http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/lawenfor/specialreg/studadv.htm
10/09/02
Recently, foreign students may have been
informed that they must report to the nearest INS office no later than October
30, 2002 for special registration interviews. This information is not
correct. Special registration procedures currently pertain only to
those nonimmigrant visitors who were registered upon their arrival into the
United States by Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) inspections
officers at ports of entry and notified at that time of the requirement to
appear at an INS office for an interview.
Nonimmigrant visitors are
selected for special registration because they are citizens or nationals of
countries (currently Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Syria) designated through
publication of a notice in the Federal Register, or they are of interest based
on current national security, or law enforcement concerns. They are
fingerprinted, photographed, and interviewed upon entry to the United
States.
Nonimmigrant visitors who have been admitted into the United
States without being fingerprinted, photographed, and interviewed by INS
immigration officials, are not special registrants, and therefore are not
required to follow special registration procedures. This means that there is no
requirement to report to an INS office for an interview, and there are no
restrictions or requirements related to leaving the United States. Upon reentry,
however, an individual may be selected for special registration. Any changes to
the procedures will be announced through a notice published in the Federal
Register.
Additional Information on special registration is available at
the INS web page at www.INS.gov, or by telephone at the INS National Customer
Service Center (1-800) 375-5283 / TTY Telephone Service (1-800) 767-1833, for
the hearing impaired.
