...it is interesting to know that the immigration clerks interviewing prospective US visitors at our foreign embassies on behalf of the USA are in many cases NOT federal employees but are furnished by firms contracted to provide these services. Typically, they are recent college graduates who majored in areas such as international studies, languages, and so forth. They must be fluent in the language of the destination country since the interviews are conducted in that language. Some of these people are beginning what may become a career in the State Department. Others end up working as interpreters and translators for global corporations. Some are simply adventurous, multi-lingual individuals in search of excitement before settling back in the USA.
In the case of our embassy in Russia, many come from Stanford University, the University of Texas, Georgetown and other universities that have significant Slavic studies programs. They must pass all of the requirements that a regular embassy employee passes and be eligible for a security clearance. In Russia, they are salaried in the $25,000-$35,000 range (plus housing and one trip home per year at taxpayer expense) at the beginning and earn raises based on longevity, responsibilities and judgment. What does judgment have to do with this process and how is one judged? Good question.
All visas granted are automatically tracked. You’re the immigration clerk and you grant Nikita a visa that is good for six months from a certain date. Nikita is ”clocked into” the USA when he clears immigration at the US port of entry. When he departs, whether in a week or in six months, he is ”clocked out” of the USA. If he leaves on time, you, as the immigration clerk in the US Embassy in Russia, get credit for good judgment. That fact affects you at contract renewal time and impacts your raise. Too many of the applicants you granted visas did not return on time or at all, and you are not granted a new contract. From my personal dealings with the US Embassy Moscow and the consulate in Yekaterinburg, I learned that the burn out rate of these immigration contractors is about 18-24 months. By then, they’ve had enough of the rat race. Rat race? During each short interview, the clerk must quickly scan the paperwork, ask three or four pertinent questions and make a quick decision based on the evidence, all the while knowing that nearly one third of the people standing in front of them are not being truthful, in fact, are lying.
Re: Хочу туристом в США...
Originally Posted by Lilu
3. в "дырах" часто гораздо лучше платят, чем в "недырах". Она когда первый раз за границу работать поехала, еще не консулом. а атташе, то из всех вакансий имевшихся на тот момент (в том числе много богатых европейских стран) лучше всего оплачивалать работа в Узбекистане. Так что дыра не всегда наказание.Ни фига себе. Я бы москву не отнесла к стране 3го мира, ладно, там российскую глубинку - запросто, но Москву, извините... Так что им тут нас самом деле хорошо, как бы там ни было. Консулам, в смысле.
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