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Visa Specialist

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Job Description

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.

Qualifications

Applicants 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 non-immigrant visa applications. Experience researching and analyzing immigration and visa law. OR B. Completion of a Master's 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. To qualify for the GS-11, you must meet A, B or C as follows: A. At least one year of specialized experience, equivalent to at least the GS-09 grade level in the Federal service, that demonstrates the ability to plan and coordinate program activities and the ability to make decisions; the ability to communicate orally and to meet and deal; the ability to assemble data, analyze management problems and recommend solutions; the ability to research, interpret and apply regulatory and precedent material; the ability to communicate in writing; and the ability to interpret statistical data. Qualifying specialized experience may have been gained in work such as developing, examining, investigating, adjudicating, or authorizing claims arising under the immigration and/or nationality laws of the United States. Qualifying specialized experience must demonstrate the following: Experience reviewing and adjudicating non-immigrant visa applications. Experience researching and analyzing immigration and visa law. Experience communicating, presenting and/or collaborating with others on matters related to U.S. visa policies and procedures. B.A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or have successfully completed three full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree. Major field of study should be public administration, political science, or other field related to this position. C. A combination of specialized experience as described in A and more than two years of graduate education as described in B which totals at least one year. To compute, divide your total months of qualifying experience by 12. Then divide your semester hours of graduate education beyond two years by 18. Add the two percentages. The total percentage must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. 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.

Required Documents

All required documents listed below, that are applicable to you, must be submitted to our automated system by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. 1. Resume limited to two pages showing relevant work/volunteer experience, education and training. Include the start and end dates (from month/year to month/year) and the number of hours per week worked/volunteered. Your resume serves as the basis for qualification determinations and must support your answers to the completed online assessment questions. Resumes longer than two pages will be deemed ineligible and will not be considered further. 2. Transcripts, if applicable and you are qualifying based on education. See the Qualification and Education sections of this announcement for more information. If selected, an official/sealed college transcript(s) will be required to verify education prior to employment. 3. Most recent SF-50s (Notification of Personnel Actions), if you are a current eligible DOS employee (per 3 FAM 2313.4(a)(5)), including current employees applying under a non-competitive hiring authority. The SF-50s must show: effective date, position title, series, grade, salary, tenure, position occupied, full promotion potential, and name of agency. Multiple SF-50s may be needed to show all required information (e.g., promotion, within-grade increase, and separation SF-50s). Award SF-50s often do not show the required information. 4. Performance appraisal, strongly encouraged for current eligible DOS employees. Submit a copy of your most recent (i.e., usually within the last 18 months) final (i.e., not a mid-year review) official (i.e., signed by the rating official and in original format) annual performance appraisal for the hiring manager’s consideration. If a performance appraisal is not available, you may provide a statement and/or a statement from your supervisor explaining the reason one is not available and your servicing HR Office contact information (name, email address, phone number). Note: You may be requested to provide an appraisal to the hiring official if one was not provided with your application. To receive a promotion, the employee’s most recent performance rating must be “fully successful” or an equivalent level or higher. Employees who are tentatively selected to receive a promotion will be required to provide performance documentation within two business days of request. Servicing HR Offices may be contacted to verify performance ratings. 5. Non-competitive hiring authority eligibility documentation, if applicable. If you are a current eligible DOS employee applying under a non-competitive hiring authority, you must submit proof of non-competitive eligibility with your application. For information related to Schedule A hiring authority for individuals with disabilities visit OPM’s hiring information site. 6. CTAP documentation, if applicable. Visit our agency’s CTAP site for required documentation.

Department Information

Agency

Department of State - Agency Wide

Department

Department of State

Location

Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia, United States

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