K1 Paper work "stuck" at HCM Consulate after interview

[US VN 0]

Dear VisaJourney friends,

I have search on VJ to get little more educated about why HCM Consulate take so long to process my fiancee paper work after I, petitioner, personally submit all of the requested additional documents to the Consulate Office. Here are my concern and I really would like to have advices from you:

1) My fiancee interview date was August 2010 @ HCM Consulate.... Got BLUE sheet .... I, petitioner, personally submitted all requested documents from the BLUE sheet to the HCM Consulate. Since then, I had sent email every month to ask the Consulate Officer about the status of our case,.... Every single time the email came back to me as "due to the large amount number of case they have to review so they cannot just review my case out-of-sequence. I personally went to Consulate Office on Dec 21, 2010 to ask if the officer can give the status of the case; an answer I have is "cannot view my case out-of-sequence" and "all case are base on first-come-first-serve" method; in addition, she cannot give me the timeline for anything so I can have a feel of how much longer do I have to wait before the Officer can review the case. Is this normal or I have to do something to speed up the process?

2) I am currently in VN with my fiancee for our wedding ceremony, Is it wise if I submit more picture--our wedding pictures, or just picture of both of us and family got-together--Hoping the evidences might support the case a bit stronger or it might cause further delay for Consulate review? B/c we are support to be as engaged (K1) not marriage?

Any suggest or advice be greatly appreciated.

TIA

US_VN

[clayr 35]

I am curious what your blue sheet asked for? I have been to the consulate 3 times in 2 years and they only want to get you out the door without any solutions. I have emailed them repeatedly from US and have not recieved a response. I would be writing your congressman and senator. There is no sense in a government entity with this level of incompetence.

[Frank and Duyen 0]

US Vn, be sure you addressed everything they requested on the blue slip. Then you need to allow them time to process it all. Depending what was on your blue slip it could be soon or could be a while. As far as reviewing your case in the order it was recieved, well thats hard to believe, for me anyway. My wife and sons case have been sitting in AP for over a year, our turn must have got skipped. I've been to the consulate a dozen times in the last couple years. They cant, wont or are unable to provide anyone with any idea about when their case will be done or even reviewed. Do everything you can to prod them, email, get your congressional rep and your senator to make inquiries and continue to go to the consulate whenever you can. Some on this board think its good to continue to submit additional evidence and some dont think it a good idea, I've tried both and were still in AP so go figure.

I'm pretty sure that getting married while applying for a K-1 visa is a big NO NO.

Good luck, hang in there and keep us up to date on whats happening.

Frank and Duyen

[ScottThuy 140]

I agree with Frank as to the getting married part.. thats a big mistake as the issue that they are wanting to look into now will still be there when you file a CR1 and you will just be back at the bottom of a stack again... There is no queue IMO.. We got in and out of AP after Frank got in and he is still waiting.. in order my azz.. they told me the same BS time and time again... I suspect its all about when the CO decides to move things along... if the CO wants to be a real tool they can do to your case what they have done to Franks... or they can get you in and out of AP in a few months if they choose to have the investigative leg work done...

I cant say for sure if anything helped us get through, I just stayed persistent when it came to emails and the congressional inquiries... I dont think either really helped but who knows.... I think when it comes to submitting extra evidence they could put the case to the back of a queue if they want.. I was told by one of the people at the window in HCMC that submitting extra evidence did not change the time it would take to get processed.. but then again she didnt have a clue about much when it came to K1 visa processing.. she said I was a liar when I said it took a month to get a response to an email... and many went unanswered...

IMO the case is in AP (limbo) because they dont feel comfortable approving the visa for one reason or another and they are looking for something to use to deny the visa... they are in no rush to do anything and there is really nothing that can be done to make them do anything other than a writ of mandamus.. and that takes a long time to get done and should include an Atty IMO... dealing with those people at the consulate is like nothing most of us ever has to deal with in a normal setting...normal does not apply to the HCMC consulate. The only thing that one can consider normal is the BS email responses.. here is one they sent me...

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your inquiry.

The beneficiary's file is still pending further review by a consular officer to determine if the beneficiary is qualified under U.S. regulations for this category of visa. We understand and sympathize with your frustration at the lack of a more definite time frame by which this review will be completed. We want to assure you that we take all our cases very seriously, and work very hard to process them as quickly as we can. Our Consulate here in Ho Chi Minh City is the fifth largest immigrant visa processing post in the world and we handle close to 30,000 applications a year. This makes us one of the largest and busiest consular operations in the world. Unfortunately, this large volume often translates into longer waiting periods for applicants. We will notify the beneficiary when the case is reviewed.

If you have further inquiries, please do not delete your original email and please include the complete case number (HCM XXXX-XXX-XXX) in all correspondence.

Sincerely,

[luckytxn 2,264]

Dear VisaJourney friends,

I have search on VJ to get little more educated about why HCM Consulate take so long to process my fiancee paper work after I, petitioner, personally submit all of the requested additional documents to the Consulate Office. Here are my concern and I really would like to have advices from you:

1) My fiancee interview date was August 2010 @ HCM Consulate.... Got BLUE sheet .... I, petitioner, personally submitted all requested documents from the BLUE sheet to the HCM Consulate. Since then, I had sent email every month to ask the Consulate Officer about the status of our case,.... Every single time the email came back to me as "due to the large amount number of case they have to review so they cannot just review my case out-of-sequence. I personally went to Consulate Office on Dec 21, 2010 to ask if the officer can give the status of the case; an answer I have is "cannot view my case out-of-sequence" and "all case are base on first-come-first-serve" method; in addition, she cannot give me the timeline for anything so I can have a feel of how much longer do I have to wait before the Officer can review the case. Is this normal or I have to do something to speed up the process?

2) I am currently in VN with my fiancee for our wedding ceremony, Is it wise if I submit more picture--our wedding pictures, or just picture of both of us and family got-together--Hoping the evidences might support the case a bit stronger or it might cause further delay for Consulate review? B/c we are support to be as engaged (K1) not marriage?

Any suggest or advice be greatly appreciated.

TIA

US_VN

Nothing can speed it up but it is a good idea to be a thorn in their side and let them know that you are around often. It is hard for us to help when we know very little about you. At the very least we need to know why you are in AP and what the blue slip says. Even better if we knew a tad more about your relationship such as how met and how longt and your process you have gone through so far including the interview.

Good luck and God bless.

[Kevin and 10]

I had congressional inquiries about once a month and I emailed them at least once a week. If you just let your case sit there and not ask about it, they aren't in a hurry to get it off the desk. Not questioning status just adds to the "gut feel" they have about your case.

There is no magical answer for HCMC. What works for some people may not work for others.

Frank's right. Why would you apply for a K-1 then get married in VN before your visa is issued. When HCMC finds out you got married , your K-1 will definitely be denied.

Does HCMC still have scheduled times to meet with CO's?

[ScottThuy 140]

They have hours to allow one in on two afternoons each week, not to meet with CO's but to get inside to talk with a CSR that will say anything to get you out of the building ASAP... If one asks to speak to the CO handling the case they will say the CO is too busy to talk with you.. been there done that.. if you ask to talk to the supervisor expect them to try to get rid of you without . I have only heard of a few times when someone actually got to talk to the CO handling the case... Ituan was one and the CO said I'll take the file home to go over it over the holiday weekend.. he shortly thereafter got the denial slip... IMO if one is in HCMC it is worth the time to go when one can to do a status inquiry in person.. it does get noted in the case file as does any congressional inquiry and any email response from them to you... its a paper trail of sorts that shows you take the situation seriously and are looking for a resolution... there is no guarantee that having the notations in the case file will help (Frank has inquired so many times and is still waiting) but IMO it cant hurt...

Its the submitting additional evidence that has been argued here and both theories have weight IMO... additional info could help a weak case.. or additional info could delay a case giving them more to have to look at... it depends on how comfortable one is with the evidence already submitted... I loaded them up as soon as we got put in AP and didnt add anything after that...

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Let me translate this for you.

Dear Nuisance,

Thank you for interrupting my coffee break.

Your girlfriend's file is still sitting in a pile of other files somewhere around here. Not quite sure where. It's waiting for a consular officer to decide if he wants to bother opening and reading yet another boring plea for a friggin' visa when he'd rather rubber stamp them all "Denied!". We understand your frustration, and couldn't possibly care less. There's no definite time frame because we're the government - we can take as long as we like. We want to assure you that we take all cases about as seriously as a hang nail, and process them about as quickly as a glacier crosses a continent. Our Consulate here in... wait... where am I stationed now? Oh yea, Saigon. I mean Ho Chi Minh City... is the fifth largest immigrant visa processing post in the world. I only said that to impress you because your girlfriend isn't even applying for an immigrant visa! LOL! Did you know we handle 30,000 applications a year? Yeah, that's why it's so damn hard to find someone's file. That's also why it's taking so long to do anything with your case. That, plus the fact that we don't care. We'll notify your girlfriend when we figure out where we've put your file.

If you have any other questions, we'd prefer you keep them to yourself. If you insist on pestering us again please include the HCM case number so that we know which friggin' file we have to initiate another search for.

Sincerely,

[Dau Que 6]

Who advised you to get married while waiting for the outcome of a K-1 Petition? Do you even have a drawn-out plan at all? Stop digging your hole any deeper since any mistake might have unrepairable consequences.

Edit to add this: Stop thinking having a wedding ceremony will somehow convince the CO your relationship is genuine. They already know people do set up the entire relationship from A (getting to know each other) to Z (marriage and all) in perfect order........til the beneficiary gets to the US, obtains her GC, then gets a divorce.

Edited December 29, 2010 by Dau Que

[ScottThuy 140]

Let me translate this for you.

[BinhJerome 14]

They have hours to allow one in on two afternoons each week, not to meet with CO's but to get inside to talk with a CSR that will say anything to get you out of the building ASAP... If one asks to speak to the CO handling the case they will say the CO is too busy to talk with you.. been there done that.. if you ask to talk to the supervisor expect them to try to get rid of you without . I have only heard of a few times when someone actually got to talk to the CO handling the case... Ituan was one and the CO said I'll take the file home to go over it over the holiday weekend.. he shortly thereafter got the denial slip... IMO if one is in HCMC it is worth the time to go when one can to do a status inquiry in person.. it does get noted in the case file as does any congressional inquiry and any email response from them to you... its a paper trail of sorts that shows you take the situation seriously and are looking for a resolution... there is no guarantee that having the notations in the case file will help (Frank has inquired so many times and is still waiting) but IMO it cant hurt...

Its the submitting additional evidence that has been argued here and both theories have weight IMO... additional info could help a weak case.. or additional info could delay a case giving them more to have to look at... it depends on how comfortable one is with the evidence already submitted... I loaded them up as soon as we got put in AP and didnt add anything after that...

Scott, not to say that it isnt worth it, but...... In our case it WAS noted I was there and our denial still clearly stated that I was there only 1 TIME, even though through the evidence our attorney collected, the CO notes clearly showed that I was there 3 times total PRIOR to the denial.

To the OP if you are actually getting married, then your K1 will be VOID since you are now married. IF you mean you are doing a wedding ceremony without any paperwork being done then that is OK but I would not submit that evidence if there are any signs that say "Marriage Ceremony" simply because they are currently investigating your case, and if you submit something that says "wedding" or "marriage" then this gives them something else to look into. Also to the OP, if you keep submitting things each month or each week, it does in fact put your case back to the back, unless they are actually working on your case when the evidence gets added. I think this is why Frank has been in AP for so long since they were submitting additional evidence on a regular basis.

There is no way around the wait, you simply have to wait your turn, if you are a thorn in their side, some CO's like it and feel that you are serious about the petition, and that it is very important, while others might feel you are trying to push them into a decision which annoys them. Every case is different, as every CO is also different, what happens with my case may or may not happen with yours, or as in with Scott and Frank'c cases.

Good luck, and just be patient, get your senator involved, and if you want to risk being put into AP longer, keep submitting more evidence, and keep going to the consulate. Just do what ever you want to do and that you feel is in your best interests. After all this is YOUR life, and YOU will have to live with any decisions you make.

Good luck Jerome and Binh

[KimMerrell 0]

Hello everyone,

First, "Thank you" for this forum.

ok,

My fiancé and I have been involved in this process since August 2015. Everything was submitted and is through the system: to my fiancé receiving package 3 at her home in Vn.

08 December 2015. IT was a very exciting day for us both. I remember, I was driving to an appointment, she telephoned me as soon as she received it.

23 December:

....is like any other morning here: there, she is readying for prayer and sleep, I am just getting up, making coffee, making breakfast.

...In about 45 min we will be talking together on yahoo, just living our life as best we can until she/we send(s) in the 'properly' completed paperwork,

...,we/she is finishing the checklist of items they want done. This is explained by the letter (from the Consulate) very well in Vietnamese, and in English.

...We know who we are together, family, etc., is on board.

...Our engagement ceremony was wonderful this fall. We've spent months living together in Vn.

Ups and downs, much happiness intertwined with a few sorrows. This is what it is really all about. It has settled into both of our minds.

Beyond our relationship "IT" is a 'process' we both fully realize we have placed ourselves into. ...we know we need to go through this step by step. ....and then breath, leap for joy. Then return to 'normal' ... anyone know what normal is? ? ? ...well, it is a setting on the clothes dryer. that's it.

Yup, I am an American, MY fiancé is a "foreign national", yes we both have concerns about the "boogie-man, omnipotent 'G' people" at the Consulate in HCMC.

The reality is, the consulate is a place where procedure rules the day, every day, mundane, exciting, happiness, sadness, ambivalence, caring, every day.

I do not believe anyone is out to hurt us. They've a job to do there. Each person there is human, with good days, not so good days, ups, downs, just like us.

We've been blessed with this wonderful place to share our experiences, help others cope with this process, I'll try to help by being caring and informative along our way here.

Until my fiancé and I are in that building together, or in that room together, the Consulate Officer(s) reviews our documents, and sends us on our way, we are at their mercy to do everything according to their instruction. We must do our best for our loved one.

As we approach the new year:

loving kindness, compassion, understanding, prayers,

a di da phat,

KimMerrell

P.S;

please enlighten me on one point; I read somewhere on some threads about waiver of fees? really? please tell me how couples meet the financial responsibility requirements when looking for fee waivers.

just asking,

[frontgear 194]

Hello everyone,

First, "Thank you" for this forum.

ok,

My fiancé and I have been involved in this process since August 2015. Everything was submitted and is through the system: to my fiancé receiving package 3 at her home in Vn.

08 December 2015. IT was a very exciting day for us both. I remember, I was driving to an appointment, she telephoned me as soon as she received it.

23 December:

....is like any other morning here: there, she is readying for prayer and sleep, I am just getting up, making coffee, making breakfast.

...In about 45 min we will be talking together on yahoo, just living our life as best we can until she/we send(s) in the 'properly' completed paperwork,

...,we/she is finishing the checklist of items they want done. This is explained by the letter (from the Consulate) very well in Vietnamese, and in English.

...We know who we are together, family, etc., is on board.

...Our engagement ceremony was wonderful this fall. We've spent months living together in Vn.

Ups and downs, much happiness intertwined with a few sorrows. This is what it is really all about. It has settled into both of our minds.

Beyond our relationship "IT" is a 'process' we both fully realize we have placed ourselves into. ...we know we need to go through this step by step. ....and then breath, leap for joy. Then return to 'normal' ... anyone know what normal is? ? ? ...well, it is a setting on the clothes dryer. that's it.

Yup, I am an American, MY fiancé is a "foreign national", yes we both have concerns about the "boogie-man, omnipotent 'G' people" at the Consulate in HCMC.

The reality is, the consulate is a place where procedure rules the day, every day, mundane, exciting, happiness, sadness, ambivalence, caring, every day.

I do not believe anyone is out to hurt us. They've a job to do there. Each person there is human, with good days, not so good days, ups, downs, just like us.

We've been blessed with this wonderful place to share our experiences, help others cope with this process, I'll try to help by being caring and informative along our way here.

Until my fiancé and I are in that building together, or in that room together, the Consulate Officer(s) reviews our documents, and sends us on our way, we are at their mercy to do everything according to their instruction. We must do our best for our loved one.

As we approach the new year:

loving kindness, compassion, understanding, prayers,

a di da phat,

KimMerrell

P.S;

please enlighten me on one point; I read somewhere on some threads about waiver of fees? really? please tell me how couples meet the financial responsibility requirements when looking for fee waivers.

just asking,

All is dandy, except the last post of this thread was close to 5 yrs ago.