Hello, this is Kuwahara of IMS Legal Professional Corporation. The number of new COVID-19 cases have rapidly decreased and various restrictions are gradually being lifted. So, are the immigration restrictions finally going to be lifted next?
U.S. announced that starting early November, for those with a vaccination certificate, they will lift the immigration restrictions set for each country and quarantine after entering the U.S will not be required.
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/10/15/politics/us-border-travel-restrictions-november-8/index.html
Already in Hawaii, you are exempted from quarantine if you have a vaccination certificate, which is good news for those planning to travel.
ESTA for Japanese Nationals
Since Japan participates in the visa waiver program, a Japanese citizen/national can go without a visa when traveling to the U.S. by completing the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) 72 hours prior their travel.
However, in some cases, the ESTA application is denied. What kind of cases would that be? Roughly speaking, those who fit the following will be rejected;
- Has been refused entry into the U.S. in the past
- Has been denied when they applied for a U.S. visa in the past
- Has been punished for a crime
- Other unknown reasons
All the matters above, excluding “unknown reasons,” are included in the list of questions on the ESTA application, and those who answer “YES” to those questions will be denied when applying.
ESTA Denials
Then, what should you do if your ESTA is denied?
For sightseeing, you must obtain a B-2 visa, and for business, a B-1 visa. (For activities other than tourism and short-term business, you must obtain a corresponding visa regardless of whether the ESTA is approved or not.)
Those who were refused entry into the U.S. in the past were assumedly taken to a different room at the immigration and were questioned by an immigration officer. Depending on the content of the letter stating the reason, it is possible that the visa will be approved after reapplying.
Applicants with Difficult Visa Histories
How about those whose visa applications were denied in the past? That depends on what kind of visa was denied and for what reason. For example, recently, we received an inquiry from a customer whose E-visa application was denied in the past, but needed to fly to the U.S. for business. He had asked an immigration lawyer to assist his E-visa application at the time. Checking the letter he received when his E-visa application was denied, and considering his living conditions, we assumed there was a good chance that his visa application would be approved after reapplying. Sure enough, when we resubmitted his application, it was successfully approved. This customer told us that no one else would undertake his visa application support and that he was told every time that his application would not be approved. IMS was the only one who gave him a positive answer.
So now, how about those who had been punished for a crime? This we cannot decide unconditionally and must look at each case individually. (E.g., the detail of the punishment, the applicant’s living conditions in Japan, etc.) However, in most cases, it is possible for us to judge if the applicant will be approved or not.
Use IMS for Your Next Visa Application
At IMS, we have looked through the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act and related laws, and understand the inspection criteria. In addition, a lot of the inspection criteria regarding immigration is vague and depends on the immigration inspector’s discretion, so it is difficult to judge unless you have handled a certain number of applications. The inspection criteria regarding immigration is generally the same in most countries. We have submitted over 30,000 Japanese visa (status of residence) applications, as well as many U.S. visa applications. We are very confident in discerning the corresponding documents needed to certify each situation.
In the case mentioned before, E-visa applicant denied despite using an immigration lawyer, an immigration lawyer can file a petition to the U.S. Immigration Bureau on your behalf. Of course, we, IMS, do not have the right to do that. However, since the visa application done in Japan requires documents from the Japan side, being more familiar with the Japanese system, and therefore being able to prepare the necessary documents, most of the time we are more advantageous than the U.S. immigration lawyers.
At IMS, we provide paid consulting. If you are worried if your ESTA will be approved, or if your visa application has been denied in the past, please feel free to consult us.
For more information, please contact us below ↓
https://imsvisa.support/en/contact/
