Colombia Club

[Mononoke28 135]

Or a "We're here to serve you. Ask and we shall deliver" either.

Diana

[jpcanon 0]

Ha I suppose not!!!!

[HAL 9000 96]

Or a "We're here to serve you. Ask and we shall deliver" either.

Diana

You mean you two didn't get that call? Wow I feel lucky then!

They also called us to take brunch reservations at the Embassy café too. See what you're missing out on jpcannon?

All over a phone #.

[jpcanon 0]

Ha- i'm takin' it hard here!!!

I'd better think of a good question to post... : )

Joe

P.S. Hey, I did miss a call today- could have been the Embassy in Colombia just checkin' in with me.....

[Mononoke28 135]

Or a "We're here to serve you. Ask and we shall deliver" either.

Diana

You mean you two didn't get that call? Wow I feel lucky then!

They also called us to take brunch reservations at the Embassy café too. See what you're missing out on jpcannon?

All over a phone #.

Well, I'm not going to cry over not being invited for a couple of stale buñuelos with hot lava bland tasting coffee. But now I know who to go to if I need a "special" favor from the embassy in Bogotá.

Diana

[HAL 9000 96]

Ha- i'm takin' it hard here!!!

I'd better think of a good question to post... : )

Joe

P.S. Hey, I did miss a call today- could have been the Embassy in Colombia just checkin' in with me.....

Its all about relaxing enough to do what has to be done... right. Don't stress over minutae... and focus on the interview date and getting in before the mid-month cutoff once you submit Packet 3.

Or a "We're here to serve you. Ask and we shall deliver" either.

Diana

You mean you two didn't get that call? Wow I feel lucky then!

They also called us to take brunch reservations at the Embassy café too. See what you're missing out on jpcannon?

All over a phone #.

Well, I'm not going to cry over not being invited for a couple of stale buñuelos with hot lava bland tasting coffee. But now I know who to go to if I need a "special" favor from the embassy in Bogotá.

Diana

That's right. HAL 9000 will always be there to help. You must have missed the Ajiaco

[PurpleFrog 0]

Is there a spanish section of the forum?

[Andres and Diana 0]

Hello people!!!

Long time no post! Been really busy with work and dealing with my husband (hee hee). Its great to finally have him home and not have to deal with Administrative Processing. We have had a couple of fights with the DMV! Can you believe they didn't want to give him a license even though we had a SSN and EAD! Sheesh!

Anyways...at this point we are just waiting for our interview notice!

I hope everyone is doing good and that everyone has been having an easy time over at the embassy!

Kisses and Hugs to everyone!

Diana and Andres

[Mononoke28 135]

Is there a spanish section of the forum?

Here you go http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=78366

Diana

[HAL 9000 96]

Great to see old faces checking in.

[Daniel Brillit 0]

Ok, I am back from my trip to Bogota. Work kept me busy over the weekend so I am just now posting what happened. Well the visa was Not approved but at the same time it was not denied either. They have to do an “Administrative Procedure”; I guess it’s like an internal investigation.

We showed up about 6:30 to the embassy. Got in Line 3 and waited a little while before they let us in the compound. Once in, we received the folders and list/order to put the documents; one folder for Brillit and one for her daughter. It can get a little loud some times and some time it is hard to hear the names coming over the speakers. I guess we missed the first time they called. We ran to the first window and the lady was very curt with Brillit. So she collected the folders and told her to wait. It seemed like forever but finally around 11 am they called her name. The interviewer spoke to Brillit briefly and then she waved me over. Brillit stood back behind the yellow line as the guy started asking all about the relationship; how we met, several questions on each trip I made to visit her, her family, about the fotos we had given, etc. Well after about few minutes, he asked me to ask Brillit to sit down; he did not want the integrity of the interview to be compromised. So I put down the phone and went over to ask her to sit and wait. He was writing down every answer I gave him. After about 25 minutes of questions he said he was finished with me and wanted me to go stand to the side of the court yard. I asked if he wanted me to get Brillit and he said no, not to speak to her and he would have her paged. I walked over to the side of the courtyard but was able to see the window. Brillit went over and picked up the phone. After about 30 minutes, she waved me over. The interviewer told me he had good news and not so good news. He said he believed the integrity of the relationship but that that something had come up in their database the required looking into. He said they would do an ‘Administrative Procedure’ (do some more investigation). He told me we should have an answer in no longer than 2 months. I asked him what had caused the flag in the database and he replied that for security reasons he could not say more than that. He said the embassy would call Brillit with information and when she could request a second interview. We asked if we all needed to attend the second interview and he said no, just she will need to come back to the embassy.

Brillit has several trips out of the country on her DAS report and we think they are what got her flagged. She had an ex-boyfriend several years ago that took her a few trips to different places and she also has worked for a company in Barranquilla that does beauty (hair and skin) shows in Brazil. They would fly her to Brazil and she would work the show/expo selling their products. So she had a couple of those trips on the report.

Obviously we were depressed that we did not get the visa but at least they did not deny it either. I think it helped that I was there. Without my interview, I think they would have denied her out right.

So now we are waiting impatiently to hear from the embassy.

I will keep you updated.

Thanks

[HAL 9000 96]

Man Daniel... an AP is a big pain in the buttocks... but not an impossible one to get over. You may want to draft a letter to your Rep/Senator's offices just in case the Embassy gets too wishy-washy with you two. Since you're fresh from the interview, include what information from the interview you think is pertinent so you don't forget it.

If two months pass by and you have no approval, execute the letter immediately to these offices.

Best of luck and sorry about the AP.

[Andres and Diana 0]

Ok, I am back from my trip to Bogota. Work kept me busy over the weekend so I am just now posting what happened. Well the visa was Not approved but at the same time it was not denied either. They have to do an “Administrative Procedure”; I guess it’s like an internal investigation.

We showed up about 6:30 to the embassy. Got in Line 3 and waited a little while before they let us in the compound. Once in, we received the folders and list/order to put the documents; one folder for Brillit and one for her daughter. It can get a little loud some times and some time it is hard to hear the names coming over the speakers. I guess we missed the first time they called. We ran to the first window and the lady was very curt with Brillit. So she collected the folders and told her to wait. It seemed like forever but finally around 11 am they called her name. The interviewer spoke to Brillit briefly and then she waved me over. Brillit stood back behind the yellow line as the guy started asking all about the relationship; how we met, several questions on each trip I made to visit her, her family, about the fotos we had given, etc. Well after about few minutes, he asked me to ask Brillit to sit down; he did not want the integrity of the interview to be compromised. So I put down the phone and went over to ask her to sit and wait. He was writing down every answer I gave him. After about 25 minutes of questions he said he was finished with me and wanted me to go stand to the side of the court yard. I asked if he wanted me to get Brillit and he said no, not to speak to her and he would have her paged. I walked over to the side of the courtyard but was able to see the window. Brillit went over and picked up the phone. After about 30 minutes, she waved me over. The interviewer told me he had good news and not so good news. He said he believed the integrity of the relationship but that that something had come up in their database the required looking into. He said they would do an ‘Administrative Procedure’ (do some more investigation). He told me we should have an answer in no longer than 2 months. I asked him what had caused the flag in the database and he replied that for security reasons he could not say more than that. He said the embassy would call Brillit with information and when she could request a second interview. We asked if we all needed to attend the second interview and he said no, just she will need to come back to the embassy.

Brillit has several trips out of the country on her DAS report and we think they are what got her flagged. She had an ex-boyfriend several years ago that took her a few trips to different places and she also has worked for a company in Barranquilla that does beauty (hair and skin) shows in Brazil. They would fly her to Brazil and she would work the show/expo selling their products. So she had a couple of those trips on the report.

Obviously we were depressed that we did not get the visa but at least they did not deny it either. I think it helped that I was there. Without my interview, I think they would have denied her out right.

So now we are waiting impatiently to hear from the embassy.

I will keep you updated.

Thanks

We went through the same exact situation!! This was back in may when we had our interview. Andres and I showed up and they even went as far as approving us! Once we left the embassy they called us and told us "oh come back and pick up your passport" They were not going to issue the visa because of AP.

At that point I wasn't allowed back into the embassy with my husband even though I was the US Citizen! Andres went in they explained about AP and he was offered his passport...he decided to leave it with them. I constantly called DOS to find out our status over the course of two months until one day they told me that the embassy has tried to call Andres to set up another interview. I took it upon myself to call the embassy and set up the interview from here and was met with a road block. The operator wouldn't give me an interview date because she didn't see in the notes that they had reached Andres so how could I the Petitioner have possibly known that he needed an interview! Eventually after quite a bit of arguing she gave me an expedited interview.

At his second interview they didn't know what to do with him. They shuffled him from window to window...until the consul finally said "what are you doing here?" Eventually they found his file saw that he didn't have a request for additional info and told him..."ok your visa is approved go pay at domesa" At the first interview we did since we were told we were approved that day and we told the consul this. He said "ok...wait for your visa in the mail then"

A few days later Andres gets a call...mind you this is when he is already back in Tulua which is an 8 hour drive from Cali. They tell him he is in AP again and that he has to return to Bogota to pick up his passport!!! He goes off on the poor lady who was made to call him...she got so upset that she told him to hold while she got the consul on the phone to explain the situation. When the consul came on the phone 5 minutes later he said...."im sorry it was my mistake to have her call you...we will send out your visa today"

So if Andres hadn't let his temper fly...who knows...we would still be in AP. Its sooo odd that this is happening to people in Colombia. Usually it is only the MENA countries that have the heaviest of AP's. The good thing is that they gave you a time frame! I hope they kept your finacee's passport. And I sincerely hope that you get through AP soon. I know of only one other such case...AlexisR...another colombian who emailed me about his AP. His thankfully only took 3 weeks.

Your AP probably has to do with namechecks, thats what ours was about. It could be completely random or in truth it could have been something in the file. The good thing is that the FBI, CIA, and other agency's that do these checks for DOS have implemented a new system to expedite things for visa requests...I believe it took effect in september.

Quick question...where you held back at the NVC level as well? Instead of it taking 3-6 days did it take a couple of weeks to even a month? Reason I ask is because at the NVC level we also got stuck in AP...could it be a coinsidence?

Once again....I sincerely hope that things are fast and efficient and that your girl will be here soon!

Kind regards,

Diana M.

[Mononoke28 135]

I say keep calling the DOS and the embassy even if they tell you that you're calling too much. AP is pretty standard believe it or not, no so much in Colombia but mainly in countries from the Middle East. Anything can trigger it, a last name, a full name, a trip at a certain date, so they have to do extensive research on that. Once they find out there is nothing fishy out there, they'll call her back to pick up her visa.

Diana

[Daniel Brillit 0]

Diana and Diana,

Thanks!!!

We did not take long to go through NVC, just a few days if I remember correctly.