K-1 File Transfer

[mrsalfayad 6]

Hello All!

On August 3rd, our I-129F got approved! On the 5th, I received the NOA2 letter, which said our case had been "forwarded to the listed consulate".

Well, no consulate was listed, so I'm assuming it was the Damascus Embassy, since my fiance is from Syria. But the Damascus Consulate is closed to most applications right now (including K-1s). I've asked them what we should do, and they recommend sending it to a different embassy. They say as soon as another embassy approves the transfer, they can send the file.

I've contacted Lebanon, which is the safest neighboring country to get into right now, and it seems like they are not going to be willing to accept our case. They say that my fiance must by a resident of Lebanon. They then said that if I can show how applying for the visa in his home country would cause extreme hardship, they may consider accepting our case. I wrote them a detailed email and I'm currently waiting for a reply. But I know there are a lot of other people in the same boat and their transfer requests have been denied.

What would constitute an extreme hardship? I mean, the Consulate is NOT ACCEPTING our application! Hardship! The country is basically breaking out in civil war! HARDSHIP! Countries and organizations around the world are outraged by the government's actions! HARDSHIP!

If they don't count the brink of civil war and a closed consulate hardships...what DO they count? This makes NO sense to me!!!! Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated. I want my fiance here and safe as soon as possible.

[Mykenmimo 1]

Someone asked the same question on the Facebook page of the consulate in Damascus, officer told him to stand by for an answer. Try Turkey if you can get a faster response, or maybe Jordan...I recommend turkey for the sake that the entire Arab world seems to be going into an extreme transformation and violence seem to break out just about everywhere.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Read 9 FAM 42.61 Notes:

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/87872.pdf

9 FAM 42.61 N2.2-3, paragraph (d), seems to imply that the alien has to be physically present in the country where he/she is asking for the hardship exception:

The presence of war, widespread civil disturbance, revolution, or other similar phenomena in an alien’s

country of last foreign residence

would be evidence that hardship could result if the alien were

required to return to that country

. If the post is inclined to accept a case but has doubts about the alien’s claim regarding a disturbance of some kind in the alien’s country of last residence, the Department’s advice may be sought (slug telegram CA/VO/F/P).

The situation is very fluid in Syria right now, but because of the length of time that this has been going on I would expect a formal policy decision from Department of State before long.

[mrsalfayad 6]

Someone asked the same question on the Facebook page of the consulate in Damascus, officer told him to stand by for an answer. Try Turkey if you can get a faster response, or maybe Jordan...I recommend turkey for the sake that the entire Arab world seems to be going into an extreme transformation and violence seem to break out just about everywhere.

Unfortunately, the border with Turkey is not safe because of all the refugees fleeing from Jisr al-Shughour and other northern cities. Southward to Jordan is equally worrisome because Der'a is where it all started and Der'a is right on the border with Jordan. I'm hoping for Lebanon because the border is a little more secure and its closer. If worst comes to worst, Egypt is the only other country where he wouldn't need a visa to enter...so I guess maybe he'd fly into Cairo? Sigh.

[shabsuri 0]

Hello All!

I am in the same situation as you *soontobemrsfayyad. Not quite yet because I have not received my approvla of the I-129F. I should be receiving my approval (NOA2letter) in september. I decided to hire a lawyer for my Fiance case process just to keep things safe. SO my lawyer mentioned to me that if there is any trouble in Syria (as there is now) by the time the interview is required for your fiance, then we can move the case to another country like Turkey or Jordan. She mentioned to me that she has done this many times. I was surprised to hear from many individuals that this is either very hard or nearly impossible. Is this a new rule that you must be a resident of the country where you want to do the interview? I am worried that I will have to just wait in out until the embassy opens in Syria. Just the fact that I have to think about the embassy waiting to reopen is as hard as waiting for the I-129 approval. I don't want to go through two 'waiting stages'. Anyways, so I hope other users give their feedback, suggestions, advices to how we can take the next best steps. I am about one month away from getting approval...anything I can/should do now that will help me with my case? **soontobemrsfayyad---if you have certain questions that you would like me to ask my lawyer, please let me know. I will schedule an interview with her next week and will try to get some more clarity with this situation. Let's hope for the best for everyone. Thanks.

[mrsalfayad 6]

I sent a transfer petition to Lebanon on Monday August 8th, still waiting to hear back.

Today, I called the NVC and they had received our case! yay! It took 7 business days from when we got our NOA2. After speaking with an agent, he suggested I email the NVC to request that they hold the case until we get the transfer approval from Lebanon. So now I'm waiting to hear back from them...hoping they can hold it instead of just sending it to dead-end Damascus. We'll see what happens!

Asking for our case to spend more time at the NVC seems like the antithesis of what we want or need, but I'm hoping it will cut out an unnecessary step in the process. Has anyone else had the NVC send their case to a consulate other than the one they listed on their I-129F? Any comments on if that seemed to cause delays or difficulties?

I'm praying for Lebanon to show us some mercy and accept our transfer. Inshallah ya Rabb! What else can I do if they don't accept? Just try other consulates? Any suggestions?

Things are moving along slowly, but at least they're moving!!