Big Brother is Watching-4 Things to Know about Applying for U.S. Visas and Citizenship in the Digital Information Age

In the aftermath of 9/11, numerous measures designed to enhance security and streamline visa processing were implemented to identify and eliminate vulnerabilities in the visa processing system. The passage of the USA PATRIOT Act in 2001, followed by the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act (a/k/a the “Border Security Act”) and the Homeland Security Act in 2002, accelerated these efforts by mandating: increased coordination of law enforcement and intelligence agencies; inter-agency data sharing; implementation of an integrated entry and exit control system; the establishment of terrorist lookout committees; foreign student monitoring; biometric collection; mandatory interviewing; and the intensification of security check measures.