Immigration Newsletter – April 2012
Changes at the U.S. Consulate in Saigon – Over the past years, the U.S. Consulate in Saigon has made significant strides to streamline the process of immigrant visa processing. The U.S. Consulate in Saigon is still considered to be a relative young post compare to other countries. The Consulate has only been processing immigrant and nonimmigrant visa about 10 years ago. Prior to this time period, the immigrant visa processing was conducted through the auspices of the U.S. Orderly Departure Program based in Bangkok, Thailand, and the nonimmigrant visa processing was not possible until the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi began the limited processing of student visa in 1996 and the tourist visa sometime in 2000. Now, the U.S. Consulate in Saigon has become a full service post and is the fifth largest post for immigrant visa processing in the world. The changes and the technological progress that the Consulate has made have led the U.S. Consulate in Saigon to be a competitive post for visa progressing as in any other countries.