Information about US Immigration from Bangkok, Thailand

United States Immigration law is a complex and multi-faceted area of American jurisprudence. One area that relatively few writers comment on in this area is that of Consular Processing. This is a somewhat unique area of practice since few American attorneys reside outside of the USA and few of those are Immigration attorneys. At the time of this writing, the city in which this author lives is in a state of turmoil. This has resulted in the US Embassy temporarily closing and the non-essential personnel to evacuate. Hopefully the following will provide insight to future American Immigration attorneys practicing in an international crisis zone.

This author must confess a great deal of admiration for the officers of the Consulate in his district as they continued to work diligently while civil strife seemed to hover around them. At the same time, those lawyers with pending cases at Consulates outside of the USA would be prudent to consistently remember that Consular Officers adjudicate cases notwithstanding the situation in the political arena of the host country. Thus, it is not uncommon to receive 221g denials during periods of general civil discord. For American attorneys practicing in politically turbulent US Consular Districts overseas, it is wise to attempt to get all matters pending before the Consulate dealt with prior to a weekend as weekends tend to be periods in which upheaval is more likely to occur.

There is a saying: "Hope for the Best, Plan for the Worst." This saying concisely describes the mindset of Consular Processing lawyers during times of international political turbulence. During times of civil strife, it might be prudent to make one's practice as mobile as possible. Fortunately, in the current age of technology, this is more feasible when compared to previous eras. Although, it is generally wise to keep multiple data backups at different secure locations in order to forestall the loss of all information related to one's portfolio.

Everything depends upon staff. During a period of intense instability, one's staff will likely be the key to maintaining good order and dealing with the myriad difficulties that come from rescheduling and rearranging one's itinerary in order to deal with previously unforeseeable difficulties. This writer has been fortunate in having very diligent, professional, and steadfast Thai and American colleagues. This usually results in an organization that can quickly adapt and find solutions to problems that are rarely experienced by attorneys practicing inside of the United States of America or in many countries around the globe.


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Benjamin Hart is an American attorney and the Managing Director of Integrity Legal (Thailand) Co. Ltd. A firm with offices in Bangkok, Thailand. Contact them at 1-877-231-7533, +66 (0)2-266-3698, or info@integrity-legal.com. See them on the internet at
K1 visa
. Learn more about Consular Processing Issues in Bangkok at:
US Embassy Thailand
.