re: "Any Idiot Can Deny a Visa"

Dave at Dead Men Working shares some recollections and insights about visa work in connection with another topic entirely.

Quote(s):

"Like most of my colleagues, I began my Foreign Service career with a consular tour. In order to prepare me, I was trained at the Foreign Service Institute, in the consular course. It was two decades ago, but I still remember the teacher's admonition at the end of the course. "Any idiot can deny a visa," he said. "You were not hired for that. Your job is to issue visas to each and every person who is legitimately qualified to receive one. That requires judgement, skill and the ability to interpret evidence in the context of laws. That is why the Government hired you." "

&

"When I was a consular officer, I refused nearly fifty percent of the applicants I interviewed. I identified fraudulent documents, entered documented bad cases into the lookout, and even arranged for a couple of people who presented fake passports to be arrested when they left the Embassy.

I kept the bad guys out.

But I never forgot that my job, my real job, was to let the good guys in."