Visa Specialist

Summary

This position is located in the Bureau of Consular Affairs Visa Office Office of Domestic Operations Remote Processing Division (CA/VO/DO/RP). The RP Division supports high-volume posts in need of additional nonimmigrant visa (NIV) adjudication capacity reviewing and adjudicating nonimmigrant visa applications that are eligible for waiver of an in-person visa interview under the Interview Waiver (IW) authorities.

Duties

• Reviews nonimmigrant visa applications to ensure visas are issued or refused in compliance with current law and regulations.
• Drafts responses to legal Congressional and general public inquiries concerning visa matters.
• Conducts interviews of visa applicants in a courteous and expeditious fashion.
• Conducts in-depth fact-finding to resolve discrepancies with verbal and written documentation and devises unique methods to resolve issues of missing or conflicting documentation.

Requirements

Conditions of employment

• U.S. Citizenship is required.
• Incumbent will be subject to random drug testing.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret security clearance.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more about E-Verify including your rights and responsibilities visit: must meet all the required qualification requirements described below by the closing date of this announcement.

  NOTE: Applicants must meet time-in-grade and time after competitive appointment requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

  Time-In-Grade Requirements: Federal applicants must have served 52 weeks at the next lower grade to satisfy time-in-grade restrictions per 5CFR 300 Subpart F.

  Applicants applying for the GS-09 must meet one of the qualification requirements listed below:

  A. Completion of at least 1 full year of specialized experience (equivalent to at least the GS-7 level in the Federal service) which demonstrated knowledge of immigration and/or passport laws regulations procedures and policies.

  Qualifying Specialized Experience must demonstrate the following:

  • Experience reviewing and adjudicating nonimmigrant visa applications.
  • Experience researching and analyzing immigration and visa law.

  OR

  B. Completion of a Masters or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of graduate level education or higher degree e .g. LL.B or J.D. LL.M or Ph.D. in law or other administrative or management fields related to the position to be filled.

  OR

  C. Combination of graduate level education and specialized experience as described above. If you have some but not all of the experience or education described above you may still qualify by combining the amount of creditable experience and education that you do have. To do so convert each to a percentage and then add the percentages the sum of which must equal at least 100%. Only graduate level education in excess of 18 semester hours may be used to combine education and experience.

  If you are qualifying based on education you must submit a copy of your college transcript with your application and if selected an official college transcript will be required to verify education prior to employment.

  Education

  See the qualifications section of this vacancy announcement for education requirements.

  When an applicant has less than one year of specialized experience as described in the announcement he or she may combine successfully completed graduate-level education with experience to meet the total qualification requirements. Generally 18 graduate semester hours is equivalent to 1 full-time year of graduate study (your school and department determine what constitutes 1 full time year of graduate study). The percentage of specialized work experience (for example 6 months equals 50%) and the percentage of graduate study (for example 9 graduate hours for a GS-07 equals 50% where 18 graduate hours constitute a full time year) must total at least 100%.

  Additional information

  • To request a reasonable accommodation foradditionaltime on thetimed sections of theassessment pleasesubmityour request using the Request a Reasonable Accommodation button within theAssessment Application.

    Forall otherreasonable accommodationsat the U.S. Department of State please contact the Office of Accessibility and Accommodations(OAA)at .

    OAAis responsible forreviewing andadjudicatingreasonable accommodation(RA)requests for the Assessment Battery being usedfor this following applies to all RA requests:

    • RA requestscoveradditionaltime on timed sections only.

    • Applicantssubmittinga RA request MUST attach supporting medical documentation signed by a licensed treatingmedical provider. The documentation should describe the nature severity and expected duration of the conditionidentifythe relevant medical condition or diagnosis and explain the basis for the requested extension. RA requests that do notcontainsupporting medical documentation attachmentsatthetime ofinitialrequest may be subject to further review.

    • Note:the following documents do not on their own qualify for automatic approval oftheRA request:Schedule A letters VA benefits lettersorSSA letters.

    • Applicants MUSTsubmittheir application before the vacancy closes even if pending anaccommodationdecision.

    • Applicants are encouraged to carefully follow instructions related to medical documentation provided in the vacancy announcement prior to beginning the RA process.

    • Applicants will have 48 hours after their RA request isadjudicatedto complete the assessment generated after the allottedtimeframewill not be admissible and the applicant will not be considered further for the vacancy.

    • If a different type of RA is needed please contact OAA directly at .

  • If eligible situational telework agreements may be permitted with supervisory approval.
  • Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement. If eligible applicants to this announcement may be referred to other similar positions in other Bureaus/Offices in the Department for up to 240 days and may require a higher or lower security clearance. Telework eligibility and security clearance requirements may vary for such similar positions.
  • Agency & Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program (CTAP & ICTAP):View OPMs CTAP & ICTAP eligibilitywebsite for more information. You must be rated in the Well-Qualified category and submit supporting documents under the required documents section of this announcement to receive selection priority be considered Well-Qualified applicants must: score an85 or above meet Minimum Qualifications and demonstrateproficiencyin some but notall major aspects of the position.

  Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government passionate about the ideals of our American republic and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Required Experience:

IC