Vietnam Revisited

Future of F3 and F4 visas and well thougth Senate Bill S.744

There have been a lot of rumors and a lot of worrying about the future of F3 and F4 visas. The Senate’s new Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) bill S.744 aims at encouraging employment based immigration, so the F3 and F4 visa categories will see some big changes.

Processing applications of Widows and Widowers of Deceased U.S. Citizens

The new law benefits widows who were married to a U.S. citizen who is now deceased and who was a U.S. citizen at the time of death.

Main Points of the Proposed Senate Immigration Bill

The Senate bill shows a shift in the immigration system. Up to now, immigration laws have focused on family ties. The new Senate CIR will focus more on immigrants’ skills and employment potential.

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Vietnam Revisited - Part 2

(05/16/2012 09:33 AM) (Viewed: 25387)

The Department of State's Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently published an Inspection Report of the US Embassy in Hanoi and the US Consulate General in Saigon .   Here are some of the main points of the report, in the area of visa processing at the Consulate:

(1) The report recommended that American consulate staff and local Vietnamese staff of the consulate should not contact the Immigrant Visa Unit about pending cases. For instance, in the past, they might ask the Immigrant Visa Unit to review a case, or tell why they believe an applicant is qualified, or ask the consular chief or another manager to conduct a second interview. These practices violate State Department policy.

(2) In October 2010, the consulate general allowed certain visa cases to have expedited appointments at the request of the Consulate’s executive office, or at the request of local Vietnamese employees.   As a result of the OIG report, this practice was stopped.

(3) The consulate general’s immigrant visa section is led by a unit chief and a deputy unit chief. There are also 6 entry-level American consular officers and 25 local employees working in the unit.

(4) Between 50 and 60 percent of all immigrant visa applicants are refused under Section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, because they lack required documents at the time of the interview.   The OIG report said that the consulate general’s Web site contains information about required visa documents, but it is confusing and not well presented. The Web site does not emphasize the importance of having all documents available for the interview.

(5) The report said that the immigrant visa unit did not enforce appointment times. For instance, an applicant with a 10:00 a.m. appointment may be seen before an applicant with an 8:00 a.m. appointment. This arrangement is inefficient and can cause significant delays; some applicants wait up to 4 hours for an interview.   Immigrant visa applicants should be admitted only at the time of their appointment at Consulate General.

(6) Consular Officers have differing views on which immigrant visa cases should be approved immediately and which should be returned to US CIS for revocation. Since US CIS approves all petitions before they are sent to a post for issuance, only CIS can revoke a petition.   At the consulate, a manager should review all cases that have been marked for return to US CIS.

(7) Vietnamese is an extremely difficult language. The Foreign Service Institute in Washington , in coordination with the Bureau of Consular Affairs, should revise the Vietnamese language training curriculum to meet the needs of consular officers who are conducting visa interviews.

(8) Recommendation #12: The Embassy should ask the Bureau of Consular Affairs to update the reciprocity table for Vietnam , to reflect a maximum 3-month, single-entry validity for B1/B2 visas.

(9) If a visa applicant’s case is denied but he presents evidence which could overcome the denial within one year of the date of refusal, consular officers have a duty to reconsider the denial.

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Q.1. Is there a clear set of guidelines about sending denied cases back to US CIS for review and possible revocation?

A.1. The OIG report appears to say that consular officers should receive more training in this area and that a manager should review all cases before they are returned to CIS in America .

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q.2. Some denied cases are returned to CIS in America less than one year after the interview. Does this conflict with State Department policy?

A.2. It is true that some denied cases are returned to the US less than one year after the interview.   If your case is denied and if you have additional evidence that could overturn the denial, you must contact the consulate as soon as possible after the denial.

ROBERT MULLINS INTERNATIONAL     www.rmiodp.com
Immigration Support Services-Tham Van Di Tru

9070 Bolsa Avenue,   Westminster CA 92683           (714) 890-9933
779 Story Road, Ste. 70, San Jose, CA 95122           (408) 294-3888
6930 65th St. Ste. #105, Sacramento CA 95823        (916) 393-3388
42 Dang Thi Nhu, P. Nguyen Thai Binh, Q1, HCM       (848) 3914-7638

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As of 01 November, all immigrant visa and Fiancé(e) visa applicants arerequired to present a Justice Record Check #2 (also known as Police Certificate #2) instead of Justice Record Check #1 as part of the immigrant visa application.

On 30 November, the US House of Representatives approved the STEM Bill. The name for the bill comes from Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM degree). The bill was sponsored by Republican members of the House.

The US government is hoping to find native speakers of 44 foreign languages and also people who are highly qualified in the medical, dental and psychological treatment areas. Vietnamese is not one of the languages on the list for this program, but a Vietnamese applicant who speaks one of the included languages could apply.

One of our clients recently described part of the Green Card application process as a “Roller Coaster Interview”. There is no doubt that an interview with a CIS officer is extremely stressful for everyone, including couples who have a genuine relationship and who have nothing to hide. Even the most honest couples might misunderstand the officer’s question or suffer a momentary lapse of memory, causing them to give an unacceptable or incorrect answer.

If you and your wife are confused about this when you have an interview with CIS, it could mean CIS will say you are in a sham marriage.

CIS still does not know when the I-601A will take effect. All they say is “Maybe by the end of this year”.

Immigration reform in the US means producing a solution that will satisfy the Hispanic voters in America. And that means finding a way to legalize the presence of Eleven Million illegal aliens.

We have already reported on the very helpful 9th Circuit Court ruling for children left behind in Vietnam because they could not qualify for the CSPA (Child Status Protection Act). This ruling affects F2-B sponsors who live in California and some other western states.

As of the end of September, USCIS had received 100,000 applications for DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). More than 63,000 of the applications are in the final stages of review, but so far CIS has confirmed only 29 approvals.

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