Daily Archives: December 22, 2015

Best Holiday Hits From the British Consulate General in New York (Videos)

December 22, 2015 By in Foreign Service, Holidays and Celebrations, UK-FCO Tags: , , ,

Posted: 2:49 pm EDT
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These are fantastic productions! The videos are not focused on a principal officer or a couple but includes the mission staffers, who all look like they’re having  a great time.  Perhaps more importantly, the videos are used not just to send holiday greetings but also as a reminder of accomplishments throughout the year. In at least three of them, the videos were also use to plug a charity; for instance, in 2012, to support the victims of Superstorm Sandy.  There is purpose beyond just having a video out there, and they’re all creative and inspired!

 

Published on Dec 21, 2015

The British Consulate General in New York wishes you a very happy holiday season and a GREAT 2016. We hope you enjoy this affectionate tribute to Adele’s “Hello”. The video is dedicated to the memory of our colleague and friend Stephanie Ruley. We hope you will consider making a donation to the Brain Aneurysm Foundation at http://www.youcaring.com/stephandholly

 

Published on Dec 19, 2014

The British Consulate in New York wishes you a very happy holiday season and a GREAT 2015. This adaptation of “Christmas Don’t Be Late” celebrates everything we’ve done this year with our wonderful partners and friends.

 

Published on Dec 17, 2013

The British Consulate General New York remakes the music video for Wham!’s “Last Christmas”. If you enjoyed this video, please consider a donation to the Red Cross. http://www.redcross.org/ny/new-york/
Watch the original here to compare: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8gmAR…

 

Published on Dec 7, 2012

If you enjoyed this video, please consider a donation to the American Red Cross to support victims of Superstorm Sandy: http://www.nyredcross.org/

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Whoa! That’s a Pretty Thin Senior Foreign Service Promotion List You Got There!

December 22, 2015 By in Congress, Foreign Service, FSOs, Huh? News, Nominations, Promotions, Realities of the FS, Senators, SFRC, Staffing the FS, State Department, Top Ranks, Trends Tags: , , , ,

Posted: 3:17 am EDT
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The Sad Batman Via @FS_Problems:

When you see the promotion statistics and realize just how few people are getting promoted

AFSA used to publish the FS promotion lists (which are unclassified docs) during the Johnson-Hirsch tenure but it stopped doing that a few years back. The lists below are from senate.gov and are promotions of career members of the Service under section 605 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (Act) based on recommendations and rankings of Selection Boards established under section 602 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (career member promotions into and within the Senior Foreign Service also require the approval of the President).

This looks like a pretty thin promotion list for the Senior Foreign Service. Not only that, most of the names in these promotion lists are still stuck in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) until heaven knows when. We have not been able to locate the  promotion lists for the midlevel ranks as of this writing. The promotion statistics will not be publicly available until published by State Magazine in mid-2016.

PN951-1 — 114th Congress (2015-2016) | STATE – Class of Career Minister (FE-CM); confirmed on 12/10/2015

The following-named Career Members of the Senior Foreign Service of the Department of State for promotion within the Senior Foreign Service to the class indicated: Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service of the United States of America, Class of Career Minister

James F. Entwistle Virginia
Brian A. Nichols California
Daniel R. Russel California

PN951-2 — 114th Congress (2015-2016) STATE — Class of Career Minister (FE-CM); currently pending in the SFRC.

The following-named Career Members of the Senior Foreign Service of the Department of State for promotion within the Senior Foreign Service to the class indicated: Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service of the United States of America, Class of Career Minister:

Richard Gustave Olson Jr. — Foreign Service

PN952 — 114th Congress (2015-2016) USAID – Class of Career-Minister (FE-CM); currently pending in the SFRC
The following-named Career Members of the Senior Foreign Service of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for promotion within the Senior Foreign Service to the classes indicated: Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Career-Minister:

Cheryl L. Anderson Virginia
William R. Brands Arizona
Thomas R. Delaney Pennsylvania
Michael T. Harvey Texas
Brooke Andrea Isham Washington
Janina Anne Jaruzelski New Jersey
Charles E. North Virginia
Beth S. Paige Texas
Thomas H. Staal Maryland
Dennis J. Weller Illinois
Melissa A. Williams Virginia

PN000 – 114th Congress (2015-2016) STATE – Minister Counselor (FE-MC) — anyone promoted to this rank at the State Department?

PN953 — 114th Congress (2015-2016)  USAID – Class of Minister Counselor (FE-MC), currently pending in the SFRC).

The following-named Career Members of the Senior Foreign Service of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for promotion within the Senior Foreign Service to the classes indicated: Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor:

Jennifer M. Adams Virginia
Rebecca R. W. Black New Mexico
Sherry Faith Carlin Florida
Nancy L. Estes Florida
Erin Elizabeth McKee Virginia
Leslie K. Reed California
John Mark Winfield Maryland

PN953 — 114th Congress (2015-2016) STATE – Class of Counselor (FE-OC), currently pending in the SFRC.

The following-named Career Members of the Foreign Service for promotion into the Senior Foreign Service, as indicated: Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service of the United States of America, Class of Counselor:

Kathy E. Body Maryland
David G. Brown Maryland
Beverly A. Busa California
John J. Cardenas California
Sharon Thams Carter Florida
Katherine Ashton Crawford Maryland
Christopher M. Cushing Florida
Holly L. Ferrette Maryland
Ramona M. El Hamzaoui New Hampshire
Craig K. Hart Virginia
Mary Melinda Hobbs Missouri
Edith I. Houston Virginia
Barbara W. Hughes Connecticut
Elise M. Jensen Massachusetts
Karen D. Klimowski California
Julie A. Koenen California
Gary Linden Virginia
Marcia Musisi-Nkambwe Arizona
Anne Elizabeth Patterson District of Columbia
Evelyn Rodriguez Perez Florida
Leslie A. Perry Colorado
Patrick L. Robinson New Hampshire
Lawrence J. Sacks Missouri
Sheryl A. Stumbras Florida
Aye Aye Thwin Maryland
Christophe Andre Tocco California
Amy C. Tohill-Stull Virginia
Theresa G. Tuano Maryland
Peter A. Wiebler Virginia
Sunil Sebastian Xavier Virginia

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Snapshot: Classes of Nonimmigrants Issued Visas, FY2010-2014

December 22, 2015 By in Foreign Service, Functional Bureaus, Snapshots, Spectacular, State Department, U.S. Missions, Visas Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Posted: 1:53 am EDT
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via travel.state.gov

Screen Shot

 

Nonimmigrant visa application processing fees are tiered based on the visa category and are non-refundable whether the application is approved or refused. Note that the fee is for a “processing fee” and not an issuance fee (subject to reciprocity). Nonimmigrant visa applicants from certain countries/areas of authority may be required to pay a visa issuance fee after their application is approved. These fees are based on the principle of  reciprocity:  when a foreign government imposes fees on U.S. citizens for certain types of visas, the United States will impose a reciprocal fee on citizens of that country/area of authority for similar types of visas.

The visa processing fees range from “No Fee” for applicants for A, G, C-2, C-3, NATO, and diplomatic visas, to non-petition-based nonimmigrant visa (except E) at $160.00 and petition based visa categories at $190.00.

E  visas or Treaty Trader/Investor, Australian Professional Specialty category visa is currently $205.00

K visas for Fiancé(e) or Spouse of U.S. citizen category visa is $265.00

It looks like the most expensive is the L visa fraud prevention and detection fee – for visa applicant included in L blanket petition   where the principal applicant is charged $500.00.

In any case, if we just calculate the consular revenue from 6,276,997 visitor visa applicants in FY2014 at $160 per applicant, that’s $1,004,319,520 or real serious money.

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