PROCESSING IMMIGRANT VISA APPLICATIONS

The following is the text of an April 3, 1993 State Department cable (no. 93-State-100650) sent to all diplomatic and consular posts:

Subject: Processing Immigrant Visas by Telegraphic Notification from INS Ref: 91 State 315950 (ALDAC 44)

1. Cabled notification from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) can and in most cases should be used as the basis fot the issuance of an immigrant visa. Upon receipt of cabled approval from INS, consular officers should begin to process the immigrant visa rather than wait to receive the original petition. Provided that all the essential information necessary in the cable is complete, there are no specific indications of fraud. And there is no reason to question the validity of the approval.

2. All petitions will contain the petition number and the INS approving office. The following are the acronyms for the four INS adjudication centers: EAC (Eastern Adjudications Center, St. Albas, Vermont) ; WAC (Western Adjudications Center, Laguna Niguel, CA) ; SRC (Southers Regional Center, Irving TX) ; LIN (Northern Adjudications Center, Lincoln, Nebraska) .

3. In addition to the cable from INS, posts may also issue immigrant visas on the basis of an original approved Form I-797, Notice of Action. In the case of family-based petitions, all original documentation establishing the claimed relationship should be presented. In the case of employment-based petitions, where documentation is necessary in order to determine job requirements and qualifications of the alien, posts may issue an immigrant visa on the basis of the I-797, if accompanied by a certified copy of the original I-140 petition and supporting documentation which were originally submitted to the Service.

4. If the post had been notified telegraphically of the approval of a petition, or the visa is processed on the basis of the I-797, posts shall attach a copy of the telegram or I-797 to the visa of the beneficiary (if) the visa is issued before the petition is received. In such case, when the petition is received posts shall return it to the INS office having jurisdiction over the alien's place of intended residence in the U.S. This supersedes the procedures outlined in 9 FAM 42.73 PN2.1 (C).
5. Consular officers should begin immediately to process adoption cases upon receipt of visas 37, 38, or visas 39 cables. A recent GAO study on intercountry adoptions recommended that quote the Secretary of State direct the Assistant Secretary of Consular Affairs to instruct consular officers to rely on information in approval notification cables from INS to begin processing visa applications and scheduling parent interviews, rather than require the original petition and supporting documents be produced for visual inspection, unless the cable presents information that on its face would call into question the validity of the approval. Unquote. The Department endorses the GAO's recommendation.