K1 received with help from U.S. Senator

[Eve & Jim 4]

Eve received her K1 visa and K2 for her daughter Mae on Friday, February 10^th.

I had become very frustrated dealing with the U.S. Embassy in Manila because we seemed to be encountering every possible delay. The final problem was that even though Eve had her own CENOMAR, Mae's Birth Certificate, Mae's CENOMAR, and even Mae's biological father's CENOMAR when she went to the interview on December 5^th, the CO wanted a copy of the father's CENOMAR sent directly from the NSO to the Embassy. I guess 3 official documents showing that Eve was never married to Mae's father wasn't enough proof. She was also required to get a police clearance from Japan. She ordered the requested CENOMAR on December 6^th and received confirmation from the NSO on December 14^th that it was sent to the U.S. Embassy. On January 16^th, in response to an email inquiry, the U.S. Embassy still said that they didn't have the CENOMAR. When she received her Japanese Police Clearance, Eve included the CENOMAR she had with her passport and police clearance in the 2GO package. Two days later she was called by someone at the U.S. Embassy and told she had done the wrong thing. She explained that she had done the right thing and they should look for the CENOMAR that they apparently lost.

Previously I had also sent an email to the U.S. Embassy with the batch numbers and such in order to find out what we needed to do to fix the problem. The only response I received was that they would respond within 7 days, which they never did, but they did read it twice because I had read receipt requests flagged on the message. I tried calling the embassy several times and was never able to speak to anyone, just their very poor phone system that seems to hang up on people. I tried the call center and they did not understand why the U.S. Embassy wanted the CENOMAR that they had requested, but told me they would email the embassy and I should get a email back in a few days. No email response other than their automated messages that say they get more than 100 emails and will respond in 7 days.

Finally, I contacted Senator Rob Portman's office and they sent me a document that I needed to sign and mail back to them. I included a lot of information and as much detail as I could about our situation. The Senator's office contacted the U.S. Embassy in Manila on Friday, February 3. On Monday, February 6, I received an email from the U.S. Embassy stating that they had found the missing CENOMAR. Then on Tuesday, I received an email stating that Eve's visa was being issued and dispatched via guaranteed courier. I checked the 2GO site several times to try to track and see if the package was shipped, but it was never there.

On Friday I was talking to Eve and she was going to take a nap after getting Mae off to school, and her brother answered the door and the courier was their with her visa. It is a good thing I had her make a copy of their passports before giving them to the embassy, because the courier wanted ID and the copies of the passports were enough.

If you have problems with the visa process and you have done everything asked and feel like you have nowhere to turn, I encourage you to contact your Congressman. I choose to contact Senator Rob Portman because he has a good history of helping the people who he represents.

Eve went to St. Mary's for her CFO seminar but they don't offer the class for Mae who is 16, so she has to take Mae to Manila for her CFO seminar today. She told me that she was asked for a lot of information in the CFO interview that she hadn't expected, but she was well organized and had all of her paperwork with her, so that helped her a lot.

[pinktulips2012 1]

Wow! After all the hassles you guys encountered finally, the visa was issued. Congratulations!!!

[Hank_ 9,174]

that's more journey that anyone should have the "joy" of traveling.

[RandR333 9]

Wow. Congratulations! Finally. Can I ask what the retesting was for after the negative two month culture? I haven't heard of that part.

[Eve & Jim 4]

Wow. Congratulations! Finally. Can I ask what the retesting was for after the negative two month culture? I haven't heard of that part.

They had to retake a pregnancy test and I think the basic blood tests to make sure nothing had changed during the 2 months of waiting for the negative test results. Both Eve and Mae had to be retested. Then it took the embassy 2 hours to find the medical results during the interview process.

I honestly think that the U.S. Embassy in Manila was making things difficulty because I was born in Canada while my parents were on U.S. Air Force military orders when I was born. My dad was helping construct the "Pine Tree Line" of heavy radar early warning sites that were turned over to the Canadians to operate. There weren't any medical resources on the site, so my parents asked to be transfered to the U.S. for my birth, but the request was denied because of the problems with Cuba at the time. So I was born in a small clinic on Canadian soil and as such became a Canadian citizen. Then my parents filed a FS-240 for my U.S. Birth Certificate and then they were transfered to PA 9 months later. I've never even seen the place I was born other than pictures. But technically I'm considered an immigrant and have a dual citizenship that the State Department has told me can never really go away. My dad served 20 years active duty and then became a contractor for 20+ more.

When we filed the paperwork with the USCIS, I included a copy of the FS-240 and my passport, so that part of the process went quickly. When things got to the U.S. Embassy, either they didn't get that part of the paperwork or didn't bother to read it and must have thought there was something wrong with me being a U.S. Citizen born in Canada. Eve was questioned about the whole thing at her CFO seminar and they asked her about my mother's maiden name which isn't on my U.S. Birth Certificate, just my Canadian one and the FS-240. She even asked me for a copy of my birth certificate when she got back so that she would have it for Mae's seminar in Manila. Sending all that stuff to her was a confusing thing, but now she understands a lot better. My whole birth certificate consists of my Canadian Birth Certificate, my parents marriage license, my father's military orders to Canada, both of their birth certificates, the FS-240, a receipt for the consular fees, and my U.S. Birth Certificate issued by the State Department. It should be easier than that but it really isn't. I left out the part about beein part American Indian but I don't think that really helps.

I explained all of this to the Senator in my letter, and I honestly think they would have never gotten this resolved without his help.

--Jim

[RandR333 9]

I think you are right, they probably got confused somewhere along the lines.

I guess I'll have to plan to have my wife's son retested too. We had thought it was just her going back for the vaccine.

I think I'll post the question about the retests again to check if everyone had to go through that.

Thanks for the reply.