UPI: "U.S. diplomat sentenced to five years in visa scheme"

Michael Sestak, a former US Foreign Service Officer and one-time chief of the non-immigrant visa unit in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, has been sentenced to five years in prison for his role in a money-for-visas scheme, which US prosecutors called “one of the largest bribery schemes involving a Foreign Service Officer in the history of the United States.” The ex-diplomat admitted to approving nearly 500 visas over a two-year period in exchange for $3 million in bribes, which he funneled through China and invested in real estate in Thailand.

Sestak, a former police officer and US Marshal, collaborated with Binh Tang Vo and his sister, Hong Vo, both US citizens living in Vietnam, and their cousin, Truc Tranh Huynh, a Vietnamese citizen, in the scheme that charged up to $70,000 per visa for applicants, even if they had been previously denied. Last month, the Justice Department announced that Binh Tang Vo was sentenced to eight years in prison plus forfeiture of nearly $5.1 million. Even with that forfeiture, millions in funds allegedly obtained through the visa bribery scheme remain unaccounted for.

Sestak is the most recent consular officer to be punished for selling visas, since the State Department started investigating and prosecuting for visa fraud in 1999. A Diplomatic Security spokesperson told Vice that as of 2013, twenty-four American employees at US Embassies and Consulates worldwide have been convicted of bribery, conflicts of interest, and visa and passport fraud, including husband-and-wife team Acey Johnson and Long Lee, who were convicted in 2003 of a visa-selling scheme at the US Embassy in Hanoi that continued in Sri Lanka, earning them $700,000.

Gale Smith of Diplomatic Security said their agents are now embedded in consular affairs departments and work with local authorities to monitor fraud and corruption. “Many US embassies now have a special program within the Regional Security Office to investigate both external and employee fraud,” she stated to Vice in an email. “This special group of investigators works alongside host-country law enforcement.”

Washington Post: "Cuba and U.S. quietly restore full diplomatic ties after 5 decades"

Yesterday marked the official restoration of diplomatic ties, after they were severed fifty-four years ago, between Cold War-foes Cuba and the United States. The historic Cuban Embassy in Washington D.C. (which is quite beautiful) held a small ceremony led by Cuba’s foreign minister Bruno Rodríguez to commemorate the event a few hours after the US State Department added Cuba’s flag to the line of flags for other US diplomatic partners.

The restoration of full diplomatic relations comes after two years of intense, and at times, secret negotiations that involved spies, Pope Francis, and yes, artificial insemination. In a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Rodríguez, Secretary of State John Kerry called it an "historic day; a day for removing barriers." Mr. Rodríguez, in his meetings with Mr. Kerry yesterday, "emphasized that the totally lifting of the blockade, the return of the illegally occupied territory of Guantanamo, as well as the full respect for the Cuban sovereignty and the compensation to our people for human and economic damages are crucial to be able to move towards the normalization of relations."

While some have criticized President Obama's actions regarding Cuba including Marco Rubio who said he would rollback all actions taken by the Obama administration if he were elected president, many others celebrated the restoration of diplomatic ties, the lifting of some travel restrictions and limits on remittances to Cuba, and the removal of Cuba from Washington’s list of state sponsors of terrorism earlier this year. Nonetheless there remain many issues for the two countries to resolve.

The issues, as Mr. Rodríguez stated, include disputes over Guantánamo Bay, the US naval facility used to detain terror suspects, and the ending of the trade embargo, which devastated the Cuban economy. While President Obama supports the lifting of the embargo and closing of the detention center in Guantánamo, both of these require action by the Republican-controlled Congress. As the Senate is expected to oppose the confirmation of any US ambassador to Cuba, President Obama will likely delay the nomination.

Although the US Embassy in Havana is open now, Secretary John Kerry will travel in August to the island and hold an official ceremony. As in Washington D.C. yesterday, there will presumably be a few shouts of “Viva Cuba” and “Viva Fidel.”

State Department Visa and Passport Systems Back Online

Following the technological issues they experienced over the last few weeks, the State Department reports that as of last Friday all visa-issuing US Embassies and Consulates abroad are now back online. They are scheduling visa interviews as well as issuing nonimmigrant and immigrant visas. While consular posts may be still experiencing problems with some online immigrant visa application forms, which are still being fixed, they have been working to clear the extensive backlog, which they state will be done this week (which is perhaps a bit optimistic).

What happened?
A biometric hardware error brought the entire system down on June 7, preventing US Embassies and Consulates around the world from processing and issuing hundreds of thousands of visa stamps. Consular posts receive approximately 50,000 visa applications a day, and thus the downtime severely backlogged the system and caused major delays for many international travelers.

Who was able to obtain visas?
During the outage, with limited systems functionality, the State Department promised to prioritize visas for humanitarian reasons and also for foreign agricultural workers as part of the government's H-2A visa program. It was this latter group of workers that farmers especially needed as the summer harvest began. North Carolina, the top employer of seasonal workers under the H-2A visa program, was facing severe worker shortages and loss of revenue given the extensive delays in issuing visas.

"It's a crisis," Jason Resnick, general counsel for the Western Growers Association, said to the Wall Street Journal about the workers not being issued the visas. Crops affected by the shortage of foreign workers include berries, cherries, peaches, corn, vegetables, and tobacco. The Wall Street Journal reports:

In most cases the stranded workers’ motel bills in Mexico are being paid by the farmers or the U.S. agents who contracted them, according to the visa program’s requirements. Agents said some stranded workers, who typically travel to the border from far flung villages, are being approached by people-smugglers offering to spirit them over the border at a price. Coming at the start of the busiest season, 'it’s a desperate situation for growers,' said Libby Whitley, president of MAS Labor, a Virginia-based agency that sources 10,000 seasonal workers each year for U.S. agriculture. 'They have to get the stuff off trees and fields or you don’t have it anymore,' she said.

With delays costing farmers in California an estimated $500,000 to $1 million per day, the State Department reports that more than 3,750 temporary seasonal workers have been issued new visas in Mexico since last week, and they are stating that all pending H-2 visas that were delayed have been issued this week.  

Who didn't get visas?
The systems outage caused major problems for many international travelers and performers to the US. Dutch theatre troupe Dood Paard had to cancel its Botox Angels production, set to run over Pride weekend in New York City, after they were unable to secure visas for its cast. International students were unable to attend the US National Youth Science Camp in West Virginia, a prestigious month-long educational program for high-school graduates from around the world.

As for the sporting world, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) had to cancel several high-profile fights scheduled for the UFC Fight Night event in Hollywood since twelve foreign fighters were unable to obtain visas. Players and staff with the Bayern Munich football club, which had planned a visit to the US to “crack the American market,” were unable to obtain visas and had to cancel their trip. Matthias Sammer, director of sport at Bayern Munich, called it a "shame" and said he hoped they could make it later.

Musicians were hit especially hard. Nigerian jazz singer-songwriter King Sunny Ade had to cancel his entire US tour due to the visa problem, and Chinese concert pianist Fei-Fei Dong also had to cancel performances. Peruvian electronic psychedelic band Dengue Dengue Dengue! were also not able to get visas in time, Australian pop band the Veronicas had to cancel their US tour, and Japanese heavy metal band Crossfaith had to cancel part of theirs. India's Barmer Boys, Sufi folk musicians from Rajasthan, India, also had to cancel their US tour. Even diplomats who needed to visit the UN headquarters and financial institutions in New York for "urgent negotiations" also faced visa delays because of the system outage.

Now that the systems are back up, we are hopeful the State Department and consular posts will work through the backlog and start issuing those visas. Because, on behalf of concertgoers across this great land, we don't want to miss anymore great international performances. And we definitely don't want a repeat from last year when Harry Potter was unable to enter the US because of a (different) systems glitch!

New York Times: "With Move Across London, U.S. Embassy Can’t Please Everyone"

The new US Embassy in London under construction. (Photo by US Embassy London used under Creative Commons.)

The US Embassy in London is moving locations, and not everyone is happy about it. After years of criticism and protests by local residents against the current Embassy building in Grosvenor Square because of safety and security concerns—the protests included a hunger strike by a countess—the US Embassy is moving from its Modernist concrete building in beautiful, historic, and exclusive Mayfair, where the Embassy has been based since 1960, to a more protected and environmentally responsible building in the gritty district of Nine Elms on the South Bank of the Thames. While the move planned for 2017 is welcomed by local Mayfair residents who for years have feared terrorist attacks, the new location also has its own critics.

The new building was designed by Philadelphia firm KieranTimberlake to reflect "the core values of democracy—transparency, openness, and equality" and also to be "welcoming, secure, and highly sustainable." The design, however, has been called "boring," a "corporate office block," and "the Ice Cube." Former Guardian architecture critic Jonathan Glancey said that the proposed building is "remote and superficially transparent" and that it reflects "what we can divine of the US political process. Nominally open to all and yet, in practice, tightly controlled[.]"

Peter Rees, the City of London’s former head of planning, wrote in an email to the New York Times: “It seems sad that the U.S. Embassy is relocating from a beautiful historic square in Mayfair to a fortified bunker in former railyards on the far side of the river...It’s like moving from New York’s Upper East Side to New Jersey.”

Ambassador Robert Tuttle, who led the search for a new site, said on the London Embassy website: “We looked at all our options, including renovation of our current building on Grosvenor Square. In the end, we realized that the goal of a modern, secure and environmentally sustainable Embassy could best be met by constructing a new facility.”

As the New York Times said when the original building design was chosen:

The project as a whole...is a fascinating study in how architecture can be used as a form of camouflage. The building is set in a spiraling pattern of two small meadows and a pond that have as much to do with defensive fortification as with pastoral serenity: an eye-opening expression of the irresolvable tensions involved in trying to design an emblem of American values when you know it may become the next terrorist target.

No word if Gould Pharmacy, which rents lockers for applicants who cannot bring their large electronic items into the Embassy, will also open a new location. It might be finally time to leave those large electronics at home.

Delays in Visa and Passport Issuance at US Embassies/Consulates Caused by Technical Problems

The Department of State (DOS) is currently experiencing technical problems with their overseas passport and visa systems. This appears to be a worldwide situation and not specific to any particular country, citizenship document, or visa category. Those affected by this technical problem should check the DOS website for any updates. Moreover, DOS has not provided a time frame for the resolution.

Nonimmigrant Visa Applicants
The systems in place to perform background security checks on each visa applicant are experiencing technical difficulties. US Embassies/Consulates are not able to bypass these security checks. As a result, nonimmigrant visa applicants filing nonimmigrant visa application Form DS-160 on or after June 9, 2015 will not be able to move forward with their visa application process until the technical issues are resolved. While DOS sincerely regrets these delays, they will only entertain expedite requests for “urgent humanitarian need.” In addition, we expect that even once the situation is resolved, we will see delays while the US Embassies/Consulates clear their backlogs.

Immigrant Visa Applicants
Some immigrant visa applicants continue to experience technical difficulties accessing Form DS-260. The DOS suggests that these issues are intermittent and that applicants return to the application website periodically to try to complete Form DS-260.

Passport Applicants
The technical difficulties are also causing delays in the printing of US passports that were approved at overseas passport facilities. Applications accepted by the Passport Unit at an Embassy abroad on or after May 26, 2015 are affected by this delay. Applicants who requested a US passport during this time frame and who have travel plans within the next ten business days should consider requesting an emergency passport at the US Embassy at which they originally applied.

UPDATE (June 18, 2015): The State Department reports that the Bureau of Consular Affairs continues to address the global technical problems with their visa systems. While there is no indication that the outage was related to a cyber security issue, the system is not expected to be online before next week at the earliest. Although passports are still being processed, visa applicants should expect lengthy delays and also that their appointments may be rescheduled. US Embassies/Consulate are prioritizing urgent medical and other humanitarian cases as well as H-2A agricultural workers. We will provide any additional updates as we receive them.

UPDATE (June 23, 2015): The State Department reports that as of yesterday twenty-two consular posts have been reconnected to their systems (which represents about half of the global nonimmigrant visa volume), and they are continuing to restore systems to full functionality. Though some progress has been made, biometric data processing has not been fully restored. As promised, the State Department has prioritized temporary and seasonal workers with nearly 1,250 visas issued in Mexico, and they have issued more than 3,000 visas globally for urgent and humanitarian travel. There is a large backlog of cases to clear, but many posts are conducting visa interviews and are able to print some visas and also have rescheduled visa appointments. Domestic passport operations are functioning albeit with some processing delays and the State Department continues to issue routine and expedited passports to US citizens for all overseas travel needs.

UPDATE (June 24, 2015): The State Department reports that thirty-nine consular posts, which represents more than two-thirds of their normal capacity, are now online and issuing visas.  Moreover, the State Department anticipates that the system will be fully reconnected this week, and personnel will work over the weekend to clear the backlog.

New Visa Appointment System at US Embassy in Paris

The US Embassy in Paris has officially announced that it will be transitioning to a new visa appointment system on July 31, 2014. This US Embassy will be the latest to join the dozens of other US Embassies and Consulates worldwide that have already contracted outside companies to handle the logistics of various aspects of the consular process, including appointment scheduling and passport delivery, through call centers (as discussed in my post on scheduling visa appointments in London, Protima’s post about changes in Germany, and my AILA Athens Report post).

Exciting features of the new appointment system will allow applicants to pay the Machine Readable Visa (MRV) fee online by debit card or bank transfer, and for passports with visas and other documents to be returned to applicants by a courier service, able to be tracked online, at no cost to the applicant. No more trekking to La Poste to pay the MRV fee in-person by Mandat Compte or to purchase a pre-paid Chronopost envelope! These features promise to streamline the appointment process at the US Embassy in Paris once launched.

For the next nine days, until the new system launches, the US Embassy in Paris warns that “the new visa appointment system may cause some temporary delays[.]" After speaking to personnel on the visa appointment line this morning, we understand there is very limited availability for visa appointments between now and mid-August. Visa appointment dates for late August and September are not currently being offered, but will be made available at the time the new appointment system launches on July 31st. The US Embassy is encouraging applicants who do not have to travel by mid-August to wait until after July 31st to schedule their appointment, so they may use the new visa appointment system.

We are looking forward to using the new visa appointment system for the US Embassy in Paris; in particular, to the added efficiency it promises in the visa appointment process!

Nonimmigrant Visa Processing Changes in Germany

On December 14, 2013, the US Embassy in Germany introduced a new nonimmigrant visa processing system for Consular Sections in Berlin, Frankfurt, and Munich. This new system is meant to be easier, quicker, and cheaper (see germany.usembassy.gov/visa and ustraveldocs.com/de for more information). The change is part of an initiative by the State Department to standardize the visa application processes at US Embassies/Consulates worldwide.

Prior to the December 14 change, in Germany, applicants would have to pay multiple fees and go through multiple steps to coordinate a visa appointment: completing the online DS-160 application; paying the visa application fee to a third-party contractor, Roskos and Meyer; calling to schedule the appointment (at the cost of €15 to phone and $10 to make the appointment); finally, applicants would need to purchase and complete a self-addressed return envelope for the visa’ed passport.   

Under the new process, applicants must still complete the online DS-160 application, but then they can go to ustraveldocs.com/de to pay the fee, schedule an appointment, and provide an address for return of the visa’ed passport. Alternatively, after filling out the DS-160 applicants can call 032-22109-3243 (within Germany) or 1-703-520-2560 (from the US) to schedule the appointment. Applicants only pay one fee: the standard visa application fee.  

The Department of State in its announcement claims that there are a number of benefits to the new system:

• The current €15 fee to phone the call center and $10 to make an interview appointment online will be abolished.  Only a single application fee will be required at the time an appointment is scheduled.
• The application fee can be paid in several ways, online using the “Sofort” system, online via EC or debit card, by electronic funds transfer or by Uberweisung.  Our old fee system required a minimum four-day delay before a payment cleared;, under the new system applicants, if paying online, will be able to book an appointment immediately.
• Applicants will be able to see easily appointment schedules for Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich, and choose the post with the appointment date most convenient to them.
• Applicants will no longer have to provide prepaid, self-addressed envelopes for receiving their visa’ed passports.  Applicants will designate the address where they wish to receive their passports when they make their appointments.  Passports will be delivered via registered mail.
• Applicants will receive e-mail and/or SMS text messages when their passports are ready for delivery, or may track the shipment online.
• Applicants requested to provide additional documentation at the time of interview may bring it to any Deutsche Post office for delivery – cost free – to the Consular Section.
• Applicants who are subject to additional administrative processing will be notified by e-mail or SMS when their visas are ready for issuance, and can bring their passports to any Deutsche Post office for delivery – cost free – to the Consular Section.
• The new application website offers several new functions, for example the ability to request emergency and group appointments online.

The use of the “ustraveldocs” contractor/system at other US Embassies/Consulates such as those in India, Australia, and China has created many improvements in efficiency and expense so we have high hopes for Germany!