The U.S. Department of State has announced that beginning November 12th, the United States and China will both increase the validity period of business and tourist visitor visas and student and exchange visitor visas. This will serve as a major benefit to Chinese nationals seeking to visit the United States temporarily may obtain 10-year multiple entry visas, whereas in previous years, visitor visas were issued to Chinese nationals for only one year.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson announced today that travelers seeking to use the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) program to enter the United States under the Visa Waiver Program will be required to provide additional information in order to improve security.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced that its Automated I-94 System (available here) now allows nonimmigrant visitors to the U.S. to retrieve their arrival records for the past five years. In the past, the system only allowed nonimmigrants to retrieve their entry records for the last two years.

On February 28th, the U.S. Department of State announced that Chile would be added to the Visa Waiver Program. Beginning May 1, 2014, nationals of Chile may enter the United States without a visa, provided they meet the requirements of the Visa Waiver Program. The full announcement is available here.