waiting for I-601 waiver receipt (part of pending K-3 visa)

[maz-yael 0]

Hello All---

Just wanted any advice from anyone who might be familiar with some of the runaround/lingo we're catching from the US Consulate in Paris regarding our I-601 waiver that is part of a suspending K-3 petition. Here's our story/chronology;

January 30th, 2008 myself (USC) and my fiance (Iranian citizen, French resident) attempted to travel to Boston, US with Dublin, Ireland as a connection port. He has procured a B2 tourist visa. At the US border station in Dublin my fiance was taken in for routine questioning and then came out and we sat and talked a bit (likely the mistake) and then was called back. I was called forward by an officer and asked to present my passport and was asked who i was traveling with and his name. The officer spotted a picture of my fiance in my wallet. And finally put together that we were a couple and eventually his visa was revoked at the border and he voluntarily withdrew his "application" and we were sent back to Paris. Cut to June 2009- we were married in Paris, had our daughter there and hired a lawyer (waste) and started the K-3 visa process. Of course we were told by our lawyer upon hiring him that our case was strong and straightforward and we had nothing to worry about as the B2 incident had nothing to do with a K3 visa.

Our 129F was approved sometime in Sept. 2009 if my memory serves me correct and was passed to the NVC and then to the Parisian US Consulate. we were sent our forms for an appointment and were pretty much treated like an IV even though a K3 is technically NOT an immigrant visa. We gathered everything for our appointment and even had a waiver ready to go in case the incident came up and the consulate officer demanded one. However, being told constantly that the consulate officer has the sole discretion to grant a visa and not require a waiver, i was hopeful we could talk our way and explain what happened (basically that my fiance had not told the B2 visa interviewer he had an American Fiance; we never intended to move to US at that point btw, and we had proof of my husbands business in france, and our Parisian wedding plans and my delivery at a French hospital was all ready to go . we were trying to visit my mother in Jan. 08 who could not come to France for the birth of our child nor for our wedding.) so anyway i believed we would have the chance to talk at our K3 visa interview.

NOPE. she chastized my husband for 'lying several times' and 'continually lying' and asked me, ' how do you know you can trust him' --this was when i was holding my 7 mos. baby in my hands. So i did feel it was QUITE over-the-top for saying he was my fiance for a B2 visa when it was a year later after the incident and we were filing a K3 petition (where the I-130 was approved also!). so she said:

' i don't know if a waiver is needed or not. i have to check the system. And i don't know even if a waiver is needed or not, if you'll ever get the visa'

me- " so who knows if a waiver is needed or not? it's been a year and all of our case has been approved up to this point. why would USCIS approve the 129F and the 130 ? when will someone know if the waiver is needed?"

her- "i'd be more than happy to take your waiver application now if you want to leave it with me, but i have to check to see if it's needed.';

of course i opted to wait on the hope that it would not be needed. this was Dec. 16, 2009. The Paris US consulate was closed for the next two Fridays (the only day it took waivers) for the holidays. Our lawyer who was NOT ALLOWED TO TALK OR present his argument went on holiday for the same time. I was never allowed to present my case of extreme hardship if we were to be separated or why our living in Paris was becoming increasingly unbearable. (She told our lawyer as he approached to sit down, and later that she would not read his explanation of our situation).

when our lawyer came back and i finally confronted him in his office, i saw the slip the consulate officer had given him for the first time. it said our visa application was Suspended pending further documents. on the 2nd page of what was needed, she checked 'OTHER" and in the description wrote 'WAIVER NEEDED'!!!! So she knew the whole time we needed one and made us wait for nothing?!! Needless to say, up to this point the embassy never contacted us or our lawyer as promised to tell us about the waiver. we emailed the consulate and got an anonymous answer saying ' yes you do need a waiver'--- were they never going to call?!! Finally we were given an appointment on January 16th , 2010 to hand in our waiver I-601 and the evidence and fee.

The same consulate officer was a little nicer (that's stretching it) and answered our questions and asked us about what happened in the airport. so we finally got to explain our reasoning. (we felt he would never be granted a B2 visa as my fiance and we genuinely wanted to return at that point and we had proof of returning to France) and she asked me about my extreme hardship if the waiver were to be denied; i had many reasons of our life in France vs. US , our potential to succeed in US and have family support, my husband could practice his religion freely (he converted to Judaism from Islam and that has been one of the major problems with us and his family who we LIVE WITH), and a medical problem i have that could be better followed in US vs. here in Paris where I am just a tourist still with no legal rights.

We were told that she would 'take all this into consideration when making her decision'-- does that mean she grants the waiver?! I asked if it was going to USCIS Rome or D.C. and she said she wasn't sure. We were told we would be contacted upon receipt of the waiver.

So here we are almost 1 month later and no confirmation of receipt by USCIS. My husband entered our case # in Rome's database and no record of it. I emailed the Paris US consulate twice only to get redundant mysterious answers--- "please be advised your husband's waiver is still in process''. I just asked if it was sent and received somewhere, and that was the answer i got, 2x. my lawyer, genius that he is told us to be patient. Trouble is, living the 3 of us with a 9 mo. old in a 7.5sq. m. room i'm anything but. Maybe i could be with some clear answers. so What does this mean-- are we in AP? i do know that it's approximately 6 months from the DATE OF RECEPTION AT USCIS, so that's what i'm wondering---what's going on now in the interim? why can't anyone answer my question?

THanks for any and all of your help and time!!!

Yael

[victorious 0]

All I can say reading your situation is be patient. I know this waiting is stressful. I'm pretty sure this journey of ours will come to past.

Edited February 7, 2010 by victorious

[maz-yael 0]

thanks victorious for the support

anybody to share their experience?

[momof1 205]

Waivers of inadmissibility for French nationals are processed in Rome. Some countries do not deal with a lot of waivers and the officers are unsure of the proces which is why they couldn't give you a definitive answer. Rome does not normally send a confirmation receipt for the waiver, but you can check your case status online.

http://italy.usembassy.gov/dhs/uscis/status/default.asp

The site is usually updated every 3 to 4 weeks. Look for your IV# and you will be able to check the progress of your waiver. If your number is not on the list, you can contact Rome directly and ask if they have received your waiver. Our waiver took about 3 months to appear on the Rome list after waiver submission in Algeria due to background checks. I would expect the same since you are also Iranian.

The list seems to be quite short right now, and I would expect the decision to take less than their 6 month estimated processing time. If you have any other questions I'd be more than willing to help if I can. Good luck!

[JustJ 0]

I think the consulates actually prepare the case before it is sent out to the adjudicating USCIS office. We were denied a visa at the beginning of December in Dublin, and our case is only now being prepared to send to London. Sometimes the consulates can make a recommendation, so try to be as polite as possible until it is sent to Rome.

[JustJ 0]

The more I think about it, the more I'm wondering if your husband has any crimes that prevent him from getting a K3 visa? Just wondering if they might have found crimes that made him inadmissible for the K3, and then they saw he had applied previously for a B2 and decided he had committed a misrepresentation?

[maz-yael 0]

Waivers of inadmissibility for French nationals are processed in Rome. Some countries do not deal with a lot of waivers and the officers are unsure of the proces which is why they couldn't give you a definitive answer. Rome does not normally send a confirmation receipt for the waiver, but you can check your case status online.

http://italy.usembassy.gov/dhs/uscis/status/default.asp

The site is usually updated every 3 to 4 weeks. Look for your IV# and you will be able to check the progress of your waiver. If your number is not on the list, you can contact Rome directly and ask if they have received your waiver. Our waiver took about 3 months to appear on the Rome list after waiver submission in Algeria due to background checks. I would expect the same since you are also Iranian.

The list seems to be quite short right now, and I would expect the decision to take less than their 6 month estimated processing time. If you have any other questions I'd be more than willing to help if I can. Good luck!

`thanks momof1 for the info. i'll try to be a little more patient in checking the Rome list to see if our # appears. here's hoping the Italians are faster than the French!

[maz-yael 0]

The more I think about it, the more I'm wondering if your husband has any crimes that prevent him from getting a K3 visa? Just wondering if they might have found crimes that made him inadmissible for the K3, and then they saw he had applied previously for a B2 and decided he had committed a misrepresentation?

he has never committed a crime and handed in a clean French police record that was just a week old at our interview. He is in fact not inadmissable for the K3 , they apparently want a waiver for the incident at the Dublin Airport however. Like i mentioned our lawyer told us the two visas were not connected due the difference of their nature and eligibility, unfortunately he didn't know what he was talking about. the misrepresentation was from not telling the border official that we were engaged at the time of trying to travel on the B2.

[maz-yael 0]

p.s. JustJ, I'm hoping the consulate doesn't hit us with the expired forms delay too! because i'm thinking our 325's might be almost ready to 'expire'---- isn't that concept ridiculous?! they kept our papers so long they expired! lol.

also our I-130 has been approved and like i mentioned, hopefully NOT forwarded to the consulate because if it has been, as of Feb. 1st 2010 the consulate has the right to make us switch our visa category from K-3 to CR-1 and thus all new sponsorship forms, namely the I-864.

[mshopeful 1]

thanks victorious for the support

anybody to share their experience?

My I-601 Waiver was submitted in Manila, I received the notice of receipt 3 weeks after, three months after I received the approval notice. Each consulate must have different policies with regards to waivers, be patient, have faith, good luck.