Visa verbally approved but embassy has technical difficulty

[Max]

My fiancée went for her interview on September 4 and had a long interview.  The person doing the interview asked her a couple of questions that I have not heard asked before, one of which was: Mexico is much closer to US and has many good girls; why did not your fiance look to find someone there?

After the long interview, they told her that she was approved and for her to return the following day and pickup her passport and visa  .  The following day when she returned, they told had that they are have “a technical difficulty” and the visa is not ready .  They told her that they would contact her when the technical difficulty is resolved.  Before leaving my fiancée asked if there was anything wrong with her documents and they assured her that her document was all okay.

My fiancée told me that the day she went there for her interview there came a family for their interview.  This family was also asked to return the following day to pickup their visa.  My fiancée happened to arrive at the embassy the following day at the same time as this family and they actually had their visa ready for them.  My fiancée called them three days later and they still told her that they are experiencing a technical difficulty.  So, my question to the board is:

  1) What type of “a technical difficulty” could it possibly exist that prevent an embassy from issuing a K-1 visa but not other types of visa?
  2) Has anyone seen or heard that an embassy use this type of an excuse to prevent processing a K-1 visa?
  3) What can we do at this point?

Thanks in advance for any assistance we get.
Max.

[William3rd]

1- security checks not completed properly is one way for a technical difficulty; there are several possibilities.
2- they do not need an excuse-all they have to say is no. And- most of the time they say yes to a K.
3- you should contact the consulate first. Maybe they can give you the information via email or telephone.

[Turboguy]

Which Embassy are you using?   That is the first one that I have heard of having someone come back for the visa.  Moscow and Kiev both send it out.

I have to agree with William.  It sounds like Administrative Processing which basically means the security checks are not completed.   In the Muslim countries most everyone goes through a lot of Administrative Processing or Administrative review and it often holds up the visa for 2 to 6 weeks and sometimes longer.  It can really happen anywhere.   My fiancee and I got hung up in it for 5 months at NVC.

What should you do?   You have two choices.  Choice one is to wait.  Choice two is to wait.   Just keep calling and hoping and someday they will surprise you with good news.

[Serebro]

When I went to the USA my friend and I sent our documents at the same time.(that was J1)At that time not all people had to go to the embassy to get their visa and none of us was invited there.One day I was simply called and informed that I had my visa.My friend wasn't contacted at all.
When she called to the agency in Moscow that was responsible for sending the documents to the embassy, buying tickets and giving information they told her that as they knew the embassy  had given the visa to her as they hadn't given "refuses" at that day but for some reason they(the embassy)hand't sent her passpost with the visa to them with all the other passports.
When I called to the same agency and asked them if I should wait untill they find my friend's passport and if we could go to the USA together the agency told me that it was possible that the embassy would not find the document at all and that my friend would have to apply again.

I don't know if that was the truth, but that was what we were told.
PS: she got her passport with a visa 2 days later.

[BillyB]

In the Muslim countries most everyone goes through a lot of Administrative Processing or Administrative review and it often holds up the visa for 2 to 6 weeks and sometimes longer.  It can really happen anywhere.  

Max's fiancee had her interview at the American embassy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

My fiancee got a work visa to Germany years ago. But the Uzbek government didn't let her go because she worked with sensitive military info when she was in the Uzbek militia. Unfortunately for the German men, she met me before ever utilizing the visa.

Max, if you don't mind I like to mention the security guards outside the visa tells people there's nothing going on at the embassy today and to go home. Why do they say that? Maybe to deter terrorists from getting inside or wait for an offering of a bribe but it's important for anybody who has an interview to stand their ground, not leave and persist on getting in for their interview. If one misses their interview, then it must be rescheduled. I remember a man years ago saying that he and his wife give the guards 100 sums to get in without the hassle. 100 sums(8 cents) is not much but it is something to them.

As others suggested, contact the embassy and be polite and professional. Getting angry and rude will make the situation worse. I believe Neo had got aggressive with the interviewer after an ugly interview his wife went through and after 1 1/2 years of the visa not being approved it ended in divorce.

Good luck Max

edited to add: After five years of being out of the milita, my fiancee is allowed by the Uzbek govt. to leave the country.

[Max]

My fiancée was never in the militia.

Today I wrote the American embassy in Tashkent a very, very polite email asking for any possible information they can provide and appreciating anything they can do to expedite the process.  I will wait and see what happens.

Bill - the security guard you mentioned was a Tashkent police officer assigned to the American embassy.  I found out from my fiancée today that he did the similar thing when she went down to pickup her package.  He asked her questions for about twenty minutes.

If your fiancée lives in Tashkent, once the American embassy receive your K-1 petition from NVC, they will contact your fiancée via phone to have her come down to the embassy and pickup her fiancée visa package.  From what I was told, most American embassies mail the package to your fiancée, but not if your fiancée lives in Tashkent.  So, make sure that you provide her mobile number so the embassy can get in touch with her.  When she arrives to pickup her package, they will also schedule the interview date, which is about a month from the time package pickup date.

Max.