Posts tagged “Travel Redress Inquiry Program (TRIP)”

For visa problems one should always try to resolve the issue with the embassy, consulate or State Department first. Visa applicants do indeed have rights. But once those rights or your patience have been exhausted, one may consider the possibility of a lawsuit.

The problem is that as a general rule, visa denials are not subject to judicial review under the doctrine of consular nonreviewability. This was recently reaffirmed by the Supreme Court in Muñoz v. Department of State. The onslaught of anti-immigrant actions and rhetoric by the Trump Administration can also be intimidating to visa applicants. But there are exceptions to the rule barring judicial review of visa cases and visa denials. Sometimes the mere filing of the lawsuit can impact the case. While this area of the law is fluid and unpredictable, courts have recognized some exceptions, including:

It is like a game of whack-a-mole: one OPT scam company is closed and another one opens; one is shut down, another one commences operations. By now foreign students should be aware of the existence of these scam companies, and those who have been victimized should understand that there may be a remedy.

As background, the roll call of companies implicated in the OPT scandal include AzTech, Integra, Wireclass, Andwill, Findream, Tellon Trading, Arecy, Sinocontech, Masswell, CG Max Design, Global IT Experts, Apex IT, and XCG Design. Our Freedom of Information Act request turned up more than 190 pages of US government information on AzTech alone, with nearly 2,000 foreign students from more than 20 countries and 70 universities associated with it alone. These scam companies generally followed the same template: they pretended to be real OPT employers, targeting foreign students who need to meet employment requirements. In exchange for fees paid in advance, these companies claimed to offer “OPT compliance:” “training,” “job placement,” and documentation confirming “employment.”