meauxna

Been meaning to post this quote from the Int'l Herald Tribune story on the State Dept.
State Dept. finds that few new diplomats will take hardship posts
by Christopher Marquis
The New York Times
Tuesday, July 23, 2002

"Employees in consular positions abroad, many of them in entry-level jobs in hardship posts, are responsible for screening about 10 million visa applicants a year."

"...the problem has been worsened by a general shortage of employees, the product of flat State Department budgets through much of the 1990s. (Colin) Powell hope to hire 1158 new employees by 2004."

and

New Security Checks Swamp INS Offices
Applications Pile Up Because Workers Lack Database Access, Training
By Cheryl W. Thompson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 16, 2002; Page A01

"The INS for years has been criticized for backlogs and delays in processing immigrants applying for residency or citizenship.

According to the House Judiciary Committee, the agency (INS) has a total of 5 million applications pending."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp...&notFound=true

Gives me a little perspective to know how much work is going on in the big picture. Which is little consolation to those of us waiting, I know.