Integrity Legal

An Executive Order has been issued by the Trump administration regarding suspension of immigration to the United States for the forthcoming 60 days. However, the order does not appear to apply to those seeking a K-1 visa to bring a foreign fiance to the USA. Concurrently, it also does not appear to apply to American visas for the spouses and children of U.S. Citizens. To quote directly from the relevant sections of the order as posted on the White House website:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. 1182(f) and 1185(a), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, hereby find that the entry into the United States of persons described in section 1 of this proclamation would, except as provided for in section 2 of this proclamation, be detrimental to the interests of the United States, and that their entry should be subject to certain restrictions, limitations, and exceptions.  I therefore hereby proclaim the following:

Section 1.  Suspension and Limitation on Entry.  The entry into the United States of aliens as immigrants is hereby suspended and limited subject to section 2 of this proclamation.

Sec. 2.  Scope of Suspension and Limitation on Entry.  (a)  The suspension and limitation on entry pursuant to section 1 of this proclamation shall apply only to aliens who:

(i)    are outside the United States on the effective date of this proclamation;

(ii)   do not have an immigrant visa that is valid on the effective date of this proclamation; and

(iii)  do not have an official travel document other than a visa (such as a transportation letter, an appropriate boarding foil, or an advance parole document) that is valid on the effective date of this proclamation or issued on any date thereafter that permits him or her to travel to the United States and seek entry or admission.

(b)  The suspension and limitation on entry pursuant to section 1 of this proclamation shall not apply to:

(i)     any lawful permanent resident of the United States;

(ii)    any alien seeking to enter the United States on an immigrant visa as a physician, nurse, or other healthcare professional; to perform medical research or other research intended to combat the spread of COVID-19; or to perform work essential to combating, recovering from, or otherwise alleviating the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak, as determined by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or their respective designees;  and any spouse and unmarried children under 21 years old of any such alien who are accompanying or following to join the alien;

(iii)   any alien applying for a visa to enter the United States pursuant to the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program;

(iv)    any alien who is the spouse of a United States citizen;

(v)     any alien who is under 21 years old and is the child of a United States citizen, or who is a prospective adoptee seeking to enter the United States pursuant to the IR-4 or IH-4 visa classifications;

(vi)    any alien whose entry would further important United States law enforcement objectives, as determined by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or their respective designees, based on a recommendation of the Attorney General or his designee;

(vii)   any member of the United States Armed Forces and any spouse and children of a member of the United States Armed Forces;

(viii)  any alien seeking to enter the United States pursuant to a Special Immigrant Visa in the SI or SQ classification, subject to such conditions as the Secretary of State may impose, and any spouse and children of any such individual; or

(ix)    any alien whose entry would be in the national interest, as determined by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or their respective designees.

Sec. 3.  Implementation and Enforcement.  (a)  The consular officer shall determine, in his or her discretion, whether an immigrant has established his or her eligibility for an exception in section 2(b) of this proclamation.  The Secretary of State shall implement this proclamation as it applies to visas pursuant to such procedures as the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, may establish in the Secretary of State’s discretion.  The Secretary of Homeland Security shall implement this proclamation as it applies to the entry of aliens pursuant to such procedures as the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, may establish in the Secretary of Homeland Security’s discretion.

(b)  An alien who circumvents the application of this proclamation through fraud, willful misrepresentation of a material fact, or illegal entry shall be a priority for removal by the Department of Homeland Security.

(c)  Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to limit the ability of an individual to seek asylum, refugee status, withholding of removal, or protection under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, consistent with the laws of the United States.

Sec. 4.  Termination.  This proclamation shall expire 60 days from its effective date and may be continued as necessary.  Whenever appropriate, but no later than 50 days from the effective date of this proclamation, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Labor, recommend whether I should continue or modify this proclamation.

Sec. 5.  Effective Date.  This proclamation is effective at 11:59 p.m. eastern daylight time on April 23, 2020.

Sec. 6.  Additional Measures.  Within 30 days of the effective date of this proclamation, the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall review nonimmigrant programs and shall recommend to me other measures appropriate to stimulate the United States economy and ensure the prioritization, hiring, and employment of United States workers.

Sec. 7.  Severability.  It is the policy of the United States to enforce this proclamation to the maximum extent possible to advance the interests of the United States.  Accordingly:

(a)  if any provision of this proclamation, or the application of any provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remainder of this proclamation and the application of its provisions to any other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby; and

(b)  if any provision of this proclamation, or the application of any provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid because of the lack of certain procedural requirements, the relevant executive branch officials shall implement those procedural requirements to conform with existing law and with any applicable court orders.

Sec. 8.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or,

(ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b)  This proclamation shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c)  This proclamation is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-second day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fourth.

DONALD J. TRUMP

 

Clearly, there are many who might see their cases negatively impacted by this order. To preface any further analysis, it should be noted that visa processing has been suspended at the US Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand as well as the US Embassy in Vientiane, Laos and the US Embassy in Phnom Phen, Cambodia due to the COVID-19 outbreak. So regardless of this order, it is not currently possible to obtain a visa from these posts as interviews have been suspended. Bearing the above in mind, the following analysis will demonstrate that this order will NOT have an impact on fiance visa and marriage visa cases for the fiances and/or spouses of American citizens:

The executive order states: “The entry into the United States of aliens as immigrants is hereby suspended and limited subject to section 2 of this proclamation.” The K-1 visa is designed for the fiance of an American citizen to to travel to the United States with the intention of marriage. It grants the bearer 90 days of lawful status in the USA in which to marry their American fiance and file for adjustment of status to lawful permanent residence (aka Green Card status). It is important to note: the K-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa, albeit a dual intent visa. For purposes of processing it is treated as an immigrant visa (for example K-1 cases process through the Immigrant Visa Unit of the American Embassy in Thailand), but pursuant to United States law it is in fact a non-immigrant visa. The above cited executive order only pertains to immigrant visas. Therefore, this order does not have any bearing upon the processing of a K-1 fiance visa case.

What about cases involving the spouse of an American citizen where the spouse would enter the USA and be granted an I-551 stamp thereby granting permanent residence to the foreign spouse upon entry? The above executive order speaks directly to such a situation: “The suspension and limitation on entry pursuant to section 1 of this proclamation shall not apply to:…(iv) any alien who is the spouse of a United States citizen“[Emphasis Added]. Clearly the suspension ordered in Trump’s executive order will exempt spouses of Americans. Therefore, those foreign spouses of American citizens seeking a K-3 visa, CR-1 visa, or IR-1 visa will not be adversely impacted by the provisions of this executive order.

Finally, the following should be noted: “This proclamation shall expire 60 days from its effective date…This proclamation is effective at 11:59 p.m. eastern daylight time on April 23, 2020.” Thus, unless this order is extended it will expire 60 days from now. We will keep readers updated on this blog as the situation progresses.

Tags: American Embassy Bangkok, American Embassy Thailand, CR-1 Visa, CR1 Visa, CR1 Visa Thailand, Executive Order, Fiance Visa, Fiancee Visa, immigration, IR-1 Visa, IR1 Visa, IR1 Visa Thailand, K-1 Visa, K-3 Visa, K1 Visa, K1 Visa Cambodia, K1 Visa Laos, K1 Visa Thailand, K3 Visa, K3 Visa Thailand, Trump, Trump Executive Order, us embassy bangkok, US Embassy Cambodia, US Embassy Laos, us embassy thailand, US Immigration Executive Order, US Visa Cambodia, US Visa Laos, US Visa Thailand, visa, visas
Posted in CR1 Visa, Department of Homeland Security, Fiance Visa Thailand, IR1 Visa, K-3 Visa Thailand, K1 Visa, K1 Visa Thailand, K2 Visa, K2 Visa Thailand, K3 Visa, Legal News, National Visa Center, US Consulate HCMC, US Emassy Mongolia, US Embassy Afghanistan, US Embassy Australia, us embassy bangkok, US Embassy Bangladesh, US Embassy Brunei Darussalam, US Embassy Burma, US Embassy Cambodia, US Embassy China, US Embassy Dhaka, US Embassy Fiji, US Embassy India, US Embassy Indonesia, US Embassy Iraq, US Embassy Japan, US Embassy Kabul, US Embassy Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan), US Embassy Laos, US Embassy Malaysia, US Embassy Maldives, US Embassy Mauritius, US Embassy Mongolia, US Embassy Myanmar, US Embassy Nepal, US Embassy New Zealand, US Embassy Pakistan, US Embassy Philippines, US Embassy Phnom Phen, US Embassy Rangoon, US Embassy Russia, US Embassy Singapore, US Embassy South Korea, US Embassy Sri Lanka, US Embassy Tokyo, US Embassy Turkmenistan, US Embassy Uzbekistan, US Embassy Vietnam, US Embassy Yangon, US State Department, US Visa, US Visa and Immigration, US Visa Thailand, USCIS | No Comments »

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នៅក្នុងវីដេអូថ្ងៃនេះ យើងនឹងពិភាក្សាអំពីទិដ្ឋាការប្រភេទរៀបការ​ ដោយផ្តោតទៅលើបរិបទនៃ​ស្ថាន​ទូត​សហរដ្ឋ​អាមេរិកប្រចាំ​នៅ​រាជធានី​ភ្នំពេញនៃប្រទេសកម្ពុជា ។

ដូចដែលយើងបានលើកឡើងខាងលើ យើងស្ថិតនៅក្នុងទីក្រុងបាងកក ។ ខ្ញុំ​គឺ​ជា​មេធាវី​ជនជាតិ​អាមេរិកាំង ប៉ុន្តែ​ក្រុមហ៊ុន​របស់​យើង​គឺ​ស្ថិត​នៅ​ក្នុង​ទីក្រុង​បាងកក ។ ការ​ងារ​របស់​យើង​ជា​ច្រើន​ដែល​ពាក់ព័ន្ធ​នឹង​ការ​ធ្វើ​អន្តោប្រវេសន៍​ទៅ​កាន់​សហរដ្ឋ​អាមេរិក គឺ​កើតឡើង​នៅ​ជុំវិញ​ទីក្រុង​បាង​កក និង​ការិយាល័យ​កុងស៊ុល​នៃស្ថាន​ទូត​សហរដ្ឋ​អាមេរិក ហើយ​ជាពិសេស​ ​សំណុំរឿង​របស់​យើង​ គឺ​នឹង​ត្រូវ​បញ្ចប់​នៅ​ក្នុង​កុងស៊ុល​នៃស្ថាន​ទូត​សហរដ្ឋ​អាមេរិកនៅ​ទី​នេះ ។ ជាមួយ​គ្នា​នេះ​ យើង​ក៏​ទទួល​យក​សំណុំរឿង​ផ្សេងៗ​នៅ​ក្នុង​តំបន់​ផង​ដែរ ។ ខ្ញុំ​បាន​រត់ការ​សំណុំរឿង​ផ្សេងៗទាំង​នោះ​ញឹកញាប់​គួរសម​ដែរ ។ បើ​និយាយ​អោយ​ជាក់​លាក់ទៅ កម្ពុជា​គឺ​ប្រទេស​មួយ​ដែល​ខ្ញុំ​បាន​ធ្វើ​ការ​ជាមួយ​ញឹកញាប់​ជាង​គេ​នៅ​ក្នុង​តំបន់នេះ ។ ខ្ញុំ​គិត​ថា​ វា​អាស្រ័យ​ទៅ​លើ​ឆ្នាំផ្សេងគ្នា ។ ប៉ុន្តែ​យើង​បាន​ពិភាក្សា​អំពី ទិដ្ឋាការ​ប្រភេទ​ K-1 នៅ​ក្នុង​វីដេអូ​ផ្សេង​មួយ​ទៀត ដែលជា​​ទិដ្ឋាការ​ប្រភេទ​គូដណ្ដឹង ។ នៅ​ក្នុង​វីដេអូ​នេះ យើង​នឹង​ពិភាក្សា​ជា​ពិសេស​អំពី​ទិដ្ឋាការ​ប្រភេទរៀប​ការ ។ ដូច្នេះ​ក្នុង​ពេល​នេះ ខ្ញុំ​នឹង​និយាយ​អំពីទិដ្ឋាការ​ប្រភេទ​ CR-1, IR-1 ឬ​ K-3 ។ មាន​វីដេអូ​មួយ​ផ្សេងទៀត​នៅ​ក្នុង​ទំព័រ​នេះ ដែល​និយាយ​ជា​ពិសេស​អំពីទិដ្ឋាការ​ប្រភេទ​ K-3 ហើយ​ខ្ញុំ​នឹងទុក​អោយ​វីដេអូ​នោះ​​ពិភាក្សា​លំអិត​ ឬ​ជាក់លាក់​អំពី​ទិដ្ឋាការ​នេះ​ ។ ទោះ​បី​ជា​យ៉ាង​ណា​ក៏​ដោយ ទិដ្ឋាការ​ប្រភេទ​ CR-1 និង IR-1 ដែល​ទិដ្ឋាការ​ប្រភេទ​ CR-1 គឺ​ប្រភេទ​អ្នក​រស់​នៅជា​អចិន្ត្រៃយ៍​ដោយ​មាន​លក្ខខ័ណ្ឌ និង IR-1 ជា​ប្រភេទ​សាច់ញាតិ​ផ្ទាល់ ហើយ​អ្នក​ដែល​ចូល​ទៅកាន់​សហរដ្ឋ​អាមេរិក​តាម​ទិដ្ឋាការ​ប្រភេទ​ IR-1 គឺ​ជា​អ្នក​រស់​នៅ​ជា​អចិន្ត្រៃយ៍​ដោយ​ស្របច្បាប់​ដោយ​មិនមាន​លក្ខខ័ណ្ឌ ដែល​ខុស​ពី​​អ្នក​រស់​នៅ​ជា​អចិន្ត្រៃយ៍​ដោយ​ស្របច្បាប់​តែមាន​លក្ខខ័ណ្ឌ ។ និយាយ​ជា​រួម គឺ​ខ្ញុំ​និយាយ​អំពី​ជន​បរទេស ដែល​បាន​រៀប​ការ ហើយ​ខ្ញុំ​និយាយ​ជា​ពិសេស​អំពីពលរដ្ឋ​ខ្មែរ ដែល​រៀបការ​ជាមួយ​នឹងពលរដ្ឋ​អាមេរិក ។ ទោះ​បី​ជា​ការ​វិភាគ​នេះ​អាច​យក​ទៅអនុវត្ត​បានចំពោះ​​​​អ្នក​រស់​នៅ​ជា​អចិន្ត្រៃយ៍​ដោយ​ស្របច្បាប់​នៅ​ក្នុង​សហរដ្ឋ​អាមេរិក​ដែល​មាន​បំណង​ចង់​យក​ប្ដី​ឬ​ប្រពន្ធ​ជនជាតិ​ខ្មែរ​របស់​ពួក​គេទៅ​កាន់​​សហរដ្ឋ​អាមេរិកក៏​ដោយ​ ក៏​ប៉ុន្តែ​ខ្ញុំ​នឹង​ព្យាយាម​និយាយតែ​​អំពី​ពលរដ្ឋ​អាមេរិក ដែល​មាន​បំណង​ចង់​យក​ប្ដី​ឬ​ប្រពន្ធ​ជនជាតិ​ខ្មែរ​របស់​ពួក​គេទៅ​កាន់​​សហរដ្ឋ​អាមេរិកតែ​ប៉ុណ្ណោះ ។

ដូចនេះ អ្វី​ដែល​ត្រូវ​គិត​ពាក់ព័ន្ធ​នឹង​ពលរដ្ឋ​ខ្មែរ​ដែល​ចង់​ដាក់​ពាក្យ​សុំ​ទិដ្ឋាការ​ប្រភេទ​រៀបការដើម្បី​ទៅ​រស់​នៅ​សហរដ្ឋ​អាមេរិក គឺ​ថា​វា​គឺ​ជា​ដំណើរ​ការ​ដែល​មាន​៣​ផ្នែក ដែល​អ្នក​ត្រូវ​តែ​ចាប់​ផ្ដើម​ដោយ​រត់ការ​ដាក់​ពាក្យ​នៅ​​ក្រសួង​សន្តិសុខ​មាតុភូមិ​ និង​ភ្នាក់ងារ​សេវាអន្តោប្រវេសន៍ និង​ពលរដ្ឋ​អាមេរិក ។ បន្ទាប់​មក​ទៀត អ្នក​ត្រូវ​ពាក់ព័ន្ធ​ជាមួយ​នឹង​មជ្ឈមណ្ឌល​ទិដ្ឋាការ​ជាតិ ដែល​នៅ​ក្នុង​បរិបទ​ទិដ្ឋាការ​អន្តោប្រវេសន៍ប្រភេទ​ប្ដីឬ​ប្រពន្ធ​ មជ្ឈមណ្ឌល​ទិដ្ឋាការ​ជាតិមាន​តួនាទី​ផ្សេងពីតួនាទីរបស់​ខ្លួន​ពាក់​ព័ន្ធ​នឹង​ទិដ្ឋាការ​​ប្រភេទ K គឺ​ប្រភេទ K-1 និង K-3 ។ នៅ​ក្នុង​សំណុំ​រឿង​សុំ​ទិដ្ឋាការ​ប្រភេទ K-1 និង K-3 ដែល​ក្នុង​ករណី​ទាំង​នោះ​​​ទិដ្ឋាការ​ប្រភេទ K-3 ត្រូវ​បាន​សំរេច​យល់​ព្រម នោះ​មជ្ឈមណ្ឌល​ទិដ្ឋាការ​ជាតិគ្រាន់​តែ​ដើរ​តួ​ជា​ទី​កន្លែង​លាង​សំអាត​ឯកសារ ឬ​កន្លែង​បញ្ជូន​ឯកសារ ដើម្បី​ធានា​អោយ​ប្រាកដ​ថា​សំណុំ​រឿង​នោះ​ចាក​ចេញ​ពី​ភ្នាក់ងារ USCIS ទៅ​កាន់​ស្ថានទូត​ក្រៅ​ប្រទេស​ដែល​សមស្រប ។ ពាក់ព័ន្ធ​នឹង​ទិដ្ឋាការអន្តោប្រវេសន៍​ទៅ​រស់​នៅ​សហរដ្ឋ​អាមេរិក វិសាលភាព​នៃ​ការ​ងារ​របស់​មជ្ឈមណ្ឌល​ទិដ្ឋាការ​ជាតិគឺ​មាន​លក្ខណៈ​ទូលំទូលាយ ។​ ពួក​គេ​ធ្វើ​ការ​ប្រមូល​ឯកសារ​ជា​ច្រើន ពួក​គេ​នឹង​ទាក់​ទង​ទៅ​អ្នក​ដាក់​ពាក្យ​ប្រសិន​បើ​ពួក​គេមាន​អារម្មណ៍​ថា​ខ្វះឯកសារ​ណាមួយ ឬ​ពួកគេ​មាន​អារម្មណ៍​ថាត្រូវ​ការ​ពត៌មាន​ចាំបាច់​បន្ថែម​ទៀត ។ នៅ​ក្នុង​វីដេអូ​មួយ​ផ្សេង​ទៀត​នៅ​ក្នុង​ទំព័រ​នេះ​យើង​បាន​ពិភាក្សាអំពីអ្វី​ដែល​គេ​ហៅ​ថា និតិវិធី​នៃ​ការ​ត្រួតពិនិត្យ​ដ៏​ខ្លាំង​បំផុត​របស់​រដ្ឋបាល​ប្រធានាធិបតី​ Trump ក្នុង​ពេល​ឥឡូវ​នេះ ។ ខ្ញុំ​មិន​ដឹង​ដែរ ហើយ​​ខ្ញុំក៏​​មិន​ទាន់​បាន​ឃើញ​ការ​​ត្រួតពិនិត្យ​ដ៏​ខ្លាំង​បំផុត​ណាមួយ​ត្រូវ​​បានធ្វើ​ឡើង​នៅ​មជ្ឈមណ្ឌល​​ទិដ្ឋាការ​ជាតិនៅ​ឡើយ​ទេ ប៉ុន្តែ​ខ្ញុំ​អាច​មើល​ឃើញ​ថា​នៅ​ក្នុង​ពេល​ណា​មួយ​នៅ​​ថ្ងៃ​អនាគត មជ្ឈមណ្ឌល​ទិដ្ឋាការ​ជាតិ​នឹង​អនុវត្ត​និតិវិធី​នៃ​ការ​ត្រួតពិនិត្យ​ដ៏ខ្លាំង​បំផុតនេះ ។ ទោះ​បី​ជា​យ៉ាង​ណា​ក្ដី ពួក​គេ​មាន​តួនាទី​យ៉ាង​សកម្មក្នុង​សំណុំ​រឿង​ទិដ្ឋាការ​អន្តោប្រវេសន៍ ។ នៅពេ​ល​ដែល​មជ្ឈមណ្ឌល​ទិដ្ឋាការ​ជាតិយល់​ថា​ឯកសារ​មាន​គ្រប់​គ្រាន់​ហើយ ពួកគេ​នឹង​បន្តដំណើរ​ការ​សំណុំរឿង​ទៅ​កាន់​ស្ថានទូតសហរដ្ឋអាមេរិកប្រចាំនៅរាជធានីភ្នំពេញ ហើយ​ថ្ងៃ​សំភាស​នឹង​ត្រូវ​កំណត់​នៅ​ស្ថានទូត ។ នៅ​ពេល​សំភាស មាន​រឿង​ជា​ច្រើន​ដែល​អាច​កើត​ឡើង ដែល​មាន​ដូច​ជា​អ្វី​ដែល​គេ​ហៅ​ថាសំណើ 221-G ដើម្បី​ស្នើសុំ​អោយ​បេក្ខជន​ដាក់​ឯកសារ​បន្ថែម ដែល​មន្ត្រី​ដែល​ធ្វើ​ការ​សំភាស​ចង់​ឃើញ​ពាក់​ព័ន្ធ​នឹង​ករណី​នោះ ។ ជា​ទូទៅ បន្ទាប់​ពី​មាន​ការ​ត្រួត​ពិនិត្យ​ពីមជ្ឈមណ្ឌល​ទិដ្ឋាការ​ជាតិហើយ ការ​ស្នើ​សុំ​ឯកសារ​បន្ថែម​នេះ​មិន​សូវ​ជា​មាន​ញឹក​ញាប់​ទេ ប៉ុន្តែ​វា​អាច​កើតឡើង​បាន ។ ខ្ញុំមិន​គួរ​និយាយ​ថា​វា​កំរ​កើត​ឡើង​នោះ​ទេ ។ នៅ​ក្នុង​ករណី​ទិដ្ឋាការ​ប្រភេទ​ K-1 វា​អាច​កើត​ឡើង​ជា​ញឹកញាប់​ ដោយ​សារ​តែ​ស្ថានភាព​នីមួយៗ​គឺ​ផ្សេងៗគ្នា ។ ទិដ្ឋាការប្រភេទ​រៀបការ ហាក់​ដូច​ជា​មាន​ភាព​ច្បាស់​លាស់ និង​ងាយ​យល់ ហើយ​ខ្ញុំ​គិត​ថា​វា​ជា​រឿង​ដែល​ត្រឹម​ត្រូវ​ក្នុង​ការ​មើល​ទៅ​លើ​ករណី​នេះ​តាម​បែប​​ហ្នឹង ។ ប៉ុន្តែ​អ្វី​ដែល​ខ្ញុំ​ចង់​និយាយ​នៅ​ពេល​នេះ​គឺថា មជ្ឈមណ្ឌល​ទិដ្ឋាការ​ជាតិនឹង​កំណត់​ថ្ងៃ​សំភាស ហើយ​កាល​កំណត់​នោះ​នឹង​ត្រូវ​បញ្ជូន​ទៅ កាន់​ស្ថានទូត​នៅ​រាជធានី​ភ្នំពេញ បន្ទាប់​មក​អ្នក​ត្រូវ​តែ​ចូល​សំភាស ។ ជា​រឿយៗ យើង​ធ្វើ​ការ​ត្រៀម​សំភាស​ជាមួយ​អតិថិជន​របស់​យើង ដើម្បី​អោយ​ពួកគេ​មាន​ការ​យល់​នូវ​អ្វី​ដែល​មន្ត្រី​កុងស៊ុល អាច​នឹង​ចង់ដឹង​ពាក់ព័ន្ធ​នឹង​ពាក្យ​សុំ ឬ​ពាក់​ព័ន្ធ​នឹង​ចំណុច​ជាក់លាក់​ណា​មួយ​នៃ​អ្នក​ដែល​ដាក់​ពាក្យ​សុំ ។​ រឿង​ផ្សេង​ទៀត​ដែល​យើង​ធ្វើ​គឺ​ផ្ដល់​នូវ​ការ​យល់​ដឹង​ខ្លះៗ​ពាក់​ព័ន្ធ​នឹង​និតិវិធី​ដែល​សំណុំ​រឿង​នឹង​ត្រូវ​ដំណើរ​ការ​នៅ​ស្ថាន​ទូត ។

ជា​រួម​ ខ្ញុំ​គិត​ថា​វិធីមើល​ទៅ​លើ​ដំណើរ​ការ​ទូទៅ​នៃ​ការ​ដាក់​ពាក្យ​សុំ​ទិដ្ឋាការអន្តោប្រវេសន៍​ទៅរស់​នៅ​សហរដ្ឋអាមេរិក​គឺដូចនេះ៖ វា​ចាប់​ផ្ដើម​នៅ​ក្រសួង​សន្តិសុខមាតុភូមិនៃ​សហរដ្ឋ​អាមេរិក ហើយ​បន្ត​ទៅ​មជ្ឈមណ្ឌល​ទិដ្ឋាការ​ជាតិដែល​ខុសពី​ទិដ្ឋាការ​ប្រភេទ K មជ្ឈមណ្ឌល​ទិដ្ឋាការ​ជាតិ​ មាន​តួនាទី​យ៉ាង​សកម្ម​ក្នុង​ដំណើរ​ការ​នេះ ហើយ​បន្ទាប់​មក​វា​នឹង​ត្រូវ​បញ្ជូន​ទៅ​កាន់​ស្ថានទូតសហរដ្ឋអាមេរិកប្រចាំនៅរាជធានីភ្នំពេញ ។ នៅ​ពេល​នោះ ការ​សំភាស​នឹង​ត្រូវ​ធ្វើ​ឡើង ហើយ​ឯកសារ​បន្ថែម​ផ្សេងៗ​អាច​នឹង​ត្រូវ​ស្នើសុំ ដែល​អ្នក​នឹង​ត្រូវ​ ​រក​ឯកសារ​ដើម្បី​ដាក់​ជូន​ទៅ​កុងស៊ុលមុនពេល​ដែល​ ទិដ្ឋាការ​អាច​នឹង​ត្រូវ​សំរេច​យល់​ព្រមចេញ​អោយ​អ្នកនៅ​ចុង​បញ្ចប់ ។

Tags: American Visa Cambodia, CR1 Visa, CR1 Visa Cambodia, Fiance Visa Cambodia, IR1 Visa, IR1 Visa Cambodia, K1 Visa, K1 Visa Cambodia, K3 Visa, K3 Visa Cambodia, US Visa Cambodia, USA Visa Cambodia
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The following is a transcript of a video which can be found here: US Marriage Visa Cambodia

In this video today, we are going to be discussing marriage visas in the specific context of the US Embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

As you can see from the aforementioned preamble to this video, we are based here in Bangkok. I am an American attorney but the firm is based here in Bangkok. The bulk of our work in US immigration matters does revolve around Bangkok and the Consular section of the US Embassy here primarily our cases that are going to end up at the US Consular Section here. That being said, we do take other cases in the region, I do deal with a fair number of these rather frequently. Cambodia is one I deal with probably more often than any other country in the region if I ‘m being very specific. It kind of depends on the year, I guess. But that being said, the K-1, we discussed specifically in another video, that’s a fiancée visa. In this video, we are discussing US marriage visas specifically. So for now, I’m talking about the CR-1, IR-1 or the K-3 visa. There’s another video on this channel which goes specifically into the K-3 visa and I am going to sort of leave it to that video to discuss that directly if there’s specific things to think about with respect to the K-3. But suffice it to say, the CR-1 and the IR-1, CR-1 is Conditional Resident category, IR-1 is Immediate Relative and the person that enters on an IR-1 enters in unconditional lawful permanent residence as opposed to conditional lawful permanent residence to the United States. Generally speaking, I am talking about foreign nationals married, and I am specifically talking about Khmer, Cambodian Nationals married to an American citizen. Although some of this analysis could apply to a lawful permanent resident in the United States trying to bring their Cambodian spouse over as well but I’m going to try to keep it more on point with respect to an American citizen, seeking to bring a Cambodian female or male spouse to the United States.

So the thing to think about with respect to Cambodian nationals applying for marriage visa benefits to the US, it’s kind of a 3 part process in so far as you have to initially deal with the Department of Homeland Security and their United States Citizenship and Immigration Service  apparatus. Then you have got to go ahead and deal with the National Visa Center which in the context of Immigrant Spousal Visas, the National Visa Center is a very different animal than when you compare it to the K categories, the K-1 and the K-3. In the K-1 and the K-3 cases, in those cases where the K-3 gets processed through, in a way NVC just acts as a sort of clearing house or sort of a postal hub, if you will, to make certain that the case gets from USCIS over to the correct embassy abroad. With respect to US Immigrant visas the NVC’s job is much more broad in scope, and depth for that matter. They do a lot of document collection, they will do follow ups if they feel there’s a document deficiency or they feel that more information is necessary. In another video on this channel we discussed the so called extreme vetting protocols of the Trump Administration right now. I don’t know, specifically I haven’t seen anything with extreme vetting happen yet at NVC but I can see theoretically, sometime in the future, extreme vetting protocols may pertain directly to NVC at some point as well.  But that being said, they have a much more active role in the immigrant visa cases.  Once they are satisfied documentarily at National Visa Center, they will then go ahead and process the case out over to the embassy in Phnom Penh and an interview date will be set at the embassy. At the interview, things can happen like what are called the 221-G request for further documentation where basically the interviewing officer determines that they would like to see something more with respect to the case. Generally speaking, after an NVC vetting, this isn’t very frequent, but it does happen. I shouldn’t say that it’s infrequent. In K-1s, it can happen quite frequently because the circumstances are different. Marriage visas, the cases tend to be more clear-cut, I guess is the right way to look at it.  But that being said, basically the point I want to get across is, NVC will set that interview appointment, it will get over to the embassy in Phnom Penh and you have got to get in for an interview. We oftentimes do an interview prep with our clients so that they have an understanding, generally speaking, what the officer is probably going to want to know regarding the application or regarding the specifics of the person making the application and the other thing is we provide some insight with respect to the protocols for how the case is going to be taken in and dealt with at the post.

So to sort of sum up, I think the way to look at the overall process of applying for a US immigrant is this: it starts in the United States with the Department of Homeland Security, it moves over to the NVC which unlike the K categories, the NVC has a very active role in this process and then finally, it’s going to end up at the US Embassy at Phnom Penh and at that point the interview is going to take place and it’s possible more documentation could be requested and you may have to deal with a follow on submission before hopefully, the visa is ultimately approved.

Tags: American Visa Cambodia, CR-1 Visa, CR1 Visa, CR1 Visa Cambodia, I-129f, I-130, IR-1 Visa, IR1 Visa, IR1 Visa Cambodia, K-3 Visa, K3 Visa, K3 Visa Cambodia, Marriage Visa Cambodia, US Visa Cambodia, USA Visa Cambodia
Posted in US Embassy Phnom Phen | No Comments »

The following is a transcript of the video which can be found here: K-3 Visas from Cambodia.

In this video today, we are going to specifically discuss one visa that is sort of an interesting little niche visa, the K-3 visa, in the specific context of a Khmer, Cambodian national who would be seeking that in connection with marriage to a US citizen. Let’s be clear, you have got to be married to a US citizen in order to apply for a K-3.

First things first. As previously noted in my preamble, we’re located here in Bangkok. We do deal with a large number of Thai cases but being fairly geographically close to Cambodia, over the years we’ve done a fair number of Cambodian cases or cases that arise with a Cambodian national, a Khmer national involved. That being stated, it should be noted that the K-3 is an interesting animal.

To provide a little background on what the K-3 visa is. The K-3 visa was created pursuant to the provisions of the LIFE act created under the Clinton presidency and it was created at a time when the back log associated with spousal visas, CR-1 and IR-1, and there’s another video on this channel specific to CR-1 and IR-1 visas, in Cambodia. Basically, at the time, it was taking multiple years to get finalized Department of Homeland secure the approval of the petition for marriage visas. Meanwhile, at the same time it was like 6 or 7 months, 8 months to get a fiancée visa petition approved. So you ended up with the sort of counter intuitive situation where fiancées were moving through the system more quickly than spouses and it should be noted that from a legal perspective there is no qualitative difference as far as the law is concerned, specifically Immigration law is concerned, with respect to a fiancée versus a spouse; from a legal standpoint they’re treated the same way.  From an administrative standpoint, they just had a high back log of marriage visas or marriage petitions, for whatever reason, were they were processing K-1s more efficiently or they just had a lower case load, I don’t know what the deal was, but at the time it was taking multiple years to get a petition for marriage to an American citizen process through and meanwhile it was taking a matter of months for fiancées. So what happened is they created this K-3 category and the K-3 category was created, basically they said “look if you have got a petition on file for a spousal visa benefits in the normal manner, the CR-1 or IR-1 category basically, you can take that filing and do a duplicative version of that and go ahead and file for this K-3 category. You just go ahead and file it again through the K line. That’s basically what they did. They just took these marriage visa cases and said – Okay, it’s been filed, you have got to prove it’s filed and you put it in the line that was processing for fiancées so what ended up happening is K-3 has kind of become the ubiquitous term for a US marriage visa but in point of fact, the traditional methodology of bringing someone into the United States is through a CR-1 or IR-1 visa.  The K-3 just sort of became rather common place in the lexicon of these matters because people got used to dealing with K-3s because that was effectively the way to get your spouse into the United States. It’s interesting because K-3 still requires adjustment of status to lawful permanent residence.  Those of you who are interested in learning about that, in order to get a green card you have to undergo the adjustment of status process and I urge you to take a look at the video that specifically discusses the adjustment of status process on this channel, but something to bring up with respect to K-3s in the present context. Although they may be useful under present processing conditions, in the past there was an administrative ruling, it was a policy of administrative closure that was undertaken by the National Visa Center whereby they basically said – “Look, the K-3 was created for these situations where basically a marriage visa, an immigrant visa case got lost in the back log of USCIS. Not lost but stuck in the back log of USCIS. So if we got the K-3 position first we will process through on the K-3. But if we get the petition for the Immigrant Spouse Visa first, we’re going to process the Immigrant Spouse Visa benefits. We’re going to disregard the K-3”. This is important because NVC’s function is qualitatively different in an immigrant visa context that it is in a K Visa context. The K Visa context, NVC just shoots the case on to the embassy in question and the embassy sort of deals with all the nuts and bolts of the consular processing. In an immigrant visa context, the NVC process is slower because NVC deals with the nuts and bolts of document intake and in a way, I won’t say, adjudication but sort of pre vetting to make sure that they have generally what they need to go ahead and continue to process and get an interview scheduled. So in a way, the K-3 may still, if you can go ahead and get one through, the K-3 may still process more quickly compared to an immigrant visa but it’s my understanding that NVC still maintains the policy of administrative closure, where they get the immigrant case first and now processing of immigrant matters, immigrant spouse matters of American citizens, has reduced significantly. USCIS, to their credit, took significant substantial steps to make their process more efficient and they streamlined it, and I think they got more staff and things to deal with those matters and they put more resources on getting those cases processed, and as a result, in a way the K-3 is, I won’t say it’s obsolete, but its original reason for being there is not quite so pressing as it was at the time that it was created. And for that reason, I think it’s very probable that you are going to see fewer and fewer K-3 visas being processed in Cambodia or elsewhere.

Tags: American Embassy Cambodia, American Embassy Phnom Penh, American Visa Cambodia, CR-1 Visa, CR1 Visa Cambodia, I-129f, I-130, Immigrant Visa Unit, IR-1 Visa, IR1 Visa Cambodia, K-3 Visa, K3 Visa, K3 Visa Cambodia, US Marriage Visa Cambodia, US Visa Cambodia, USA Embassy Cambodia, USA Embassy Phnom Penh, USA Visa Cambodia
Posted in US Embassy Phnom Phen | No Comments »

The following is a transcript of the video found here: K-1 Fiance Visas From Cambodia:

In this video we are going to be discussing the K-1 Fiancee Visa specifically in the context of Consular processing in the Kingdom of Cambodia; specifically the US Embassy in Phnom Penh.

For those of you who have checked out this channel and seen some of the other videos, you probably know that we are based in Bangkok, Thailand, we do deal primarily with immigration matters arising with Thai-American nationality generally, we deal with a lot of US family immigration matters, fiancée visas, marriage visas etc.

Just because we’re located here, does not mean necessarily that this is our exclusive bailiwick with respect to US immigration.  It is sort of interesting in so far as immigration attorneys who practice in the United States tend to have a plethora of rather wide range of nationality of clientele that they deal with, whereas, it is sort of somewhat inverted by us being based in Bangkok we primarily deal with Thai nationals. But that being said, I have dealt with cases involving the US Embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, quite a number of cases involving that particular post, mostly because of its nearby proximity to Thailand here.  But that being said, for those who are interested in sort of an overview of the process it’s best to sort of look at it in 2 phases: One involves the Department of Homeland Security.  The Immigration apparatus, USCIS under the auspices of DHS, Department of Homeland Security, is going to go ahead and adjudicate what is called an I-129 F petition. That petition is basically the starting point of the process if you will. You have got to file a petition and you have got to get approval from the Department of Homeland Security, USCIS, before being able to proceed further with the K-1 visa. After the initial adjudication of the petition, and let’s go into some details of some requirements associated with the petition, most notably the couple in question must both be legally free to  marry at the time that the application is filed. Moreover, both parties need to have met physically, in person within a 2-year period of their initial filing of the petition for a K-1 visa status. The big things to keep in mind is that “You have got to be legally free to marry”, you can’t be getting a divorce, you have to already be divorced if you have a prior spouse; you have got to be legally free to marry and the other thing to keep in mind is this can sort of happen in certain common law jurisdictions or sometimes even in civil law jurisdictions. You can’t get married legally while the K-1 is processing, even if it’s to each other, you have to wait and remain fiancées until the foreign fiancée in this case Khmer, presumably coming out of Phnom Penh, comes to the United States and then you have 90 days to get married and file to adjust status. Adjustment of status is a different process. It comes subsequent to marriage, in the United States. There’s another video on this channel which specifically discusses the details of adjustment of status. Suffice it to say that basically that’s the process by which the foreign fiancée, and later spouse, becomes a lawful permanent resident, aka a green card holder in the United States.  So that’s sort of the back end of the process. Going back, petition, have to have met within 2 years of filing, need to be legally free to marry, there’s other details associated with this, I am not going to get too deep into that side of things, but presuming USCIS DHS approval, the matter is going to move quickly over to the National Visa Center which acts as a sort of clearing house or routing hub to send it to the appropriate Embassy or  Consulate abroad, in the case of Cambodia Nationals, presumably that’s going to be Phnom Penh , Cambodia and at that point, you need to deal with the specific Consular processing mandates of the visa section of the Embassy over there.

It is interesting to bring up with respect to K-1 visas, they are what is considered a dual intent visa. So technically speaking, they’re non-immigrant category but for purposes of consular processing, and sort of the application process, they are treated for all intents and purposes as Immigrant visas, just like a spouse visa, CR -1 IR -1 or “shades of grey” here but the K-3 visa. So basically to sum up, with respect to this video, the process for getting a fiancée of Cambodian nationality into the United States, begins in the United States, progresses through multiple agencies over there before getting to the US Embassy in Phnom Penh and then there’s various documentation associated with the overall process and various documents which need to be translated from Khmer to English etc. Our services, we can provide those translations, part and parcel with what we deal with on a regular basis. I oftentimes have to go over to Phnom Penh to deal with clients as well and that can sometimes come up. But just generally speaking, as sort of from an overview of how the process works and what we can do to assist if necessary is basically, it starts in the US, comes over to the Embassy and finally, I think it is pretty safe to say probably 8 months, 9 months on average, all in, the processing time for getting a K-1. It can move faster, it can move slower. The thing to keep in mind with respect to all US visa applications is they’re like snowflakes, every one of them is unique, every one of them is slightly different and you are going to see one case may move inordinately quickly, we actually had one process through quite quickly as far as sort of compared to averages and I think it sort of just hit the right desk at the right minute and just sort of went through whereas some cases they just move more slowly.  It’s going to differ, case to case, circumstance to circumstance but that being said, with respect specifically to Cambodia K-1 Visas again are going to start processing in the United States, they’re going to end up in Cambodia and then once the Cambodian national comes to the United States and marries their American citizen fiancée, they can go ahead and petition to adjust status and receive a green card in the US.

Tags: American Embassy Cambodia, Consular Processing, Fiance Visa, Fiance Visa Cambodia, K-1 Visa, K1 Fiance Visa, K1 Visa, K1 Visa Cambodia, US Embassy Cambodia, US Embassy Phnom Penh, US Fiance Visa, US Immigration, US Visa, US Visa Cambodia
Posted in US Embassy Phnom Phen | No Comments »

It has come to this blogger’s attention that the new administration in the USA has promulgated policies which will place more scrutiny upon those who may be applying for visas to the USA in the future. The proposed “extreme vetting” of US visa applications in a Consular Processing context appears to be aimed at narrow subsets of “red flagged” visa applicants. In order to best summarize this policy shift, it is necessary to quote directly from a relatively recent Reuters article:

The final cable seen by Reuters, issued on March 17, leaves in place an instruction to consular chiefs in each diplomatic mission, or post, to convene working groups of law enforcement and intelligence officials to “develop a list of criteria identifying sets of post applicant populations warranting increased scrutiny.” Applicants falling within one of these identified population groups should be considered for higher-level security screening…

The new administration appears keen to narrowly target those applicants which are deemed to be appropriate for “increased scrutiny”. However, a rather recent proposal has been submitted by the U.S. Department of State requesting implementation of the emergency review procedures of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. In short, the DOS is requesting expedited processing of a request to modify the forms associated with applications for US visas. To quote directly from the US government website Regulations.gov:

The Department proposes requesting the following information, if not already included in an application, from a subset of visa applicants worldwide, in order to more rigorously evaluate applicants for terrorism or other national security-related visa ineligibilities:

• Travel history during the last fifteen years, including source of funding for travel;
• Address history during the last fifteen years;
• Employment history during the last fifteen years;
• All passport numbers and country of issuance held by the applicant;
• Names and dates of birth for all siblings;
• Name and dates of birth for all children;
• Names and dates of birth for all current and former spouses, or civil or domestic partners;
• Social media platforms and identifiers, also known as handles, used during the last five years; and
• Phone numbers and email addresses used during the last five years.

 

Most of this information is already collected on visa applications but for a shorter time period, e.g. five years rather than fifteen years. Requests for names and dates of birth of siblings and, for some applicants, children are new. The request for social media identifiers and associated platforms is new for the Department of State, although it is already collected on a voluntary basis by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for certain individuals.

It is this blogger’s opinion that the long term implications of these policy changes will be broad. However, from reading the aforementioned notice, it appears that, at the present time, DOS personnel will only be seeking more detailed information on certain individual applicants, and not from all applicants seeking visas to the USA. How will the narrow subset of applicants subject to increased scrutiny be determined? To answer that it is necessary to quote further from the Regulations.gov website:

Department of State consular officers at visa-adjudicating posts worldwide will ask the proposed additional questions to resolve an applicant’s identity or to vet for terrorism or other national security related visa ineligibilities when the consular officer determines that the circumstances of a visa applicant, a review of a visa application, or responses in a visa interview indicate a need for greater scrutiny.

Notwithstanding the fact that enhanced scrutiny will apparently only be applied on a case by case basis and only upon those individuals who are deemed to be in need of such scrutiny it seems logical to infer that at some point these additional screening protocols may be applied on a broader basis; if for no other reason than the fact that applying such scrutiny across the board might save time and resources of Consular Officials making cases by case determinations. As it stands, as of the time of this writing, the new protocols add a degree of uncertainty to the visa application process and Consular processing in general as it is difficult to foresee what may be considered a trait which warrants heightened scrutiny. Therefore, planning for such an eventuality is problematic.

As this situation continues to evolve this blog will post further updates.

Tags: Consular Officer, Consular Processing, Department of Homeland Security, DHS, DOS, DS-160, DS-260, Extreme Vetting, immigration, U.S. Department of State, us embassy bangkok, us embassy thailand, US Immigration, US Immigration Thailand, US Visa, US Visa Thailand, visa
Posted in US Consulate ChengDu, US Consulate Chennai, US Consulate Chiang Mai, US Consulate Guangzhou, US Consulate HCMC, US Consulate Hong Kong, US Consulate Hyderabad, US Consulate Kolkata, US Consulate Macau, US Consulate Mumbai, US Consulate Shanghai, US Consulate Shenyang, US Consulate Singapore, US Consulate Vladivostok, US Consulate Wuhan, US Emassy Mongolia, US Embassy Afghanistan, US Embassy Australia, us embassy bangkok, US Embassy Bangladesh, US Embassy Beijing, US Embassy Brunei Darussalam, US Embassy Burma, US Embassy Cambodia, US Embassy China, US Embassy Dhaka, US Embassy Fiji, US Embassy Hanoi, US Embassy India, US Embassy Indonesia, US Embassy Iraq, US Embassy Islamabad, US Embassy Jakarta, US Embassy Japan, US Embassy Kabul, US Embassy Kathmandu, US Embassy Kiribati, US Embassy Kuala Lumpur, US Embassy Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan), US Embassy Laos, US Embassy Malaysia, US Embassy Maldives, US Embassy Manila, US Embassy Mauritius, US Embassy Mongolia, US Embassy Myanmar, US Embassy Nauru, US Embassy Nepal, US Embassy New Dehli, US Embassy New Zealand, US Embassy Pakistan, US Embassy Papua New Guinea, US Embassy Philippines, US Embassy Phnom Phen, US Embassy Port Moresby, US Embassy Rangoon, US Embassy Russia, US Embassy Singapore, US Embassy South Korea, US Embassy Sri Lanka, US Embassy Suva, US Embassy Thailand, US Embassy Tokyo, US Embassy Tonga, US Embassy Turkmenistan, US Embassy Tuvalu, US Embassy Uzbekistan, US Embassy Vietnam, US Embassy Yangon, US State Department, US Tourist Visa, US Visa and Immigration, US Visa Thailand | No Comments »

In an effort to provide relevant information to travelers and expatriates who read this blog, the administration posts the holiday closing schedules for the various US Emabssies and US Consulates in the Southeast Asia region. The following is the holiday closing schedule for the United States Embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia as posted on the official Embassy website:

Each year, many Americans travel to a US Embassy or US Consulate in an effort to obtain services such as US Passport renewal, notary service, additional US Passport pages, and Consular Reports of Birth Abroad. Meanwhile, many foreign nationals from around the world must undergo Consular Processing in order to eventually be granted a US visa. Non-Immigrant visa units are tasked with adjudicating applications for non-immigrant visas such as the B-1/B-2 visa (US Tourist visa), F-1 visa (student visa), and the J-1 visa. Business visa units are responsible for the adjudication of business visa applications for travel documents such as the E-1 visa, the E-2 visa, the EB visa, the L-1 visa, the O-1 visa, and the H1-B visa. Finally, immigrant visa units have the responsibility for adjudicating applications for immigrant visas such as the IR-1 visa and the CR-1 visa. However, those seeking a K-1 visa (fiance visa) may also find themselves being interviewed by an officer with the immigrant visa unit as such travel documents are treated in much the same way as immigrant visas, notwithstanding the fact that K-1 visas are technically non-immigrant visas.

Those wishing to receive service from American Citizen Services at a US Embassy abroad or those wishing to have a visa application adjudictaed are encouraged to make an appointment online prior to traveling to the US Post.

For related information please see: US Embassy Thailand.

Tags: B-1 Visa, B-2 Visa, B1 visa, B2 Visa, consular report of birth abroad, Consular Reports of Birth Abroad, CRBA, E 2 Visa, E-1 Visa, E1 visa, E2 Visa, EB visa, EB-5 Visa, EB5 Visa, F-1 Visa, F1 Visa, Fiance Visa, Fiance Visa Cambodia, H1-B visa, H1B visa, J-1 visa, J1 visa, K-1 Visa, K1 Visa, K1 Visa Cambodia, L-1 visa, L1 Visa, O-1 visa, O1 Visa, student visa, US Consulate, US Embassy, US Embassy Cambodia, US Embassy Phnom Penh, us passport, US Tourist Visa
Posted in US Embassy Phnom Phen | No Comments »

In order to provide relevant information for those seeking Consular Services in Southeast Asia the administration of this web log routinely posts the holiday closing schedules of the various US Missions in Asia. The following is quoted directly from the official website of the US Embassy in Cambodia:

For further information from the aforementioned website please click HERE.

Those seeking services such as notarization, Consular Reports of Birth Abroad, or US passport renewals are well advised to seek such services from the US Consular section of the US Embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. In many cases it will likely be necessary to make an online appointment prior to arrival at the Post in order to ensure processing of a specific request for services.

In order to obtain a US visa for a foreign fiancee the American fiance is generally required to submit a petition to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) prior to the case file being processed through the National Visa Center (NVC), assuming approval; and finally on to the US Embassy or US Consulate with appropriate jurisdiction. Those seeking an immigrant visa for a foreign spouse are also likely to be required to receive an approved USCIS petition prior to processing at the National Visa Center before eventual interview and processing at a US Embassy or US Consulate abroad.

In general, it has been this blogger’s experience that the non-immigrant visa categories for foreign loved ones, such as the K-1 visa or the K-3 visa are processed by the non-immigrant visa unit at the American post with appropriate Consular jurisdiction. Meanwhile, immigrant visa categories such as the CR-1 visa or the IR-1 visa are processed by an immigrant visa unit. That stated, some protocols may vary depending upon the unique circumstances of a particular Post.

For information related to legal services in Southeast Asia please see: Legal.

Tags: American Visa Cambodia, CR-1 Visa, CR-1 Visa Cambodia, Holiday Closing Schedule, IR-1 Visa, K-1 Visa, K-1 Visa Cambodia, US Embassy Cambodia, US Visa Cambodia
Posted in Cambodia Business, CR1 Visa, IR1 Visa, K1 Visa, K2 Visa, K3 Visa, US Embassy Cambodia, US Embassy Phnom Phen, US Visa, US Visa and Immigration, USCIS | No Comments »

It recently came to this blogger’s attention that the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand made no comment regarding the possibility of a Cabinet reshuffle although she did note that attendance at upcoming children’s day festivities is apparently encouraged by the Thai government. To quote directly from the official website of the Thai-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) News Network at Tannetwork.tv:

“Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra avoided answering questions about a possible Cabinet reshuffle today and only smiled at reporters...The PM added that she would like to invite children to attend the Children’s Day celebration on Saturday at Government House as she has prepared some surprises for the kids…”

Concurrently it also came to this blogger’s attention that the government of Canada seems to have made some comments regarding same sex marriages performed in that nation. To quote directly from the website Advocate.com:

“Thousands of non-resident same-sex couples married in Canada may not be legally wed if the marriage is not recognized in their home country or state, according to the Canadian government…”

The issues surrounding the status of same sex couples has been an issue of debate in the United States of America especially as the Presidential elections continue to draw closer. However, politics does not appear to be the core concern of those who are the most effected by these issues. For example, those families wishing to maintain a same sex bi-national relationship with a non-American in the United States could be deeply impacted by both American and Canadian policy regarding same sex marriage. This issue could further be hypothetically defined where the same sex marriage (or civil union depending upon the jurisdiction) takes place outside of the United States as such a fact pattern could place the merits of the marriage under the purview of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). How this issue will ultimately be resolved in North America remains to be seen, there is one thing that seems to be a certainty: this issue is not one that will simply disappear since there are many in the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) Community who wish to see full equality in matters reflecting their marital status. American Courts have dealt with this issue in recent months although a definitive decision does not seem to have been reached hopefully this issue will be resolved in short order.

For related information please see: Full Faith and Credit Clause.

For general legal information pertaining to South East Asia please: Legal.

Tags: American Visa, American Visa Thailand, Children's Day, CR-1 Visa, Full Faith and Credit, Horizontal Full Faith and Credit, IR-1 Visa, K-1 Visa, Legal, Thai Visa, Thailand Visa, United States Citizenship and Immigration Service, us embassy bangkok, us embassy thailand, US Visa, US Visa Thailand, USCIS, Vertical Full Faith and Credit
Posted in Comprehensive Immigration Reform, CR1 Visa, Department of Homeland Security, Fiance Visa Thailand, General Legal Information, IR1 Visa, K-3 Visa Thailand, K1 Visa, K1 Visa Thailand, K2 Visa, K2 Visa Thailand, K3 Visa, Legal Opinion, lgbt immigration, Miscellaneous, News, same sex visa, States' Rights, US Consulate Chiang Mai, us embassy bangkok, US Embassy Cambodia, US Embassy Hanoi, US Embassy Phnom Phen, US Embassy Thailand, US Embassy Vietnam, US Mission ASEAN, US Visa, US Visa and Immigration, US Visa Thailand, USCIS | No Comments »

It recently came to this blogger’s attention that there may be some geopolitical tensions arising in Asia in connection to issues associated with the use of water. To quote directly from a very insightful article apparently written by Santha Oorjitham of the New Straits Times and posted by chellaney on the blog Stagecraft and Statecraft:

[T]he lower Mekong states of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam have a water treaty. India has water-sharing treaties with both the countries located downstream — Bangladesh and Pakistan. There are also water treaties between India and its two small upstream neighbours, Nepal and Bhutan. But China, the dominant riparian power of Asia, refuses to enter into water-sharing arrangements with any of its neighbours. Yet China enjoys an unrivalled global status as the source of trans-boundary river flows to the largest number of countries, ranging from Vietnam and Afghanistan to Russia and Kazakhstan…

The administration of this web log strongly encourages readers to click upon the relevant hyperlinks above in order to read more from this fascinating article. For readers who are unfamiliar with matters pertaining to Asia, particularly Southern Asia or Southeast Asia, it should be noted that water issues can be extremely important for Asian political actors and policy makers. Issues associated with water can have ramifications upon the economies, political institutions, and business environments in Asia and around the globe. As regional associations such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and nations such as India and China begin to become increasingly important players on the international stage it stands to reason that water issues pertaining to Asia will be considered increasingly important by those seeking news and information about the area.

Meanwhile it also recently came to this blogger’s attention that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) is taking measures in an effort to transform that agency into a more electronic environment compared to the current primarily paper-based environment in which it now apparently finds itself. To quote directly from a USCIS Executive summary as posted upon the website ILW.com:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS or Agency) is undertaking an agency-wide effort to move immigration services from a paper-based model to an electronic environment. This effort is known as USCIS Transformation. Transformation will deliver a simplified, Web-based system for benefit seekers to submit and track their applications. The new system is account-centric and will provide customers with improved service. It will also enhance USCIS’s ability to process cases with greater precision, security, and timeliness. In March 2011, the Office of Transformation Coordination and the Office of Public Engagement hosted a series of listening sessions and webinars with participants representing customers, attorneys and community-based organizations (CBOs). The purpose of these listening sessions was to inform USCIS about the benefits and challenges of moving to an electronic environment…

Those interested in learning further about this transformation from the USCIS Executive Summary are well advised to click upon the relevant hyperlinks above to find out more.

This blogger is personally pleased to see the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), an agency under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security, taking measures to create a more efficient system for adjudication of immigration and visa related petitions or applications. Frequent readers of this blog may have taken note of the fact that USCIS is the initial adjudicator of petitions for the K-1 visa (US fiance visa) as well as the CR-1 visa (US Marriage Visa) and the IR-1 visa. Hopefully, USCIS’s transformation will result in more streamlined processing of the aforementioned petitions.

For related information please see: US-Thai Treaty of Amity or Consular Processing

Tags: Afghanistan, ASEAN, ASsociation of Southeast ASian Nations, Bangladesh, Cambodia, CR-1 visa USCIS, Department of Homeland Security, IR-1 visa USCIS, K-1 visa USCIS, Kazakhstan, Laos, Nepal, Office of Public Engagement, Office of Transformation Coordination, Pakistan, Riparian, Riparian Power in Asia, Russia, Thailand, United States Citizenship and Immigration Service, USCIS, USCIS Transformation, Vietnam, Water, Water Rights, water treaty, water-sharing treaties
Posted in ASEAN Business, Cambodia Business, China Business, CR1 Visa, India Business, IR1 Visa, K1 Visa, K2 Visa, Laos Business, Myanmar (Burma) Business, Russia Business, Thailand Business, US Consulate ChengDu, US Consulate Chennai, US Consulate Guangzhou, US Consulate HCMC, US Consulate Hong Kong, US Consulate Hyderabad, US Consulate Kolkata, US Consulate Macau, US Consulate Mumbai, US Consulate Shanghai, US Consulate Shenyang, US Consulate Vladivostok, US Consulate Wuhan, us embassy bangkok, US Embassy Bangladesh, US Embassy Beijing, US Embassy Cambodia, US Embassy China, US Embassy Dhaka, US Embassy Hanoi, US Embassy India, US Embassy Islamabad, US Embassy Laos, US Embassy Nepal, US Embassy New Dehli, US Embassy Pakistan, US Embassy Phnom Phen, US Embassy Russia, US Embassy Vietnam, USCIS, Vietnam Business | No Comments »