Will turmoil back in my home country slow down my loved one's visa case?
Hi, I'm Jim Hacking, immigration lawyer, practicing law throughout the United States at our office here in St. Louis, Missouri.
It's still a violent world and there's still a lot of conflict in different places around the world, and sometimes our clients ask us whether that violence is going to spill over to their embassy case. Today's question comes from Motez. Motez is wondering whether the current violence in the Middle East is going to lead to further delays for his spouse's case or does it also increase the chances of denial. This is a real concern for many people in the United States who have a loved one overseas. And at this point, they've done all the work. Their case has been processed through USCIS. Their case has been completed at the National Visa Center, which is the start of the State Department process, and their case is either on its way or has been sent to an embassy for an interview.
Now, the other day I posted to our Facebook group, Immigrant Home, that one of our clients had received a notice from the embassy in Baghdad that basically, because of the violence and the attack on the embassy there, that they were closing embassy and consulate activities and that the cases were going to be delayed. So, in certain circumstances, it's obvious that the case is going to be delayed and you're just going to be sort of set in limbo for a while, while the embassy is closed. That embassy in Baghdad opens and closes a lot actually, so hopefully it'll be open again real soon.
But, yeah, your case is on hold while your case is stuck at that embassy. It's going to be real hard, it might be detrimental to try to move it to another embassy. I guess if things got really crazy, like the closing of an embassy, say, in Yemen, then you're going to have to try to get your case transferred to another embassy, which is not easy. Yeah. Generally, Motez, if your spouse's case is in a country where the embassy gets closed, I think it's pretty safe to say that your spouse's case is going to be put on hold for that.
Now, as far as the chances for increased denials if the embassy reopens. Do I think that because there's violence in a certain area in the area of your spouse or fiancee's home country, do I think that means that they're going to lead to higher denial rates? I suppose, maybe a little bit, but generally, most cases, in my opinion, do stand on their own two feet. If the case is strong and valid, then it should get approved, and if not, it might not get approved or it might get refused. Obviously, everything's on a case-by-case basis. You never know exactly what's going to happen. But I don't think that just because the embassy is under or has been under attack in the past that that is going to make them outright deny more cases. Now, it might make them more suspicious of who they let into the United States and be less willing to give a visa. So I think in a way it could lead to greater denials, but I don't think it's a sure thing.
I think overall, my overall theme is that the cases are going to be treated fairly and treated uniformly. But, of course, they do pick and choose who they give the visas to. So there's an element to it, and I think there might be some lingering resentments over having the embassy close and I think they might be a little harsher on people. But there are embassies in countries, such as Morocco and Pakistan, where we haven't seen any violence, and those places have greater refusal rates and denial rates than other embassies where there is violence, where there is violence. So don't worry about that. I wouldn't spend too much time thinking about that. It's obviously out of your control. It's out of our control. It's just sort of one of those things that we have to deal with.
But if you are stuck in an embassy or if you have questions about this, give us a call at (314) 961-8200. You can always email us at [email protected]. Be sure to join us in our Facebook group, which is called Immigrant Home. If you like this video, please subscribe to the channel YouTube or wherever you're watching this. And make sure that you share it out on social so that other people can find out about all the problems associated with violence in the home country and what can happen when your loved one's visa case is up for interview. Thanks a lot. Have a great day.
