Embassy's will no longer accept I-130

[koolaidman23 0]

John I understand how upset you must be. I am in the same boat as you (I-130 approved in Rio) except we didnt have an interview date yet. But you are taking your anger out on the wrong people. (Although I believe that Yodrak was completely rude).

I have been in contact with my Senator's office, and tried to contact my consulate, to no avail. The only person who has given me information has been Meauxna. If it were not for him the little hair left on my head would be torn out by now.

If you want to complain, write to your Representative and your two Senators. Tell them what you think of how this law was implemented. I did.

[avoci 0]

Is anyone else getting info from their consulate indicating that a distinction is being made between those I-130s that were approved before July 27th and the rest? I still think the previously approved ones are going ahead, but would like to hear if others are being told the same.

I just received this email today (and we did apply for I130 on July 5:

Dear Amy, for the moment the change of law does not apply to you. But, the case of your husband is still waiting in line to be processed.

Hope you find this information helpful.

Thank you,

Immigrant Visa Unit

U.S. Embassy Tirana, Albania

-----Original Message-----

From: Moonshadow73@aol.com [mailto:Moonshadow73@aol.com]

Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 11:42 PM

To: Tirana US Consulate

Subject: Is this true? How does this affect my case? Do we have to re file? PLEASE help.

My name is Amy Voci. My husband's name is Altin Voci. We sent in packet 3 in the beginning of November and are waiting for an interview.

I just read this information on the internet. Please help me and tell me if this is true. If this is true, what do we do?

This was just posted today on the US Embassy website in Kiev.

I-130 Petitions No Longer Accepted by U.S. Embassies

January 23, 2007

Per Department of State instructions, effective immediately, U.S. embassies worldwide are no longer authorized to accept or adjudicate I-130 petitions. American Citizens must file petitions for their relatives with the appropriate United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) office in the U.S. Petitioners can check http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-130.pdf to find the appropriate office. Please visit www.uscis.gov for more general information about filing the petition.

Petitions that have already been approved at U.S. Embassy but have not yet undergone visa adjudication must be forwarded to the USCIS office. Embassy staff will forward all of these in the coming week.

We will post more information on this matter as soon as it becomes available to us.

[avoci 0]

Is anyone else getting info from their consulate indicating that a distinction is being made between those I-130s that were approved before July 27th and the rest? I still think the previously approved ones are going ahead, but would like to hear if others are being told the same.

I just received this email today (and we did apply for I130 on July 5:

Dear Amy, for the moment the change of law does not apply to you. But, the case of your husband is still waiting in line to be processed.

Hope you find this information helpful.

Thank you,

Immigrant Visa Unit

U.S. Embassy Tirana, Albania

I forwarded this response to Vienna. This was their response:

Dear Amy,

Please be advised that all I-130s that were approved in Tirana but for which

no

immigrant visa has been issued will be sent to DHS/CIS Vienna. Our officer

in

charge had a telecon this morning with the headquarters in Rome and

following

this she has advised all of the Consul Generals in our jurisdiction (which

includes Albania!) to let their staff know that they should begin boxing up

the

cases to send to us. Unfortunately I cannot say how long this will take as

we do

not know how many cases are involved, but our office will be moving as

quickly

as possible on the cases once they arrive.

I wish you all the best and you are always welcome to drop a line and ask

about

your case.

Kind regards,

Meredith Petrnousek, Immigration Assistant

-----Original Message-----

From: Moonshadow73@aol.com [mailto:Moonshadow73@aol.com]

Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 11:42 PM

To: Tirana US Consulate

Subject: Is this true? How does this affect my case? Do we have to re file? PLEASE help.

My name is Amy Voci. My husband's name is Altin Voci. We sent in packet 3 in the beginning of November and are waiting for an interview.

I just read this information on the internet. Please help me and tell me if this is true. If this is true, what do we do?

This was just posted today on the US Embassy website in Kiev.

I-130 Petitions No Longer Accepted by U.S. Embassies

January 23, 2007

Per Department of State instructions, effective immediately, U.S. embassies worldwide are no longer authorized to accept or adjudicate I-130 petitions. American Citizens must file petitions for their relatives with the appropriate United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) office in the U.S. Petitioners can check http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-130.pdf to find the appropriate office. Please visit www.uscis.gov for more general information about filing the petition.

Petitions that have already been approved at U.S. Embassy but have not yet undergone visa adjudication must be forwarded to the USCIS office. Embassy staff will forward all of these in the coming week.

We will post more information on this matter as soon as it becomes available to us.

[zyggy 9]

We will rename the VisaJourney website, the meauxna website. And we will allow you to judge what we should discuss or not discuss. Read the numbers on this post. So your last post gets no credit points for many as any type of contribution. And great that you can spend 2 years on this site helping others, must have alot of free time. But thanks for your contributions that were constructive.

Condescension never wins brownie points John. If not for those that do have knowledge and an understanding that do stick around to HELP others, then many may very well be in stife.

Someone has got to have a clear head when things like this happen. Yes this totally sucks for you and all those that have had interviews cancelled etc and now have to wait longer, but saying about someone like meaxena is beyond comprehension in my book. Lets hope VJ doesn't lose another GURU as they did mdyoung for the same type of condescending, rude attitude.

I wish all dealing with this situation the very best. Hang in there.

Lorelle

The thing is Lorelle... and I think I can speak for some of the others is that those of us who have contributed for a long period of time disseminating our knowledge of this process, is that we are getting tired of getting beat up every single time we don't pander to someone else's self-serving attitude with the rest of the people piling it on...

I and others continued to post because we care about this community, because we know how imposing it can be and how confusing it can be... but frankly, if the community doesn't appreciate us and the viewpoint and perspective we have, even if it may be a differing viewpoint and perspective that yours, it isn't really rewarding to keep doing it anymore...

More and more, I keep seeing people like Yodrak, meauxna, and myself pilloried by countless numbers of people when we do not parrot to the mob by letting someone know what is really going on and giving a more realistic view for what may be going on... I am getting sick of it...

Edited January 26, 2007 by zyggy

[atp 0]

As it has happened before in the US, the lawmaker/legislator did not think through the whole ramifications, or maybe he DID but deemed that the Law and its benefits were worth the price. We USCs end up having to bite the bullet and deal with another layer of red tape into what is a slow and disrespectful process.

It shouldn't be this difficult to be able to marry a foreigner and be united with her in your home country.

Be realistic now, how could legislators anticipate this fairly minimal ramification that affects a VERY small minority of USCs?

We are not entitled to this method of filing. No one here is being penalized. Everyone here still has the same option that everyone else on VJ has, namely to get in the same US petitioning line as everyone else. No one here is being put through extraordinary difficulty. I understand that it is confusing, and changes plans, but won't it help to maintain some perspective?

Bear in mind that your VJ comrades are waiting in the line that you think is unacceptable.

PS: not disagreeing with you about how it 'should' be.

I agree with Mo. In my own selfish ways I wished things worked out for me because DCF was the quickest route and I was only 4-5 days away from the visa. The advantage has been taken away, but not the fact that you can STILL petition for your spouse or relative. It's not totally over for us.

Meauxna, first let me tell you that I respect very much what you do here in the VJ forums as well as the others who devote their time to help strangers in the difficult processes involving immigration/visas. I read many of your posts and they helped, including your DCF guide. However, I do not agree with you when you say that we were not entitled to file the I-130 through a consulate in the first place, that they did it as a "favor". If the service is available and permitted by the Dept. of State and USCIS, it is a sanctioned process and an option to the USC that meet its requirements.

I agree with you when you say that the present situation is confusing and that it changes plans, and it certainly helps to not only maintain perspective but also to be pragmatic about the whole situation, which is what I am doing. Now I will decide between the other routes available and there is nothing that I can do now about it, wether I like them or not. However I never said that these other venues are unacceptable, what I did say is that they are a disrespectful process that in my humble opinion shouldn't take so long in keeping families apart. The processes are way better than some years ago, but are far and away from being good. This whole situation is a setback in the plans of all the people in the middle of this and they are right to be upset. Of course a USC still has other options, but to those who met the requirements filing the I-130 through a consulate was the process that kept a family apart for the least amount of time. Now I'll join the ranks of my many fellow USCs who are going through K1/K3/CR1/IR1... No problem in that ! But there was no basis for your comparison between who was doing DCF and who wasn't. Anyone who could do a better, faster option would do so.

David A., this is not about being selfish, the people who opted for the DCF and hadn't filed their petitions yet, now are unable to do so, and the ones who did file their I-130's are now waiting for an answer and having to deal with the frustration and anxiety of being in the middle of the process such as you are. There is nothing selfish in this, people had an option available that isn't more and this is affecting them. There is no selfishness in this.

Also, Legislators should take into the consideration the ramifications and impact that their laws will have. Period. Independently of the number of USCs abroad, they were impacted by this law, USCs abroad should've been taken into consideration. Again, maybe the lawmaker did think about all ramifications but decided that the law was worth it, we'll never know. I got the short end of the stick in regard to laws that were rushed before and let me tell you that it sucks big time.

Like John said, good Law, bad implementation.

Meauxna, keep up your good work helping people out.

PS - Unbelievably rude comment, Yodrak, shame on you.

[zyggy 9]

Were Yodrak's comments direct... yes... were they on topic and to the point .. yes...

Was it rude... I don't think so.. it just wasn't preaching to the choir that people have been more and more expecting on here of late...

It certainly didn't rise to the level of rudeness in comparision to the comments and behavior that has been directed towards him and others of late...

Edited January 26, 2007 by zyggy

[John and Sonya 0]

Were Yodrak's comments direct... yes... were they on topic and to the point .. yes...

Was it rude... I don't think so.. it just wasn't preaching to the choir that people have been more and more expecting on here of late...

It certainly didn't rise to the level of rudeness in comparision to the comments and behavior that has been directed towards him and others of late...

WA WA! My god, this whole post has changed. I make a comment on a rude post, and it was too many of us, and now we have to hear how wonderful you are. I too am entitled to an oppion! But thanks for all the help you provided others.

Avoci, I am so happy to see your news, good for you and best of luck to you. TOO ALL who are providing us VALUABLE information instead of criticisms and to suck it up and get in line, thank you and look foward to continue support, info and help.

UKRAINE: I have been told that all our VISA petitions are being boxed up in Ukraine and being sent to Moscow. No idea how long the background will take. Then afterwards will be sent back to Ukraine for them to schedule a new interview. So it will be a couple months more processing time if we are lucky, to say the least.

[avoci 0]

Is anyone else getting info from their consulate indicating that a distinction is being made between those I-130s that were approved before July 27th and the rest? I still think the previously approved ones are going ahead, but would like to hear if others are being told the same.

My embassy did reply to me.. please see post on the next page.

Let me know your thoughts.

A.Voci

[blaaTgirl© 0]

Were Yodrak's comments direct... yes... were they on topic and to the point .. yes...

Was it rude... I don't think so.. it just wasn't preaching to the choir that people have been more and more expecting on here of late...

It certainly didn't rise to the level of rudeness in comparision to the comments and behavior that has been directed towards him and others of late...

If it was his comment to me, well... it was just downright mean to blatently tell someone they were 'stupid'. I didnt attack him or say anything derogatory. I pretty much stayed neutral and made a comment that I think we all agree on: this affects us all and it sucks.

If its okay to make comments like

"You have a right to be feeling as stupid as you were acting."

then momma was wrong in telling us "If you dont have anything nice to say, dont say anything at all" Again, thanks for the good cry Yodrak.

Nevermind.

--------------------

[atp 0]

Were Yodrak's comments direct... yes... were they on topic and to the point .. yes...

Was it rude... I don't think so.. it just wasn't preaching to the choir that people have been more and more expecting on here of late...

It certainly didn't rise to the level of rudeness in comparision to the comments and behavior that has been directed towards him and others of late...

Well, from where I come from there is a big difference between being "direct" and "rude". Yodrak, deliberately put the poster down by stating his particular opinion which was based only in the facts that the poster stated, his last sentence, at least to me, seemed very rude. Although I do agree with Yodrak that her move was risky, and I wouldn't have done it the same way, this new regulation caught the consulates and embassies and us completely off-guard, so whatever the poster did before was her own business and I don't think anyone has the right to judge her.

We'll agree to disagree Ziggy.

If someone is into helping others expecting to receive something then he might get disappointed in the process, I am sure that many here value and appreciate the effort and knowledge that others have spread (I know I do) but that by no means give anyone the right to be rude or egotistical.

Of course people appreciate the efforts poured into this community, and certainly people will miss someone who can help. There are others who won't show appreciation, despite that I think that if anyone likes this community and wants to spread their knowledge he will do so and keep up the good work !

Andre

PS - Yodrak, I read many of your posts and I agree with many things that you say (such as using correct terminology) and I do value your insights and experience. However, your comment was uncalled for.

[Boiler 45,486]

As it has happened before in the US, the lawmaker/legislator did not think through the whole ramifications, or maybe he DID but deemed that the Law and its benefits were worth the price. We USCs end up having to bite the bullet and deal with another layer of red tape into what is a slow and disrespectful process.

It shouldn't be this difficult to be able to marry a foreigner and be united with her in your home country.

Be realistic now, how could legislators anticipate this fairly minimal ramification that affects a VERY small minority of USCs?

We are not entitled to this method of filing. No one here is being penalized. Everyone here still has the same option that everyone else on VJ has, namely to get in the same US petitioning line as everyone else. No one here is being put through extraordinary difficulty. I understand that it is confusing, and changes plans, but won't it help to maintain some perspective?

Bear in mind that your VJ comrades are waiting in the line that you think is unacceptable.

PS: not disagreeing with you about how it 'should' be.

I agree with Mo. In my own selfish ways I wished things worked out for me because DCF was the quickest route and I was only 4-5 days away from the visa. The advantage has been taken away, but not the fact that you can STILL petition for your spouse or relative. It's not totally over for us.

Meauxna, first let me tell you that I respect very much what you do here in the VJ forums as well as the others who devote their time to help strangers in the difficult processes involving immigration/visas. I read many of your posts and they helped, including your DCF guide. However, I do not agree with you when you say that we were not entitled to file the I-130 through a consulate in the first place, that they did it as a "favor". If the service is available and permitted by the Dept. of State and USCIS, it is a sanctioned process and an option to the USC that meet its requirements.

I agree with you when you say that the present situation is confusing and that it changes plans, and it certainly helps to not only maintain perspective but also to be pragmatic about the whole situation, which is what I am doing. Now I will decide between the other routes available and there is nothing that I can do now about it, wether I like them or not. However I never said that these other venues are unacceptable, what I did say is that they are a disrespectful process that in my humble opinion shouldn't take so long in keeping families apart. The processes are way better than some years ago, but are far and away from being good. This whole situation is a setback in the plans of all the people in the middle of this and they are right to be upset. Of course a USC still has other options, but to those who met the requirements filing the I-130 through a consulate was the process that kept a family apart for the least amount of time. Now I'll join the ranks of my many fellow USCs who are going through K1/K3/CR1/IR1... No problem in that ! But there was no basis for your comparison between who was doing DCF and who wasn't. Anyone who could do a better, faster option would do so.

David A., this is not about being selfish, the people who opted for the DCF and hadn't filed their petitions yet, now are unable to do so, and the ones who did file their I-130's are now waiting for an answer and having to deal with the frustration and anxiety of being in the middle of the process such as you are. There is nothing selfish in this, people had an option available that isn't more and this is affecting them. There is no selfishness in this.

Also, Legislators should take into the consideration the ramifications and impact that their laws will have. Period. Independently of the number of USCs abroad, they were impacted by this law, USCs abroad should've been taken into consideration. Again, maybe the lawmaker did think about all ramifications but decided that the law was worth it, we'll never know. I got the short end of the stick in regard to laws that were rushed before and let me tell you that it sucks big time.

Like John said, good Law, bad implementation.

Meauxna, keep up your good work helping people out.

PS - Unbelievably rude comment, Yodrak, shame on you.

Unbelievably rude? Calling somebody foolish?

I had contrary to all the advise given booked a ticket in anticipation of an interview date, delayed, so I had to re-book it.

I took a chance, cost me the re-booking fee, would do the same again.

It is foolish to do so if you are not prepared to live with the consequences, not rude, just the truth.

I think you have to have a thickish skin to post on these boards, I do make mistakes, if people do not like what is said which is correct then that's their problem, not mine or anybody elses.

[avoci 0]

Were Yodrak's comments direct... yes... were they on topic and to the point .. yes...

Was it rude... I don't think so.. it just wasn't preaching to the choir that people have been more and more expecting on here of late...

It certainly didn't rise to the level of rudeness in comparision to the comments and behavior that has been directed towards him and others of late...

WA WA! My god, this whole post has changed. I make a comment on a rude post, and it was too many of us, and now we have to hear how wonderful you are. I too am entitled to an oppion! But thanks for all the help you provided others.

Avoci, I am so happy to see your news, good for you and best of luck to you. TOO ALL who are providing us VALUABLE information instead of criticisms and to suck it up and get in line, thank you and look foward to continue support, info and help.

UKRAINE: I have been told that all our VISA petitions are being boxed up in Ukraine and being sent to Moscow. No idea how long the background will take. Then afterwards will be sent back to Ukraine for them to schedule a new interview. So it will be a couple months more processing time if we are lucky, to say the least.

I don't know if I should be happy yet. Vienna is still telling me that this info from Albania is wrong! I am so confused!

[jpaula 20]

Is anyone else getting info from their consulate indicating that a distinction is being made between those I-130s that were approved before July 27th and the rest? I still think the previously approved ones are going ahead, but would like to hear if others are being told the same.

My embassy did reply to me.. please see post on the next page.

Let me know your thoughts.

A.Voci

Algiers is telling me the same thing. My husband will go talk to the consulate in person tomorrow and I will let you know what they say.

[blaaTgirl© 0]

Unbelievably rude? Calling somebody foolish?

I had contrary to all the advise given booked a ticket in anticipation of an interview date, delayed, so I had to re-book it.

I took a chance, cost me the re-booking fee, would do the same again.

It is foolish to do so if you are not prepared to live with the consequences, not rude, just the truth.

I think you have to have a thickish skin to post on these boards, I do make mistakes, if people do not like what is said which is correct then that's their problem, not mine or anybody elses.

While I didnt post all our mitigating circumstances as to why we took this chance, I will conceed to say that we did shoot ourselves in the foot. However, with a lease that was winding down and a flat mate who was going to leave my beloved in the lurch anyway and working for a company that is sinking fast with all the rats jumping board, this was our route to take. He was going back home to Oz anyway and for all intents and purposes, DCF (from what we read on this forum) seemed a very feasable way to go. Could he have stayed in London another year? Maybe, but he would be still looking for another place to live and possibly another work transfer. THESE reasons are why he and I chose to do this option. Not a spur of the moment decision. This was carfully considered, researched and told (by not only those here but immigration lawyers and Nolo books) that this was a viable option, especially for us as my husband is Australian and planning on moving back anyway.

I dont feel foolish or stupid, I just feel very dissappointed in the system. I feel more foolish and stupid for posting my feelings and dissappointment here. Thick skin developing...

Elle.

Edited January 26, 2007 by blaaTgirl©

[payxibka 10,045]

Did these immigration attorneys and NOLO books tell you that DCF is not something that a Embassy/Consulate is reuquired to do but simply being done as a courtesy? If not shame on them because in an era of immigration reform and budget tightening guess what is the easiest thing to stop doing?