K-1 petition information

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

What about the consulates? Consulates do what they do, as I said, some are bastards. They get whatever we get when it is sent on.

The second sentence is a relief to know.

I have to ask for a colleague, Ecuador? Bastards.

Why, thank you, colleague! And, it's good to know that someone besides "all of us" has come up with the correct synonym for Guayaquil, si man.

More questions (a couple of them multipartite) to ask the dude:

1. Does it slow down the processing perceptibly if people front-load their applications in anticipation of dealing with the consulates later? Do his staffers mind this, or they deal with it because "a package is a package"?

2. What percentage of the VSC's workload is dealing with petitions that have been returned from the consulates?

3.a. How exactly does he define "#######" consulate? How specifically do Guayaquil & others qualify, and is the VSC doing anything in particular to make it known, such as reaffirming 99.44% of returned petitions from there?

3.b. Can you get him to come up with a list of the 15 or 20 "most #######" consulates, along with seemingly common reasons that these places return petitions to the VSC? (This is a back-door way of learning tips for front-loading.) It would also be helpful if he could offer a reason or two why each is a #######, as he did for Lagos.

4. Does he know anyone by name & title in the Dept. of State to whom to complain about "#######" consulates?

(This last could be valuable also for those who have been subjected to the blonde in Casablanca, and, I think, to some ill-tempered consul in Vietnam that I seem to remember reading about -- individual misbehavior means institutional tolerance of it.)

5. Can he (or someone who works for him) provide an updated, detailed, insider's description of what a file goes through when it's received and processed? That "former adjudicator at the NSC" thread here on VJ was immensely interesting, but it's 5 or 6 years old; parts of it still likely apply, but other parts are certainly wildly out of date.

Part of the insatiable search for knowledge, si man. Gracias again.

all great questions. I am making a list as I will talk to him again and I have asked Cap'n Ewok in a PM how he would like to handle an interview or prepared questions, the man says he will do this. I did ask him about "frontloading" in a roundabout way (extra proof of relationship) but he did not indicate it was a problem, seemed nonchalant about it. (mentioned in my post)Your other questions are ones I didn't think of. and no he did not indicate a list of consulates which are bastards or what constitutes that in his book. It may not be the same thing that constitutes it your books and it is just a coincidence they give him heartburn also.

[Starlight95 1]

I have one questions that seems to be a hot topic. Some countries like India consider your religious divorce legal and does not need to be registered through civil authorities. What would be acceptable type of evidence for this? What do they look for EXACTLY in foreign divorce decrees. A lot of VJ members get RFE's for divorce decrees and its a difficult to proof because every country has different types of divorce decrees. Some countries you get one page with a stamp and you will get an RFE because they want the full copy of your decree.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Tbone, I also got the impression that he meant some consulates were "bastards" because they are hard on applicants because of high fraud countries and others may be bastards because they cause him grief. Not sure where Ecuador falls in that rating. From what you say, maybe the latter. Also this man is no longer involved directly with K-1 visas, but now is handling I-751s, but he did handle K-1s at one time. Some of his comments were made when Alla was in earshot for her benefit, such as "Kiev is easy, they will let anyone in" As Alla was standing next to me. She said "Hey...what do you mean by that?" LOL But really he said they were now easy but not for tourist visas (true)

He really had nothing to say about "frontloading" other that it is a consulate issue. They seem to be very compartmentalized...USCIS does their thing and sends it on, then they do their thing again for AOS and Lifting conditions, citizenship, etc. He had some off the record comments about how he feels about the citizenship test also, but I will spare him those. This was a casual outdoor dinner/bar-b-que get together and I really don't want to repeat something said "out of school"

[George&Hazel 1]

Tbone, I also got the impression that he meant some consulates were "bastards" because they are hard on applicants because of high fraud countries and others may be bastards because they cause him grief. Not sure where Ecuador falls in that rating. From what you say, maybe the latter. Also this man is no longer involved directly with K-1 visas, but now is handling I-751s, but he did handle K-1s at one time. Some of his comments were made when Alla was in earshot for her benefit, such as "Kiev is easy, they will let anyone in" As Alla was standing next to me. She said "Hey...what do you mean by that?" LOL But really he said they were now easy but not for tourist visas (true)

He really had nothing to say about "frontloading" other that it is a consulate issue. They seem to be very compartmentalized...USCIS does their thing and sends it on, then they do their thing again for AOS and Lifting conditions, citizenship, etc. He had some off the record comments about how he feels about the citizenship test also, but I will spare him those. This was a casual outdoor dinner/bar-b-que get together and I really don't want to repeat something said "out of school"

Incredible post. A million thanks!!

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I have one questions that seems to be a hot topic. Some countries like India consider your religious divorce legal and does not need to be registered through civil authorities. What would be acceptable type of evidence for this? What do they look for EXACTLY in foreign divorce decrees. A lot of VJ members get RFE's for divorce decrees and its a difficult to proof because every country has different types of divorce decrees. Some countries you get one page with a stamp and you will get an RFE because they want the full copy of your decree.

Another good question (I am making a list) I will say this man (not a young guy) seems pretty knowledgeable in the ways of the world and that not everyone does things as here. He seemd like HE would make sensible judgements when he was an adjudicator, the example of foreign birth certificates was an example, and he said his wife had passed through petitions that were from Russian speaking countries where the divorce certificate was not translated as she could translate it herself and sometimes went to other adjudicators for questions. He said there are adjudicators there that speak various languages and sometimes they bring petitions to each other to sort out something not translated or not clear. There are also adjudicators that never leave their cubicle and if what they want isn't there, you get an RFE.

But good question. Definitely would be good to know where they draw the line.

Edited September 29, 2009 by Gary and Alla

[TBoneTX 45,088]

Gary: Both messages understood completely; gracias. The "####### consulate" question meant to refer to those that give HIM or the service center grief. I suspect that a list of those from him would come pretty close to a list that give the applicants grief.

New question, again perhaps out of his immediate area of expertise: What does he recommend when civil surgeons insist on performing full medicals when only the I-693 vaccination section needs to be filled out?

Bedtime, zzz man.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Gary: Both messages understood completely; gracias. The "####### consulate" question meant to refer to those that give HIM or the service center grief. I suspect that a list of those from him would come pretty close to a list that give the applicants grief.

New question, again perhaps out of his immediate area of expertise: What does he recommend when civil surgeons insist on performing full medicals when only the I-693 vaccination section needs to be filled out?

Bedtime, zzz man.

Got it, and that should be a good one for him, he used to do the AOS interviews. He did get into I-601s a little and VAWA ("Good law but badly abused") but it is not something I really know a lot about and did not understand everything, and he kind of wandered into the suject and wandered out.

[Starlight95 1]

I have one questions that seems to be a hot topic. Some countries like India consider your religious divorce legal and does not need to be registered through civil authorities. What would be acceptable type of evidence for this? What do they look for EXACTLY in foreign divorce decrees. A lot of VJ members get RFE's for divorce decrees and its a difficult to proof because every country has different types of divorce decrees. Some countries you get one page with a stamp and you will get an RFE because they want the full copy of your decree.

Another good question (I am making a list) I will say this man (not a young guy) seems pretty knowledgeable in the ways of the world and that not everyone does things as here. He seemd like HE would make sensible judgements when he was an adjudicator, the example of foreign birth certificates was an example, and he said his wife had passed through petitions that were from Russian speaking countries where the divorce certificate was not translated as she could translate it herself and sometimes went to other adjudicators for questions. He said there are adjudicators there that speak various languages and sometimes they bring petitions to each other to sort out something not translated or not clear.

But good question. Definitely would be good to know where they draw the line.

I am glad some officers can be sensible and go out of their way. I hope all the officers are more like him and his wife. This shows that some people really have compassion there. Yeah, I am curious to know the answer to that question. It's amazing what we can all think of when we brainstorm questions.

Edited September 29, 2009 by Starlight95

[CornyWebb 0]

Thank you so much for post !

[Maire 1]

Thank you for this valuable information, it is indeed priceless!!!! And I agree 100% with you....this site is amazingly helpful!!!

[Nik+Heather 121]

...it is a consulate issue. They seem to be very compartmentalized...USCIS does their thing and sends it on, then they do their thing again for AOS and Lifting conditions, citizenship, etc.

That's so stupid - most people can agree that "throw it over the wall" types of processes never work well, and it's better to have communication and standards across the board. HMPH.

Stephen+Elisha beat me to the question about 1 or 4 pages, I was trying to psychic my way into your message "Ask about how many copies! Ask about how many copies" a la "Look behind yooooooouuu" for horror movie victims.

[Matt & Bing 56]

Thanks for taking the time to post this Gary.

[Ney 0]

Thank you for sharing that invaluable information!!!

I have a question do all of the applicants go through the same checks or do some countries go through more screening than others?

Edited September 29, 2009 by Ney

[Abby62 23]

What about extra documents? Proof of relationship? We don't need it, only that they have met for the fiancee visa.

So are you saying that all these people here who have been sending in a novel full of information/pictures is NOT necessary??

[Stephen + Elisha 92]

What about extra documents? Proof of relationship? We don't need it, only that they have met for the fiancee visa.

So are you saying that all these people here who have been sending in a novel full of information/pictures is NOT necessary??

It's not necessary for USCIS. The VSC director stated that the consulates are a whole 'nother ball game.