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: 25374)

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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It is not surprising that the Regional Center Program is popular since a primary benefit of the program is the creation of U.S. jobs.

If a student returns to Vietnam for a visit and if he needs to apply for a student visa renewal, the situation is entirely different. At the time of a visa renewal interview, the Consul has the opportunity to see exactly how the student has performed academically and also to evaluate or question any other factors that can determine the decision to renew or deny the application.

In an annulment, the court determines that a marriage is not legally valid. There are seven conditions that allow annulment, though only one or two are applicable to Vietnamese residents of the US.

The regulations do not say where the meeting should be. It’s not necessary for the couple to meet in Vietnam. They could have their personal meeting in any country, such as Thailand or Cambodia.

There is no filing fee for the I-821D, but it must be filed along with the Employment Authorization Request, form I-765, so the total fee for forms I-821D, I-765 and the I-765WS is $465. This fee includes a $380 form fee for the I-765 and an $85 biometric services fee.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals allows individuals who meet specific guidelines, to request consideration of deferred action from USCIS. If they receive deferred action, they will not be placed into removal proceedings or removed from the United States.

The national average for divorces in the US is around 50%. If you divorce, are you still obligated to follow the Affidavit of Support? The 7th District Court of Appeals recently decided such a case.

I went to the US Consulate General this morning to get some more pages added to my passport. This service used to be free but now costs $82. However, it’s much faster now because they have an appointment system at the American Citizen Services section. Even the cashier at ACS knew my name, so I felt at home there. It was a very brief, pleasant experience.

To calculate the five years of physical presence, naturalized citizens may count any time they spent in the United States both before and after being naturalized, regardless of their immigration status during the time they include in the five years. This means that naturalized US citizens can even count any time when they were in the States illegally, before their naturalization.

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