New Rule Requires Certain Chinese B1 / B2 Visitors to Enroll Online

A new rule will require some Chinese tourists and business visitors to enroll in an online system with their biographic and other information starting November 29, 2016.

The same rule was implemented by both the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of States (DOS) to establish the Electronic Visa Update System (EVUS) which, starting on November 29, 2016, requires Chinese nationals holding unrestricted, maximum validity B-1 (business visitor), B-2 (visitor for pleasure), or combination B-1/B-2 visas to enroll online, provide biographic and other information.  These Chinese visitors, after enrolling, will obtain a notification of compliance valid for two years before their travel to the United States.

The EVUS was created by regulations to authorize the collection of biographic and other information from foreigners who hold temporary non-immigrant  visas.  The program will be expanded to include other countries and nonimmigrant visa categories, according to DHS.

The EVUS system can be accessed at:  https://www.evus.gov.

UK to make it easier for Chinese nationals to obtain entry visas

During his trade trip to China, Chancellor George Osborne recently announced that the UK will make changes in its visa requirements to make it easier for Chinese citizens to obtain visas to visit the Great Britain.
Currently, Chinese citizens can travel to all European Union countries with one single visa.  However, a separate visa is required for them to enter the UK.  Some visa changes announced by Osborne include:

1) Chinese nationals will no longer be required to obtain separate visas if they book their trips through designated travel agents.

2) A mobile visa scheme that is already being used in Beijing and Shanghai will be expanded as well. The application process under this mobile visa scheme reportedly takes less than five minutes.

3) Finally, Chancellor Osborne also announced that a 24-hour "super priority" visa service will be available from next summer, making it easier for business visitors to travel to UK.

These changes are made by the British to facilitate the trading activities between the two countries and to compete for Chinese investments in the world market.