Expect drastic changes in the immigration system

[rsn 135]

Regarding the consulates; being a consular officer is often the first job a foreign service officer gets. It's a job almost nobody volunteers for because it's demanding, thankless, and they often get dropped into some hell hole consulate in a disease infested swamp somewhere. It's part of the penance most FS officers have to pay in order to get the gig they really joined the foreign service to get. Most FS officers get the heck out of the job as soon as they are eligible. If it seems like they don't give a s**t about you or your case, it's probably true.

This is very interesting info indeed and explains a lot about the last IV interviewer at the Bangkok embassy (who luckily left his post in May).

Seriously Jim, how on earth do you know all of this stuff? I've read many of your posts and you seem like more than the typical K1 petitioner.

Edited September 28, 2009 by rsn

[Ron/Sharon 0]

Can he make Montreal go faster?

Waiting 3+ months just to be assigned an interview is just ridiculous.

Don't ask that Montreal go any faster remember my last topic, if they go faster they will have to do things twice, they did a half-assed job putting the visa packet together and have to do it again, and I'm still waiting. I'm at the point where tums are in my mouth more often than oxygen. I gave my employer his notice, my landlord is showing my apartment to prospective tenants and I'll not have an address for them to send my visa. Let them measure twice and cut once remember that at Montreal they are not the brightest light bulb in the package.

I forgot about the fact that Montreal messed up things like your visa.

Sorry if I sounded insensitive

Rhiann, not to worry, Treat me as you would others remember time is an illusion. I do hope you hear from them very soon.

[Ron/Sharon 0]

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=218009

Above is the thread I was mentioning. What I did was open the envelope/package to get the passport, inside that envelope/package was a brown envelop marked do not open and on top of that were my passport and many loose documents which I thought were the documents I had asked to be returned which were original and I start adding them to the others I had in my possession until I saw the IBIS name check that was done in California back in 2006 and that is when I knew something was definitely wrong. I did not open the other envelope. Other than the name check documents the others were documents and forms that I had sent previously.

[Ron/Sharon 0]

denied[/i] because the CO didn't like the person who introduced you to your fiance, or because the CO thought your sister had gotten a visa fraudulently and now he's going to hold it against you, or because the CO is suspicious of the fact that you've already got family members in the US, or because some distant relative of yours is a member of the wrong political party, or because you wore the same shirt on pictures taken on two different days?

It is to bad that they are allowed to act like that and they get away with it for the most part. It would seem that the bigger they are in land the more consulates where the bigger the population should have more places to service them. There must be some way that a person from your wife's country could go to another faster country and apply from there.

I hope things speed up for you and your wife.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

With all this talk about people suddenly getting their NOA2's well ahead of schedule (I'm one of them, though I waited 80 days), and nobody on this site knowing why, I decided to do some reading. Take a look at this:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Working-Tog...gration-Reform/

Obama's interest in immigration reform seems to be the primary reason we're seeing things speed up. They claim the backlog of background checks has been getting smaller, and that they're going to use "cutting edge technology" to get rid of much of the (redundant) paperwork. I can only assume (hope) this means everything's moving online, and once we submit our initial information we get some sort of "ticket number" we mail in with our evidence. This reform will also alleviate issues with immigration fraud (which, hopefully, none of the VisaJourney folks are engaging in).

Good luck guys, looks like things are going to get easier for future filers!!

I gave a more detailed report in another thread. I had dinner with a director at the VSC Saturday evening. There has been no push or changes coming from Obama, sorry to burst your bubble. He is not sure Obama knows the VSC exists. They have recently cleared up a backlog of some other visas and have shifted a lot of people to adjudicating I-129s which they "had gotten behind on". Normal office shuffling. They also recently went through moving 100 people from St. Albans to Essex, VT to ease overcrowding and that has helped now that they have settled in their new offices (in both places) The changes in the office started last year and have been in the works for more than 2 years when they negotiated to lease some former IBM space in Essex. Who was president then? Oh yeah...Bush.

He does not expect any major changes in immigration before the next election (2010). That is just his own estimation but it is probably more informed than mine. He DOES expect FEE increases, across the board, within the next year, maybe sooner. THAT we can thank the Obama adminstration for, particularly Janet Napolitano (in case you want to send thank you notes)

[Rob_Lesya 4]

Regarding the consulates; being a consular officer is often the first job a foreign service officer gets. It's a job almost nobody volunteers for because it's demanding, thankless, and they often get dropped into some hell hole consulate in a disease infested swamp somewhere. It's part of the penance most FS officers have to pay in order to get the gig they really joined the foreign service to get. Most FS officers get the heck out of the job as soon as they are eligible. If it seems like they don't give a s**t about you or your case, it's probably true.

There was an interesting article in the MoscowTimes a few days ago regarding a US Consulate official who is now involved in a sex scandal in Moscow. The usual stuff--- grainy film of "him" with prostitutes, etc. The Ambassador was saying that they have full confidence in the official and they are confident that he is not actually the one in the films, etc. Apparently, this guys specialty is studying and serving as a liason to "non-traditional" religious groups within Russia. But the article was explaining that it's standard practice for guys in this position to serve 2-year stints at their assigned post. They spend 1 year on the visa line and then get to spend 1 year actually working in their area of expertise. It fits in with what you're saying above. It seems like an amazing waste of talent and I can see where those serving on the visa line would really grow to hate that job.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Regarding the consulates; being a consular officer is often the first job a foreign service officer gets. It's a job almost nobody volunteers for because it's demanding, thankless, and they often get dropped into some hell hole consulate in a disease infested swamp somewhere. It's part of the penance most FS officers have to pay in order to get the gig they really joined the foreign service to get. Most FS officers get the heck out of the job as soon as they are eligible. If it seems like they don't give a s**t about you or your case, it's probably true.

This is very interesting info indeed and explains a lot about the last IV interviewer at the Bangkok embassy (who luckily left his post in May).

Seriously Jim, how on earth do you know all of this stuff? I've read many of your posts and you seem like more than the typical K1 petitioner.

I'm obsessive.

Seriously, I hate it when I don't know the answer to a question. It forces me to spend an inordinate amount of time researching until I find the answer. Without intending to do so, this obsession has caused me to gain a lot of knowledge in areas I was never really interested in before. In many cases, it's information I'll never actually use! No doubt it's a mental illness, but one that is benign and has actually been quite useful at times.

Needless to say, the family immigration process has thrown a gazillion questions into my lap. My search for answers is what originally led me to this site, and the questions other people ask has me investigating subjects I'll probably never personally have to deal with. Why on earth would I need to know what documents are requested in packet 3 in Manila, or why New Delhi requires an I-864 sponsor to demonstrate they can support everyone who lives in the same house, even if they aren't actually dependents? I don't need to know this stuff because it will never be useful to me personally, but I've ended up learning it. By the time my fiancee has to submit her I-751 I'll probably have read every section of the INA and 8 CFR several times. Heaven forbid she should get 6 months of AP - I'll be qualified to be an immigration lawyer.

Anyway, someone posted a link to the following CO's blog a few days ago, and I bookmarked it. It's got a lot of useful insight into how at least one CO thinks:

http://xcalling-a-spade-a-spadex.blogspot....rch/label/visas

[TBoneTX 45,852]

http://xcalling-a-spade-a-spadex.blogspot....rch/label/visas

Fascinating; I saw this or something much like it a couple of years ago. It still fails to answer why legitimate requests are denied, or, more seriously, why applicants (and USCs) are treated like dirt, as one of this CO's posts talks about.