The United States government denied bitcoin entrepreneur Roger Ver a non-immigrant visa for the third time last week, reported Coin Desk. Ver publicly renounced his American citizenship last year because he didn’t want to pay taxes.
Ver had tried multiple times to obtain a non-immigrant visa in order to speak at the North American Bitcoin Conference in Miami this coming weekend. However, the Immigration and Naturalization office had other plans for him.
Ver has been disallowed to appeal the decision, but he has the ability to re-apply over and over for $160 per application. According to the American embassy in Barbados, Ver was rejected because:
One of the most common elements within the various nonimmigrant visa requirements is for the applicant to demonstrate that they have a residence in a foreign country which they have no intention of abandoning . . . You [Ver] have not demonstrated that you have the ties that will compel you to return to your home country after your travel to the United States.
As Coin Desk noted, this all boils down to Immigration Service being afraid that Ver will try to stay longer than his visa will allow. What’s more, because Ver renounced his citizenship in America to avoid paying taxes, Ver is inadmissible. According to 8 USC 1182(a)(10)(E), in American immigration law:
Any alien who is a former citizen of the United States who officially renounces United States citizenship and who is determined by the Attorney General to have renounced United States citizenship for the purpose of avoiding taxation by the United States is inadmissible.
That provision alone is enough to reject Ver’s visa applications. However, there is more to Ver’s past that also makes him ineligible for a temporary visa. In 2002, Ver pleaded guilty to one criminal count each of dealing in explosives without a license, illegal storage of explosives, and mailing injurious articles. In short, he sold, poorly stored, and shipped explosives on eBay.
For his crimes, Ver served 10 months in federal prison, was fined $2,000, and underwent three years of supervised release. Ver was never convicted of any explosives crimes relevant or related to 8 USC 1182, but application reviewers can still use it for their consideration.
Ver renounced his citizenship because he didn’t want to pay taxes; the law says he can be rightfully denied entry because of that action and Ver has the nerve to complain. He’s a rich kid who didn’t want to pay his fair share. He’s getting what he deserves.
