The U.S. Department of State, not the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), is responsible for issuing visas through its consulates and consular sections (within embassies) abroad, though the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) now has overall control of visa policy and the right to veto decisions to issue visas. While each artist ultimately must be responsible for completing and filing his or her visa application, petitioners cannot afford to ignore this important process. The petitioner should encourage the visa applicant to contact the consulate in advance for up-to-date information on processing times. The petitioner itself can check the consular web site for added information. The point is not to disregard this critical process until USCIS issues its I-797 approval notice.

For aliens requiring a visa, all consulates have core procedures in common. Each visa applicant must complete a standard DS-156 Nonimmigrant Visa Application form and attach a recent, passport-sized color photo. Each applicant must now pay a $100 MRV (machine-readable visa) fee, in local or U.S. currency. All male applicants ages 16 through 45, and anyone else the consulate cares to include, plus nationals of the seven designated state sponsors of terrorism (Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria) must also complete a DS-157 form. Additional "reciprocity" considerations should be taken into account.

Among other things, it asks for a list of all countries the applicant has visited in the past 10 years; the applicant’s 2 prior employers not counting the present employer; all professional/social/charitable organizations, past and present, to which the applicant contributed or belong, or for which the applicant worked; and the name, address and telephone number of the applicant’s secondary school. How seriously should the visa applicant take the form? Enough to demonstrate a good faith effort to complete it. Additional "reciprocity" considerations should be taken into account.

By the end of October 2004, ALL consular posts will have converted to an electronically bar-coded version of the DS-156 form, such that they will be able to scan in the contents. While use of the bar-coded form may not absolutely be required, those who fail to use it will cause the post to expend considerably more time manually inputting the same data, and the post will not be pleased! All posts now accept the form, whether or not they can scan it. The form is available at http://evisaforms.state.gov/. If you cannot download this form, use the February 2003 version of the form, which has a place for a bar-code sticker, from http://evisaforms.state.gov/nonelectronicforms.asp. Note that ALL post web sites should link you to these forms as well.

The electronically bar-coded version of the DS-156 does NOT collect or transmit any data. It simply generates a web-based worksheet on which the user can locally enter data then transmit it to an Adobe pdf form that includes a bar code on the first and third pages. The electronic version, though, is somewhat crude as yet. For reasons unclear, some have trouble opening the form. The form forces users to make data entries in a format consistent with scanning and storage software used by consular posts. Error message pop up if the user fails to enter required information or attempts to enter “extra” data. For any such additional data – and there often will be additional data considering how small the data fields are – use a separate sheet of paper, or simply write on the DS-156 itself. The software generates a new bar code each time you transmit the data from the worksheet to the Adobe form, so you MUST make all corrections on the worksheet itself, then print a new pdf form. Alternatively, you can make corrections by hand, but, if you do so, please highlight the changes. You can save the completed form in Adobe 6 (unsure about Adobe 5) and email it, but you cannot save the worksheet data in useable form. You must print the form from Adobe!

In general, each applicant should have a passport valid for at least six months beyond the end of the proposed classification period. Alternatively, the passport must at least be valid for six months beyond the applicant's anticipated initial period of stay in the U.S. in the status requested. How does the consulate know what the applicant anticipates in this regard? The applicant states when s/he next plans to depart the U.S. on the DS-156. Thus, while normally the applicant would put down the entire classification period, if there is a passport validity problem, or if the applicant knows that s/he will be leaving the U.S. before the end of the classification period, the applicant can enter an earlier intended date of departure. Visa application procedures vary from consulate to consulate, and procedures are in constant flux due to security concerns, so it is best to check the consular web site first, then, if need be, contact the consulate in advance for additional information on application hours, turnaround times, special documentary requirements, applicable fees, and means of paying them. Some consulates will issue visas solely on the basis of a fax directly from a USCIS service center; some may accept a fax of the approval notice from the petitioner; others require the original I-797, which the petitioner must send directly to the alien. Again, one practical problem with faxes is that consulates tend - or pretend - not to be able to find them, so it is best to try to confirm receipt before encouraging the artist to proceed on that basis alone. Finally, when implemented, the new email procedures through the Kentucky Consular Center (KCC) should mean that consular posts will de-emphasize the need for the original I-797 and/or faxes.

Even today, some consulates may not require a personal interview, especially for nationals of the country in which the consulate is located who recently received the same kind of visa that is again being sought. However, only rarely now will consulates make special arrangements so that a single representative can present and pick up all the materials, passports included, on behalf of multiple beneficiaries. If an interview is needed, though, be sure each applicant has reviewed the petition and understands its contents.

If the applicant previously has had a visa application refused or a visa canceled, contact an immigration lawyer before proceeding, as you should if the applicant answers "yes" to any of the questions in part 33 of the DS-156.

In this regard, do NOT be surprised how many applicants in fact do have an arrest, if not a conviction, in their backgrounds, which information is in fact already available to the consulate. While obtaining waivers for aliens convicted of certain types of offenses can be difficult and time-consuming, those who lie on the application and then get caught by the computer system are almost automatically rendered inadmissible, for a long time.

Another facet of consular life now in the process of changing and that will be complete by the end of October 2004 is that every consulate will have the capacity to “fingerscan” the index fingerprints of visa applicants. The hardware is the same as that used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the US-Visit program at ports of entry and preflight inspection facilities. With fingerscanning at consular posts and on entry to the U.S., posts will be able to identify many more visa applicants with potential grounds of inadmissibility, and CBP will, in addition, be able to confirm that the same person who applied for the visa is the one using it. All data from posts are available to CBP inspectors in real time, so the system has the information long before the artist applies for entry.

Once USCIS has approved the petition, how far in advance of the actual classification period the consulate will be willing to issue the visa is a matter of consular discretion. Some will only issue it a couple of weeks in advance, while others will issue months in advance. The problem is that consulates do not issue "post-dated" visas. Visas are valid when issued, period. This gives rise to the possibility that a performer could obtain a valid travel document (visa), board a flight to the U.S., only to be refused entry by CBP, at least in the desired classification. Why? Because USCIS regulations only permit entry in O or P classification up to ten days prior to the inception of the classification period. If the alien seeks entry in the desired status before that ten-day period, CBP, under its rules, has every right to refuse entry.

Finally, just for the record, consular decisions, if based on issues of fact (as opposed to issues of law), are wholly unreviewable. There is no appeal of any kind. Moreover, many consulates have in place rules to prevent visa applicants who have previously been refused from re-applying more than once in a given time frame. And, under new procedures, consulates must now enter all visa denials into their computer system, to which CBP also has access, making it tougher to redress past denials.