Ship jumpers, Border crossers and other “Illegal” immigrants
Jumping Ship is a thing of the past.
Question: I am a member of the crew on a luxury ship. I know many of my friends have basically ‘jumped ship’ once they got to the U.S.
Why does the U.S. make it so easy to do this?
Answer
Does not require a consular officer to visa,
a crew manifest and it authorizes the officer to deny admission to any individual alien
whose name appears on a given visas crew manifest.
Question: Why Has the Department Eliminated the Crew List Visa?
Answer: The Department has eliminated the crew list visa for security reasons.
Since the September 11, 2001 attacks,
By eliminating the crew list visa,
the Department will ensure that each crewmember entering the United States
is be required to complete the nonimmigrant visa application forms,
submit a valid passport and undergo an interview and background checks.
Additionally, visas issued after October 26, 2004 have a biometric indicator.
Question: Won’t this now make it more difficult for crewman to get visas in the first-place?
Answer: Regarding difficulties for crewmen obtaining individual visas caused by last-minute scheduling,
Thus, as with most immigration related visa issues, it is getting more difficult to enter the U.S.
Hopefully, this increased scrutiny and way of issuing visas will not hamper or impair the shipping industry into the U.S.
Clearly, persons should not do this and should find alternatives around coming to the U.S. and staying illegally.
However, the new policy of issuing visas individually to crewmembers may not have the desired effect that the U.S. intends.