Department of State

A national media outlet is seeking comment from DV-2012 winners. If anyone is willing to speak to the media about this situation, please contact me directly at white@bridgewest.com  Please indicate Media in the subject line. In your e-mail please indicate your name, telephone number, and location (city/country) .  Thank you.

For those unable to open the questionnaire, please find two other versions below: .doc and pdf. If completed by hand, please make sure that the handwriting is legible. Thank you! questionnairedv2012doc questionnairedv2012pdf0001

In response to my earlier post, completed questionnaires are starting to flow in. Thank you. I would like to allay any concerns out there about the use of information contained in questionnaires: 1. Completion of the questionnaire is entirely voluntary. Any possible resolution to the issue at hand will most likely relate to the entire class of 22,000, not just those who fill in this questionnaire.  Obviously, I am not making any representations that completing the questionnaire will somehow help you.  Nevertheless, I do believe that collecting and synthesizing information will be important going forward. 2. One of the questions in the questionnaire relates to privacy.  If you do not wish your name disclosed to the Department of State, you would indicate “No” in response. 3. We are a team of professionals. We have been battling erroneous and misguided decisions of consular officers and DOS officials for nearly 20 years….

The Department of State’s invalidation of the DV-2012 results has left 22,000 winners distraught.  And they have a right to be – they did nothing wrong, started to act on their winning notifications, and now have had the carpet pulled out from underneath them. Why can’t the Department allow those winners to remain and conduct a new drawing on July 15 for 78,000-100,000 additional selectee slots?  This is the topic of my letter to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services, David Donahue:  donahuefinal1        

One of the first things that I learned in Catholic School is the Ten Commandments.  We didn’t so much learn the Commandments as to have them seared into our memory, at our ready recall when the situation called for them.  Violating a commandment was cause for soul-searching and a trip to the confessional on the following Saturday. Similarly, the visa applicant should know that consular officers have their own set of “commandments” that they must abide by, those set out in the Customer Service Statement to Visa Applicants (reproduced below verbatim).  This Statement specifies some rights to which visa applicants are entitled when applying for a visa (visa applicants are entitled to many more rights than those listed, a topic for a future blog).  Notable for their frequency of violation are “Commandments” #1, 2, 4, and 8 (I have added numbers for ease of reference).   For example, a consular…

This subject has been gnawing at me for a while. Why is it that other government agencies, including USCIS and Customs and Border Patrol, have complaint procedures and will follow-up on legitimate complaints, but the agency responsible for our image overseas and interacts with thousands of foreigners a day, the Department of State, does not?  While admittedly raw, the linked article represents our attempt to structure such a procedure within the context of the visa process.  Your feedback is welcomed. http://www.ilw.com/articles/2011,0408-white.shtm