Highly Frustrated!

[H and J 0]

Hi all, first of all, I'd like to say that I have been very supported by reading others posts. I'm a bit of a newbie so please bear with me!

My husband (British) and I (American) have been together for 6 years, we have been married for 3 years. We are expecting our first child in December. We have been living and working in Singapore for the past 2 years. We started our case in Singapore in October 2011. We naively thought that our case would be quite cut and dry since we have loads of personal and financial history together. After going back and forth with paperwork, the NVC closed our case in the end of May, and we were waiting for an interview date in Singapore. Unfortunately the NVC informed us that the interview date they would be able to give us would be after our work contracts in Singapore were finished. They suggested we change the venue location to the UK, since we would be going back to the UK to visit my husband's family. I was told by the NVC that I would need to email the NVC a formal request asking for the venue to be changed to the UK, and they would send all the paperwork to the UK. I emailed the request to the NVC on June 4th, and I followed up with 2 phone calls to assure our case paperwork would be sent to the UK, which I was assured this would happen. Unfortunately I got an email on June 13th saying that our files were sent to Singapore (although they had 6 business days to respond to my email). Our files arrived in Singapore on June 18th and were sent to London on June 25th. I was assured that it would take one month for the files to be transferred and then we would then have to wait to receive an interview date. During this time I have been calling their ridiculous extortionate "help" desk to check on the progress, paying money for their representatives to be rude to me and becoming even more frustrated by the fact that no one really cares! I was given an email code to email the London embassy and received an auto reply saying they would get back to me at the latest 10 days - and my email has gone without a reply since June 14th. They must receive tons of calls, applicants with "dire" requests and they have just built up a hard shell and feel they can be rude to people who ring up - and I am paying for them to be rude to me! Last night we arrived into the UK, and I called the London embassy "help" desk, and was informed it could take up to three months to transfer the files! On top of that, they need us to refill out the DS 230, and a new Affidavit of Support. I mentioned to the woman on the phone that all of our original documentation was in the package and how could we fill out new forms without the documentation, she didn't answer the question but kept on repeating herself. When I mentioned that I was pregnant and wanted to go home to have our child and that we really need to get health insurance in the US, she just ignored me (I guess this is going back to the theory of having a hard shell and not really seeming to care about individual issues).

I am just livid - I feel so let down by this whole procedure - by the NVC for not transferring our case properly to the UK, by the whole system for being so disgustingly inefficient and basically for not being treated like a human being and feeling like we are being tossed aside like an piece of trash you'd kick on the side of the road. Not only that, no one seems to know what to do next and I can't trust what anyone says that answers the phone! In their customer service statement to visa applicants, they say:

We will treat you with dignity and respect, even if we are unable to grant you a visa.

We will treat you as an individual and your case as unique.

We will remember that, to you, a visa interview may be a new or intimidating experience and that you may be nervous.

We will use the limited time available for the interview to get as full a picture as possible of your travel plans and intentions.

We will use our available resources to fairly assist all applicants to get appointments to allow travel in time for business, study, and other important obligations.

We will post detailed and accurate information on visa requirements and application procedures on every Embassy and Consulate website.

We will provide information on nonimmigrant appointment waiting times at every Embassy and Consulate posted on http://travel.state.gov.

We will explain the reason for any visa denial to you.

I just feel so powerless - I feel like there is just NOTHING I can do and even if I wrote a letter of complaint to someone, first of all, it might hinder our case, and second of all, I feel like it would just get deleted or thrown away. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

Thank you very much.

[Ryan H 3,812]

Moved from Process & Procedures to Progress Reports.

[*Snowdrop* 604]

That is VERY frustrating. I'm so sorry you are having to deal with this. It doesn't surprise me though - this whole process is often very inefficient and there are several sub-contracted 'help' desks that it can be hard to get accurate information.

The (incredibly expensive) London Embassy help line is just a call center - it's not staffed with immigration officers and possibly not even actual Embassy staff. A bit like the USCIS phone line they have script sheets to deal with queries and a limited amount of information they can even see to tell you on their computers.

How many times have you tried the email code system?

I can to do that a few times to change my interview date and I actually found they did keep to their deadlines of returning an email within 3-5 business days. You did put the code in the subject line of the email and include all your relevant case numbers etc in the body of the email?

I would give the email code system another go.

Also I wonder if you as the USC can get any kind of face-to-face appointment in the Embassy to discuss it with someone.

[H and J 0]

Thank you, Lynne, for taking the time to read my post and reply - I've tried to email them (including the code in the subject line and with all the required information included) only one time as on the bottom of their auto reply it seems to indicate that they will delete your emails if you continue emailing them! Although they have now gone far beyond their time frame for replying to me so I will give it a try again. If that doesn't work I will try to get an appointment to speak face to face to someone at the embassy.

Thanks again, have a great day!

H

That is VERY frustrating. I'm so sorry you are having to deal with this. It doesn't surprise me though - this whole process is often very inefficient and there are several sub-contracted 'help' desks that it can be hard to get accurate information.

The (incredibly expensive) London Embassy help line is just a call center - it's not staffed with immigration officers and possibly not even actual Embassy staff. A bit like the USCIS phone line they have script sheets to deal with queries and a limited amount of information they can even see to tell you on their computers.

How many times have you tried the email code system?

I can to do that a few times to change my interview date and I actually found they did keep to their deadlines of returning an email within 3-5 business days. You did put the code in the subject line of the email and include all your relevant case numbers etc in the body of the email?

I would give the email code system another go.

Also I wonder if you as the USC can get any kind of face-to-face appointment in the Embassy to discuss it with someone.

[Mishadi 0]

Im sorry you have to go through all of this... I know its hard.

But at least you have your husband near you and your baby.... (correct me if I am wrong).... so dont give up!

[H and J 0]

Im sorry you have to go through all of this... I know its hard.

But at least you have your husband near you and your baby.... (correct me if I am wrong).... so dont give up!

Thank you Mishadi for replying. Thanks for the support! Hopefully I will hear soon!