Summer Work and Travel Program Scandal at Embassy in Moscow – Memo of White & Associates to Office of Inspector General

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Attached are our memorandum and exhibits addressed to the Office of Inspector General at the Department of State regarding the Summer Work and Travel Program scandal at the US Embassy in Moscow:  Memo – swtletter0001; Exhibits – swtexhibits0001

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7 Interviews = 1 Visa. How the US Embassy in Moscow Torments Russian Visa Applicants

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We recently published this article on Immigration Lawyers Weekly – ilw.com – http://discuss.ilw.com/content.php?1215-Article-7-Interviews-1-Visa-by-Kenneth-White   The recent headline in one of Russia’s leading daily newspapers sounded so welcoming: “America Invites You to Visit.” In the extensive accompanying article and interview, the Chief of the Nonimmigrant Visa Unit at the US Embassy in Moscow, Bill Bistransky, praises the natural wonders of the United States and touts the ease of receiving a visa to the United States for “legitimate” visitors.[1] If only it were so. We have previously chronicled how the Embassy in Moscow regularly punishes Russian babushki who stay “too long” in the US;[2] impermissibly readjudicates already-approved USCIS employment petitions, stymying the plans of Russian entrepreneurs and professionals to work in the United States;[3] and doubled its visa refusal rate.[4] But what is remarkable is the continued disconnect between the Embassy’s public relations campaign and the real world experiences of everyday visa applicants. Take the case of Irina….

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