Embassy has NO record of our petition!???

[Roxyroo 1]

I am not sure if I am posting more to vent or seek advice, since I know there is no one doing DCF in Colombia, but if anyone has any advice, we'd appreciate it!

Here for DCF you request an appt at the embassy to present your petition and the USC's proofs of residency in Colombia and pay the $355 in cash there. I was told that from this appt to receipt of visa the time would be 4 to 8 weeks MAX.

We had our appt March 16. Met with an extremely nice consular officer. Everything went well, and at the end he reminded us about the Affidavit of Support and said ok, send in the DS-2100 and DS-230 and we'll see you back here in a few weeks!

Well, we sent that a few days later and...no response.

We did a K-1 visa last year, but couldn't stay in the States because of the economy. So I know that within 3 hours of sending the fax that time I had received an email confirming it. So, 3 days after sending it this time, I emailed the embassy. They replied that they had nothing on us and to re-send. This time I emailed it. The response was that my husband had already been approved for a visa, a K-1 visa, last May, and thank you very much.

The embassy only picks up the phones here between 2 and 4 on Wednesdays. So last Wednesday I called to straighten this all out. Again I was told that my husband had already been approved for a K-1 visa, etc etc. It took quite awhile to convince the woman that we had started a NEW petition and had already had our first appt. She simply refused to believe it. But once I convinced her, she asked for our names again and put me on hold. When she came back she assured me that everything was fine and straightened out, all I had to do was send the docs for the 3RD time, and I would then receive a reply. I felt great, things were on a roll now, and resent the docs immediately.

Yesterday, I got an email saying essentially no matter how many times we send those docs, there is NO PETITION for an I-130 for my husband. They have no information about it and have not received any.

The email said "yet", but at this point I am frustrated and very worried. I do not think this should be taking this long. We haven't even been assigned a case number, hell, no one evens seems to know we exist!

Today, I sent an email with the original I-130 and our receipt from the embassy the $355, to prove I am not making up that we did indeed file a petition! But...no response.

The main concern is I, USC, am leaving Colombia in 5 weeks because I have to take our dog to the US before the dog travel embargo starts. I hate to think of leaving and my husband having to go to the interview alone. But I especially hate not knowing where our petition is at this point, or why no one has ever heard of us.

I teach at a university here and have to now cancel class tomorrow to call during the 2-4 window because I feel like we've just been going around and around on this and are getting nowhere.

And no, I didn't take down the consular officer's name or the name of the woman I spoke to...which I am now regretting....

I feel like I'm doing everything I can, but still getting nowhere.

[peteycosta 0]

I think the embassy has everything on record.. maybe they haven´t passed it on to the IV department, or its making its way over there. I tried getting info out of the people that work through the e-mails here in Argentina and they would reply "once we receive the documents and checked them we will give you a visa time". I was getting impatient but finally after 6 weeks after our I-130 being approved we got a response for next week. Sounds like you will just make it on time. What is this about Dog embargo? Is it just for colombia? We´re planning on bringing our dog back to the states too, but I think we´ll be there just before the 7-8th.

Good luck! and patience is the most important virtue, the moment you stop truly worrying about it it´ll come.

-Pete

I am not sure if I am posting more to vent or seek advice, since I know there is no one doing DCF in Colombia, but if anyone has any advice, we'd appreciate it!

Here for DCF you request an appt at the embassy to present your petition and the USC's proofs of residency in Colombia and pay the $355 in cash there. I was told that from this appt to receipt of visa the time would be 4 to 8 weeks MAX.

We had our appt March 16. Met with an extremely nice consular officer. Everything went well, and at the end he reminded us about the Affidavit of Support and said ok, send in the DS-2100 and DS-230 and we'll see you back here in a few weeks!

Well, we sent that a few days later and...no response.

We did a K-1 visa last year, but couldn't stay in the States because of the economy. So I know that within 3 hours of sending the fax that time I had received an email confirming it. So, 3 days after sending it this time, I emailed the embassy. They replied that they had nothing on us and to re-send. This time I emailed it. The response was that my husband had already been approved for a visa, a K-1 visa, last May, and thank you very much.

The embassy only picks up the phones here between 2 and 4 on Wednesdays. So last Wednesday I called to straighten this all out. Again I was told that my husband had already been approved for a K-1 visa, etc etc. It took quite awhile to convince the woman that we had started a NEW petition and had already had our first appt. She simply refused to believe it. But once I convinced her, she asked for our names again and put me on hold. When she came back she assured me that everything was fine and straightened out, all I had to do was send the docs for the 3RD time, and I would then receive a reply. I felt great, things were on a roll now, and resent the docs immediately.

Yesterday, I got an email saying essentially no matter how many times we send those docs, there is NO PETITION for an I-130 for my husband. They have no information about it and have not received any.

The email said "yet", but at this point I am frustrated and very worried. I do not think this should be taking this long. We haven't even been assigned a case number, hell, no one evens seems to know we exist!

Today, I sent an email with the original I-130 and our receipt from the embassy the $355, to prove I am not making up that we did indeed file a petition! But...no response.

The main concern is I, USC, am leaving Colombia in 5 weeks because I have to take our dog to the US before the dog travel embargo starts. I hate to think of leaving and my husband having to go to the interview alone. But I especially hate not knowing where our petition is at this point, or why no one has ever heard of us.

I teach at a university here and have to now cancel class tomorrow to call during the 2-4 window because I feel like we've just been going around and around on this and are getting nowhere.

And no, I didn't take down the consular officer's name or the name of the woman I spoke to...which I am now regretting....

I feel like I'm doing everything I can, but still getting nowhere.

[TOM&Riz 4]

I think the embassy has everything on record.. maybe they haven´t passed it on to the IV department, or its making its way over there. I tried getting info out of the people that work through the e-mails here in Argentina and they would reply "once we receive the documents and checked them we will give you a visa time". I was getting impatient but finally after 6 weeks after our I-130 being approved we got a response for next week. Sounds like you will just make it on time. What is this about Dog embargo? Is it just for colombia? We´re planning on bringing our dog back to the states too, but I think we´ll be there just before the 7-8th.

Good luck! and patience is the most important virtue, the moment you stop truly worrying about it it´ll come.

-Pete

Had the same thing happen to us in Manila was there for two months and the consular section kept insisting they had no record od a "Approved Petition" and thats just it, if it is still in review by the consular officer and they are waiting records or whatever it won't have a record on the IV here is what they sent us that explained it better for us

"If you have not received a notice of approval, it means that the petition is still pending. It is pending because USCIS Manila is still waiting for the results of the records checks. If the petition is still pending and has not been approved, the Immigrant Section will have no record of the petition because there is no approved petition to be forwarded to that section. Once the petition is approved, the approved petition will be forwarded to the Immigrant Visa Section for visa processing. Remember, USCIS Manila only processes and adjudicates Form I-130 petition while the Immigrant Visa Section processes the visa application, upon receipt of the approved petition."

I hope this is the case for you but definetly stay on top of it ... good luck

[Penguin_ie 5,994]

How annoying!

The best thing I can suggest is to ring them again; even though you don;t have the name of the CO you saw for your I-130 appointment, maybe if you describe them, that would help and they can track them down.

[Roxyroo 1]

I think the embassy has everything on record.. maybe they haven´t passed it on to the IV department, or its making its way over there. I tried getting info out of the people that work through the e-mails here in Argentina and they would reply "once we receive the documents and checked them we will give you a visa time". I was getting impatient but finally after 6 weeks after our I-130 being approved we got a response for next week. Sounds like you will just make it on time. What is this about Dog embargo? Is it just for colombia? We´re planning on bringing our dog back to the states too, but I think we´ll be there just before the 7-8th.

Good luck! and patience is the most important virtue, the moment you stop truly worrying about it it´ll come.

-Pete

Check out my update on this craziness on the forum, and yes, dog embargo very real thing. Was news to me, but most airlines won't fly any dogs when temperatures reach 70-75 degrees F, or between 15 May and 15 Sept. We have a bulldog-type dog, and for "chata" breeds restrictions are even tighter. If you have a dog and want to travel, I'd encourage you to research it. Turns out customs is relatively easy, it's the airline restrictions that are difficult!