Lies, Damned Lies, and Visa Interviews

Here's a link to a crabby and unaffectionate but still very true and funny list of consular officers' gripes about our visa applicants, bless 'em.

This leads Madam to wonder yet again, how many times will she still see young officers rendered speechless with outrage at the idea that people of the age and respectability of their own parents would lie to them?

But welcome to the world. That's how it's done where they live. No one gets what they're entitled to by simply applying for it; they MUST manipulate, maneuver and lie. It should come as no surprise that they expect us to be the same as every other bureaucrat they've ever had to deal with: it's all they've ever known. Does that make them dishonest? Oddly, no. Just no.

Still More New Goodies

From May:

7 FAM 010 Introduction

7 FAM 1300 Appendix C: Names to be Used in Passports

7 FAM 1320 Identity of the Passport Applicant (SBU)

9 FAM 40.11 Notes: Medical Grounds of Ineligibility

9 FAM 40.25 Regs: Certain Aliens Involving in Serious Criminal Activity Who Have Asserted Immunity From Prosecution

9 FAM 40.28 Regs: Aliens Engaged in Money Laundering

9 FAM 40.32 Regs: Terrorist Activities

9 FAM 40.37 Regs: “Visa Viper” Terrorist Reporting Program

9 FAM 40.38 Notes: Accountability for the Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers

9 FAM 40.38 Regs: Accountability for the Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers

9 FAM 40.41 Procedural Notes: Public Charge

9 FAM 40.41 Exhibit I Poverty Income Guidelines

9 FAM 42.62 Regs: Personal Appearance and Interview of Applicant

9 FAM 42.65 Notes: Supporting Documents

9 FAM Appendix D Exhibit I: Consular Lookout and Support System (Class) Refund/Lookout Codes

9 FAM Appendix G 100: Consular Duties

Something For Everyone

Many changes and updates are implemented regularly to the FAMs. Just in April came the following. Pay attention: there will be a test later.

7 FAM 1300 Appendix P The Passport Card

7 FAM 1380 Passport Denial, Revocation, Limitation, Restriction and Surrender

7 FAM 1540 Basic Absentee Voting Process

7 FAM 1830 Aviation and Other Transportation Disasters

7 FAM 210 Introduction

7 FAM 520 Department of the Treasury

7 FAM 540 Department of Veterans Affairs

7 FAM 550 Selective Service System (SSS)

7 FAM 560 Department of Labor

7 FAM 580 Office of Personnel Management (OPM)

7 FAM 590 Managing a Federal Benefits Unit (FBU)

7 FAM 680 Cultural Objects

7 FAM 880 Federal and State Agency Documents

7 FAM 990 Lists of Attorneys and Legal Resources

9 FAM 40.21(a) Procedural Notes: Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude and Controlled Substance Violators

9 FAM 40.24 Notes: Prostitution and Commercialized Vice

9 FAM 40.35(b) Regs: Participation in Genocide

9 FAM 40.36 Regs: Association With Terrorist Organizations

9 FAM 40.202 Notes: Certain Former Exchange Visitors

9 FAM 40.209 Regs: Unauthorized Disclosure of United States Confidential Business Information

9 FAM 4.212 Regs: Persons Credibly Alleged to Have Aided and Abetted Colombian Insurgent and Paramilitary Groups

9 FAM 41.1 Regs: Exemption by Law or Treaty From Passport and Visa Requirements

9 FAM 41.2 Exhibit II List of Countries Participating in the Visa Waiver Program

9 FAM 41.23 Regs: Accredited Officials in Transit

9 FAM 41.24 Regs: International Organization Aliens

9 FAM 41.51 Exhibit IV: Example of Form ETA-9035, Labor Condition Application For H-1b Nonimmigration

9 FAM 41.57 Notes: International Cultural Exchange Visitors

9 FAM 41.61 Notes: Students Academic and Nonacademic

9 FAM 41.62 Notes: Exchange Visitors

9 FAM 41.84 Procedural Notes: Victims of Trafficking in Persons

9 FAM 41.104 Notes: Passport Requirements

9 FAM 41.112 Notes: Validity of Visa

9 FAM 41.113 Procedural Notes: Procedures in Issuing Visas

9 FAM 42.1 Procedural Notes: Aliens not Required to Obtain Immigrant Visas

9 FAM 42.1 Notes: Aliens not Required to Obtain Immigrant Visas

9 FAM 42.21 Notes: Immediate Relatives

9 FAM 42.32(D)(11) Regs: Fourth Preference—Special Immigrants-Certain Iraqi Nationals Who Have Been Employed by or on Behalf of the U. S. Government in Iraq

9 FAM 42.72 Notes: Validity of Visas

9 FAM 42.72 Procedural Notes: Validity of Visas

9 FAM 42.73 Procedural Notes: Procedure in Issuing Visas

9 FAM Appendix D 100: Automated Visa System

9 FAM Appendix D 200: Consular Lookout and Support System (CLASS)

9 FAM Appendix D 300: Machine Readable Nonimmigrant Visa (MRV)

9 FAM Appendix D 400: Immigrant Visa System

9 FAM Appendix D Exhibit II: Example of ANVIS Visa

9 FAM Appendix D Exhibit 3: Examples of Machine-Readable Visa (MRV)

9 FAM Appendix N 200: Visa Petitions

9 FAM Appendix N 400: Benefits Under Ina 212 (H) and (I)

9 FAM Appendix N Exhibit I: Areas of Responsibility of DHS Officers Abroad

9 FAM Appendix N Exhibit X: How to Record Departure From the United States, After the Fact

9 FAM Appendix N Exhibit II: Regional and Field Offices of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services

9 FAM Appendix N Exhibit III: Regulatory Fees Collected by USCIS

9 FAM Appendix N Exhibit V: Boarding Authorization to Transportation Lines in Parole Cases Under INA 212(D)(5)

9 FAM Appendix N Exhibit VII: Suggested Format For Memorandum Reports of Interviews With Applications for Relief Under Ina 212(H) or (I)

9 FAM Appendix N Exhibit VIII(A)

9 FAM Appendix N Exhibit VIII(B)

9 FAM Appendix N Exhibit IX: Port-of-Entry Codes Used by the Department of Homeland Security, United States Customs and Border Protection

Read It and Weep: Public Charge

There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about this, so let's review.

A woman giving birth in the US on a B1/B2 visa is not a public charge. Not even if she didn't pay for it. Cannot be refused a visa - or have her visa revoked - under 212(a)(4)

Nope. Can. Not.

9 FAM 40.41 N2 says:

a. For the purpose of determining inadmissibility under INA 212(a)(4)... the term "public charge" means that an alien, after admission into the United States, is likely to become primarily dependent on the U.S. Government for subsistence. This means either:

(1) The receipt of public cash assistance for income maintenance...; or

(2) Institutionalization for long-term care at U.S. Government expense ... Confinement in a medical institution for rehabilitation does not constitute such primary dependence.

Period. Nowhere does it say anything about an occasional dip into public funds for childbearing. Or even child rearing, as in the case of the 'tourist' from East Africa who recently gave birth to sextuplets, at enormous expense that she will not be able to pay.

You want to refuse her? Don't try 212(a)(4) It will only show cluelessness.

Damn the Papers, Full Speed Ahead

Here is yet another of many, many tales of false documents presented in support of fraudulent visa applications. Yet more support for the process Madam pushes whenever she gets the chance, of refusing to accept any documents beyond those required for the type of visa requested. In other words, if it's not a DS-2019, an I-20, a signed referral for a genuine applicant, an approved H1b or L petition, or a genuine I-797 do not take it. Don't accept it, don't look at it, don't consider it.

Madam hears all the time, 'But when the applicant complains about a refusal, he says, '...and the officer didn't even look at my documents!'' Madam's answer to that is, 'So? He's going to complain about something you did anyway. And look at the time you saved talking with and considering the person rather than being distracted by documents.'

Do you think you can get a 212(a)(6)(c) hard refusal on him/her if you find crap among the papers? Probably not, and why bother? Shoo them away - kindly but firmly - and go pay attention to your good, respectable applicants who deserve the best service and so rarely get it from the fraud-obsessed.

PS - Ask Madam some time about the IBM security consultant.

Cottage Industry

We know, of course, about the thousands of DV 'helpers' that exist, but here's a new one to me: a web site that promises to instantly assess one's eligibility for a US 'travel' visa.*

Madam took the test twice and failed once, passed once, by changing a single variable. If you fail - or, of course, if you pass - you can request either a face-to-face consultation with the company's immigration attorneys in New York (how to get to the appointment without a visa is not addressed) or a telephone consultation with them, either service at $150 per hour. There are no appointments available on June 22, Madam is sorry to say.

Try it yourself - it's sort of fun.

*PS - What the heck is a 'travel visa?' What kind of a visa does NOT involve travel??

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The Other Side of the Window

'The public aspect of consular work puts officers on the front lines of American diplomacy. Consular officers may be the first or even the only U.S. government employees that many foreigners and Americans abroad encounter regularly, highlighting the important public diplomacy role of the consular section.

'“Consular officers should consider that they affect the tone and quality of the assistance we give to American citizens and foreigners,” said Michele Thoren Bond, deputy assistant secretary for Overseas Citizens Services. “This experience conveys, in almost a visceral way, what America is all about. It’s not just the treatment consular section clients receive but what they observe while waiting—how we talk to people, accommodate those with special needs or help someone needing special attention.”'

- State Magazine, Issue 534, Page 30

For another view of the value of consular work, see this excellent observation.

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Quote of the Month

"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers."
Thomas Pynchon

AILA

With apologies to the half-dozen highly competent immigration attorneys that Madam knows -- what the heck is with the rest of them? Is there no test of competency or even basic knowledge before an 'immigration attorney' can hang a shingle?

At AILA conventions one can only be stunned by the incredibly clueless questions some attorneys ask, and the information they try to offer. In panel presentations, it is not uncommon that audience members are so ignorant of the law and so instantly hostile toward US consular representatives that their fellow attorneys have to shush them and drag them back into their seats.

A hint: if you have to use six different fonts in a letter expressing your indignation about a case that hasn't been going your way; if you can't find relevant legal decisions and so quote - at length - decisions that actually have no bearing on your case; if you find yourself insulting, name-calling, and quoting at length from an interview that you did not attend; maybe you need to consider one of two things:

one, maybe your applicant is not going to get a visa for some very good reasons.

two, maybe you need to go back to the books and learn what you're trying to practice.

Great Sources

Madam has always trusted IRS publications: they did and still do a wonderful job of explicating incredibly complex laws and how they apply to her.

USCIS is doing the same, with their wonderful "How Do I ..." series. These are the best places to send the immigration-befuddled. Also great handouts to print and give to walk-ins, and great memory-joggers for ourselves, as well.

The Bad News

The news is grim again: another State employee gone bad. Three people that Madam works with knew him - not well, but had attended one of his classes or dealt with him some other way over the years. Madam knows Mike O'Keefe; in fact, she thought she knew him pretty well. She read recently that he was finally convicted, but can't locate the article right now. She would have bet a decent amount of money that Mike would not have done such a thing. He was our fraud prevention officer in Seoul.

They say you can't fix stupid. Sometimes you can, but you can never fix arrogant and stupid. Even more serious, you can't fix dead. Madam also knew Julian Bartley well; she worked for him for a while. And Julian's son was intelligent, respectful, dignified, serious, handsome. The world lost a treasure when it lost that young man. Madam knew Laurence Foley casually, from a class they both sat in a few years before his murder.

The news is not all grim: a junior officer whom Madam trained and treasure found himself under a cloud of suspicion recently. If he hadn't been able to clear himself, Madam hates to think what his life would be like now. Scary stories don't always have happy endings for the righteous. A hunter shot Peter's wolf, but Sonia the duck was still eaten.

Civilians think the lives of diplomats are easy, sophisticated, snobbish, fun, sexy.

Sure.

Always Ask the Next Question

The NIV supervisor was new in town, just watching the interviewing officers do their thing, until she noticed one officer's applicant, a lovely young woman, maybe 25 or 26, dressed very well but not flashy, just class and more class.

The supervisor stepped a little closer to eavesdrop. The questions and answers were following what appeared to be a standard pattern for this post: Do you work? I work in an office. What kind of office? Business. How long have you had this job? Three years. Are you married? I am divorced, but I have my son who is nine years old. Where do you live? I rent an apartment. My mother lives with me to care for my son after school. Will you travel alone? My son will go. Why? It is the school break. He has done well in his classes, so I will take him along. The woman gazed steadily and soberly into the officer's eyes, not flirting, not evading, not joking, not making friends, a picture perfect applicant.

Almost.

As the officer raised his pen to approve the visa, the supervisor stepped closer still, bent over to be at eye level with the woman, and asked, Where are you going in America? The woman's gaze fluttered for the first time, but after only an instant's pause she answered evenly, Orlando Florida. And what will you do in Orlando? This time it was a genuine blink. And then the answer.

Shopping.

Going to Orlando. Yes, that Orlando. With a 9-year-old boy. For shopping.

As the interviewing officer suffered a sudden, violent coughing fit, the supervisor backed quietly away.

Three months later, an approved I-129F arrived.

Multiple Citizenship(s)

Some immigrants - and consular officers, and immigration attorneys - get lost in the haymow when asked questions about dual or more citizenship: if it's allowed, what are the limitations, etc, etc. Here is a great little web site that has proven itself to be extremely useful: more than once has made Madam look pretty darn smart on Yahoo Answers.

Despair and Joy in New Hampshire

Madam sometimes (okay, often) worries about her fellow consular officers and their rigidity: the law is one (very big) thing, but in some cases there is also room to listen to what an applicant is really saying and consider how the law specifically applies.

Here is heartwarming proof that the numbers don't always tell all.