Hello, this is Julia Storberg with a critical message to the immigration network. Due to the urgency of this message, we advise that you send a copy of it, or a similar communication, to all foreign nationals in your office as soon as possible. As you may know, late last week the President signed into law a comprehensive immigration package. Most of the provisions contained in the law do not affect D&T business operations, globalization initiatives, and foreign nationals. Further, most of these new provisions do not come into effect until 1997. However, we were informed yesterday that an obscure clause in the law, which does potentially affect all of our D&T foreign national employees, went into effect immediately. Due to the consequences of the law, and the personal experiences of two employees denied visas yesterday, we must now strongly discourage any employee from venturing to Canada or Mexico to obtain a visa stamp, unless they are from Canada or Mexico. Indeed, we must advise them to obtain the visa at their home country consulate only. In the past, our employees have routinely obtained visa stamps in Canada or Mexico, regardless of their home country. The new law prevents the consulates from granting visas to third country nationals (i.e., someone from another country than the country the consulate is in) if the third country national cannot prove continual "in-status" validity during all stays in the U.S. The consulates may confiscate an applicant's I-94 card until such proof is presented, and the applicant may not return to the U.S. without this card. Due to the routine nature of forays into Canada and Mexico by numerous employees, and the fact that the consequences are severe (no re-entry into the U.S.), we ask your assistance in getting the word out. Please communicate this information to all foreign nationals in your office, in order to ensure uninterrupted client service. We will update you on further developments as we are made aware of them. If you have any questions, please call the Immigration Hotline at (203) 761-3177. Thank you.