Consular Corner

U.S. Passport Card
Passport card applications are currently being accepted in anticipation of land border travel document requirements. Based on current projections, the Department of State expects to begin production of the passport cards in June. The passport card will facilitate entry and expedite document processing at U.S. land and sea ports-of-entry when arriving from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda. However, the card may not be used to travel by air.

Petition Information Management Service ("PIMS") Verification
Consular posts are now required to verify the details of approved nonimmigrant visa petitions (H, L, O, P, and Q) through the Consular Consolidated Database (CCD) through the new "PIMS" (Petition Information Management Service) program. The Kentucky Consular Center (KCC) has ceased e-mailing scanned copies of approved petitions to posts. The electronic PIMS record created by KCC will now be the primary source of evidence to be used in determining petition approval. Since PIMS implementation in late last year, we have seen delays with visa applications.

New DS-160 Electronic Nonimmigrant Visa Application Form
The current nonimmigrant visa form, DS-156, is completed on the Department of State (DOS) web site, but the government system does not electronically collect or retain the data entered in the form. The applicant presents the printed form at visa interview, and the bar code is scanned, which completes those data fields in the DOS Consular Consolidated Database (CCD), avoiding re-keying by posts and allowing electronic storing and searching by data field. With the new DS-160, an applicant completes DS-160 and actually submits the data online. The data will then be captured by a government database as a nonimmigrant visa application. Currently, Nuevo Laredo and Monterrey are serving as the pilot posts for this program.

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