When Donald Trump won the election, many immigrants and their advocates feared the worst. Now that President Trump has been in office for over a year, I wish I could write that everyone’s fears were overblown, but that simply isn’t true. The administration’s actions have met and in some cases exceeded the worst fears of many immigrants and immigration practitioners.
Read moreEvening Standard: “A first look inside the new £750m US embassy on banks of Thames”
After more than fifty years in the iconic London Chancery Building in Grosvenor Square, the US Embassy in London is moving to the south bank of the River Thames. The new cube-shaped Embassy, the most expensive in the world at $1 billion USD, has taken four years to complete and features a state-of-the-art architectural design, modern security measures, and environmentally friendly features. Last week, Robert “Woody” Johnson, the US ambassador to the UK (and owner of the New York Jets football team), invited the media to tour the 518,000-square foot, twelve story building at 33 Nine Elms Lane. Ambassador Johnson explained to the media that the newly built US Embassy “is a signal to the world that this special relationship [with the UK] that we have is stronger and is going to grow and get better.”
Read moreThe New York Times: “Trump Recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital and Orders U.S. Embassy to Move”
President Trump reversed seven decades of American foreign policy last week when he formally declared Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and announced that the US Embassy will move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In making the announcement, President Trump said: “Today we finally acknowledge the obvious: that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. This is nothing more or less than a recognition of reality. It is also the right thing to do. It’s something that has to be done.” Despite this announcement, Trump signed another six-month waiver to delay the Embassy’s move as part of the Jerusalem Embassy Act, a law put in place in 1995 that initiated the process of moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem but allows presidents to sign a waiver. Trump administration officials explained that the waiver was signed in order to plan for the move. To that end, President Trump directed the State Department to begin preparing for the move by hiring architects, engineers, and planners so that the new embassy in Jerusalem can be a “magnificent tribute to peace” once completed.
Read moreHow a “Status Update” Could Cause You to Lose Your Immigration Status
In this day and age social media is a part of most people’s daily lives. Updating your status on Facebook, posting pictures on Instagram, making witty commentary on Twitter, and checking up on colleagues on LinkedIn have all become part of our day-to-day activities. But it’s not just family and friends who may be viewing your updates. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently announced that it intends to monitor the social media of immigrants—even permanent residents and naturalized US citizens. Additionally, in May this year, the Trump administration approved a new questionnaire that asks for social media handles going back five years for visa applicants worldwide. Historically, consular officers and USCIS adjudicators have, on occasion, also used Google searches and checked social media to research visa applicants and verify information on the submitted paperwork. For all these reasons, it couldn’t be a better time to discuss how various government agencies might be using the information on foreign national’s social media sites, specifically in regards to adjudicating visa applications and determining admissibility to the United States.
Read moreCNN: “United States and Turkey mutually suspend visa services”
The United States has suspended nonimmigrant visa services in Turkey, after last week’s arrest of a US embassy employee in Istanbul. In return, Turkey announced they were also suspending nonimmigrant visa services for American nationals. The US mission in Ankara said in a statement on October 8, 2017 announcing the suspension: “Recent events have forced the United States government to reassess the commitment of government of Turkey to the security of US mission and personnel."
Read moreABC News: “US Embassy in Russia suspends issuing nonimmigrant visas”
The US Embassy in Russia announced yesterday that it would temporarily suspend issuing nonimmigrant visas beginning August 23, 2017, after Russia’s decision to reduce embassy and operational staff. On September 1, 2017, visa operations will resume on a “greatly reduced scale,” and only the US Embassy in Moscow will issue visas. The consulates in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, and Vladivostok have indefinitely suspended their visa issuance. This decision will affect thousands of Russian tourists and visa applicants. Despite the visa shutdown and staff reduction, the US Embassy in Moscow and the three consulates will continue to provide emergency and routine services to American citizens, although hours may be adjusted.
Read moreReuters: “Trump Administration Approves Tougher Visa Vetting, Including Social Media Checks”
The Trump administration has approved new questions for certain US visa applicants worldwide that ask for social media handles for the last five years as well as biographical information going back fifteen years. The more extensive vetting was implemented as a "temporary, 'emergency' measure in response to President Trump’s March 6 memo mandating enhanced visa screening.” Under the new guidelines, certain applicants will be asked to provide US consular officials with such information as their passport numbers, travel history and source of funding for all trips that took place within the past fifteen years, employment history and residential addresses from the past fifteen years, the names of all spouses or partners, regardless of if they are living or deceased, and names and birth dates of all siblings and children. In addition, applicants will be asked to provide their user names and handles for all social media accounts that they have used within the past five years. Although providing this information is voluntary, the questionnaire explains that failure to provide such information could potentially delay or prevent visa processing.
Read moreDon’t Try This at Home: 5 Reasons Why Foreign Nationals Shouldn’t File E-3 Visa Applications On Their Own
The E-3 is a nonimmigrant visa that allows Australian citizens to temporarily come to the US to work for a US employer in a professional capacity. To qualify for this visa, Australian foreign nationals must have a legitimate offer of employment in the US with a salary that complies with Department of Labor requirements, fill a position that qualifies as a specialty occupation (i.e., a professional job that requires a bachelor’s degree or higher in a specific field of study), and hold at least a bachelor’s degree (or the equivalent work experience) in a field related to the position.
Read moreOPINION: Trump and Immigration: What to Expect
It is no exaggeration to say that President-Elect Trump made immigration a centerpiece of his campaign, ever since the summer of 2015 when he launched it with his famous speech labeling Mexican immigrants drug dealers and rapists although some might be “good people.” He called for a total ban on Muslim immigration to the US, and applauded the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding the injunction on President Obama’s expanded DACA/DAPA program. But now that he’s been elected, what can we expect from President Trump on immigration beginning next week on January 20?
Read moreThe Japan Times: "Romance dance routine featuring Santa-clad Ambassador Kennedy an instant online hit"
US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and Embassy staff in Japan made a special Christmas video that has since become a social media hit with over five million views. The video consists of the US embassy version of a koi (falling in love) dance routine from a popular Japanese TV drama series “Nigeru wa Hajidaga Yaku ni Tatsu” (roughly translated as “Running Away is Shameful but Useful”).
The video begins with Santa-clad Kennedy performing the choreographed dance, and she is joined by various other diplomats and staff from the US Embassy office in Tokyo as well as the Consulate offices in Sapporo, Nagoya, Osaka, Kobe, Fukuoka, and Okinawa. US Embassy spokeswoman Marrie Schaefer says the diplomatic mission was “pleasantly surprised” at the response to the video, especially considering the video was originally meant to just be shared internally. “This is the holiday season and we try to do something nice and light, and we try to be merry, like Merry Christmas,” Schaefer tells the Japan Times. “Originally we were just going to do something internal, to say ‘Hey guys!’ in the mission… But after it was finished we said, ‘This is good! We should upload it!’ And everyone said, ‘Great idea!’ and so that’s what we did.” A female staffer at the US Embassy filmed and choreographed the movements. “We practiced, but we didn’t have to practice a whole day,” Shaefer says. “We do have other work to do.”
The dance is inspired by the theme song from the TV drama which features actress Yui Aragaki and actor/singer Gen Hoshino, who also sings the theme song. Hoshino plays an “introvert computer engineer who nurtures love and trust with a woman with whom he gets into a fake marriage.” In a nod to the show, the Embassy video also features one male official wearing eyeglasses and acting like the husband character played by Hoshino.
With this video, the US Embassy joins a growing list of people and institutions across Japan that have joined the “koi dance boom” and filmed and uploaded their own versions. The US Embassy dance video impressed many YouTube users, with some commenting on the “high quality” of the dance and the showmanship. “This would make even (US President-elect Donald) Trump smile,” one user commented.
It wasn’t just the US Embassy in Japan making cute holiday greetings. Inspired no doubt by James Corden’s “Carpool Karaoke,” the US Embassy in Oslo, Norway released a creative Christmas video. The video features Ambassador Samuel Heins, who is spending his first Christmas in Norway, singer Tone Damli, and journalist Ole Torp, who drive around Oslo singing Christmas carols and practicing Norwegian in their quest to find “julestemming,” a.k.a. true holiday spirit.
Not to be outdone, the US Embassy in Prague posted a video showing US Embassy employees singing one of the best-loved Czech Christmas carols “Půjdem spolu do Betléma” (“We will go to Bethlehem Together”). The video starts with Cultural Attaché Erin Kotheimer and Ray Castillo, Counselor for Public Affairs, breaking into the song. As they walk around the US ambassador’s residence, other employees join them. Finally, Ambassador Andrew Schapiro shows up to wish Czechs a Merry Christmas on behalf of the staff.
We hope to see more creative videos from Embassy staff worldwide in the future (and, who knows, perhaps one from Daryanani Law Group). Happy Holidays!