Japansen at White Waters & Black ("Adventures in Diplomacy aka Life in the Foreign Service") shared some reflections on consular work as diplomacy.
Money quote(s):
"Working in the consular section isn’t the stereotypical image of diplomacy. Many times the work is characterized as drudgery, stamping 100s of visas in a mill in some backwater. Truth is, it’s pretty interesting work, or at least it can be depending on the post."
Much of Foreign Service life hinges upon just this phrase: "depending on the post." It's an awfully big world out there; working and living conditions may vary hugely from one diplomatic assignment to the next.
Japansen correctly labels the "stamplng 100s of visas in a mill in some backwater" image of consular work as stereotypical. To beat this drum just-one-more-time, if all you're doing is "stamping" then you're doing it wrong.
"You have to stay on your toes and think on your feet as you only have a few minutes to figure out if someone is a legitimate candidate, qualified for the visa, or if they aren’t.
But beyond the basic work of adjudicating visas, it is easy to overlook the real diplomatic work that goes on at the window. For a lot of people in the host country, the consular officer is the only American they’ve ever met and their first real interaction with our country. It is important to treat people with dignity, especially when they don’t qualify for a visa."
Japensen is correct, but leaves out an important factor. While each visa applicant must legitimately qualify for a particular category or type of visa, that same applicant must have no visa ineligibilities. This is not a mistake on Japansen's part, more just an angle of perspective; one can certainly think of "has no visa ineligibilities" as being one of the qualifications of a legitimate visa candidate.
That being said, simple politeness and courtesy can go a long way in consular diplomacy. In many places, the average person is simply un-used to interactions with government officials who are polite, courteous, and efficient. That by itself makes a powerful first impression for someone who has never met an American government official before.
"While I see between 40 and 60 people a day, they only see one American and its important that they leave with a good impression that they had my full attention, concern, and consideration."
Forty to sixty non-immigrant visa applicants is a moderately light workload and certainly not in the "visa mill" range of 100+.
This allows a bit more time and consideration per each applicant, which can cut to either their advantage or disadvantage.
"Some countries are part of the visa waiver program and they don’t have to apply for simple visitors visas; they get one automatically at the border when they enter. Japan is like this, for example. You can just show up and get in for 90 days (and the same goes for the Japanese coming to America. But there’s only a handful of countries in this program and it only applies for basic tourist visas; everyone else has to come to the embassy and apply."
Travelers from visa waiver countries have to complete an online form called ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) in advance of their travel. And while this used to be fee-less, it's now seen as a cash cow for the travel advertising industry.
(I kid you not. Visa waiver travelers are being fleeced in order to pay for advertisements to encourage tourism to the U.S.)
"I take a lot of pride in being able to professionally and politely explain to people who don’t qualify for for visas why they have been denied. It’s important that they feel that they were treated fairly and with respect. It’s common sense and common courtesy, really, and I don’t mean to make it out to be more than it is."
This is an important skill. Saying "no" in a firm manner which does not insult or inflame the visa applicant while making it clear that the decision is final.
Explaining how to do this always reminds me of the definition of "Irish Diplomacy;" to wit:
"the ability to tell a man to go to hell so that he looks forward to making the trip."
"It might be my only time working in a consular section (every new Foreign Service officer does it for one of their first two tours; Consular officers do it as their mainstay) and I’m getting the most out of it. I get to meet a lot of people, get to grant a lot of joy and happiness, and have to be considerate when that joy and happiness isn’t forthcoming. You hear a lot of stories too, some of which are pretty amusing. And fundamentally, it’s important work."
8/24
