For the times they are a-changin'! I (and quite a few others) recently received an email from the US Embassy-Hanoi that began thus: The Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi presents its compliments to your company. On February 22, 2014, the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi and the Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh … Continue reading Dawn of a New Day? US State Department Reaches Out to Agents in Vietnam
visa policy
US Burns Through All High-Skill Visas For 2015 In Less Than A Week
Give me your highly skilled, your well-educated, your ambitious, Your best and brightest yearning to climb the proverbial career ladder and in doing so meet the desperate needs of a de-skilling and graying society, The sons and daughters of the world's educated classes, immigrants and international students alike. Send these, the talented, the promising, the … Continue reading US Burns Through All High-Skill Visas For 2015 In Less Than A Week
U.S. Student Visa Update: Upward Trend Continues
According to the latest figures from the US Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs, a record 10,867 F-1 (student) visas were issued in Fiscal Year 2013, which ended on 30 September 2013. That represents a 5% increase over FY2012. As you see from the chart below, the take-off phase, which reflects the rapidly expanding … Continue reading U.S. Student Visa Update: Upward Trend Continues
Five-Minute Glass: What Our Government Sees When It Looks Out the Window
Below is an excerpt from a recent article written by Daniel H. Garrett, a former US Department of State foreign service officer and currently a senior associate at The Asia Institute. I am posting it because it offers an insider's view of the work of US consular officers, including student visas. In addition to … Continue reading Five-Minute Glass: What Our Government Sees When It Looks Out the Window
Culture Shock: The Exploitation of J-1 Cultural Exchange Workers
“Employers, sponsors, and overseas recruiting agencies have hijacked the cultural exchange program, turning it into a low-wage guest worker program that benefits their bottom lines at the expense of these workers and the United States’ reputation. Each year that the State Department and Congress fail to reform this program is another year thousands of young … Continue reading Culture Shock: The Exploitation of J-1 Cultural Exchange Workers
Nonimmigrant B Visa Adjusted Refusal Rates: Vietnam’s Stock Is Rising
While B visas are not F1 (i.e., student) visas, a look at issuance statistics since 2006 reveals a positive trend for Vietnamese traveling to the U.S. on business or on holiday. (B-1 visas are for tourism, pleasure or visiting, while B-2 visas are a combination of both purposes.) In Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 20.3% of … Continue reading Nonimmigrant B Visa Adjusted Refusal Rates: Vietnam’s Stock Is Rising
2013 in Blogging
Thanks to the annual WordPress wrap-up, I'm happy to share with you the following information about blog traffic last year. The busiest day of the year was December 2nd. The most popular post that day was Education Companies in Vietnam: Take a Walk on the Wild Side (Part I), including 130 Facebook shares to date. (Don't miss Part … Continue reading 2013 in Blogging
Gaming the System, International Student-Style
Gaming the system (also referred to as gaming the rules, bending the rules, abusing the system, milking the system, playing the system, or working the system) can be defined as using the rules and procedures meant to protect a system in order, instead, to manipulate the system for a desired outcome. Here’s a relevant hypothetical … Continue reading Gaming the System, International Student-Style
FSO Michael T. Sestak Pleads Guilty in Visa Fraud-Bribery Case, Faces 19-24 Years in Prison
Reposted from – Domani Spero On November 6, USDOJ announced that Michael T. Sestak, the former Nonimmigrant Visa Section Chief at the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City had pleaded guilty to “receiving more than $3 million in bribes” in exchange for U.S. visas. The Government alleged that the visa scheme had netted … Continue reading FSO Michael T. Sestak Pleads Guilty in Visa Fraud-Bribery Case, Faces 19-24 Years in Prison
Vietnam Ranks 7th in… U.S. Immigration
This has become an annual update about Vietnamese emigration to the U.S. As I mentioned in a May 2012 post entitled Vietnam is a “Top Ten” Country in Another Category, Vietnam ranked 8th among all countries sending young people to study in the U.S. and 7th in another (unlikely), according to US Department of Homeland Security FY … Continue reading Vietnam Ranks 7th in… U.S. Immigration
An International Educator in Vietnam 
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