News Updates

Department of Homeland Security Announces a Streamlined Visa Issuance Process for HIV-Positive Individuals

On October 6, 2008, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a Final Rule that amends the Code of Federal Regulations and aims to streamline the B-1/B-2 visa issuance process for individuals who are HIV-positive and wish to travel to the U.S. as visitors for business or pleasure for up to 30 days. 

Foreigners infected with HIV have been ineligible to receive U.S. visas without a waiver by DHS because HIV is considered a communicable disease of public-health significance.

Consular Officers with the Department of State (DOS) are now authorized to adjudicate this waiver without DHS’s concurring approval if the applicant can demonstrate the following:  Admission to the U.S. poses a minimal risk of danger to the public health in the U.S. and poses a minimal risk of danger of transmission to any other person in the U.S.; the applicant will have an adequate supply of or access to antiretroviral medication; and the applicant has adequate insurance to cover any medical care that may be required while in the U.S.  

This process will make visa authorization and issuance available to many otherwise eligible HIV-positive travelers on the same day as their visa interview. 

Note that individuals who enter the U.S. with this waiver issued under the new process forfeit eligibility to change, extend, or adjust status, with an exception for asylees to adjust status.  Individuals may apply for this waiver of inadmissibility under the non-streamlined process, which does not subject individuals to many of the restrictions under the streamlined process.
 

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