Christa Jean Byker

Telephone: 406-***-**** · E-mail: adhv1f@r.postjobfree.com

Summary

A driven, bilingual (English-Spanish) U.S. visa subject-matter expert who brings strong leadership skills to international teams and program management

Professional Experience

08/2019 – Present Argo Visa Officer (Consultant) www.argovisa.com Argo Visa

-Argo is the first-ever fully remote company to connect aspiring applicants for a U.S. visa with former Consular Officers to get ready for their interviews. As an Argo Officer, I conduct these practice visa interviews, as well as consult on the company’s platform and commercial design 09/2010 – Present Founder and Co-translator www.spengls.com Spanish English Language Services

-Freelance management of Spanish-English translation requests (approximately 50,000 words per month) 10/2014 – 03/2019 Foreign Service Consular Officer Posts: Mexico City + Full time Guatemala City

U.S. Department of State

-Mastery of U.S. immigration law and consular regulations through adjudication of non-immigrant and immigrant visas and U.S. passports

-Areas of expertise: NIV: B1/B2, E, F/M, H (all), J, L, U/T, TN, DS-160, I-129, petition management - IV: IR1-5, EB, K, I-140, DS-260, USCIS liaison, FOIA requests, (3)(A)(ii) fraud screening and Advisory Opinion drafting and organization, Panel physician and CDC coordination

-Onboarding and training director

-Additional responsibilities related to outreach and public engagement, for example:

-Organized all aspects of the Ambassador’s trip to the Guatemalan State of Izabal to advance the Embassy’s police reform project

-Engaged with YouTube, Facebook and press medium to disseminate information about Consular services, including drafting of the script and serving as spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy 01/2014 – 05/2014 Organizational Consultant Buenos Aires, Argentina 30 hours/week

IAE Business School – Business and Family Balance Institute (CONFyE)

-Organized and oversaw multi-faceted work-family balance conference with over 500 attendees, which included coordination with several Argentine NGOs, government entities, foundations, and news media

-Coordinated national media interviews, including radio and print, with policy expert from the United Nations 10/2008 – 08/2013 Project Manager and Research Assistant Barcelona/Pamplona, Spain Full time

IESE Business School – University of Navarra

-Organized and executed 15+ international research development events

-Designed dissemination strategy to attract conference attendees

-Facilitated all aspects of new hires moving from other European Union countries and from the United States to Spain

-Managed Spanish-English translation, editing, and publication of research texts Education

In progress PhD in Social Science Research Facultad Latinoamericana de

(Political science – immigration focus) Ciencias Sociales (Mexico) 2012 Master’s Degree in Government and University of Navarra (Spain) Organizational Culture

2008 Bachelor’s Degree in Government and Latin University of Virginia Skills

Agile technology and social media user able to quickly learn new programs and platforms: Design: Adobe (Photoshop, Illustrator, K4); Website and blog design with a variety of platforms Data analysis: R studio

Microsoft Office: Advanced knowledge and use of all Microsoft Office programs Languages:

Native English speaker

Full fluency in Spanish

References available upon request