Sydney Consulate messed up!!

[ILuvMyAussieGirl 0]

Here's what happened. My fiancee mailed back all of the paperwork from packet 3 on Feb 11th. So they probably received it on Feb 12th or 13th.

Last week, I had my fiancee email them just to check if they received the paperwork. They wrote back saying

The attached e mail was sent to confirm your appointment of February 24, 2009 which you did not attend.

Your I-129F petition will have expired by the time you attend your final visa interview. To revalidate your petition, please have your U.S. citizen fiancé immediately fax this office a signed, dated letter requesting that your petition be extended for an additional four months

The letter from your U.S. citizen fiancé should state his/her intention to still marry you within 90 days of your arrival into the U.S. with the K-1 visa and that you both are still free to marry.

Your application will be extended when the revalidation request is approved. We will only contact you with further instructions if this request has been denied.

Our fax number is [61] (2) 9373-9185. We do not accept re-validation letters via e-mail.

If you have requested that your interview be postponed, please advise our office as to which month you would prefer your new interview to be scheduled for.

Once the request for revalidation has been sent, please contact us for to schedule another appointment.

She checks her email every day and never got any kind of communication from them until we inquired about the paperwork. Furthermore, in the email string, they claim to have sent the interview appointment on Feb 13th. Assuming they received it on Feb 12th, how could they possibly review all of her paperwork then schedule her an interview date, input the appointment in their system, and email her back all in one day? Government agencies are notorious for taking a long time to process stuff so this makes no sense.

So last night, I followed their directions and drafted up a signed/dated letter asking them to revalidate the petition to have it extended for another four months and that we are free to marry and intending to do so within 90 days of my fiancee's arrive in the US with the K-1 visa.

Here's the kicker: the fax number they gave me kept ringing and ringing and eventually timed out!! I called the consulate and got a hold of a nice aussie lady who told me to send it to 9184 and put attention: immigration department. I don't know if it'll get to them so I will try to fax again when they open. Perhaps they turned off their fax machine?

What are your thoughts? We are freaking out here.

Edited March 10, 2009 by ILuvMyAussieGirl

[Minya's wife 25]

Here's what happened. My fiancee mailed back all of the paperwork from packet 3 on Feb 11th. So they probably received it on Feb 12th or 13th.

Last week, I had my fiancee email them just to check if they received the paperwork. They wrote back saying

The attached e mail was sent to confirm your appointment of February 24, 2009 which you did not attend.

Your I-129F petition will have expired by the time you attend your final visa interview. To revalidate your petition, please have your U.S. citizen fiancé immediately fax this office a signed, dated letter requesting that your petition be extended for an additional four months

The letter from your U.S. citizen fiancé should state his/her intention to still marry you within 90 days of your arrival into the U.S. with the K-1 visa and that you both are still free to marry.

Your application will be extended when the revalidation request is approved. We will only contact you with further instructions if this request has been denied.

Our fax number is [61] (2) 9373-9185. We do not accept re-validation letters via e-mail.

If you have requested that your interview be postponed, please advise our office as to which month you would prefer your new interview to be scheduled for.

Once the request for revalidation has been sent, please contact us for to schedule another appointment.

She checks her email every day and never got any kind of communication from them until we inquired about the paperwork. Furthermore, in the email string, they claim to have sent the interview appointment on Feb 13th. Assuming they received it on Feb 12th, how could they possibly review all of her paperwork then schedule her an interview date, input the appointment in their system, and email her back all in one day? Government agencies are notorious for taking a long time to process stuff so this makes no sense.

So last night, I followed their directions and drafted up a signed/dated letter asking them to revalidate the petition to have it extended for another four months and that we are free to marry and intending to do so within 90 days of my fiancee's arrive in the US with the K-1 visa.

Here's the kicker: the fax number they gave me kept ringing and ringing and eventually timed out!! I called the consulate and got a hold of a nice aussie lady who told me to send it to 9184 and put attention: immigration department. I don't know if it'll get to them so I will try to fax again when they open. Perhaps they turned off their fax machine?

What are your thoughts? We are freaking out here.

Did you check the e-mail address in the forward....maybe they misspelled the email address? Is this usual practice for this consulate, to send interview appt. dates via e-mail?

I would just follow their instructions for re-validation of petition and keep following-up until you get an interview date. Do not let it go more than a couple of days before checking w/ the consulate again...to ensure that you do not miss any communication from them.

-P

[ILuvMyAussieGirl 0]

Here's what happened. My fiancee mailed back all of the paperwork from packet 3 on Feb 11th. So they probably received it on Feb 12th or 13th.

Last week, I had my fiancee email them just to check if they received the paperwork. They wrote back saying

The attached e mail was sent to confirm your appointment of February 24, 2009 which you did not attend.

Your I-129F petition will have expired by the time you attend your final visa interview. To revalidate your petition, please have your U.S. citizen fiancé immediately fax this office a signed, dated letter requesting that your petition be extended for an additional four months

The letter from your U.S. citizen fiancé should state his/her intention to still marry you within 90 days of your arrival into the U.S. with the K-1 visa and that you both are still free to marry.

Your application will be extended when the revalidation request is approved. We will only contact you with further instructions if this request has been denied.

Our fax number is [61] (2) 9373-9185. We do not accept re-validation letters via e-mail.

If you have requested that your interview be postponed, please advise our office as to which month you would prefer your new interview to be scheduled for.

Once the request for revalidation has been sent, please contact us for to schedule another appointment.

She checks her email every day and never got any kind of communication from them until we inquired about the paperwork. Furthermore, in the email string, they claim to have sent the interview appointment on Feb 13th. Assuming they received it on Feb 12th, how could they possibly review all of her paperwork then schedule her an interview date, input the appointment in their system, and email her back all in one day? Government agencies are notorious for taking a long time to process stuff so this makes no sense.

So last night, I followed their directions and drafted up a signed/dated letter asking them to revalidate the petition to have it extended for another four months and that we are free to marry and intending to do so within 90 days of my fiancee's arrive in the US with the K-1 visa.

Here's the kicker: the fax number they gave me kept ringing and ringing and eventually timed out!! I called the consulate and got a hold of a nice aussie lady who told me to send it to 9184 and put attention: immigration department. I don't know if it'll get to them so I will try to fax again when they open. Perhaps they turned off their fax machine?

What are your thoughts? We are freaking out here.

Did you check the e-mail address in the forward....maybe they misspelled the email address? Is this usual practice for this consulate, to send interview appt. dates via e-mail?

I would just follow their instructions for re-validation of petition and keep following-up until you get an interview date. Do not let it go more than a couple of days before checking w/ the consulate again...to ensure that you do not miss any communication from them.

-P

The email string did show that the email address was correct. Maybe they had a server problem? I remember that two days before she mailed the paperwork back, their website would not serve the DS-156 form, saying that we do not have permission to view the page (I had my friends try it as well). Then on the day she mailed her paperwork back, she was able to generate this form out. She checks her email all the time too.

Let this be a heads up to everyone here. Please email the consulate a few days after mailing packet 3 back to ensure this does not happen to you!!!

[Ed+Cindy 1]

This is just terrible. Please keep us posted.

[ILuvMyAussieGirl 0]

This is just terrible. Please keep us posted.

I have a quick update. Last night, my fiancee sent an email back to them asking some hard questions like "what additional communications are you referring to which you claim to have sent? a letter? I never received a letter." She also asked for an explanation.

Not surprisingly, the agent who wrote back didn't address any of her questions or make any reference to the fax I've been trying to send them. He/she just said "Please confirm that you want to continue with the application process so we can reschedule you’re appointment."

Of course my fiancee wrote back saying she wants to continue the process and wants to schedule an interview ASAP. The nature in which the question was answered leads us to believe that they realized they messed something up but aren't going to officially admit it.

Why else are they offering to "reschedule" her without pushing back again about requiring my sign/dated letter? This is madness!

[Ed+Cindy 1]

Based on our experience with the US Immigration/USCIS/Homeland Security (and whatever other affiliates etc that the US government decided to setup) and what I hear from all of you, I've been wondering what made the officers/administrators lose their compassion for other people's welfare and happiness?! Me (Cindy) being a kiwi who grew up in little NZ where the society's norm is to care about others, I find these US officers' heartless behaviour mind-boggling. ..

I hope the US Consulate General officers in Auckland are more professional... I'm shocked to hear that they didn't even bother calling you to confirm the interview appointment! Every one of the medical clinics in Auckland call or text the patient on the day before the appointment to confirm, so why can't the Consulate do it too?

[ILuvMyAussieGirl 0]

Based on our experience with the US Immigration/USCIS/Homeland Security (and whatever other affiliates etc that the US government decided to setup) and what I hear from all of you, I've been wondering what made the officers/administrators lose their compassion for other people's welfare and happiness?! Me (Cindy) being a kiwi who grew up in little NZ where the society's norm is to care about others, I find these US officers' heartless behaviour mind-boggling. ..

I hope the US Consulate General officers in Auckland are more professional... I'm shocked to hear that they didn't even bother calling you to confirm the interview appointment! Every one of the medical clinics in Auckland call or text the patient on the day before the appointment to confirm, so why can't the Consulate do it too?

You're exactly right! They didn't even mail my fiancee a letter with the appointment time. They just claim to have emailed her. From what I've heard, they never call anyone on the phone, ever even though they require that you have a valid phone number where they can reach you.

Anyway, it got kicked up to one of the higher ups and they rescheduled her for March 17th 8AM!!! So I think we're good for now. Thank you for the kind words. I hope you and Ed get the NOA2 soon. Please, please be vigilant and call/email the NVC and Consulate each time you deal with them. Do not let the same thing happen to you! So yes after the packet 3 stuff is mailed in, email them 2 or 3 days later and ask if they've received your paperwork and whether or not they've sent out your appointment.

We hope our little mishap will help others avoid these unnecessary roadblocks.

Edited March 11, 2009 by ILuvMyAussieGirl

[shefellfromheaven 18]

Do you have an interview date now?If yes inform us the Aug 08 filers

Based on our experience with the US Immigration/USCIS/Homeland Security (and whatever other affiliates etc that the US government decided to setup) and what I hear from all of you, I've been wondering what made the officers/administrators lose their compassion for other people's welfare and happiness?! Me (Cindy) being a kiwi who grew up in little NZ where the society's norm is to care about others, I find these US officers' heartless behaviour mind-boggling. ..

I hope the US Consulate General officers in Auckland are more professional... I'm shocked to hear that they didn't even bother calling you to confirm the interview appointment! Every one of the medical clinics in Auckland call or text the patient on the day before the appointment to confirm, so why can't the Consulate do it too?

You're exactly right! They didn't even mail my fiancee a letter with the appointment time. They just claim to have emailed her. From what I've heard, they never call anyone on the phone, ever even though they require that you have a valid phone number where they can reach you.

Anyway, it got kicked up to one of the higher ups and they rescheduled her for March 17th 8AM!!! So I think we're good for now. Thank you for the kind words. I hope you and Ed get the NOA2 soon. Please, please be vigilant and call/email the NVC and Consulate each time you deal with them. Do not let the same thing happen to you! So yes after the packet 3 stuff is mailed in, email them 2 or 3 days later and ask if they've received your paperwork and whether or not they've sent out your appointment.

We hope our little mishap will help others avoid these unnecessary roadblocks.

[ILuvMyAussieGirl 0]

Oh yes we do. Let me go bump the August thread and update my timeline. Thanks for the reminder!