As someone who has had to deal with bureaucratic systems frequently, I think you’re asking the wrong person. American Embassies act at the direction of the Ambassador or the Charge D’Affairs in their absence (or non appointment). Many of the people that fill Ambassador roles are career state department workers, but a large portion of these roles are filled by Presidential Appointment.
In turn, Ambassadors take their cue from the Secretary of State and the President. These are the people that will guide the policy which the Visa process stems from. Ergo, your elected representative has to make this a priority.
A good question would be, can an Ambassador unilaterally change this dynamic, and if so, who is friends with or has the ear of an Ambassador? You could write a letter to Mr. Eric W. Kneedler, who is (as of this writing) the current Charge d’Affairs for the US Embassy in Nairobi.
If not, you could look into doing a FOIA about the visa process and whatever holdups are actually occurring. They will have to respond to a FOIA, although it may not be in a timely manner.
Ambassadors and their US counterparts would be responsible for international relations, but I’m not sure they’d be directly involved in day-to-day staffing levels?
Directly, probably HR would be the person in charge or hiring someone if they’re in country, but HR is not going to be calling Washington to backfill empty roles.
That’s what the head of the Embassy would be doing, if enough people raised a fuss.
The State Department sends people on 3-5 year tours, so they might have a long wait to backfill a role.
As someone who has had to deal with bureaucratic systems frequently, I think you’re asking the wrong person. American Embassies act at the direction of the Ambassador or the Charge D’Affairs in their absence (or non appointment). Many of the people that fill Ambassador roles are career state department workers, but a large portion of these roles are filled by Presidential Appointment.
In turn, Ambassadors take their cue from the Secretary of State and the President. These are the people that will guide the policy which the Visa process stems from. Ergo, your elected representative has to make this a priority.
A good question would be, can an Ambassador unilaterally change this dynamic, and if so, who is friends with or has the ear of an Ambassador? You could write a letter to Mr. Eric W. Kneedler, who is (as of this writing) the current Charge d’Affairs for the US Embassy in Nairobi.
If not, you could look into doing a FOIA about the visa process and whatever holdups are actually occurring. They will have to respond to a FOIA, although it may not be in a timely manner.
Ambassadors and their US counterparts would be responsible for international relations, but I’m not sure they’d be directly involved in day-to-day staffing levels?
Directly, probably HR would be the person in charge or hiring someone if they’re in country, but HR is not going to be calling Washington to backfill empty roles.
That’s what the head of the Embassy would be doing, if enough people raised a fuss.
The State Department sends people on 3-5 year tours, so they might have a long wait to backfill a role.
Thank you so much! Let me write to Kneedler. May do a FOIA request later too