IR-1 on hold

[Jacq1018 0]

I'm open to ANY suggestions, here are the details in brief....

My husbands IR-1 was approved in Jan of 2008 but he could not travel within the 6 months because of a family illness. My husband is in the Venezuelan National Guard and his recent assignment was working in the ONA office (which is similiar to our DEA). While working in the ONA office, my husband dealt with the US Embassy in Caracas to obtain a tourist visit as he was needed to assist with some deportation cases. This tourist visa was granted within a matter of days and is valid for 10 years. My husband's father is doing much better with his cancer and we have since had a daughter (we have been married for 5 years now). I emailed the Embassy in August 2010 and asked how to obtain the IR-1 again. I was told to submit new tax documents, my spouse submitted a new medical and new police records. He interviewed on Oct 15,2010 and his case went to administrative processing.....this happened with his first case so I expected it. I spoke to Washington and they implied that the AP was completed.

Now here is the big issue...my husband was contacted by a US agent in Caracas. This agent is asking my husband for information about his former boss. My husband has been cooporative however, this agent stated he has my husbands visa "on hold" because he believes my husband know more information.

I have e-mailed the Embassy many times asking for the status of my husband's visa with no response, I've called the Embassy and spoke to the American citizen services (several times) with no luck...It's almost as if they are avoiding me. They do not want to give a denial or tell me his case is still pending-they are just not responding which is unusual for the Embassy.

His visa should be approved because he has no health issues, no criminal record and basically no changes from the last time. As the petitioner, what else can I do to get some information or clarification? Any suggestions on who I can e-mail or if I should try to fly there and speak to Embassy officials....who would I try to talk to at the Embassy??

Thank you for any suggestions---- I'm so frustrated and depressed

[BigSigh 12]

Man! That sucks royally! I'm sorry to hear this. I can tell you that the American Citizen's Services is most likely never going to help you because they don't have jurisdiction over visas (so they say). They should've told you that when you spoke to them. As far as his visa being on hold...if it is a matter of national security, he could be held up for a long time. You can try and contact the Department of State (as it sounds like you have contacted already) and a Congressman to see if they can receive any further information for you. The Visa section of the Embassy is who you need to talk to but an operator is the one who answers. Have you been able to get a hold of a consular officer when calling the USE Visa Section?

Good luck! I hope you are able to get answers soon If you were to go to the Embassy in person, you would want to speak to a consular officer and any other higher up you could to see what the issue is. Official documentation of what is missing or wrong would be most helpful in trying to get someone to respond to your request for info.

[canadian_wife 1,822]

Contact your congressman to get this rolling. You can contact the embassy yourself but I suspect much better results if a congressman is involved

Good luck

[Darnell 8,478]

US Agent? that's usually the CIA staffer at the Embassy -so sorry !

it is possible to hold up visa issuance, but it has to be very speficic, and in real time -

and it's both for your husband.

The most you can do, IMO, is to ask the ILS human to request 'clearance' from the CIA desk at the embassy, for visa issuance.

This will take some manuevering, as well, as most ILS humans only do 'congressional inquiry', and might need to be trained on how to handle 'CIA clearance request'.

Good Luck !

[Jacq1018 0]

Man! That sucks royally! I'm sorry to hear this. I can tell you that the American Citizen's Services is most likely never going to help you because they don't have jurisdiction over visas (so they say). They should've told you that when you spoke to them. As far as his visa being on hold...if it is a matter of national security, he could be held up for a long time. You can try and contact the Department of State (as it sounds like you have contacted already) and a Congressman to see if they can receive any further information for you. The Visa section of the Embassy is who you need to talk to but an operator is the one who answers. Have you been able to get a hold of a consular officer when calling the USE Visa Section?

Good luck! I hope you are able to get answers soon If you were to go to the Embassy in person, you would want to speak to a consular officer and any other higher up you could to see what the issue is. Official documentation of what is missing or wrong would be most helpful in trying to get someone to respond to your request for info.

Thank you for your response. This is a great site and always gives me the motivation to keep going...... I've contacted my State Congressman and we'll see how far that gets us.

Edited January 24, 2011 by Jacq1018

[Jacq1018 0]

US Agent? that's usually the CIA staffer at the Embassy -so sorry !

it is possible to hold up visa issuance, but it has to be very speficic, and in real time -

and it's both for your husband.

The most you can do, IMO, is to ask the ILS human to request 'clearance' from the CIA desk at the embassy, for visa issuance.

This will take some manuevering, as well, as most ILS humans only do 'congressional inquiry', and might need to be trained on how to handle 'CIA clearance request'.

Good Luck !

I thought Embassy was supposed to respond to me in a timely manner,thank you for confirming that for me. Since they are ignoring my e-mails, I know they are unsure of what to do until they get direction from the other agency. I have a silly question, what is the ILS human? I've called the Embassy many times and I will call again requesting "clearance" from the CIA desk. Thank you so much for your help. I feel better knowing there is something more I can try

[Jacq1018 0]

I thought Embassy was supposed to respond to me in a timely manner,thank you for confirming that for me. Since they are ignoring my e-mails, I know they are unsure of what to do until they get direction from the other agency. I have a silly question, what is the ILS human? I've called the Embassy many times and I will call again requesting "clearance" from the CIA desk. Thank you so much for your help. I feel better knowing there is something more I can try

>>Never mind, I got it

[Darnell 8,478]

sorry, i use acronyms here much -

ILS - Immigration Liason Staffer, works in a congressman's office (representative, senator)

you'll need to contact one of the 3 in yer 'zone' in the USA, usually they want a faxed sign'd letter of release (available on their websites, thankfully)

then

the 'automatic process' they will start is a normal congressional inquiry. Whilst this may or may not be useful, it's not what you want.

Instead, you want the ILS human to start a 'CIA DESK CLEARANCE' - this will start some dialogue with the CIA officer in charge at the US Embassy, and sometimes forces a review of 'what the US Agent is doing' and in some cases (I hope this is yours) they discover their silliness, stop it, and release the casefile back to the IV unit, clearing it (and closing the inquiry) off of their DESK.

That's what I'm hoping for ya, anyway.... hope it turns out well !

Edited January 25, 2011 by Darnell

[Jacq1018 0]

sorry, i use acronyms here much -

ILS - Immigration Liason Staffer, works in a congressman's office (representative, senator)

you'll need to contact one of the 3 in yer 'zone' in the USA, usually they want a faxed sign'd letter of release (available on their websites, thankfully)

then

the 'automatic process' they will start is a normal congressional inquiry. Whilst this may or may not be useful, it's not what you want.

Instead, you want the ILS human to start a 'CIA DESK CLEARANCE' - this will start some dialogue with the CIA officer in charge at the US Embassy, and sometimes forces a review of 'what the US Agent is doing' and in some cases (I hope this is yours) they discover their silliness, stop it, and release the casefile back to the IV unit, clearing it (and closing the inquiry) off of their DESK.

That's what I'm hoping for ya, anyway.... hope it turns out well !

You have been a huge help to me! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!