[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 22, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 22CFR41.105]

[Page 211-212]
 
                       TITLE 22--FOREIGN RELATIONS
 
                     CHAPTER I--DEPARTMENT OF STATE
 
PART 41--VISAS: DOCUMENTATION OF NONIMMIGRANTS UNDER THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT, AS AMENDED--Table of Contents
 
              Subpart J--Application for Nonimmigrant Visa
 
Sec. 41.105  Supporting documents and fingerprinting.

    (a) Supporting documents--(1) Authority to require documents. The 
consular officer is authorized to require documents considered necessary 
to establish the alien's eligibility to receive a nonimmigrant visa. All 
documents and other evidence presented by the alien, including briefs 
submitted by attorneys or other representatives, shall be considered by 
the consular officer.
    (2) Unobtainable documents. If the consular officer is satisfied 
that a document or record required under the authority of this section 
is unobtainable, the consular officer may accept satisfactory 
alternative pertinent evidence. A document or other record shall be 
considered unobtainable if it cannot be procured without causing the 
applicant or a member of the applicant's family

[[Page 212]]

actual hardship as distinct from normal delay and inconvenience.
    (3) Photographs required. Every applicant for a nonimmigrant visa 
must furnish a photograph in such numbers as the consular officer may 
require. Photographs must be a reasonable likeness, 1\1/2\ by 1\1/2\ 
inches in size, unmounted, and showing a full, front-face view of the 
applicant against a light background. At the discretion of the consular 
officer, head coverings may be permitted provided they do not interfere 
with the full, front-face view of the applicant. The applicant must sign 
(full name) on the reverse side of the photographs. The consular officer 
may use a previously submitted photograph, if he is satisfied that it 
bears a reasonable likeness to the applicant.
    (4) Police certificates. A police certificate is a certification by 
the police or other appropriate authorities stating what, if anything, 
their records show concerning the alien. An applicant for a nonimmigrant 
visa is required to present a police certificate if the consular officer 
has reason to believe that a police or criminal record exists, except 
that no police certificate is required in the case of an alien who is 
within a class of nonimmigrants classifiable under visa symbols A-1, A-
2, C-3, G-1 through G-4, NATO-1 through NATO-4 or NATO-6.
    (b)(1) Fingerprinting. The consular officer may require an alien 
making a preliminary or informal application for a visa to have a set of 
fingerprints taken on Form AR-4, Alien Registration Fingerprint Chart, 
if the officer considers this necessary for the purposes of 
identification and investigation. Consular officers may use the 
fingerprint card in order to ascertain from the appropriate authorities 
whether they have information pertinent to the applicant's eligibility 
to receive a visa.
    (2) NCIC name check response. When an automated database name check 
query indicates that a nonimmigrant applicant may have a criminal 
history record indexed in an NCIC database, the applicant shall be 
required to have a set of fingerprints taken in order for the Department 
to obtain such record. The applicant must pay the fingerprint-processing 
fee as indicated in the schedule of fees found at 22 CFR part 22.1.

[52 FR 42597, Nov. 5, 1987; 53 FR 9112, 9172, Mar. 21, 1988, as amended 
at 61 FR 1522, Jan. 22, 1996; 61 FR 53058, Oct. 10, 1996; 64 FR 13510, 
Mar. 19, 1999; 67 FR 8478, Feb. 25, 2002]