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Do not leave US without an exit stamp
on your passport
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Pakistani students and US work visa holders have been advised not to leave the country without an exit stamp on their passports, otherwise they will be denied re-entry.
Ms. Samina Faheem, Coordinator of Hotline for those affected by the INS Special Registration, said that this rule applies to all Pakistanis who were required to register under the special registration program.
According to the INS Registration policy, anyone who went through the recently-completed Special Registration program must provide notice of departure from and re-entry into the United States. The policy states: "Non-immigrants who must follow these special procedures will also have to use specially designated ports when they leave the country and report in person to an immigration officer at the port on their departure date."
She said that a number of Pakistanis have been denied re-entry into the United States because they failed to get the exit stamp on their passports.
Ms. Samina Faheem said it is the responsibility of the travelers to make sure they get an INS exit interview. In certain cases, airports have INS (now called Bureau of Customs and Border Patrol of the Department of Homeland Security) staff present all 24 hours but in many other cases, it may mean flying into the port of departure up to a day early to comply with the exit interview requirement. The airlines should not be trusted about the INS regulations, she added.
For students, this is extremely important because it can result in a delay in studies, she said.
Ms. Samina Faheem said that the US work-visa holder Pakistanis who failed to register under the special INS registration that ended on March 21, 2003, are also being denied re-entry into the US. She referred to the case of Dr. Shahid Mahmood, a family practitioner working in an underserved area of North Carolina for more than four years – who was denied re-entry at WashingtonDullesInternationalAirport, on May 11, because he failed to abide by the registration regulations. Dr. Mahmood and his family (including an American-born child) were forced to return to Pakistan after coming back from a two-week trip. Dr. Mahmood was denied re-entry despite the fact that he had been told by airline personnel there was no registration requirement. Immigration authorities told him to re-apply for a work visa, a process that could take months.
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