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American Attorney Assistance With Consular Processing

By Ben Hart

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 26Feb2011 Word count: 549 Viewed: 255 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

The following article is written in an effort to provide some brief insight into Consular Processing and how an American attorney may be able to assist in visa matters pending before Consular Posts at United States Missions abroad.

Many Americans are under the mistaken impression that the entire United States immigration process either occurs exclusively in the United States at the Department of Homeland Security's United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) or exclusively abroad at a United States Mission under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of State. In reality, the United States immigration and visa obtainment process is sort of bifurcated under most circumstances.

An example of this bifurcation is best elucidated by an explanation of the Immigrant spouse visa process for the foreign spouse of an American Citizen. Most immigrant spousal visa cases begin at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) where an initial immigration petition must be adjudicated and receive approval prior to being sent to the United States National Visa Center (NVC) for further processing. The receipt of an immigration case file by the NVC is the point at which the bifurcation of the immigration process is most evident as the USCIS operates under the authority of the Department of Homeland Security while the NVC operates pursuant to the authority of the Department of State.

After an approved United States visa petition is received by the Department of State it is generally processed at a United States Mission abroad (US Embassy, US Consulate, American Institute, etc.) which has appropriate consular jurisdiction. In some cases, a visa application may be refused pending production of further documentary evidence in support of said application this generally occurs pursuant to section 221(g) of the United States Immigration and Nationality Act. In some cases, production of requested documentation will result in issuance of a visa. In other cases, a Post's fraud prevention unit may scrutinize a visa application. Under certain circumstances, an American visa application could be denied based upon a legal ground of inadmissibility. Under such circumstances a visa may never be granted or, more commonly, the only way to ultimately obtain a visa may rest upon the approval of an I-601 waiver petition.

Those thinking about their immigration options sometimes ask "How would an Immigration attorney be able to help with Consular Processing?" In many cases, attorney familiarity with Department of State procedures, rules, and regulations can have a tremendously positive impact upon a given case. Some are under the mistaken impression that Consular Processing attorneys have a "special relationship" with personnel at an American Mission abroad. Nothing could be further from the truth as an American attorney's primary role in the consular adjudication process is to act as the Petitioner and/or Beneficiary's representative before various governmental agencies, this role does not imply that American attorneys have any type of special influence in a pending immigration case abroad.

Those thinking of retaining a professional to assist in an immigration matter are well advised to check the credentials of those claiming expertise in American immigration as only a licensed attorney may advise and represent clients before the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of State.

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