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Visa-free travel for Slovakia, Hungary, and Lithuania
The US announced the possibility for visa-free travel for three further Eastern European countries. On March 17, Slovakia, Hungary and Lithuania signed bilateral visa agreements in Washington DC.
Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff said, the countries had guaranteed enhanced security measures for travel to the US. In return, their citizens would be able to travel to the US without a visa in the future. Similar agreements had already been signed with Estonia, Latvia and the Czech Republic.

The EU commission in Brussels again pointed out that it is their firm believe that visa regulations usually fall under EU authority. The EU member states, however, could negotiate things like the number of guards on the planes. The EU had decided to pursue a twin-track approach.

The next step would be for the member states to give the EU Commission authority to negotiate visa terms, said an authority spokesman. Nationals of 12 countries out of the 27 countries within the EU still need a visa to travel to the US, the others don't. Those countries include Greece as well as all countries admitted into the EU since 2004, with the exception of Slovenia. These countries have been insisting on equal status for years, so far without any success. Generally speaking, the US and the EU have agreed on doing away with visas for transatlantic flights. Visa-free travel to the US should be available "as soon as possible" and in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, said Vice President of the EU Commission for Justice, Freedom and Security, Franco Frattini, after a talk with US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff.

Faster processing of green card applications
In order to lighten the State Department's workload, President George Bush announced that green card applicants will already be granted a permanent residence status even if their FBI security check has not been completed. The new regulation is effective immediately and concerns 47,000 foreign green card applicants. The new regulation does not apply to the green card lottery. The applications backlog could not be reduced so far, even though the filing fee for each application had been raised $395 to $1,010 in the summer of 2007.

For more information, please refer to www.visalaw.com

Changes for re-entry permit applications
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has adopted revised regulations for the application for travel document, also known as re-entry permit for green card holders. The new regulations took effect on March 5. As of that date, applicants for a re-entry permit must submit biometric data such as fingerprints and photos to USCIS Application Support Center (ASC), in addition to the documentation explaining the need for absence of up to two years. Only persons holding a green card need to apply for a re-entry permit, if they have to be outside the US for up to two years.

For further information, please refer to
www.uscis.gov/files/article/i-131_biometrics_uscisupdate_03052008.pdf