Congressional letter BEFORE the K1 interview

[JayandZou 0]

Hi All,

My fiance has his interview in a few weeks. I decided to call my Congressman's office to have them send an "advanced letter" to the Consulate. I guess it says that they are following our case.

Lately, I've heard bad stories coming out of Casablanca with the officers being very rude. I'm hoping this letter will put a little pressure on the officers to treat my fiance fairly and properly.

Has anyone done this before? I want to make sure it's a good idea before I send off this request to my local Congressman.

Thanks for any thoughts on this!

[Bobby+Umit 161]

"advanced letter"? That's a new one.

Did you think that maybe this letter might make it harder to process?

You basically questioning their ability to be fair. Before they actually do anything.

[JayandZou 0]

"advanced letter"? That's a new one.

Did you think that maybe this letter might make it harder to process?

You basically questioning their ability to be fair. Before they actually do anything.

I think the letter simply states that the Congressman's office is interested in this case and will want a review? It's not going to say anything about treating him fairly. But I don't know so that's why I'm asking if anyone had done this before.

I certainly don't want to bring "negative attention" to our case. I talked with a friend who used to work in the Embassy in Denmark in the early 1990s. He said when they got a letter from a congressman, they had to respond in 24 hours and give a full explanation about their decision. He is the one that suggested maybe doing an advanced letter so they are ready to give an explanation if they refuse.

Please let me know if anyone has done this... Thanks!

[Anh map 2,098]

Interesting idea. The advice is a bit dated. Not sure how it works in the post 9/11 world. Keep us posted on how the interview goes.

[R and F 34]

I called my Congressman's office just to let them know that we were filing DCF and and assistant took down our names and asked me where I was now, and she told me to call them if we got denied or needed their assistance after we went to the interview. She specifically said that they would get involved only if we needed them after the interview. And she told me to call them if we had gotten approved as well. I called them immediately after we got approved and the same assistant told me that she was happy for us. Hey what do I know anyway, just letting you know what I was told.

Edited April 25, 2009 by Rosie and Farid

[john & jean 37]

I HAD AN ADVANCED LETTER SENT. IF IT DID ANYTHING, IT SLOWED OUR CASE DOWN. WE WERE SENT THROUGH FRAUD PREVENTION, EVEN THOUGH MY WIFE IS THE NIECE OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT IN HER COUNTRY!!!!

[JayandZou 0]

I HAD AN ADVANCED LETTER SENT. IF IT DID ANYTHING, IT SLOWED OUR CASE DOWN. WE WERE SENT THROUGH FRAUD PREVENTION, EVEN THOUGH MY WIFE IS THE NIECE OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT IN HER COUNTRY!!!!

Wow... Thank you for that advice. I called my congressman's office back and they said it would be a positive letter but maybe I should just wait on it and see what happens. At least they would know about our case and could get involved if I needed it. I certainly don't want to SLOW IT DOWN! Ugghhh... Thanks for the advice

And thanks Rosie for your thoughts too!

[TBoneTX 45,273]

The OP might want to write a PM to Marc Ellis (immigration attorney), who is a member of VJ under the name ellis-island.

It would be very interesting, and perhaps valuable to many VJ members, to hear what Mr. Ellis says about an advance letter.

[JayandZou 0]

The OP might want to write a PM to Marc Ellis (immigration attorney), who is a member of VJ under the name ellis-island.

It would be very interesting, and perhaps valuable to many VJ members, to hear what Mr. Ellis says about an advance letter.

I emailed Marc so we'll wait for his answer. Good idea.

[ellis-island 6]

The OP might want to write a PM to Marc Ellis (immigration attorney), who is a member of VJ under the name ellis-island.

It would be very interesting, and perhaps valuable to many VJ members, to hear what Mr. Ellis says about an advance letter.

I emailed Marc so we'll wait for his answer. Good idea.

If the case is refused & returned, ask the congressional rep for a copy of the return memorandum,

or at least the specific factual reasons - not boilerplate - the visa was denied.

Most of them won't carry it that far. They'll just 'express an interest' and the consulate will send

back a bland boilerplate reply. Then your rep will say, "so sorry, nothing more we can do."

We had one recently from Mary Landrieu that DEMANDED in very strong terms a re-interview.

It demanded that I be present at the re-interview. It pointed out the out dated information

a refusal had been based on.

Rather than go through the hassle of trying to reply to a certain loser of a refusal -

point-by-point, the chief took the easy way out and approved the visa, over-riding

the interviewing officer.

If your Congressional rep gets pissed off at the way his or her constituents are being treated --

they can help a lot. If they don't care, they won't be much help.

[JayandZou 0]

The OP might want to write a PM to Marc Ellis (immigration attorney), who is a member of VJ under the name ellis-island.

It would be very interesting, and perhaps valuable to many VJ members, to hear what Mr. Ellis says about an advance letter.

I emailed Marc so we'll wait for his answer. Good idea.

If the case is refused & returned, ask the congressional rep for a copy of the return memorandum,

or at least the specific factual reasons - not boilerplate - the visa was denied.

Most of them won't carry it that far. They'll just 'express an interest' and the consulate will send

back a bland boilerplate reply. Then your rep will say, "so sorry, nothing more we can do."

We had one recently from Mary Landrieu that DEMANDED in very strong terms a re-interview.

It demanded that I be present at the re-interview. It pointed out the out dated information

a refusal had been based on.

Rather than go through the hassle of trying to reply to a certain loser of a refusal -

point-by-point, the chief took the easy way out and approved the visa, over-riding

the interviewing officer.

If your Congressional rep gets pissed off at the way his or her constituents are being treated --

they can help a lot. If they don't care, they won't be much help.

Thanks Marc. So you are saying it's only beneficial to get the Congressperson involved AFTER the interview if there is a problem, not before.

[VivianNYC 1]

I HAD AN ADVANCED LETTER SENT. IF IT DID ANYTHING, IT SLOWED OUR CASE DOWN. WE WERE SENT THROUGH FRAUD PREVENTION, EVEN THOUGH MY WIFE IS THE NIECE OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT IN HER COUNTRY!!!!

Wow... Thank you for that advice. I called my congressman's office back and they said it would be a positive letter but maybe I should just wait on it and see what happens. At least they would know about our case and could get involved if I needed it. I certainly don't want to SLOW IT DOWN! Ugghhh... Thanks for the advice

And thanks Rosie for your thoughts too!

I'm so glad I found this thread. Just today I was thinking of writing to my Congressman to alert him of our situation in case I need to contact him if something goes wrong at my husband's interview in June, i.e. if he gets placed in "additional processing" without a specific reason or timeframe or, heaven forbid, denied. I was thinking it would be a good idea for my Congressman to have the facts of the case and my signed release form ahead of time as an extra safeguard. I'm going to be in Casablanca for the interview and if something goes awry, I'd want to contact my Congressman immediately to have him deal with the consulate on my behalf, as it seems this consulate won't discuss the matter directly with citizen spouses. I don't think I'd ask for an advance letter to be sent though. I'm not anticipating any problems at the interview. We've known each other for more than 6 years, have been married 7 months, have a ton of bona fide marriage evidence, he has an unusual Berber name, etc., but like others, I've read some of the miserable stories about this consulate

Good luck with your interview JayandZou, and do let us know how it goes.

[JayandZou 0]

I HAD AN ADVANCED LETTER SENT. IF IT DID ANYTHING, IT SLOWED OUR CASE DOWN. WE WERE SENT THROUGH FRAUD PREVENTION, EVEN THOUGH MY WIFE IS THE NIECE OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT IN HER COUNTRY!!!!

Wow... Thank you for that advice. I called my congressman's office back and they said it would be a positive letter but maybe I should just wait on it and see what happens. At least they would know about our case and could get involved if I needed it. I certainly don't want to SLOW IT DOWN! Ugghhh... Thanks for the advice

And thanks Rosie for your thoughts too!

I'm so glad I found this thread. Just today I was thinking of writing to my Congressman to alert him of our situation in case I need to contact him if something goes wrong at my husband's interview in June, i.e. if he gets placed in "additional processing" without a specific reason or timeframe or, heaven forbid, denied. I was thinking it would be a good idea for my Congressman to have the facts of the case and my signed release form ahead of time as an extra safeguard. I'm going to be in Casablanca for the interview and if something goes awry, I'd want to contact my Congressman immediately to have him deal with the consulate on my behalf, as it seems this consulate won't discuss the matter directly with citizen spouses. I don't think I'd ask for an advance letter to be sent though. I'm not anticipating any problems at the interview. We've known each other for more than 6 years, have been married 7 months, have a ton of bona fide marriage evidence, he has an unusual Berber name, etc., but like others, I've read some of the miserable stories about this consulate

Good luck with your interview JayandZou, and do let us know how it goes.

Hi Vivian,

Yes, I decided NOT to have my Congressman send the advanced letter. I called them back and told them I changed my mind but I did say that I'm happy you know about our Case/Interview so if something goes wrong, I can call them immediately. I must have called the Congressman's office 4 or 5 times and the young guy who answered each time was so helpful. I think he'll remember me if I need to call in the next few weeks.

I will also be in Casablanca with Zouhir for his interview. They don't allow the petitioners inside the Consulate but at least I'll be close-by for loving support. We have a ton of evidence as well from 6 trips to Morocco in the last 16 months. I pray that makes a difference but who knows these days.

Good luck Vivian and thanks for your good wishes! Good luck to all!