A LONG DRAWN PROCESS
-Sudhir Shah, Advocate, Mumbai

The Consular Officers at the American Embassy and Consulates have a very convenient and easy way when they want to deny an alien’s application for a visa. They simply put their applications under administrative process. If the visas are denied and if the application is for an Immigrant visas the approved Petition has to be return to USA with the recommendation of revoking the same. The applicant thereupon has a remedy through the Petitioner who has sponsored him to show cause against the revocation and thereafter prefer an appeal if the petition is revoked. Likewise if the application is for a non immigrant visa the applicant can re-apply. But whether the application is for an Immigrant or non immigrant visa if the same is kept under administrative process the applicant cannot do anything but wait for the result of the administrative process. He cannot prefer an appeal since the visas are not denied and the petition is not disapproved or revoked. He cannot even re-apply. The application is merely pending and therefore he cannot take recourse of appeal or a fresh application.

An administrative process simply means that the consular wants to check the correctness of the statements made in the application. For this he conducts personal enquiry including visiting his residence or employer’s office. He also makes enquiries with applicant’s neighbors, colleagues even with his watchman or liftman. At times enquiries are conducted in disguise and even by making false statements; such enquiries are conducted by the consular officers at their own sweet time, in many cases after a year or more.

Applications for H-1B visa seekers or visa sought for on the basis of marriage are the once which are normally kept under administrative process. Even an anonymous letter by a rejected candidate or unsuccessful suitor causes the consular officer to put the application for a visa under administrative process.

It is therefore wise to have a stitch in time to save nine and consult an advocate well versed in US Immigration Laws before applying for any kinds of visas to avoid putting your applications under distractive process else the long drawn process will put you on hold.