NSEERS to be Implemented by INS

The U.S. Department of Justice issued a press release stating that the first phase of the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) will be implemented by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) at selected ports of entry throughout the United States on September 11, 2002. After an initial 20-day period for testing and evaluation, NSEERS will be implemented at all U.S. ports of entry - including seaports - on October 1, 2002. Under the program, foreign visitors judged to be at higher risk will be fingerprinted at the port of entry. The fingerprint requirement has been in place for many years, but has not been enforced in decades. The NSEERS program will initially require fingerprinting and registration of the following alien visitors: (1) all nationals of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, and Syria; (2) all nonimmigrant aliens whom the State Department determines to present an elevated national security risk; and (3) aliens identified by INS inspectors at the port of entry as presenting an elevated national security risk. Source: HK Law