2014

With the DV-2016 registration period in full swing, this is a good time to raise awareness about potential pitfalls encountered by DV applicants.  Perhaps the most seemingly innocuous requirement – submission of a photograph with the entry – is the one most easily overlooked. The Diversity Lottery has several rules relating to the photograph submitted with the entry: 1) it must be on a neutral, light-colored background (dark or patterned backgrounds are not permitted); 2) it must be in focus; 3) no decorative items such as sunglasses or other items can detract from the face; 4) non-religious head coverings or hats are not permitted; and 5) the person must be looking directly at the camera.  But as is usually the case, the Kentucky Consular Center does not disqualify the entries at the time of intake during the registration period or after selection: it is only after the visa applicant is…

Last year we wrote about a student visa applicant in Russia going through 7 interviews to receive a US visa. Not to fall behind their brethren in Russia, US consular officials in Nigeria are no slouches in running Nigerian students through the visa gamut, a veritable Lagosland of adventure, obstacles, and consular vengeance.  Consider the case of Yvonne. Yvonne comes from a well-to-do family of professionals and is an honors science student at a US university.  During her junior year, she was caught shoplifting at a store, with the value of the merchandise less than $100. She was convicted under the state’s 1st time shoplifting statute.  When she returned to Nigeria and filled in a visa application, she failed to indicate that she had been cited for shoplifting. The initial consular officer at the consulate in Lagos orally approved the application.  Upon discovery of the shoplifting, the same officer called…

The story was not unusual.  Ekaterina arrived in the US on a B-1 visa. She became acquainted with an incompetent lawyer, one who did not charge for an initial consultation.  The lawyer, more interested in making a sale because he could not live on free consultations, told her that she could qualify for L-1 status.  They then signed a legal services agreement and Ekaterina made a substantial payment. The lawyer and Ekaterina began preparing to file the L-1 petition. The lawyer opened an American company; Ekaterina opened a corporate bank account and placed funds on the account; and on behalf of the company, Ekaterina leased an office, paying rent for three months in advance.  After this, the lawyer filed the L-1 petition for her to change her status. After USCIS sent a Request for Evidence, the lawyer prepared a response.  Unfortunately for Ekaterina, the response was inadequate, and USCIS denied…

US consular posts around the world are experiencing significant delays in printing nonimmigrant visas because of a software problem. The Department of State advises that visa applicants should expect delays of 10-14 days in the issuance of nonimmigrant visas. This is consistent with our experience; for example, a client was interviewed for a work visa on July 21 and issued his visa on July 31. The Department of State continues to process immigrant visas, including Diversity Lottery visas and emergency visas, quickly – within 2-3 days. Also, individuals with valid visas are not impacted because they do not need a new visa. Similarly, individuals traveling under the Visa Waiver Program are not impacted by the delays because they do not need a visa. However, nonimmigrant visa applicants will continue to be affected because, according to the Department of State, it will take weeks to rectify the problem. Bottom line: Nonimmigrant…

Congratulations to the winners of the DV-2015 Green Card Lottery. Against great odds, you were selected. Now comes the hard part. As you know, selection does not guarantee a visa. 125,514 individuals were selected for DV-2015 (out of 9,388,986 entrants), but only 50,000, including their family members, receive visas. Winners must receive their visas by September 30, 2015 or before the 50,000 quota or 3,500 country quota is exhausted. In general, the lower the case number, the earlier the interview and the better chances of receiving the visa before the elapse of the program. Interviews will commence October 1, 2014. The big difference in DV processing this year is that the selectees and their family members will submit their immigrant visa application online and no paper will be filed with the Kentucky Consular Center (KCC). Each Lottery visa applicant must meet the general requirements for admissibility to the United States….

Consular officers permanently bar more visa applicants every year for “alien smuggling” than any other provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act except misrepresentation. In 2012 alone, consular officers invoked the alien smuggling provision of the INA, Section 212(a)(6)(E), more than 6,000 times, an increase of more than 20% from the year before. What are the standards for a finding of alien smuggling, and what categories of people have been subject to this provision of the INA? A consular officer can make an alien smuggling finding if he or she decides that a visa applicant has, at any time, knowingly “encouraged, induced, assisted, abetted or aided…” another alien “to enter or try to enter the United States” in violation of law. The Immigration Act of 1990 abolished the “for gain” requirement, so a consular officer does not need to find that the applicant had a profit motive or received money…

Let’s say you had a run-in with the law a long time ago. As a result, you were convicted of fraud. But it happened so long ago that you do not give much thought to it. So when you applied for a visa a few years back to visit your daughter and her children in the US, you did not indicate the conviction in the visa application form. You received the visa and used it to go to the US several times. You didn’t give much thought to it, until you decided to immigrate with your daughter’s help, and you had to obtain a police certificate. The police certificate indicated the conviction, but you were not worried because you had consulted a lawyer, who told you that although the conviction was for a crime of moral turpitude and did not qualify for the petty offense exception, a waiver was available….

Many immigrant visa applicants are under the mistaken impression that they are not allowed to challenge a negative visa decision by a consular officer. In fact, every applicant for an immigrant visa has a right to submit a Request for Reconsideration of an immigrant visa denial. While technically this is not an appeal, a Request for Reconsideration does give the applicant the right to submit new evidence or arguments to challenge a visa refusal.   A consular officer must review such a formal Request; this is an obligation, one that the consular officer cannot shirk.  This obligation is set out in the Department of State’s own regulations, and an appeals court recently confirmed that this is the consular officer’s duty, punching a hole in the armor of the consular nonreviewability doctrine.  However, there is a time limit on the submission of the RFR: it must be submitted within one year of…