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THANK YOU, EMBASSY STAFF
by Michael J. Gurfinkel, Esq.
I know that for many visa applicants (as well as
for petitioners and their families), obtaining a visa seems like
a very long and frustrating experience: the wait for the visa
(or priority date to become current) takes forever, and the laws
and requirements seem so complex and confusing. Some applicants
or petitioners become impatient, call the Embassy, and express
their frustrations to the Embassy's staff. However, the Embassy
staff did not write the laws, or create the delays or backlogs.
The Embassy staffers are simply doing their job,
and are following the laws and rules Ï as they (and all visa applicants)
are required to do. No one can be issued a visa unless the person
is fully entitled to that visa, by meeting all applicable laws
and regulations. If a visa applicant is not eligible for a visa,
or their documentation is lacking or incomplete, the Embassy is
without legal authority to issue the visa. No amount of shouting
at the staff will exempt the visa applicant or petitioner from
the legal requirements established by Congress.
More so, if your case is suspicious (i.e. a serious
discrepancy in a marriage or birth certificate). The Embassy cannot
issue a visa, unless it is sure that a person is truly eligible
for the visa, and is not trying to obtain the visa through fraud
or misrepresentation. In such a case, it is not the Embassy's
fault, and there is no reason to blame the staff. It is up to
the applicant (not the Embassy staff) to prove that he or she
is eligible for that visa.
In fact, the Embassy staff is truly dedicated to
their job and the visa applicants. They must handle the cases
and files of hundreds of visa applicants who come to the Embassy
each day, as well as processing tens of thousands of cases at
the Embassy on an on-going basis. Despite this workload, they
always seem to be on top of every single file they handle.
While the Consuls are on the front line at the windows,
it is the Embassy's staff, working behind the scenes, who are
the unsung heroes. It is the Embassy's staff who organize and
prepare the files, in order to make the Consuls' tasks all the
more easy at the windows. The Embassy staff is like the oil, keeping
the wheels of the Embassy always running smoothly. Their dedication
to their job, and to the visa applicants, is such that they think
nothing of working late or on weekends, if necessary. They have
always been accommodating for emergency or humanitarian situations,
such as age-out children, medical situations, etc.
So, the next time you call or go to the Embassy
in connection with your visa, bear in mind the hard work and dedication
that the Embassy staff has exerted on your case and the cases
of thousands of other applicants. They truly deserve our gratitude
for a job well done!
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