Manaus Agile Amazonas tourism and cultureVisas for the USA
In telegrams sent last week to all embassies of the embassies around the world, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillersonhas ordered an increase in the severity of interviews for granting visas to certain groups of travelers.
In the documents, published by Reuters and the newspaper "The New York TimesTillerson directed posts to identify "populations warranting further scrutiny," on which stricter measures will be adopted, such as detailed questioning about the visa applicant's background.
Among the additional information that will be collected from those deemed to fall within the suspect group are the person's travel and work history and addresses for the past 15 years, as well as phone numbers, email addresses, and social media accounts used in the past five years.
For people who "have already been in territory controlled by the Islamic State," the secretary of state orders a "mandatory social media check." "Consular officials cannot hesitate to refuse any case that presents issues of security concern," Tillerson wrote. "All visa decisions are national security decisions," he added.
The text does not specify which criteria - such as nationality or last name, for example - should be observed to determine the targets of the new measures. The increased stringency could apply to tourist and business visa applicants and family members of U.S. residents.
Apparently, the new rules will only spare the 38 countries whose citizens are facilitated by the visa waiver program - such as most European nations, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea. Brazil is not part of that program, but there is no specific reference to the country in the telegrams.
In 2016, the US issued more than 10 million visas to foreigners.
The new guidelines put into practice the directives pointed out by a memorandum from Donald Trump determining the strengthening of visa procedures. The text was signed on March 6, the same day of the signing of the new executive order that vetoed the entry into the US of citizens from six Muslim-majority countries - Iran, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Sudan and Somalia.
The decree, however, would be suspended by a court ruling a day before when it would take effect last week.
In Tillerson's telegram, sent before the executive order was barred by a Hawaii court, there was also guidance on how posts should deal with citizens of the six listed countries. The next day, however, he had to send out a new statement canceling the guidelines in the previous message.
