Consular Returns to Revoke Visa Petition

Upon approval of a petition, the beneficiary of the petition, generally, has to apply for a visa at a U.S. consulate abroad.  It is noteworthy to mention that approval of the petition by the US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) does not guarantee a visa as USCIS has the authority to revoke a petition after it has been approved.  Similarly, consular officers have the authority to return petitions to USCIS for revocation where fraud, misrepresentation, or ineligibility if likely to lead to revocation. 

Upon receiving recommendation to revoke from a consulate, USCIS has the option to either reaffirm the approval of the petition and return it back to the consulate, or to issue a Notice of Intent to Revoke to give the petition an opportunity to respond to the consulate findings. 

The Vermont Service Center (VSC) at the October 2013 Stakeholder Meeting provided updated information on handling of consular returns. Specifically, VSC indicates that consular returns are currently backlogged at 6 months or longer; cases involving H-1B extensions receive more immediate attention. VSC also confirmed that its current protocol is to “shelf” a case and take no further action on it if it is returned again to the VSC by the Department of State (DOS) after a VSC reaffirmation.

VSC emphasizes it is working with DOS to better coordinate DOS transmissions when petition is returned to the VSC, including more detailed information on issues presented at the consulate that may not be apparent when the case is being adjudicated at the VSC. VSC hopes that improved coordination with DOS, along with the recent addition of 40 adjudicators to work consular return cases, will decrease consular return processing times.

The VSC acknowledges that applicants are usually not provided with the actual Notice of Return and/or the specific reasons for a return, which can be especially problematic for petitioners responding to a Notice of Intent to Revoke. Upon issuing a Notice of Intent to Revoke, VSC stated that it would consider providing applicants with either a copy of the return, redacted if necessary, or specific information provided by the consulate that it believes.