WASHINGTON, Jan 8: The Immigration and Naturalization Service issued a reminder Wednesday to citizens of 13 nations with temporary visas that they need to register themselves with the department by Jan 10. Failing to register is a criminal offence, the INS warned.

The deadline applies to temporary foreign visitors from Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Eritrea, Lebanon, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Those who were in the United States as non-immigrants before Oct. 1, 2002, and plan to stay there until at least Jan 10 must register with local INS offices before then. An INS official said this second group may include about 7,200 foreign visitors.

On the first anniversary of the Sept 11, 2001, attacks, the US government launched the National Security Entry Exit Registration System, targeting all adult male visitors from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Syria and Sudan.

An additional 13 countries were added to the list in October, with temporary visa holders from those countries now registering with INS offices.

The registration for the third group of Pakistani and Saudi nationals and citizens begins Jan 13 and ends Feb 21.

The INS has posted on its Web site a list of offices where foreign visitors are required to register.