On January 20, 2021, the President issued Presidential Proclamation 10141, titled “Ending Discriminatory Bans on Entry to the United States.” This Proclamation revoked Presidential Proclamations (P.P.) 9645 and 9983, which had suspended entry into the United States of certain nationals, based on visa type, from Burma, Eritrea, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Nigeria, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Venezuela, and Yemen. The Department of State has amended its regulations at 22 C.F.R. 22.1 and 42.71, governing immigrant visa (IV) fees, to exempt from IV fees certain applicants previously denied an IV solely due to P.P. 9645 and 9983. Effective immediately, all IV applicants previously denied an IV on or between December 8, 2017, and January 19, 2020, with the sole ground of ineligibility based on P.P. 9645 or 9983, are exempted from paying a new IV application fee or affidavit of support fee if applying again for an IV.
Applicants do not need to pay a second fee if the following conditions are met:
– The IV applicant was previously denied an IV on or between December 8, 2017, and January 19, 2020; and
– the sole ground of ineligibility was based on P.P. 9645 or P.P. 9983; and
– the applicant is applying again for an IV.
This amendment is not retroactive and no refunds will be distributed based on this change to the regulations. This provision provides for a one-time exemption of the applicable fees per applicant.