Neil Amrine, President of Guide Service of Washington, Inc., testified on behalf of the Travel Industry Association of America…
Neil Amrine, President of Guide Service of Washington, Inc., testified on behalf of the Travel Industry Association of America (
The hearing was held to explore the impact the new rule will have on small businesses that rely on international visitors. The new INS rule proposes to eliminate the minimum admission period for international travelers visiting with a B-2 pleasure visa from six months to a shorter and poorly defined reasonable period tailored for each individual visitor. The period of time granted to the visitor would be up to the individual INS inspector and be determined when the visitor arrives in the U.S.
It is entirely possible that an INS inspector would assign an admission period for the visitor that is LESS than the length of the visitor’s itinerary or tour package, Amrine warned about the new rule. Faced with the possibility that tourists will not be granted the time they need to complete their trip, tour operators will advise travelers to go elsewhere. Certainty is a necessity for international travel. Amrine owns and operates a company that provides multi-lingual tour guides and other travel related services for the Washington, D.C. area.
Amrine urged Congress to support the travel industry’s proposal of shortening the admission period for B-2 visa holders from six months to three months. Tour operators and individual vacationers could plan with certainty and travel with confidence knowing their trip will not be cut short prematurely. The three-month period would allow enough time for travelers to deal with unanticipated events without overstaying their visa or having to file for an extension.
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