Unable to obtain police certificates for NVC-Please Help!

[AKSinghSingh79 143]

Hello everyone,

These past few months have been so difficult and I am desperate for answers.

We are stuck at NVC, unable to move forward, unable to do anything, because we are missing two police certificates.

One is from my husband's home country (India). We have had our fair share of difficulty obtaining it previously due to Indian misinformation, red tape, and corruption. Now my husband cannot even travel due to the early Monsoons that devastated Uttarakhand back in June/July. I have already called the NVC and explained the monsoon situation to them. They have surprisingly been understanding to a certain degree.

I am most worried about the Thai report. We have tried twice now to obtain this thing without any luck. We were so close to having it but this last time it got lost in the mail. Now we must start over again. I also know that the Thai police have implemented a new fee which is difficult if not impossible to pay without physically being in Thailand. I must also say that they do not move quickly over there.

I have waited 5 freaking months in limbo. Please please please can anyone offer any type of advice how we can get through this? It's absolutely devastating us. Everyday is horrible, not knowing when we will escape from this limbo hell.

I have tried multiple times to explain to the NVC to please let us proceed without the missing documents but they keep insisting that police certificates are mandatory. I angrily told the last rep I spoke with that she has no idea how tremendously difficult it is to obtain these documents. I am almost declaring it impossible.

Can they make us wait in limbo until they delete our case? I cannot start over from scratch. I have worked so hard, night and day to get this far. I can't express in words how desperate and painful this is for us.

I have decided to send the IV package to the NVC without our documents but I know they will send a checklist. I have proof of my attempts. For instance, we have news articles detailing the weather in Uttarakhand as well as the receipt from my husband's PCC appointment which shows the certificate is pending.

For the Thai stuff, I have the original envelope the lost certificate was mailed in and I also have the FedEx slip showing the address, date, etc, from the new package we will be sending to the Thai police department.

Please please please advise! I am lost.

[Anurag1 0]

Alright....please calm down first. Calm your nerves...I don't know if someone mentioned to you that this is a grueling journey and often tough. You need to give yourself more time in this process. There is no quick fix and totally is dependent on US officers. That being said there is no way you will get through without the PCC... You need it..period. In India it should not be easy because in your problem itself you gave a solution. Corruption...that's your answer to Indian PCC. Just bribe some lower level police officials (generally they are the ones who visit for inquiry before issuing the PCC) and also ask the guy to get in touch with the local administrative officer (called SDM- district magistrate) or the circle officer in charge (police) or the SHO of local police station. He needs to make more efforts and money in India can get you anything....That's what I am proud of about India. (Nothing official about it)

Let me know if you need more answers. For thai thing some one here will come along to guide.

[AKSinghSingh79 143]

Alright....please calm down first. Calm your nerves...I don't know if someone mentioned to you that this is a grueling journey and often tough. You need to give yourself more time in this process. There is no quick fix and totally is dependent on US officers. That being said there is no way you will get through without the PCC... You need it..period. In India it should not be easy because in your problem itself you gave a solution. Corruption...that's your answer to Indian PCC. Just bribe some lower level police officials (generally they are the ones who visit for inquiry before issuing the PCC) and also ask the guy to get in touch with the local administrative officer (called SDM- district magistrate) or the circle officer in charge (police) or the SHO of local police station. He needs to make more efforts and money in India can get you anything....That's what I am proud of about India. (Nothing official about it)

Let me know if you need more answers. For thai thing some one here will come along to guide.

I appreciate your advice. I think you are misunderstanding my original post. I am sure we can get the PCC....eventually. The problem is my husband cannot travel to Dehradun right now because of the condition of the state of Uttarakhand. They are in the midst of a very violent Monsoon season, ignited by the early heavy rain back in June/July. He cannot physically travel the roads without risking his life and no PCC is worth his life.

I don't care if they make us wait at the interview. I just want out of NVC hell. That's the point of my post. Getting past the NVC without the police records. I have no idea when the conditions of the roads will improve enough for him to be able to travel. I don't think its fair that we should have to wait any longer due to circumstances far beyond our control. I want to move forward with our case.

[JRF 117]

With all due respect many of us must wait due to circumstances beyond our control. Looking at your timeline you've moved very rapidly - must faster than many. I understand the frustration and pain of waiting but it is what we all took on in the journey.

[Anurag1 0]

So well said JRF.... Please try to understand this is a tough process and needs time. As for travelling to Dehradun I know exactly what you are talking about... my cousin went to Dehradun and returned just fine..no issues. There was a cloudburst causing landslides and changed course of river cutting some part off from rest of country...but that has been resolved. Also, this issue was high up in mountains not in Dehradun. Please check again.

Another idea is to wait for another month or so and the monsoon will be over in India and then you can do the needful (if you want to do it this way).

They will not make you wait at interview...it will be fast. The real wait is at NVC and that's how it goes I am afraid.

[AKSinghSingh79 143]

With all due respect many of us must wait due to circumstances beyond our control. Looking at your timeline you've moved very rapidly - must faster than many. I understand the frustration and pain of waiting but it is what we all took on in the journey.

I do not have a problem waiting. It's waiting in limbo without any solutions that is horrible. If these documents were easy to obtain, then I would have no reason to say anything. When dealing with corrupt countries like India and Thailand where making up the rules is the norm, it can be impossible to navigate around these obstacles especially when I get such limited vacation time off to travel with my husband and attempt to take care of these problems.

You are very quick to judge me despite not knowing the obstacles I have already faced. When we got married, the official in charge wouldn't even look at our documentation. We still have not been able to register our marriage, something that is considered compulsory in India now. But you cannot force the hand of corrupt officials. We were able to counter with evidence but it took months of gathering information. This was over the course of 6 months PRIOR to even submitting our I-130. I am trying to do the same thing with our missing documents now.

Yes I was lucky in that our I-130 was approved extremely quickly. But I would hardly call our visa journey normal. It has been the journey from hell. My husband and I have spent 4 years on separate continents.

Again, it's not the waiting. I can wait. If this long separation has taught me anything, it's to be extremely patient.

I am asking for advice not for criticism. I get enough negativity from people around me who do not understand anything nor care to understand anything about my visa journey.

This is the only place I can find competent people with real world experience who can assist me with visa related questions. I am simply a woman desperate to be with the man I love so dearly.

[JRF 117]

I do not have a problem waiting. It's waiting in limbo without any solutions that is horrible. If these documents were easy to obtain, then I would have no reason to say anything. When dealing with corrupt countries like India and Thailand where making up the rules is the norm, it can be impossible to navigate around these obstacles especially when I get such limited vacation time off to travel with my husband and attempt to take care of these problems.

You are very quick to judge me despite not knowing the obstacles I have already faced. When we got married, the official in charge wouldn't even look at our documentation. We still have not been able to register our marriage, something that is considered compulsory in India now. But you cannot force the hand of corrupt officials. We were able to counter with evidence but it took months of gathering information. This was over the course of 6 months PRIOR to even submitting our I-130. I am trying to do the same thing with our missing documents now.

Yes I was lucky in that our I-130 was approved extremely quickly. But I would hardly call our visa journey normal. It has been the journey from hell. My husband and I have spent 4 years on separate continents.

Again, it's not the waiting. I can wait. If this long separation has taught me anything, it's to be extremely patient.

I am asking for advice not for criticism. I get enough negativity from people around me who do not understand anything nor care to understand anything about my visa journey.

This is the only place I can find competent people with real world experience who can assist me with visa related questions. I am simply a woman desperate to be with the man I love so dearly.

And I wish you the best of luck - so much of what happens is outside of our control. We've dealt with the same sort of issues (people asking for money, rules made up by individuals, uncertain where things stand). That said the countries you are dealing, particularly India, are bad for this sort of issue.

I can only describe my real world experience trying to obtain a visa so I can be with the woman I love. I apologize if I offended.

[scienceworks 64]

I only skim read so apologize if I missed something. You said PCC. That should be from passport office. I don't think you mentioned passport office anywhere. From what I read from other folks and also from friends outside VJ, they took their PCC from the local passport office. Also look here,

http://travel.state.gov/visa/fees/fees_5455.html?cid=9215

Police Records

Indian Police Clearance Certificates should be obtained as follows:

• All Indian IV applicants aged 16 and above, residing in India, should obtain police certificates from the local Passport Office.
• Indian passport holders applying for visas outside India should obtain a statement from their local embassy or consulate confirming they have no criminal record.
• Non-Indian IV applicants residing in India should obtain police certificates from the District Police Station serving their area of residence.
• Indian police certificates are not available for foreign (non-Indian) applicants applying outside India.

[sba.rsa 10]

I have decided to send the IV package to the NVC without our documents but I know they will send a checklist. I have proof of my attempts. For instance, we have news articles detailing the weather in Uttarakhand as well as the receipt from my husband's PCC appointment which shows the certificate is pending.

For the Thai stuff, I have the original envelope the lost certificate was mailed in and I also have the FedEx slip showing the address, date, etc, from the new package we will be sending to the Thai police department.

Please please please advise! I am lost.

{{{Hugs}}} to you. Those floods were terrible, and I cannot begin to imagine how you must be feeling.

I can recommend waiting for certificate from Thai police department and send that with the IV package.

Then on the coversheet of the IV package you can say what documents were included and mention that you will get Police Certificate from Uttarakhand and show news articles about those floods.

I really feel for you, and pray all will work out for the best!

[Ozz777 23]

Police certificates are required, for everyone, no matter how difficult to obtain. There is no way around this as far as I know. And nvc won't close or deny your visa application as long as you don't let a year go by without contacting them or replying to their correspondence. Nobody said that marrying a foreign national and trying to bring them to the US would be easy, nor should it be. Good luck to you.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

AK - Consider asking in the Thai forum for ways to grease the wheels on the Thai PCC. Good luck.

[AKSinghSingh79 143]

As for travelling to Dehradun I know exactly what you are talking about... my cousin went to Dehradun and returned just fine..no issues. There was a cloudburst causing landslides and changed course of river cutting some part off from rest of country...but that has been resolved. Also, this issue was high up in mountains not in Dehradun. Please check again.

Please read my OP again. I did not mention Dehradun itself being impassable, I said GETTING to Dehradun was trecherous and not worth my husband risking his life. There's a reason he avoids travelling during monsoon season in Uttarakhand. This season just happens to be tenfold of what normal rains usually occur. And yes, he does reside in the mountains. In fact he lives in the Kumaon region. I'm sure you are familiar with the geography of Uttarkhand. Then you must know that travelling from Almora/Nainital district is quite a journey in the dry season. Now add heavy rains, unstable roads, and flooding to the mix.

I trust my husband's judgement. He is a native Kumaoni man and has lived at elevation his entire life. If he tells me that it is not safe to travel then I trust his word.

[oohpartiv 484]

AK, I'm so sorry you're still dealing with all of this nonsense! What a PITA. I don't have much valid advice I can offer, except maybe do as Harpa suggested and try to grease their palms a bit? I know my husband and I had to do that a few times when trying to gather docs in Ecuador, and I'm sure Thailand and India would be much the same on the corruption scale. These officials act like they can't do anything about it, but you'd be surprised how quickly things move once you crack a 20$ bill.

Does your hubby have any family in the region he needs to get to who can maybe help him out, or does he personally have to be there to do it? I can imagine how helpless you must feel - believe me, I've been there. I would suggest you going over there to sort it out, but if India's anything like Ecuador, the presence of an American woman would only make things worse.

In the very very worst of cases, you could just send in the other docs you already have, so as to elongate the time frame for the NVC expiration. That would give you at least a few extra weeks, and after they got that package the year window countdown would start over, so you'd have plenty of time to sort out this mess. I know it's a big pain, but at least you seem to think you'll be able to get the PCCs eventually, so it's not a matter of impossibility. Lots of luck, girl! Keep us updated here on VJ. I hope your new job is going well, by the way!