Source: http://ilw.com/articles/2009,0416-isaacson.shtm
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 06:30:14+00:00

Document:
The Visa Waiver Program (VWP), established under Section 217 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), allows nationals of certain countries to enter the United States without the necessity of obtaining a visa. Those who take advantage of this program are required to waive many of their rights to contest their removal from the United States. A recent Court of Appeals case, however, holds that some such waivers may not be effective and binding, meaning that some aliens who entered under the VWP retain the right to contest their removal. The recent implementation of the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) in connection with the VWP could in some ways decrease the number of such ineffective waivers, but also has the potential to create new scenarios under which some of those who enter under the VWP may fail to validly waive their rights in a way that would not have been possible before.
INA § 217(b), 8 U.S.C. § 1187(b). Language agreeing to this waiver of rights is included on the I-94W Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver Arrival/Departure Form signed by the alien upon arrival in the United States.
Before one gets to the question of whether certain adjustment applicants are exempt from the VWP waiver of one's right to contest removal, however, one must determine whether a particular alien is subject to the VWP waiver at all. In Bayo v. Chertoff,19 the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recognized that not all aliens who enter on the VWP program have necessarily waived their right to contest removal, at least not in a knowing, voluntary and therefore valid fashion.
That is, a key factor in determining whether VWP waivers are knowing, voluntary, and therefore valid is whether the alien entering under the VWP is provided a waiver in his or her spoken language. VWP entrants not provided a waiver in their spoken language would appear to have a strong claim under Bayo that their waiver of rights was not knowing and voluntary.
The recent introduction of ESTA may increase the chances that future VWP entrants will submit knowing and voluntary waivers-although some aspects of ESTA could potentially push in the other direction. ESTA, which is authorized by 8 C.F.R. §217.5, requires that VWP travelers submit an electronic application for travel authorization via a DHS website, and "receive a travel authorization prior to embarking on a carrier for travel to the United States."33 This authorization will generally be valid for two years or until the expiration of the VWP applicant's passport,34 but will need to be renewed if the applicant's name, passport, gender, or country of citizenship changes, or if the applicant's answer to any of the questions on the ESTA application changes.35 The online ESTA application includes a waiver of rights similar to that on the I-94W form signed by the alien, and provides that submission of one's biometrics at the border will constitute reaffirmation of this waiver.
The ESTA website provides applications in twenty-one difference languages, and leaves the choice of language to the applying alien. 36 While there are currently thirty-five countries participating in the Visa Waiver Program, the shortfall may be illusory, because many VWP countries share a language: citizens of Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein will generally be able to communicate in German (and citizens of Switzerland in German or French or Italian, also already on the list), citizens of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand in English, and so on. At a first glance, it appears that no national of a VWP country will be unable to access ESTA materials in at least one of the country's national languages. Thus, the Bayo problem of aliens who have not been provided waivers in their spoken language appears to have lessened, at least so long as DHS does in fact offer ESTA applications in the languages of all VWP participant countries.
If the existence of ESTA causes DHS to be less diligent about providing written waivers at the border in the alien's language and making sure that those waivers are signed, however, it could actually increase the number of aliens who fail to execute a waiver valid under the standard of Bayo. There is nothing to stop an ESTA application from being completed by a travel agent or other third party, and indeed websites have already emerged that offer assistance with the ESTA process for a fee.37 An unknowing waiver by proxy would hardly meet the standards of Bayo. Therefore, even under the ESTA regime, any alien who did not complete the online application him- or herself may have a valid Bayo claim if he or she does not sign a waiver in the appropriate language at the border.
1INA § 217(a)(1), 8 U.S.C. § 1187(a)(1). The omitted language refers to an alien applying for admission "during the program," which appears to be a leftover from the time that visa waivers were allowed for a limited period of time under what was then known as the Visa Waiver Pilot Program.
3Ordinarily, pursuant to INA § 217(c)(2)(A), a qualifying VWP country must meet the following criteria: Either- (i) the average number of refusals of nonimmigrant visitor visas for nationals of that country during- (I) the two previous full fiscal years was less than 2.0 percent of the total number of nonimmigrant visitor visas for nationals of that country which were granted or refused during those years; and (II) either of such two previous full fiscal years was less than 2.5 percent of the total number of nonimmigrant visitor visas for nationals of that country which were granted or refused during that year; or (ii) such refusal rate for nationals of that country during the previous full fiscal year was less than 3.0 percent. 8 U.S.C. § 1187(c)(2)(A). A country with a refusal rate between 2 and 3.5 percent may be placed on probationary status pursuant to INA § 217(f)(1)(B), 8 U.S.C. § 1187(f)(1)(B).
4INA § 217(a)(3), 8 U.S.C. § 1187(a)(3).
5INA § 217(a)(5), (a)(8), 8 U.S.C. § 1187(a)(5), (a)(8). Both of these requirements are subject to limited exceptions.
6INA § 217(a)(6), 8 U.S.C.§ 1187(a)(6).
7INA § 217(a)(7), 8 U.S.C. § 1187(a)(7). If an emergency prevents an alien's timely departure after a VWP admission, however, "the district director having jurisdiction over the place of the alien's temporary stay may, in his or her discretion, grant a period of satisfactory departure not to exceed 30 days. If departure is accomplished during that period, the alien is to be regarded as having satisfactorily accomplished the visit without overstaying the allotted time." 8 C.F.R. § 217.3(a).
98 C.F.R. § 248.2(a)(6). This prohibition still refers to the Visa Waiver Pilot Program, which is no longer in existence, but would likely be interpreted to apply to the VWP as well.
108 C.F.R. § 248.2(b); see INA § 101(a)(15)(U), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(U). .
11INA § 245(c)(4), 8 U.S.C. § 1255(c)(4); 8 C.F.R. § 245.1(b)(8). Like 8 C.F.R. § 248.2(a)(6), this prohibition still refers to the Visa Waiver Pilot Program, which is no longer in existence, but would likely be interpreted to apply to the VWP as well. Immediate relatives are defined in INA § 201(b) and include the spouses, parents, and unmarried children of U.S. citizens. INA § 245(i) applies to certain aliens who had an application for labor certification or a visa petition filed on their behalf before April 30, 2001. For more details, see, e.g., http://www.cyrusmehta.com/News.aspx?SubIdx=ocyrus2007914223330 and http://www.cyrusmehta.com/News.aspx?MainIdx=ocyrus200591724845&Month=&Source=Zoom&Page=1&Year=All&From=Menu&SubIdx=1290 .
128 C.F.R. § 217.4(a)(3) states: "Refusal of admission under paragraph (a)(1) of this section shall not constitute removal for purposes of the Act."
13See INA § 212(a)(9)(A)(i), 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(9)(A)(i).
148 C.F.R. § 217.4(b)(1), (2).
15INA § 212(a)(9)(A)(ii), 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(9)(A)(ii). The bar is 20 years in the case of a second or subsequent removal, and perpetual in the case of an alien convicted of an aggravated felony. Permission to reapply for admission before the bar has lapsed, available under INA § 212(a)(9)(A)(iii), is sought by filing Form I-212, Application for Permission to Reapply for Admission into the United States After Deportation or Removal.
16444 F.3d 1031 (9th Cir. 2006).
17Momeni v. Chertoff, 521 F.3d 1094 (9th Cir. 2008). See also, e.g., Lacey v. Gonzales, 499 F.3d 514, 518 (6th Cir.2007); Ferry v. Gonzales, 457 F.3d 1117 (10th Cir. 2006).
18To summarize, the sources of law upon which the Ninth Circuit relied in Freeman do not distinguish between a timely application for adjustment and an untimely one; under the law governing immediate relatives who apply for adjustment (or applicants under § 245(i)), there is ordinarily no such thing as an application that must be denied solely on grounds of untimeliness. Importing the concept of maintenance of status into an immediate-relative context, where it does not ordinarily belong, is problematic.
19535 F.3d 749 (7th Cir. 2008).
20Id. at 750. The government did not make, and therefore waived, any argument to the effect that "by presenting a fraudulent passport, Bayo disqualified himself from challenging the validity of the waiver," id. at 751 n.1.
22The official languages of Belgium, according to the CIA's World Factbook, are French, Dutch and German. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/be.html.
23Bayo, 535 F.3d at 751.
36 The ESTA website, available at https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/ or by hyperlink from http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/id_visa/esta/, offers online forms in English, Čeština (Czech), Dansk (Danish),Deutsch (German), Eesti (Estonian), Español (Spanish), Français (French), Íslenska (Icelandic), Italiano (Italian), Japanese, Korean, Latviešu (Latvian), Lietuvių (Lithuanian), Magyar (Hungarian), Nederlands (Dutch), Norsk (Norwegian), Português (Portuguese), Slovenčina (Slovak), Slovenščina (Slovenian), Suomi (Finnish), and Svenska (Swedish).
37The author does not wish to link to, and possibly provide additional traffic to, such websites, but notes that one private entity has already commandeered the namesake ESTA domain with the "us" suffix to offer such services.
David A. Isaacson is an Associate at Cyrus D. Mehta & Associates, P.L.L.C., where he practices primarily in the area of immigration and nationality law. He is a graduate of Yale Law School, where he served as a Senior Editor of the Yale Law Journal. Following law school, David clerked for the Honorable Leonard B. Sand of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and then worked in the Litigation Department at the law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell, where he devoted a significant amount of time to pro bono immigration matters involving asylum, the Child Status Protection Act, INA section 245(i), and the immigration treatment of adopted children. David is the author of Correcting Anomalies in the United States Law of Citizenship by Descent, 47 Ariz. L. Rev. 313 (2005), reprinted in 26 Immigr. & Nat'lity L. Rev. 515 (2006). He is admitted to practice in New York, in the Courts of Appeals for the Second and Third Circuits, and in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, and is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

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