Adjustment of Status Proposal for A-3 Visa Holders
Guest blogger: Madeleine Zacks, University of San Francisco law student:
An A-visa is a non-immigrant visa granted to foreign diplomatic officers and and their immediate families. Foreign diplomatic officers may be ambassadors, public ministers, career diplomatic or consular officers, other accredited officials and employees, and attendants, servants, and personal employees of those enumerated officers.[1] Immediate families are the close relatives (by marriage, blood, or adoption) of these diplomatic officers. The visas are further classified into three subsections: A-1 visas go to diplomatic or consular officers and their immediate families, A-2 visas go to other foreign officials or employees and their immediate families, and A-3 visas go to attendants and personal employees of the A-1 and A-2 holders, as well as the immediate families.
My curiosity with A-visas began with a friend of mine, John (not his real name) whose mother is a consular employee with an A-3 visa. John was born in Mexico but has lived in the United States on an A-3 visa since he was a child and has been educated here. He is about to graduate from college and wants to begin working and using his engineering degree. This is where it gets complicated; A visa holders are allowed to freely study in the United States, but working as the child of a Mexican diplomatic official is not permitted with an A visa. There are some countries that have reciprocal agreements with the United States (including Bolivia, Canada, France, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom)[2] and allow the dependents of A visa holders to work after gaining employment authorization from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Mexico is not included in this list.
John’s predicament is a specific but significant one; he has never lived in Mexico and has been educated in the United States and would like to use his engineering degree in the United States. All of his ties are to the United States; he has a long-term girlfriend who is here in the United States, and he has no ties to Mexico. However, the U.S. government treats him as though he is a Mexican national “just passing through,” while his mother does her work that for all intents and purposes, shows that she and her family have ultimate allegiance to Mexico.
John believes the easiest way for him to remain in the United States and gain work authorization is to marry his U.S. citizen girlfriend. Because John is in the United States lawfully and has been in a relationship for four years, it is a good option for him and his girlfriend. However, it seems bizarre that there is no other available remedy for adjustment of status for the children of U.S. diplomats who want to be productive members of society and have never been present in their country of origin for any meaningful period of time.
This A visa situation seems like another oddity of immigration law; John has never broken any conditions of his visa, has a U.S.-born sibling, has parents who have always been law abiding, and does not want to be forced to return to Mexico to work. In just a few months, he will have to make a significant decision as to whether to return to Mexico for work or to marry his girlfriend and continue his life in the United States. While some may say that it seems like a no-brainer, it seems backwards that the U.S. policy encourages young people to get married. Though their marriage would not be a sham marriage prohibited by the Immigration and Nationality Act per say, it would be entered into before either party would like.
Because there are relatively few children of A-visa holders in the United States, I believe it would make sense to change the policy and open up a pathway for the children of these A-visa holders to adjust their status in the United States. For example, if the United States were to require that the students (1) be educated in the United State for at least 10 years and finish high school or a high school equivalent, (2) not to have been convicted of a crime of moral turpitude, and (3) show good moral character. People like John are similar to DACA recipients, in that his whole life has been in the United States. The only difference is that John has been lawfully in the United States for his entire stay from entry through college, which may make him even more qualified for a pathway to work legally in the United States, particularly in the eyes of critics of such a proposed policy change for A-visa holders.
[1] 2-13 Immigration Law and Procedure § 13.02 (2017)
bh