US Fights Israeli 'Illegals'
Elul 28, 5769, 17 September 09 11:29
by Hana Levi Julian(Israelnationalnews.com) The U.S. Embassy in Israel has produced a video in hopes of deterring Israelis from traveling to America on tourist visas and then staying illegally in order to find a job and settle down.
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"Over the past few years, some Israelis wanting to work in the U.S. have been saying during visa interviews that they want to go to the U.S. only as tourist travelers," wrote the embassy in a post that accompanied the video.
"After their arrival at a U.S. airport and questioning by immigration inspectors, the true purpose of their U.S. trip is then discovered. What can follow is detention, possibly a court hearing, and then an immediate return to Israel along with a multi-year ban on future travels to the United States," the embassy warned.
The footage includes brief clips of interviews that illustrate a number of cases which appear to be described by the Israelis themselves. One was "S.H.", who according to an English-language subtitle was "refused entry at Newark Airport in November 2008 because [he] was found to have worked before in the U.S. Not allowed to go back to the U.S. for 5 years. Applied for work (H2B) visa in December 2008 and was refused."
"This video features Israelis speaking honestly about their negative experience, resulting from an attempt to break the law, go around the system, and act illegally. We hope you'll agree with them that the price of breaking U.S. immigration law is too high! Please stick to the law and have a great trip to the U.S.!!" it concludes.
The U.S. rejected Israel's request in 2007 to join its Visa Waiver Program, which would allow travel to America for touring or business for up to 90 days without having to obtain a visa.
The U.S. also refused to exempt Israelis from visa requirements that mandated personal interviews in order to obtain even a tourist visa. Israelis must also be fingerprinted upon application for a visa. The primary reason given was a condition there be a rejection rate of less than three percent of the total numer of non-immigrant visas from the applicant country in the 12 months preceding the application to the program. Currently about five percent of all Israeli applications for visas are rejected by the U.S.
At least 35 countries are members of the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, including Japan, Singapore, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Slovenia, Malta, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, South Korea, and the Muslim nation of Brunei, near Indonesia, as well as most Western European nations. Greece and Croatia are both expected to join the program within the next two years. (Saudi and other Muslims come and go as they please)
Israel has already signed agreements with a number of other nations to abolish travel visas, among them Serbia, which joined the list this week. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic signed the agreement between the two nations on Wednesday in Belgrade, saying it would help boost economic and other ties.
Moreover, none of the member nations of the European Union require Israelis to have a tourist visa for visits of up to 90 days.
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