Prince Harry’s application for a U.S. visa has been brought before a federal judge amidst concerns that the royal may have been granted residency in the United States despite his past admission of drug use.
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington D.C., initiated legal action to obtain the documents related to Prince Harry’s visa application after the Department of Homeland Security declined to disclose them publicly. On March 7, Judge Carl Nichols, presiding over the Federal District Court in Washington, directed the agency to provide Prince Harry’s papers for his review, aiming to determine their potential release.
According to a court filing obtained by Newsweek on Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security stated that it complied with the court order “by submitting declarations with attachments for ex parte review” via an encrypted link.
Certain visa categories under which Prince Harry could have applied for entry to the U.S. require applicants to disclose past drug use and related legal issues. Consequently, the Heritage Foundation raised questions about how the Duke of Sussex obtained permission to enter the country, considering his public acknowledgment of using illicit substances.
The foundation argued that Prince Harry may have misrepresented facts during the application process or received preferential treatment leading to the approval of his application.
“The case arises primarily because HRH [His Royal Highness] voluntarily— and for considerable profit— admitted in writing to engaging in various controlled substance violations. (Indeed, some assert that HRH has almost boasted and advocated for illegal drug use),” as per a prior filing by the think tank.
Despite being well aware that such admissions could have adverse immigration consequences for non-citizens and despite employing top legal advisors on both sides of the Atlantic, the Duke of Sussex made these disclosures,” the filing continued.
These assertions appear to reference Prince Harry’s memoir, “Spare,” where he confessed to using drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, magic mushrooms, and ayahuasca.
In response, the Department of Homeland Security argued that disclosing Prince Harry’s application would violate his privacy rights.
Courts consistently uphold that an individual’s visa or immigration status constitutes private, personal information exempt from disclosure,” the department stated. “Specifically, the records would reveal the types of documents utilized by Prince Harry for travel to the United States, his admission status, and any immigration or non-immigration benefits he may have sought.”
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, have resided in California since March 2020, and Prince Harry has previously expressed interest in obtaining U.S. citizenship.