Charlie Oppenheim retiring from Dept of State

[qesehmk]

Charlie Oppenheim retires after 43 years of service.

In my judgement Charlie has done his job as best as he could within the system and with the partners he has at USCIS. Charlie has always pushed USCIS to expedite visa allocation and he has always pushed VB dates in order to assign more cases to USCIS.

The last such attempt though backfired (almost a decade back now I believe!) when USCIS flat out refused to honor VB dates. That is when DoS has effectively lost control over VB dates IMHO and USCIS now pretty much dictates what those dates are. Forget the politics - the point is Charlie is a good guy and has tried his best to be pro immigrant.

I personally wish him all the health and happiness with his family and loved ones and express my gratitude for all the efforts he has made to bring more transparency to immigration.

@Spectator in listening - I'd be curious about your thoughts on this topic too.

Everybody I'd urge you really understand that DoS is generally pro immigrant organization and they do their job very very professionally. Of course there are some people with different views of what this country is and should be. But I'd appreciate if our visitors tip their hat for Charlie today.

[Spectator]

Charlie Oppenheim retires after 43 years of service.

In my judgement Charlie has done his job as best as he could within the system and with the partners he has at USCIS. Charlie has always pushed USCIS to expedite visa allocation and he has always pushed VB dates in order to assign more cases to USCIS.

The last such attempt though backfired (almost a decade back now I believe!) when USCIS flat out refused to honor VB dates. That is when DoS has effectively lost control over VB dates IMHO and USCIS now pretty much dictates what those dates are. Forget the politics - the point is Charlie is a good guy and has tried his best to be pro immigrant.

I personally wish him all the health and happiness with his family and loved ones and express my gratitude for all the efforts he has made to bring more transparency to immigration.

@Spectator in listening - I'd be curious about your thoughts on this topic too.

Everybody I'd urge you really understand that DoS is generally pro immigrant organization and they do their job very very professionally. Of course there are some people with different views of what this country is and should be. But I'd appreciate if our visitors tip their hat for Charlie today.

Q,

I would echo every word you have written.

I think he is a large part of why we see more transparency and information from DOS than we do from USCIS.

I don't know if it is telling, but I have noticed that the Monthly Visa Issuances Report of Consular approvals has not been updated since the July 2021 figures.

Like you, I do think he has done his best within the laws and regulations he must follow and with the information he has available. Has he been perfect?? No. Has he been too conservative at times? I think so.

I think his biggest obstacle has been getting high quality and timely information from USCIS.

The Consulates are able to provide exact numbers in advance of setting the VB. USCIS clearly cannot.

It's not a job I think I would like.

I think it's going to be very difficult to replace him with someone who has the same affinity with the applicants.

I thought he has worn well, considering he has been there 43 years.

I wish him well in retirement and hope he has a long time to enjoy it.

I've seen some very ignorant comments on Trackitt from people who clearly haven't taken the time to understand what the INA says and have made personal and offensive comments towards Charlie.

An example of the differences in reporting between DOS and USCIS can be seen with FY approval numbers.

Generally, we've seen DOS publish the FY Statistics for a year in the January following the end of the FY. So, FY2020 figures were published by DOS in January 2021.

The USCIS equivalent are the tables that accompany the Yearbook Of Immigration Statistics. To date, those for FY2020 have still not been published, even though FY2021 has come and gone.

[srimurthy]

Charlie Oppenheim retires after 43 years of service.

In my judgement Charlie has done his job as best as he could within the system and with the partners he has at USCIS. Charlie has always pushed USCIS to expedite visa allocation and he has always pushed VB dates in order to assign more cases to USCIS.

The last such attempt though backfired (almost a decade back now I believe!) when USCIS flat out refused to honor VB dates. That is when DoS has effectively lost control over VB dates IMHO and USCIS now pretty much dictates what those dates are. Forget the politics - the point is Charlie is a good guy and has tried his best to be pro immigrant.

I personally wish him all the health and happiness with his family and loved ones and express my gratitude for all the efforts he has made to bring more transparency to immigration.

@Spectator in listening - I'd be curious about your thoughts on this topic too.

Everybody I'd urge you really understand that DoS is generally pro immigrant organization and they do their job very very professionally. Of course there are some people with different views of what this country is and should be. But I'd appreciate if our visitors tip their hat for Charlie today.

For sure this was one of the only information coming directly from inside the departments other than the bulletins.
Hope with the new member in charge, they take a step ahead and be more forthcoming and proactive in not wasting the numbers

[qesehmk]

I've seen some very ignorant comments on Trackitt from people who clearly haven't taken the time to understand what the INA says and have made personal and offensive comments towards Charlie.

Thanks Spec. Glad to read your thoughts. As per people making personal and offensive comments - usually these are narrow minded entitled people who have no interest in understanding American history or values or what has really shaped USA- things that really motivate me in running this blog. My view of US is on balance extremely positive (less the wars of course). US is a country of courageous people who are willing to admit to their mistakes and so while there are many injustices (including the ones in immigration systems - chinese exclusion act ! hello! or irish not being considered white! that's really funny isn't it!) US has fixed things and moved forward. So this struggle of EB-IC about country caps is just one more step and it is our time and to the extent we can contribute that's wonderful.

Unfortunately I know how entitled Indians can be - reasons galore. Many don't necessarily care about American history or values. They will expect and enjoy all the liberties and freedom here only to support bigoted views back home. I am not really digressing. The point is - we are seeing the same when people are attacking Sen. Durbin or Charlie. They have their narrow frame and all they care is their GC. Once they get that - all their talk about Justice and fairness is going to evaporate and they are going to build the mini-conservative-backwards-ass-india right in their front yard. I have no tolerance for such people and of late silently but firmly I have moved in that direction. That's my Wednesday evening rant for you

Hope with the new member in charge, they take a step ahead and be more forthcoming and proactive in not wasting the numbers

Sri - DOS is totally willing to dole out ALL the visa numbers. It USCIS who always drag their feet using the numbers. And this is true just as today just as it has been literally 30-40 years back.