Bitcoin entrepreneur Roger Ver gave up U.S. Citizenship and left but denied U.S. entry for a short visit under INA 214(b), a regulation aimed at preventing the entry of individuals who would Overstay their Visa
Coindesk.com notes that Bitcoin entrepreneur Roger Ver was denied a non-immigrant visa for the third time this week. He was planning to speak at the North American Bitcoin Conference in Miami later this month.
Interestingly, Mr. Ver was denied under Section 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) which states, “Every alien shall be presumed to be an immigrant until he establishes to the satisfaction of the consular officer, at the time of application for admission, that he is entitled to a nonimmigrant status…” In short, this section of the INA presumes every applicant for a visa to America intends to eventually reside in America. It is the burden of each applicant to demonstrate that this is not the case – that the applicant only intends to visit America for a short duration and maintains ties abroad that would compel them to leave the U.S. at the end of the temporary stay. Consular officers have a substantial say in adjudicating each applicant to determine whether that applicant has overcome the requirements of this section.
It is strange then, to say the least, that Mr. Ver was denied by the U.S. Consular General, Barbados, under a regulation that requires he prove his intent to depart the U.S. when he appears to have already done so. While the Coindesk article does note that Mr. Ver’s “parents, siblings and extended family all live in the US“, his decision last year to legally relinquish his U.S. Citizenship (at an apparent cost of $350,000, which he paid into the U.S. treasury) his decision to take up citizenship of a different country, his having resided mainly abroad for the past 9 years – these facts objectively constitute clear, material and probative evidence establishing an intent to depart the U.S. after a short visit.
While Mr. Ver can attempt to enter the US in the future (a denial under section 214(b) is not permanent) chances for subsequent approval diminish with each denial. Meaning: the fourth time is probably not going to be the charm.
While it’s a good time for us to revisit INA 214(b) – an overbroad, overused “hatchet” which has kept many a qualified individual out of the U.S, it appears possible that Mr. Ver’s visa denial is actually predicated upon other (read: political) grounds.
USCIS will remain operational during the Federal Government Shutdown thanks to the healthy funding it derives from USCIS filing fees
H1B demographics india.jpg Category:Immigration to the United States charts and graphs (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
- Good news: USCIS’ operations though the Federal Government Shutdown are expected to continue because it is funded by sources other than appropriated funds (read: H-1B and other USCIS filing fees). In fact, this funding is so substantial that USCIS expects to send home only 353 of 12,558 employees during the temporary shutdown.
- Consulates remain operational at this point.
- Unfortunately, the DOL ETA will not process any employment based labor certifications during the shut down. The PERM PLC website is also down, as is iCert.
Can I re-enter the U.S. with a valid I-94 and expired visa? – Automatic revalidation for certain temporary visitors
Canadian visa for single entry (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
VIA CBP.GOV
Under the automatic revalidation provision of immigration law, certain temporary visitors holding expired nonimmigrant visas who seek to return to the U.S. may be admitted at a U.S. port of entry by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), if they meet certain requirements, including, but not limited to the following:
A nonimmigrant who departed the U.S. for brief travel to Canada, Mexico, or an adjacent islands (for F and J nonimmigrant) for thirty days or less;
Nonimmigrant who have changed their nonimmigrant status (for F and J nonimmigrant) to another nonimmigrant status through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and has a valid (unexpired) Form I-94, Arrival-Departure Record, endorsed by DHS can travel to Canada, Mexico or an adjacent island for thirty days or less.
Nonimmigrant who is eligible to re-enter the U.S. pursuant to the authority of automatic revalidation is not able to benefit from the automatic revalidation process if the passport of the nonimmigrant reflects evidence that while in a contiguous territory or on an adjacent island the nonimmigrant applied for a new visa and is pending a decision or has been denied a new visa application.
For more information about automatic revalidation provisions and reentry to the U.S. visit the Automatic Revalidation Fact Sheet on page 18 of the Carrier Information Guide on CBP.gov. Note: Carrier Information Guide is currently being updated to accurately reflect the countries listed below.
Nationals of Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria are not eligible for automatic revalidation of an expired visa.
U.S. Mission in India Expands Interview Waiver Program
USA B1/B2 Visa (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
New Delhi | November 19, 2012
In March of 2012, the United States Mission to India unveiled the Interview Waiver Program (IWP) which allows qualified individuals to apply for additional classes of visas without being interviewed in person by a U.S. consular officer. Following the success of the IWP, as part of continuing efforts to streamline the visa process, and to meet increased visa demand in India, the U.S. Mission is pleased to announce an expansion of the IWP. We expect this expansion to benefit thousands of visa applicants in India.
New Visa Processing System at Mission India
There is a new Visa Processing System at Mission India which can be accessed at http://www.ustraveldocs.com/in/
U.S. Consulate in Chennai suspends visa operations September 17-21, 2012
Visa operations at the U.S. Consulate in Chennai have been suspended this week, September 17-21, 2012. Updates on status will be available at the Consulate’s website. Anyone with a legitimate travel emergency is asked to contact the Consulate at chennaiexp@state.gov .
VISA INTERVIEW WAIVER PROGRAM AT US CONSULAR GENERAL, HYDERABAD
INTERVIEW WAIVER PROGRAM
- This pilot program permits consular officers to waive interviews for qualified nonimmigrant applicants worldwide who are renewing their visa within 48 months of the expiration of their previously held visa, and within the same classification as the previous visa.
- Embassies and consulates have been instructed to begin implementing this pilot program immediately.
- This pilot does not entitle any applicant to a waiver of personal appearance. Consular officers will retain the authority to interview any applicant who they determine requires a personal appearance.
In order to qualify, All of the following must be true:
Information on Consulates’ use of 221(g) refusals
A National Foundation for American Policy report finds Indian applicants for L-1 and H-1Bs are most likely to be denied or issued an RFE query; L-1 cases for Indian Professionals have been denied up to five times as often as someone from a different count
First page of the US Chinese Exclusion Act (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
A National Foundation for American Policy report which analyzed official data from USCIS revealed evidence that Adjudicating Officers have dramatically increased the issuance of denials and requests for evidence in L-1 (intra-company transferees) and H-1B cases over the last four years, in spite of the fact that there were no changes in law or regulations during the same period. USCIS Officers have, over the last four years, arbitrarily & en masse, increased the difficulty of obtaining H-1B or L-1 status, most particularly for Indian applicants.
Again, this is so despite no new laws or regulations authorizing a change in adjudication protocols. It may be therefore objectively stated that this data is prima facia evidence that Indian IT professionals and their employers have been, over a sustained period, selected for profiling and targeting profiled and targeted as the primary victims of this and other related USCIS “policy changes” since 2008, along with a widely noted increase in visa denials/221(g) queries for H-1 & L-1 non-immigrants at U.S. Consulates [on a related note; see the new “H-1B Beneficiary attestation” evidently now in use at the U.S. Consulate, Hyderabad, ostensibly to be used in justifying mass visa denials for H-1B IT Consultants with end-client job sites].
By way of background, the primary basis for U.S. Immigration law today is the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (“INA”). The INA is tremendously significant because it reversed America’s then (longstanding) racist Immigration policies, including the Page Act of 1875, the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act and the “National Origins Formula” which had effectively limited immigration from Mediterranean Europe, Latin America and Asia to token levels so as not to change America’s “national character”. It is then truly ironic that adjudicators at the USCIS and U.S. Consulates appear to have been granted unchecked autonomy in systematically countermanding both the INA and its underlying legislative intent by effectively re-proportioning visas or “spots” to countries other than India.
Indians utilize a large number of available H-1B and L-1 numbers, however, they cannot be legally denied on that basis. On October 3, 1965, on the occasion of the signing of the INA, at the foot of the Statue of Liberty, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared that it was a “cruel and enduring wrong” that “…Men of needed skill and talent were denied entrance because they came from southern or eastern Europe or from one of the developing continents. [The old quota based Immigration] system violated the basic principle of American democracy–the principle that values and rewards each man on the basis of his merit as a man…”
Contrast these words with the following excerpts from the NFAP report:
“Companies believe that denials either at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services or at consulates, particularly involving Indian nationals, share the common attribute of new (unwritten) arbitrary standards that go beyond the statute and regulations.
…
Country specific data on new (initial) L-1B petitions indicate U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is more likely to deny a petition from an Indian-born professional than nationals of other countries. The denial rate for Indian-born applicants for new L-1B petitions rose from 2.8 percent in Fiscal Year 2008 to 22.5 percent in FY 2009, a substantial increase that resulted in many employers being unable to transfer their employees into the United States to work on research projects or serve customers. In comparison, the denial rate for new L-1B petitions for Canadians rose from 2.0 percent in FY 2008 to only 2.9 percent in FY 2009. Illustrating the abrupt change, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services denied more L-1B petitions for new petitions for Indians in FY 2009 (1,640) than in the previous 9 fiscal years combined (1,341 denials between FY 2000 and FY 2008).
…
Concern that L-1B petitions for Indians have been singled out might be alleviated if the data showed other countries have experienced similar increases in the rates of denial for L-1B petitions with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. However, the data show that while other foreign nationals experienced an increase in denial rates for new L-1B petitions starting in FY 2009, those denial rate increases were far lower than for Indian nationals. L-1 visa issuance declined at U.S posts in Indian in FY 2011 but rose overall for the rest of the world.”
Read the NFAP findings (.pdf)
A new H-1B Beneficiary attestation in use by the U.S. Consulate, Hyderabad. H-1B workers attest the document only if they are to be engaged by a Consulting Firm.
- I have read and understand the Wilberforce pamphlet.
- The petitioner is _____________
- The petitioner supervisor is _____________ with a principle location of _____________
- The number of petitioner employees at the work site is_____________
- My primary work location is _____________
- The end-client for my work is _____________
- The end-client supervisor is _____________
- The _____________ supervisor is located ‘offsite’ and is not regularly employed for the predominant part of the workday/work week/work month at the site where I work.
- Contact with the _____________ supervisor is limited to weekly visits to the _____________ office and occasional Petitioner supervisor visits to end-client work sites.
- The principle day-to-day management is conducted by the client, _____________
- The client, _____________, provides the tools and equipment (including any software and operating environment) needed for the job.
- The petitioner, _____________, makes primary hiring firing and promotional decisions.
- Petitioner supervisor sits down at end-client location and reviews code, does not rely on on-site Petitioner supervisor for evaluation purposes.
- The petitioner, _____________ claims Beneficiary for tax purposes
- The petitioner, _____________ provides primary benefits, such as life/medial insurance etc.
- The petitioner _____________ does not provide any primary/key proprietary tools or applications for the work.
- I produce a product related to Petitioner’s line of business.
- The client, _____________ makes the main development and product decisions for the end product I produce.
The U.S. Immigration Law Blog by Ashwin Sharma 
Immigration Update: H-1B & H-4 Visa Processing Delays and New Social Media Vetting Standards
We are monitoring significant scheduling changes for H-1B and H-4 visa appointments, with interviews originally set for mid-December 2025 now being cancelled and moved as far out as April 2026.
These disruptions appear tied to the Department of State’s new mandatory online presence review, effective December 15, 2025, which requires H-1B and H-4 visa applicants at consular posts to set their social media accounts to a public setting.
By way of background, in June 2025, the State Department rolled out a similar framework for F, M, and J students and exchange visitors, and the inclusion of H-1B and H-4 applicants marks the first expansion of that policy. The Department has indicated that this online presence review covers:
The recent announcement does not describe the exact standard Consular Officers will use when reviewing H-1B and H-4 online presence. However, H categories are being folded into the policy already in place for F, M, and J applicants, and several details about that policy were described in media reporting in the spring regarding a June 2025 State Department cable to consular posts.
According to the State Department’s previous cable, Consular Officers are instructed as follows:
If Consular Officers identify information they view as derogatory, they can refuse the application outright or require the applicant to appear for a follow-up interview. Discovery of such content can also trigger additional review to determine whether the foreign national will respect U.S. laws and engage only in activities consistent with their nonimmigrant status.
Media outlets that reportedly reviewed the State Department cable addressing the online presence policy as applied to H-1B and H-4 applicants indicate that the key focus for these categories is whether the applicant has been responsible for, or complicit in, the “censorship or attempted censorship” of U.S. citizens at any point in their employment or personal history.
Employers and affected foreign nationals should expect that H-1B and H-4 visa appointment availability will tighten as consular posts absorb the additional work associated with the online presence review.
The new vetting standards increase the likelihood that some applicants will be flagged for lengthy background checks and additional security review. In practice, this can mean:
H-1B visa applicants facing possible delays should stay in close contact with their employer and immigration counsel. Any foreign national planning international travel, whether they already hold a valid visa or will need to apply for a new one, should review these online presence issues and timing risks carefully before finalizing plans to travel abroad.