan for.

BAL: For more information on passport delays, read this Q&A with Derentz and Morelos. BAL provides a range of passport services and is able to assist in securing passports on an expedited timetable. As a reminder, once an application is filed, options for speeding up processing are limited. For more information, contact global_initiation@bal.com.

Global news

Japan expands eVisa

In Japan, the government has extended its tourist eVisa to foreign nationals living in 11 countries, including the U.S., U.K. and Canada. Individuals eligible for the eVisa are foreign nationals residing in a country other than the one where they hold citizenship, such as an Indian national currently living in the United States. Individuals who hold passports from the 69 countries in Japan’s visa exemption program, including the U.S., are not required to obtain an eVisa to visit the country. The eVisa is valid for 90 days and is only for tourists arriving in Japan by air. It is not valid for business or family reunification travel.

Vaccination requirement lifted

The Philippines continues to adjust immigration and entry procedures after lifting its COVID-19 public health emergency. Under a recent change, international travelers are no longer required to present proof of COVID-19 vaccination to enter the country. Earlier this month, the Philippines lifted COVID-era travel requirements for some visa holders. The changes will ease the Philippines’ entry and exit procedures for foreign nationals.

Global news roundup

• Brazil and Japan reached an agreement on a visa-free entry plan.
• Israeli courts have paused the issuance of apostille stamps.
• Taiwan has revised regulations for applying for Alien Resident or Permanent Resident certificates.

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