Missing Petition Mystery Solved

[Roxyroo 1]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the moral support and advice about waiting...but I decided to be a pain in the embassy's a-- and not be patient. Since it has been over 3 weeks since we presented our docs and I-130 at the first appt and all I keep hearing from the embassy is that NO petition has been filed for us, I sensed something was wrong. They told me DCF would take 4-8 weeks max, I'm taking them at their word.

I had to cancel my afternoon classes at the university where I teach here to be able to do it, but I called today during the 2 hour window when they pick up phones...and I kid you not, was on hold for an hour and 15 minutes.

The woman who finally picked up ran through what seemed like her knee-jerk responses when someone believes their case has been "lost" by the embassy, butI kept saying, Look, I really think something is wrong, it's been 3 weeks now and I have been told to send the DS-2100 and DS-230 documents for the second appt 3 times now but each time I get the same response that there is NO petition for this person. PLEASE look into it. She put me on hold several times, told me it must be tied up in Panama, where they are sent for approval, etc etc, but then she asked me if the consular officer had actually handed the docs to us to fill out and send in. I said yes and she said, What did you say the beneficiary's name was again?? She went and looked again and still, no, just our old K-1 visa from last May. She went and checked with Panama, nothing. Finally, after like 10 minutes she asked for MY name. Put me on hold for another 5 minutes and when she came back she had our petition. What was wrong? They had left the 's' out of my husband's name. Can you believe this idiocy?

So our petition was just sitting there, already approved--from what I understand, it was approved back when we had the 1st appt on March 16, when the consular officer said "Everything looks good here!"--and we should have had an appt date by now! I am so frustrated. I mean, thank goodness for this wonderful woman, but I leave Colombia in 5 weeks and that is really pushing it for trying to attend the interview together. She said interviews are scheduled in 3 to 6 weeks. I said, Can we do anything to get the 3 weeks ha ha??? She said no. She did give us our case number so I can look our appt up online. And, very nicely, she took my home and cell numbers and called me when she got the fax of the DS-2100 and DS-230 (for now the 4th time I have sent it), which I really appreciated.

Now we just have to wait for the appt...which won't be programmed at the earliest until the 20th of April.

Sigh.

Anyway. What have we learned from all this? Don't be patient. Bug the hell out of the embassy.

[nane1104 146]

Good for you! I know it pays off to not sit back and wait for things to go wrong.

I hope you get your appointment scheduled real soon!!

[Marina-Del 10]

Wow. I'm glad the whole situation was taken care of!! It seems like they owe you interview date sooner rather than later, but of course they don't work like that.

Keep us updated!! And remember 4-8 weeks of DCF is a LOT quicker than most countries. In Brazil it's fast, but it's still a 4 month ordeal. Not that that makes you feel any better probably, but still!