Prince Harry’s US visa application papers have been handed over to a judge who will decide whether or not they should be made public

Prince Harry’s US visa application papers have been handed over to a federal judge who will decide whether or not they should be made public.

Judge Carl Nichols ordered the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to provide more information about why his immigration details should be kept secret in March.

the DHS now said that it complied with the order ‘by submitting declarations with attachments for ex parte in camera [in private] review’ via an encrypted link.

The filing is the latest twist in the legal battle over the Duke of Sussex and his immigration status as the conservative Heritage Foundation is seeking the release of the documents to find out whether Harry lied about his drug use in his application.

The Duke of Sussex entered the U.S. in March 2020 lives with his American wife Meghan and their two children in Montecito, California.

However, in his memoir ‘Spare,’ Harry admitted using cocaine, cannabis and psychedelic mushrooms.

Harry admitted in Spare that he had taken cocaine several times starting around age 17, in order ‘to feel. To be different.’

U.S. immigration authorities routinely ask about drug use on visa applications. British celebrities including singer Amy Winehouse and model Kate Moss have run into difficulties.

But acknowledging past drug use does not necessarily result in automatic rejection.

Against that background, the Heritage Foundation filed a Freedom of Information request last year to get to the bottom of what happened.

Nile Gardiner, who is spearheading the request of the Heritage Foundation, said it was a matter of ensuring that no one got special treatment.

‘Again, Harry has publicly admitted to extensive illegal drug use,’ he wrote recently.

‘What do we submit this means? That Harry seems to have received special treatment: the DHS looked the other way if the Prince answered truthfully, or it looked the other way if the Prince lied on his visa application

Either action would be wrong.’

The DHS said from the beginning that it could not release the Duke’s visa application, writing in a court filing: ‘Courts consistently hold that a person’s visa or immigration status is private, personal information exempt from disclosure.’

‘Specifically,’ it added, ‘the records would reveal the types of documents that Prince Harry used to travel to the United States, his admission status, and any immigration, or non-immigration, benefits that he may have sought.’

After a hearing in February, Judge Nichols told the DHS its arguments were ‘insufficiently detailed’ for him to make a ruling.