When applying for a US visa nowadays, absolutely no one is exempted from the biometric security measures according to the newly-imposed rule of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS).  Even if you have had one and you're up for renewal, you have to ante up the $100, then personally appear at the Embassy for the processing. 

Ralph Recto was off the mark when he said that the US Embassy earned P2.06 billion annually from visa fees.  Actually, it is about PI .5 billion.  And according to Dave Donahue, the US Consul General, they process about 1,000 visas per day on the average.  

If you multiply that by 20 working days per month, they are probably making approximately $2 million a month or PI.5 billion annually.  That is the kind of business one wishes to have with that cash flow. 

The security measures is the real reason why a visa costs so much.  With the United States' fee-based market culture, you pay for any service or product that you need just like if you need a patent for your invention. 

They use several American call centers all over the world to speed up the scheduling of interviews.  All applicants all over the world pay the same standard fee.  According to Non-Immigrant Visa (NIV) Section Chief Joseph Tilghman, as long as your papers are in order, a visa is usually issued without a hitch. 

Obviously, 9/11 has altered everything in the United States from their security environment to the way they travel.  The multi-billion dollar biometric system gets your iris-prints and your fingerprints then immediately sent to a security databank in Washington, D.C.  

This information is bounced back to the embassy for cross-checking.  In less than 24 hours, confirmation is sent back to the originating Embassy then a visa is issued.  The good thing about the high-tech biometric system is that it now makes it easier to get in and out of the United States.

During the low-tech days before 9/11, I was subjected to what they call a "secondary inspection" at the San Francisco International Airport.  Apparently, I was profiled because I was unshaven and shabbily dressed upon arrival. 

The immigration officer placed my passport in a yellow folder and led me to a holding room where they searched all my clothes and every single item in my luggage for almost an hour and a half.  And believe it or not, the famous martial arts actor Chuck Norris, saved the day for me. 

A couple of weeks before my trip to the US, the late Vice President Doy Laurel hosted a dinner for Chuck Norris, who was filming Missing In Action 2 in the Philippines at that time.  Embarrassingly, I even mistook Norris for Flipper's leading man Chuck Connors. 

Anyway, a lot of photos were taken that night and I happened to have one with Chuck Norris, my arm around him.  When the immigration official, who seemed star struck, stumbled upon the picture, he asked me if I knew Chuck Norris.  I replied, "Oh yes, he is one of my best friends."

That, finally, convinced him—I was legit.  And can you imagine, Chuck Norris got me out of that without even knowing it?  But I guess that kind of luck is no longer needed today with the biometric system's real-time profile.  With just one click, the INS can check your full background.  That is the kind of technology we need in this country with all the human smuggling from China going on.  

If the US Immigration gives you 30 days to stay, make sure you leave on or before the 30th day.  Otherwise, your visa could be automatically cancelled the next time you visit the US.  

The Immigration Officer in the US is probably one of the most powerful bureaucrats because he can actually decide whether you can come into the US or not and there's not a damn thing you can do about it.  You're considered to be in limbo and the Immigration Officer is the unchallenged sovereign of that no-man's land. 

In fact, a year ago, there was a doctor who was attending a conference in Mexico with a stopover in Los Angeles, but did not have a US visa.  Without any questions, the INS simply told him that he had to return to his country of origin.  He had to wait for several hours to catch the next flight back home. 

Another horrific incident was when a prominent businessman landed in San Francisco.  He was asked for his fingerprints and refused, asking to see the Immigration Supervisor.  

The Supervisor asked to see his passport and with a special stamp simply cancelled his visa and told him, "Well, Sir, we don't need your fingerprint.  You may now go back to your country."  He waited almost 8 hours at the airport before catching a flight back home.

For all intents and purposes, the US is now a country under siege.  I remember an American telling us at the International Press Institute (IPI) conference in Vienna the other year that the United States being the lone superpower just has too many enemies and we have no choice, but to protect ourselves. 

In the book, Fortune Favors the Bold—given to me by Frank Ricciardone, the US Ambassador—the author Lester Thurow wrote: America has far more of legal and illegal immigration than anyone else (about 1 million people per year).  They are more worried now, but they still have a culture that absorbs.  Many people in other nations want to achieve the American results—high standards of living and technological leadership.  The fact that they cannot, logically, have both doesn't stop them from wanting both or resenting Americans because they cannot have both.  It is simply frustrating to want something, but not want to do what has to be done to get those results.  Frustrated people often throw rock or bombs.

No matter which way we look at it, Osama bin Laden—the symbol of all extremists—has altered everyone's lives all over the world.  Unfortunately, he is still alive today. 

In fact, the United States had an opportunity to get rid of Osama bin Laden before 9/11.  Our old friend, the former US Charge d' Affaires in Manila, Mike Malinowski related to us that when he was posted in Afghanistan, the CIA identified a mosque in the Sudan where Osama bin Laden was expected to be at a certain time. 

The CIA recommended to the White House that they be authorized to use "extreme prejudice"—translation—"Kill him."  But the White House wavered. 

According to reports, Bill Clinton's indecision could have been caused by the relentless investigations on the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal.  And so, Osama bin Laden changed many people's lives including our having to pay $100 for a US visa.

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