New visa procedure---I don't like it!

[Gator]

Scott,

Sorry to hear.  You are justifiably very frustrated.  However, look on the bright side - some bureaucrat actually touched your file.  Much better than it sitting at the bottom of a tall pile.

Your case is progressing, albeit slowly.

[ScottinCrimea]

Yes, but now it's back to the bottom of the pile again.  From experience, even after they receive this (again) it will be at least 10 days before someone touches it.

[macman]

Guys. . . My buddy went to his Congressman to get his woman here.  And guess what?  Overnight stuff happened.  YOU/WE maybe even Me want to expedite the process. . . DO YOU VOTE?  Ok. . . learn to use our political system as the "AA's" have!  No - NOT food stamps. . . gheesss

USE the FORCE LUKEs

mM

[groovlstk]

Guys. . . My buddy went to his Congressman to get his woman here.  And guess what?  Overnight stuff happened.  YOU/WE maybe even Me want to expedite the process. . . DO YOU VOTE?  Ok. . . learn to use our political system as the "AA's" have!  No - NOT food stamps. . . gheesss

USE the FORCE LUKEs

mM

There are certain points in the visa process that a congressman can intervene and potentially help, but if and only if there are extraordinary delays. It also depends upon which agency is responsible for the delay. Please don't spout off advice on a process that you haven't been through or have no experience with outside of hearsay, mmkay?

[ScottinCrimea]

Exactly.  They can certainly "justify" this delay and getting a Congressman involved unless there is some significant delay is just going to piss them off.  I've sent them an e-mail requesting they look again in the file for the missing document, my wife will be e-mailing them with the document attached and I will be sending the documents by regular mail.  That should eliminate any excuses for not having this final document.  I would like to think tht this would shame them a little, but as we have all learned, they have no shame.

[William3rd]

All depends on where the "fault" lies.

SOME Congressmen are great and others aren't worth a crap. There are a few that really love to sock it to immigration.

But NONE of them can accomplish much when the Service can point a finger at the parties with any degree of accuracy. The "Service" has believability unless it can be shown that they have screwed up. Substantial delays are considered a screw-up.

[ScottinCrimea]

Well I found out today what the mess up was on my wife's passport copy.  It's not that the NVC lost it or my wife failed to send it, it's just that they weren't clear on their instructions.  Here is what they ask for:

"Submit a photocopy of the biographic data page of the applicant’s and the applicant’s individual family members’ valid passports. This is the page that shows the applicant’s name and date and place of birth."

My wife did just that, including a translation from Ukrainian to English.  Now they say it is incomplete because it does not include the expiration date, as it must be valid for at least 6 months.  The problem is that in Ukraine they have two passports, an internal one and an external one.  The internal one has no expiration date.  Unfortunately that's the one my wife chose to send.  So the solution now is for her to send a copy of her external passport that includes the expiration date.  It is printed in both Russian and English, so luckily no translation will be needed.

I don't know who deserves the clue bat - me, my wife or the NVC, but here goes--- 

[catzenmouse]

At least there is some meaning behind it now. This is a good, but inconvenient thing, as now you know what to do. Typical misconception of how things work between the governments and the people who are trying to figure out what they want.

Hope it will go quicker and smoother when she gives them what they want.

Ken

[ScottinCrimea]

Here's my latest update on the visa progress.  I sent the copy of the international passport to the NVC and it was delivered on June 15th.  They finally acknowledged that it arrived on June 20th.  so imagine my surprise when I got a letter from them dated June 22 saying that they had not received it.  I called and actually spoke to a real person.  Their answer was interesting.  They said that even though someone had noted it had arrived, it wasn't in the system until the 21st.  So when I suggested that didn't explain why the letter was sent to me on the 22nd, she said that the letter was actually written on the 21st but dated the 22nd, so my letter and theirs had just missed each other.  I think I do better with the automated voice system!

Now the good news.  Their message today is that our case was completed on June 20th.  At this point I'm not sure what that means, but since they mention no further deficiencies, I'm taking a big leap by assuming that it will now be sent to the embassy in Kiev  The timeline on when the embassy gets it, reviews it and generates a letter to my wife is anybody's guess, but at least I'm thinking that after over 6 months it will finally be out of the NVC's hands.

[ScottinCrimea]

     Good news!  My wife got her interview date at the embassy in Kiev!  It's August 16th, over 5 weeks from now, which isn't so hot, but I'll take it.  That means it will be nearly 11 months from when I sent in the petition to when she arrives.  Of course, at least two of those months were caused by delays in the mail back and forth between the US and Ukraine and another month was due to my wife sending copies of the wrong passport, so it could have been done in 8 months or less.  Still another month or two were caused by the recent changes in the process. It's a CR-1 visa, which means there is no AOS after she arrives and she gets her green card right away.
     The whole process has been pretty atypical of what I had understood.  All of the affidavit of support documents were reviewed in the US as were the original documents she was required to send to the NVC instead of bringing with her to the interview, and the fee has already been paid.  All she needs for her interview is the medical examination.  Everything else was reviewed and approved prior to the embassy getting it.
     Even the notice of the interview was strange.  Instead of her getting a checklist from Kiev to complete prior to the interview being scheduled, they simply mailed a letter to me from the NVC with the date and time of her interview.  I'm not officially listed as her agent, so I don't know if they also sent a letter to her or not.
     I called her today when I got the news and she was excited of course, but extremely tired because she had spent the day in Sudak scuba diving with a friend of ours who is an instructor.  Makes me wish I were going there rather than her coming here!
     By the way, if any of you wants to try scuba diving in the Black Sea on one of your visits, this guy is great.  He also arranges kayaking, off road motorbiking, spelunking (both above ground and underwater) and just about anything else outdoors that you might want to try in Crimea.

[Wayne B]

Scott, good news for the two of you.....I hope she comes here soon ....Anna and I mailed her AOS paper work today, and I just have a feeling that the sh!t is fixing to begin....I will say one thing.....OUR U.S. GOVERNMENT is f/u.....   I hope that ya'lls sh!t with Big Gov is behind the two of you now   Wayne.

[catzenmouse]

Scott,

 Awesome! I know this is a big relief for you both. Here's to a speedy interview and safe travel! <raising glass in toast>

Ken