AILA versus Ho Chi Minh City Round 2

[ellis-island 6]

Hi.

Several months ago an AILA* Board member contacted me and told me that

AILA was going to complain to DOS about the US Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City.

Apparently a lot of clients and lawyers were having a hard time.

(*American Immigration Lawyers Association)

I told the gentleman I thought it was a stupid idea to focus on one consulate,

when the problems with DOS are systemic, long-term and emanate from

management in Washington, DC - not from Ho Chi Minh City.

I also told him, that in some ways, giving specific reasons for refusals

on OF-194's, for example, HCMC is better than most consulates. Most consulates

just hand out bland, non-informative boilerplate on their refusals.

Anyway, I was confident nothing would happen, because AILA was involved.

I was right. Round I - nothing happened.

Round 2 has apparently started. I was contacted by a different board member and a

complaining attorney yesterday. But this time, they have some kind of organized

way to approach it.

I told them the same thing. It's a stupid idea to focus on one consulate.

Foggy Bottom is in Washington DC. AILA is in Washington, DC. Why don't

they take a taxi over there and complain to the people in the Visa Office?

I did make two recommendations to AILA if it wants to do something useful.

I thought I'd share those with VJ forumites. Some of you might find one or

both of them interesting. They're not limited to HCMC.

I'll post on developments as I learn of them.

"Thanks.

I have not complained about this consulate.

Two suggestions, if AILA wanted to do something useful, it could:

(1). Teach its members how to properly file an immigrant visa petition.

It's always a nice thing to interview the beneficiary - even if she lives in

a foreign country. Most immigration lawyers don't do that.

It's often helpful to conduct a full background check on the petitioner. By doing that,

a lawyer can point out problems in advance, the case is likely to encounter at a consulate.

The consulate sure as Hell will do that. The vast majority of immigration lawyers don't even interview

foreign beneficiaries and don't bother even to check who else is living in the petitioner's house, who

he might be sharing a checking account with, or carrying on his income tax or insurance.

That kind of legal practice is setting a client up for an ambush when the case gets to the consulate.

And you can't blame consular officers for immigration lawyers not knowing what the hell they are doing.

(2). Another helpful thing would be to bring the conduct of foreign national consular "investigators"

to the attention of a Federal District Court Judge in the DC Circuit. Perhaps there are some extra lawyers

sitting around AILA who could help out. .

Quite often, US Citizen petitioners are wrongly accused of marriagefraud.by these bozos. They operate in

a perverse system where DOS management expects them to find fraud, So they often make stuff up to please

their bosses.

It is not uncommon. Query your members about it and learn something.

This amateurish system set up by DOS results in serious damage to the lives and futures of US Citizen petitioners.

It happens in consulates around the world. It happens here. But it also happens elsewhere.

If AILA could query its members about the examples of this abuse they've seen, you will hear some horror stories.

A very good lawyer told me that one of his clients had a heart attack and died, when he first read what a consular

"investigator" had accused him of.

American families are being abused by this system. I don't understand why there is a focus on the line officers

in Ho Chi Minh City. That's ridiculous.

They work in a system. They have bosses. It's DOS Management in Washington who are responsible for the mess.

And it needs to be brought to the attention of a Federal District Court Judge. I will be happy to help and to give

specific case numbers and name names.

False allegations of fraud by foreign national investigators are causing damage to US Citizen Petitioners.

That is the bottom line. Maybe some of the lawyers in AILA might be intersted in that. .

Probably not.

m.e. "

Edited December 14, 2009 by ellis-island

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Reminds me of how copper wire was invented...two attorneys fighting over a penny.

[TBoneTX 43,253]

Go for it, Mr. Ellis, and keep us informed.

[rebeccajo 14]

Reminds me of how copper wire was invented...two attorneys fighting over a penny.

Perhaps you'd like to explain exactly what this means?

[ScottThuy 140]

Reminds me of how copper wire was invented...two attorneys fighting over a penny.

[Anh map 2,098]

Reminds me of how copper wire was invented...two attorneys fighting over a penny.

Perhaps you'd like to explain exactly what this means?

It implies that two attorneys are holding firmly to the same penny and pulling on it so that it stretches so much that it resembles copper wire.

[ellis-island 6]

Reminds me of how copper wire was invented...two attorneys fighting over a penny.

Perhaps you'd like to explain exactly what this means?

It implies that two attorneys are holding firmly to the same penny and pulling on it so that it stretches so much that it resembles copper wire.

T-Bone Tex:

"06-30-2008 = Stokes Interrogations w/Ecuadorian (not USC)..."

That is what my point is all about. Foreign national "investigators" making false

accusations against US citizen petitioners.

Your Stokes interview wasn't in Ho Chi Minh City. So why is AILA focusing

on HCMC? What happened to you is happening to US Citizens all over the world.

Edited December 15, 2009 by ellis-island

[TBoneTX 43,253]

T-Bone Tex: "06-30-2008 = Stokes Interrogations w/Ecuadorian (not USC)..."

That is what my point is all about. Foreign national "investigators" making false accusations against US citizen petitioners.

Your Stokes interview wasn't in Ho Chi Minh City. So why is AILA focusing on HCMC? What happened to you is happening to US Citizens all over the world.

True. Our FSN was actually quite nice. The deception came from the Guayaquil consulate itself -- fiancee thrown out of K-1 interview without being allowed to present evidence of relationship, USC (me) ordered verbally (consul to fiancee) to attend a second interview, so-called 221(g) paper issued with no indication that it was a 221(g) with the statement that "not enough evidence was submitted" and the "suggestion" that I attend a "marriage" interview, which turned out to be a Stokes. I was, in essence, blackmailed to appear -- on my own time & my own dime -- and not allowed to see an American. That second time, we overwhelmed them with evidence. The FSN told my fiancee (not me) that a decision would be made in two weeks. Therefore, the first non-interview was "Not enough evidence -- go away!" and the second interview was "Too much evidence -- go away!" After nearly 1.5 years, I remain livid.

What happened to us wasn't the worst. Go to the Ecuador embassy reviews here and read what happened with PDXBicycleBoy. I can refer you to two other active couples here who also got worse than we did.

Mr. Ellis, the IV Section Chief in Guayaquil at that time was Philip Linderman, who was (before that) most recently with the OAS for at least five years, specializing in -- get this -- anti-human trafficking. I don't know whether he brought that orientation to Guayaquil, or if he was peeved at being yanked from a cushy job in D.C. for yet another consular assignment (and Guayaquil isn't exactly a garden spot). Please inquire as you can, and for the sake of other Ecuador victims, please learn whether Linderman is still the Section Chief (and, if not, where he is now). People must be warned. Thank you!

Edited December 15, 2009 by TBoneTX

[rebeccajo 14]

Reminds me of how copper wire was invented...two attorneys fighting over a penny.

Perhaps you'd like to explain exactly what this means?

It implies that two attorneys are holding firmly to the same penny and pulling on it so that it stretches so much that it resembles copper wire.

Ah. Thanks for that.

Do you think then that has relevancy to Mr. Ellis' post?