DHS Announces Elimination of NSEERS Special Registration Requirement

The NSEERS special registration requirement is now officially a thing of the past. On April 27, 2011, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that the special registration process associated with the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) will no longer apply to those foreign nationals entering the U.S. from countries deemed to be a national security threat. The NSEERS registration process was first implemented in 2002 as a security measure after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks with the purpose of screening and recording the arrival and departure information of foreign nationals from U.S.-specified “countries of concern” (see list below). Procedurally, NSEERS mandated that registrants be fingerprinted and photographed when entering the U.S. and were required to follow specific exiting procedures at one of the 118 designated NSEERS ports. The effect of this registration process on foreign nationals was significant, particularly with respect to the lengthy inspection delays when entering the U.S. as well as the restraint on flexibility when planning to depart the country.

The elimination of the registration process under NSEERS is a positive step and one that was taken by DHS because of the other existing technologies implemented by DHS and the Department of State (DOS) to capture similar data for all visitors, regardless of nationality (including the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology Program and the Advance Passenger Information System). However, despite removing the registration requirement, the underlying NSEERS regulation will remain in place in the event that a special registration program is required once again or in order to select individual foreign nationals for special registration if he or she meets pre-existing criteria established by DHS or DOS.

Countries previously subject to NSEERS special registration requirement: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Egypt, Eritrea, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

For more information, please contact the Seyfarth attorney  with whom you work or any Business Immigration attorney on our website.