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Consular Practice: Insights from an Attorney on the Ground

By Ben Hart

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 19May2010 Word count: 414 Viewed: 361 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

United States Immigration law is a complex and multi-faceted area of American jurisprudence. One area that relatively few writers comment on in this area is that of Consular Processing. This is a somewhat unique area of practice since few American attorneys reside outside of the USA and few of those are Immigration attorneys. At the time of this writing, the city in which this author lives is in a state of turmoil. This has resulted in the US Embassy temporarily closing and the non-essential personnel to evacuate. Hopefully the following will provide insight to future American Immigration attorneys practicing in an international crisis zone.

This author must confess a great deal of admiration for the officers of the Consulate in his district as they continued to work diligently while civil strife seemed to hover around them. That being said, those attorneys with pending cases at Consulates outside of the USA would be wise to remember that Consular officers adjudicate cases notwithstanding the circumstances in the political arena of the host country. Therefore, it is still common to receive 221g refusals during periods of general political discord. For American attorneys practicing in politically turbulent US Consular Districts overseas, it is wise to attempt to get all matters pending before the Consulate dealt with prior to a weekend as weekends tend to be periods in which upheaval is more likely to occur.

There is a saying: "Hope for the Best, Plan for the Worst." This saying accurately describes the attitude of Consular Processing attorneys during times of political instability. During times of unrest, it may be wise to make one's practice as mobile as possible. Fortunately, in the current age of technology, this is more feasible when compared to previous eras. That being said, it is always wise to keep multiple data backups at different secure locations in order to forestall a loss of all data related to one's portfolio.

Everything depends upon staff. In a time of crisis, one's staff will be the key to maintaining good order and dealing with the myriad difficulties that come from rescheduling and rearranging one's schedule in order to deal with previously unforeseeable obstacles. This author has been fortunate enough to have very diligent, professional, and steadfast Thai and American colleagues. This generally results in an organization that can quickly adapt and find solutions to problems that are rarely experienced by attorneys practicing inside of the United States or in many countries around the globe.

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