Administrative Review at Embassy!!

[Jeff and Tatiana 0]

Hello everyone.

Well the outcome is not what I wanted to hear. Tatiana went to the interview this morning, arriving at 7:30AM, she went to the window to give the papers and when they took them, they were surprised to see her Annulment paper! Surprised?!? It was part of the origional package, why are they surprised? /sigh. Anyway, when she goes into see the consul officer, the lady went over some things and of course the annulment came up and she asked what happened, blah blah. In short she said, "We will need some weeks to review your case, during this time we may contact you for more information, papers or evidence. Also we may just process your visa and you can see it has been sent via the DHL tracking number you have done." The officer then collected ALL evidence that Tatiana had brought with her. ALL (emails, cards, western union reciepts, phone records blah, blah). Only giving back the Origional Birth Certificate and Origional Annulment Paper. Hmm. They kept her passport so that is a good sign I think.

She asked them what if my future husband wants to check on the case? The officer then said to have me use the email and use the case numbers to check the status. She said to have me check in with them in 2 weeks. /sigh.

Not actually BAD news I guess. NOT GOOD NEWS EITHER. More of a medium news!! heh. I had suspected this could be a issue, with her coming to the USA previously, she left on good terms, no overstay, everything was fine, but again, I expected there would maybe be a issue. BUMMER.

I hope others that are going through this had better luck that we did. If anyone has advice for how long or such administrative reviews at embassy's last I would like to hear it, especially those dealing with Moscow. I imagine each case is different and unique so I will just have to wait it out. BAH what a serious bummer. Been waiting forever, now even more waiting.

I think the part I don't like the most is the whole undefined time line.

How long is the review? No idea.

Will you notify us when you send out the visa? No.

Is there someplace I can follow the progress of my case? No.

What I expect them to tell me when I email them: "Your case is still under administrative review." Yeah. Thank you for nothing. From what I have read on Visa Journey, it seems that during Administrative Review, be it at NVC or Embassy, it is this black hole of no information.

Well I have to now get ready for work with my heart a bit sadder now. I was so close, now another bunch of weeks or months!!

Jeff

[baron555 934]

The fact that they kept her passport is good news.

Maybe the annullment just is an oddity? Maybe they are used to just divorce decrees?

[Chris_Жанна 11]

Like Baron said, I think it is good that they held on to her passport.

I know that our words will give you little to no comfort, But I am praying for a speedy, positive outcome for you two. Try to stay positive. Keep us posted.

[norrin 3]

I have no proof of this of course..however.. I think they are doing a background check on the annulment because they don't see that paper too often. I also think that the decision is made even before they walk up to the window. Why I say this is because Natasha noticed that the stamp was already in her passport when she walked up to the window. I am sure they can revoke it but I don't think that is their aim. They don't want to deny and second guess another U.S. government agency. Like I said I don't have proof of this but I think they are just checking on the annulment if not they would have just denied her on the spot. Think about it seems like this was the only problem.

[lee b 2]

I feel for you. We are still in administrative review as well. It has been almost two months for us. I hope for you it does not take this long for you. Don't expect a lot of information when you do send in an e-mail. They will only tell you that your case is still under review. You have my deepest sympathy as this has become a huge pain in the backside.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hello everyone.

Well the outcome is not what I wanted to hear. Tatiana went to the interview this morning, arriving at 7:30AM, she went to the window to give the papers and when they took them, they were surprised to see her Annulment paper! Surprised?!? It was part of the origional package, why are they surprised? /sigh. Anyway, when she goes into see the consul officer, the lady went over some things and of course the annulment came up and she asked what happened, blah blah. In short she said, "We will need some weeks to review your case, during this time we may contact you for more information, papers or evidence. Also we may just process your visa and you can see it has been sent via the DHL tracking number you have done." The officer then collected ALL evidence that Tatiana had brought with her. ALL (emails, cards, western union reciepts, phone records blah, blah). Only giving back the Origional Birth Certificate and Origional Annulment Paper. Hmm. They kept her passport so that is a good sign I think.

She asked them what if my future husband wants to check on the case? The officer then said to have me use the email and use the case numbers to check the status. She said to have me check in with them in 2 weeks. /sigh.

Not actually BAD news I guess. NOT GOOD NEWS EITHER. More of a medium news!! heh. I had suspected this could be a issue, with her coming to the USA previously, she left on good terms, no overstay, everything was fine, but again, I expected there would maybe be a issue. BUMMER.

I hope others that are going through this had better luck that we did. If anyone has advice for how long or such administrative reviews at embassy's last I would like to hear it, especially those dealing with Moscow. I imagine each case is different and unique so I will just have to wait it out. BAH what a serious bummer. Been waiting forever, now even more waiting.

I think the part I don't like the most is the whole undefined time line.

How long is the review? No idea.

Will you notify us when you send out the visa? No.

Is there someplace I can follow the progress of my case? No.

What I expect them to tell me when I email them: "Your case is still under administrative review." Yeah. Thank you for nothing. From what I have read on Visa Journey, it seems that during Administrative Review, be it at NVC or Embassy, it is this black hole of no information.

Well I have to now get ready for work with my heart a bit sadder now. I was so close, now another bunch of weeks or months!!

Jeff

They wouldn't keep her passport if they thought it would be very long. Odds are the passport will sho up with the visa shortly. You have a tracking number, I would just check on that.

Byt the way, the treatment you get is what happens when there is no competition and there is no one else you can go to. Think...Universal Health care.

[norrin 3]

Jeff, sorry I just re-read your post can you explain to me the fact that tatiana has an annulment paper? I thought these were only given through the church and are not a legal document outside of the church, perhaps they were confused by this and you would have been better off submitting the legal divorce decree instead of the church annulment or a I wrong about the annulment?

[Jeff and Tatiana 0]

Hello everyone.

Well the outcome is not what I wanted to hear. Tatiana went to the interview this morning, arriving at 7:30AM, she went to the window to give the papers and when they took them, they were surprised to see her Annulment paper! Surprised?!? It was part of the origional package, why are they surprised? /sigh. Anyway, when she goes into see the consul officer, the lady went over some things and of course the annulment came up and she asked what happened, blah blah. In short she said, "We will need some weeks to review your case, during this time we may contact you for more information, papers or evidence. Also we may just process your visa and you can see it has been sent via the DHL tracking number you have done." The officer then collected ALL evidence that Tatiana had brought with her. ALL (emails, cards, western union reciepts, phone records blah, blah). Only giving back the Origional Birth Certificate and Origional Annulment Paper. Hmm. They kept her passport so that is a good sign I think.

She asked them what if my future husband wants to check on the case? The officer then said to have me use the email and use the case numbers to check the status. She said to have me check in with them in 2 weeks. /sigh.

Not actually BAD news I guess. NOT GOOD NEWS EITHER. More of a medium news!! heh. I had suspected this could be a issue, with her coming to the USA previously, she left on good terms, no overstay, everything was fine, but again, I expected there would maybe be a issue. BUMMER.

I hope others that are going through this had better luck that we did. If anyone has advice for how long or such administrative reviews at embassy's last I would like to hear it, especially those dealing with Moscow. I imagine each case is different and unique so I will just have to wait it out. BAH what a serious bummer. Been waiting forever, now even more waiting.

I think the part I don't like the most is the whole undefined time line.

How long is the review? No idea.

Will you notify us when you send out the visa? No.

Is there someplace I can follow the progress of my case? No.

What I expect them to tell me when I email them: "Your case is still under administrative review." Yeah. Thank you for nothing. From what I have read on Visa Journey, it seems that during Administrative Review, be it at NVC or Embassy, it is this black hole of no information.

Well I have to now get ready for work with my heart a bit sadder now. I was so close, now another bunch of weeks or months!!

Jeff

They wouldn't keep her passport if they thought it would be very long. Odds are the passport will sho up with the visa shortly. You have a tracking number, I would just check on that.

Byt the way, the treatment you get is what happens when there is no competition and there is no one else you can go to. Think...Universal Health care.

Thank you everyone! Garry & Alla: Really?? hmmm I like your idea, I hope it is shorter and yes, we do have a DHL tracking number and the lady did tell Tatiana to check on it that way also. That would be great if it was not that long. I won't get my hopes up, but I can be at least a bit more optimistic.

[Jeff and Tatiana 0]

Jeff, sorry I just re-read your post can you explain to me the fact that tatiana has an annulment paper? I thought these were only given through the church and are not a legal document outside of the church, perhaps they were confused by this and you would have been better off submitting the legal divorce decree instead of the church annulment or a I wrong about the annulment?

Norrin:

It is a actual annulment. In Illinois they call it a "Certificate of Dissolution Invalidity of Marriage" I ordered it from the county clerks office in Illinois she had gotten married. I made sure it was a certified copy, with wet stamps and signatures. In other words, she got married, then the next day, they had it disolved. She calls it annulment, but honestly the actual document says Certificate of Dissolution Invalidity of Marriage. I think in Las Vegas it is called an annulment and in Texas too. I think it just depends on the state. It is like the super simple divorce, where in you were only married like a day or something very short. I also gave her the judges order and the final recorded filing of the order in the county clerks office in Illinios. I am sure there is some legal duration or something to qualify for a Annulment / Certificate of Dissolution Invalidity of Marriage, but I don't know the timelines as I am not a lawyer. hehe.

What frustrates me I provided all this information including the fact she had been here 4 years prior on a K1 visa already, leaving under good terms, no overstays and such when I filed the K1 with USCIS. So I guess they had not read the large case file? Eh, it is just strange that they were a bit shocked by seeing this document and then checking the database and seeing they have already issued a visa for her some years ago. It is not like we lied or sprung it on them, it was told up front, with evidence and such very early on in the process. /shrug.

So I hope I have helped provided a bit more information to those that are wondering. I had a suspicion to be honest the whole "been to usa once on K1 and annulment" could come back on us at the interview, but I had hopes it was researched and done at CIS. We had no RFE or anything during the CIS portion. Bah, well I can only wait and hope now.

I wish all those that got through, CONGRATS!!! I hope your sweeties arrive before the holidays. I hope Gary and Alla are right and maybe it will be shorter for me too.

-Jeff

[Jeff and Tatiana 0]

I have another question on this, the lady at the window said that she would not have to come back for a second interview. Is this true? I had thought if you had a administrative review, then you would have to go back for second interview. If this is true, then maybe it is not a Admin Review, but rather they are just telling her it will take a bit longer? Maybe she misunderstood the officer? hmm now I am begining to see holes in things. I am probably way overthinking this.. aahhhhh..

Hehehehe..

-Jeff

[baron555 934]

I have another question on this, the lady at the window said that she would not have to come back for a second interview. Is this true? I had thought if you had a administrative review, then you would have to go back for second interview. If this is true, then maybe it is not a Admin Review, but rather they are just telling her it will take a bit longer? Maybe she misunderstood the officer? hmm now I am begining to see holes in things. I am probably way overthinking this.. aahhhhh..

Hehehehe..

-Jeff

That's my understanding also, no return visit needed.

[Jonathan Matthies 1]

Katya's best friend from Vladivostok had her interview this week, and had the exact same thing occur to her. They kept her VISA and said 'administrative processing' as well. She was planning on flying back to Vladivostok after her interview anyway; but this put a damper on her return visit. They took her passport as well; so I hope for both your sake and hers, that they grant the VISA and grant both VISAs soon.

However, this news has made both Katya and my mom freak out. They are now worried that this may happen to Katya. I am not worried about it, because we have no control over what games the Moscow Consulate may or my not want to play.

[Jeff and Tatiana 0]

Katya's best friend from Vladivostok had her interview this week, and had the exact same thing occur to her. They kept her VISA and said 'administrative processing' as well. She was planning on flying back to Vladivostok after her interview anyway; but this put a damper on her return visit. They took her passport as well; so I hope for both your sake and hers, that they grant the VISA and grant both VISAs soon.

However, this news has made both Katya and my mom freak out. They are now worried that this may happen to Katya. I am not worried about it, because we have no control over what games the Moscow Consulate may or my not want to play.

Johnathan,

Thank you for the information about Katya's friend. Tatiana told me several people seemed to get this type of answer. I also wonder that with the Thanksgiving Holiday next week, maybe they are just saying review to give themselves more time to process the visas? Well that could of course be wishful thinking, but one can hope. One way or the other I have had to change plans and to rearrange things. Tatiana has returned back to see her Parents in Ukraine, so she will spend some time there before going back up to Russia. /sigh. We are doing well though, it is the process, one can only keep pushing forward. The important thing to remember is it was not a denial.

I will keep Katya's friend in my thoughts that she too gets a positive result soon rather than later. As for you and Katya, all you can do is prepare prepare and prepare. Then, it is up to the officer. Hang in there, I hope it goes well for you when her turn comes along.

-Jeff

[slim 1,530]

It seems from time to time they have an "audit day" or week or something where almost every single application is held for further processing. Kind of makes me think they really only do one day of work each month. Every other day it's a 50/50 shot.

[O and Mr.P 0]

I had same issue in Moskow embassy this week. Seems that it happens more often now. Counsel had all paperwork and also took 5cm thick folder of our e-mails. I pray that she just want to read them all