(Jewish Daily Bulletin)
Aliens who can prove to the satisfaction of American immigration officials abroad that because of an emergency it is not practicable for them to await the delivery of their permits to reenter the United States, will be permitted to depart prior to the receipt of the permits, Harry E. Hull, Commissioner General of immigration, announced March 2 in an order amending Section 10 of the Immigration Act of 1924.
“Experience has demonstrated.” Commissioner General Hull stated in the order, “that unwarranted hardships sometimes result from a refusal to mail abroad return permits in cases where aliens who have filed their applications find it necessary to depart prior to the permits being received by them.” The order made clear that “no specious or frivolous” reasons are to be accepted by these immigration officials as satisfactory evidence of an “emergency.”
The full text of the order, promulgated by Commissioner General Hull, and approved by Robe Carl White, Assistant Secretary of Labor, follows:
First amendment to General Order No. 74. Subject: Permits to reenter the United States as provided for in Section 10 of the Immigration Act of 1924.
Experience has demonstrated that unwarranted hardships sometimes result from a refusal to mail abroad return permits in cases where aliens who have filed their applications find it necessary to depart ## to the permits being received by them.
To take care of strictly emergent cases, therefore, permits will be mailed to aliens when satisfactory evidence is presented by them at an immigration office, that it is not practicable for them to await the delivery of the permit prior to departure. No specious or frivolous reasons are to be accepted as satisfactory nor will permits be sent abroad merely because it is inconvenient for the applicant to await delivery, and officers entertaining such applications will be expected to grant them favorable consideration only when the applicant has clearly demonstrated that an emergency has arisen which necessitates immediate departure.
The practice in cases where permits are to be mailed abroad will be as follows:
Applicants must submit in person their applications at an immigration office together with the requisite photographs. Where requests are made that permits be mailed abroad, officers, if satisfied that an actual emergency exists which necessitates departure prior to issuance of same, will see to it that the foreign address is given in the application, and will affix a notation thereto concerning the nature of the existing emergency.
Where request is made subsequent to the submission to the application that the permit be mailed abroad, officers when satisfied that an emergency has arisen subsequent to the time when the original application was filed, will forward to the bureau a photograph of the applicant similar to the one originally submitted, together with the name and foreign address to which the permit, if issued, is to be mailed, and give the date when the original application was mailed.
Where the applicant has in his possession an acknowledgment card the number appearing thereon will likewise be given.
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