Keycon-L Alert for July 7, 2005
Change in DIS Work Assignments
Due to an unexpected Immigration Specialist (IS) resignation, DIS is redistributing our work assignments in order to continue to provide you with the best possible service. We have established teams to service your IC. There are currently 3 teams at DIS: Team A, Team B, and Team C. The members are listed below. Each team handles an assigned group of IC’s and consists of one or two IS’s, headed by a Team Leader. All inquiries and cases need to be directed to the appropriate team. Special team e-mail addresses have been created to service your inquiries. In order to respond to your inquiries in a timely fashion, please limit all inquires to the team e-mail address; sending the same inquiry to multiple e-mail addresses will only delay a response. Please allow a reasonable time for review and reply.
To find out which team services your IC, visit our website. If you have questions or issues on this distribution, please contact the Team Leader for your assigned team. We thank you for your cooperation in this endeavor and look forward to continued good working relationships!
Team A:
Brian Daly (Team Leader)
Jeff Chen
Radames Mendoza
E-mail: disteama@mail.nih.gov
Team B:
Vivian Weaver (Team Leader)
Tini Leon
Rebecca Custer
E-mail: disteamb@mail.nih.gov
Team C:
Stephanie Hartsock (Team Leader)
Claire Gooding
E-mail: disteamc@mail.nih.gov
Update
New J-1 Five-Year Rule: On June 15, we reported on the new rule allowing J -1 Research Scholars to stay in the same activity for up to 5 years. One notable item to the new rule was a bar on F-1 students; F-1 students who have been in the U.S. for at least 12 months would be prevented from changing to a J-1.
We are happy to report that on June 23, the Department of State issued a correction that removes the reference to the F-1 bar. F-1 students will not be subject to this bar and will continue to be eligible to apply for a change to J-1.
Digital Photographs for VWP
DIS also reported on June 15 on the requirements for machine-readable passports for individuals traveling under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). The VWP is for individuals from certain countries who are temporarily coming to the U.S. for less than 90 days for tourism or business.
In continuing security efforts, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently announced a further requirement: VWP travelers will have to present passports with digital photographs. This requirement will go into effect on October 26, 2005. Future security enhancements for the VWP include requirements for “e-passports,” that is, passports with biometric data embedded in a circuit chip. This is scheduled to become effective in October 2006.
Please be sure to remind your VWP users to be mindful of DHS requirements. Examples of VWP users include those attending scientific conferences at NIH. For additional information on VWP, go to:
http://www.nih.gov/od/ors/dirs/isb/ta05.htm
and
http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/without/without_1990.html
