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The day that millions of people waited for the world over ended in… scandal. On May 1 DV–2012 Lottery participants learned their fate: whether their entries were selected, or were being told “better luck next year (if there is a Lottery next year)." But what the losing participants did not count on was that the overwhelming majority of winners were those who submitted their entries on October 5 and 6, 2010, the first two days of the DV–2012 Lottery. For DV–2012, the “early birds” did get the proverbial worm — the right to pursue immigrant visa applications at US consular posts abroad or adjust status to permanent resident if lawfully located in the United States. As a reminder, the Department of State accepted DV–2012 entries from October 5 until November 3, 2010. DOS encouraged applicants not to wait “until the last week” to submit their entries in order to…

We’ve all seen the commercials with stunt cars and daredevil tricks, and the disclaimer at the bottom stating “Professionals at work. Do not try this on your own." That is why it is surprising that people with the means to hire a qualified lawyer to prepare a waiver application often do not do so: they are determined to try it on their own. The stakes could not be higher — an approval means a reunion in the United States for those located overseas, a denial can mean a lifetime of separation and the shattered lives of children — yet people are willing to learn as they go, to “experiment” on their own, to use whatever it is they can learn on the Internet to prepare their cases. Waiver law is complicated, and preparing a waiver application requires skill, creativity, and experience. Even if a 601 or 212 application is denied,…

In the attached file are the most recent approval statistics for USCIS offices within the Rome District. Noteworthy is the wide disparity in I-601 approval rates: for example, the Rome office approves only 25% of the applications while Frankfurt approves 76% (presumably, this is associated with the large number of US military personnel stationed in Germany). The Accra, Ghana field office, which has jurisdiction over Ghana, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo, has an approval rate of 22%. The Nairobi, Kenya office, on the other hand, which accepts applications from Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles Islands, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda, has an approval rate of 70%. The Johannesburg, South Africa office (Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Namibia, Angola, Zimbabwe,…

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…

On Tuesday I had the honor of taking a behind-the-scenes tour of the international terminal of the airport in Los Angeles. While it was not quite as interesting as some of Los Angeles’ other attractions — Venice Beach or Zuma, anyone? — for an immigration lawyer, there was much to see and learn. What many people forget is that possession of a visa does not guarantee entry to the US. It is the inspector at the port-of-entry to the US who decides — allow the person to enter or not. For example, a dependent child who receives an immigrant visa and marries before entering the US is no longer considered a dependent and thus not eligible to enter as an immigrant on that visa. A more typical example is when an individual possesses the wrong type of visa — a student in possession of a tourist visa or a tourist…