Visa denied in South Africa -Johannesburg

[Cleida 0]

I was denied my visa before yesterday. Here is the cause : my wife and I are from Congo but we live in South Africa. When we were entering our information in 2014 for dv2017, we did selected Congo as our country of birthday. Then we selected south Africa (where we live ) as country of eligibility. We were selected in 2015 filled up the ds260 form, do the medical, bring all the documents before yesterday in Johannesburg at the interview and pay the visa fee. Unfortunately the consular denied us the visa saying that we sould select Congo (where we are born) as country of eligibility not south Africa ( where we live ). Is there anything we can about this? Please help.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

I was denied my visa before yesterday. Here is the cause : my wife and I are from Congo but we live in South Africa. When we were entering our information in 2014 for dv2017, we did selected Congo as our country of birthday. Then we selected south Africa (where we live ) as country of eligibility. We were selected in 2015 filled up the ds260 form, do the medical, bring all the documents before yesterday in Johannesburg at the interview and pay the visa fee. Unfortunately the consular denied us the visa saying that we sould select Congo (where we are born) as country of eligibility not south Africa ( where we live ). Is there anything we can about this? Please help.

It is true that your country of eligibility should have been Congo, as clearly stated in the rules. Usually this would however not penalize you as the allocation is done by region and both DRC and SA fall under Africa, so the decision seems harsh. There is unfortunately no official appeal process for consular processing. You can possibly attempt to send the consulate a copy of the part of the manual* that says they may use the same region and allow you visas (if no unfair advantage and no suspicion of fraud), and hope that you get a sympathetic response, although I wouldn't pin much hope on it there's not really anything else you can try.

*I don't have time right now to get that page for you, if you can't find it on a Google search, post again and I'll post it late tomorrow.

[Cleida 0]

Thank you. I will do so

Thank you. I will do so

Thank you. I will do so

Thank you. I will do so

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Scroll to section 9 FAM 502.6-4 , a (3) errors in choice of country of chargeability.

Good luck. Remember to include your case number when you send the request.

https://fam.state.gov/fam/09FAM/09FAM050206.html

Edited June 9, 2016 by SusieQQQ

[Cleida 0]

Thank you very much susie. I am thinking to write to Johannesburg consular and KCC in America, sending them the link that you send to me. I hope they will understand thay it was mistake and we didn't select the wrong country of eligibility intentionally or fraud. Thank you very much for your help. I will let u update.

Sincerely!

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Thank you very much susie. I am thinking to write to Johannesburg consular and KCC in America, sending them the link that you send to me. I hope they will understand thay it was mistake and we didn't select the wrong country of eligibility intentionally or fraud. Thank you very much for your help. I will let u update.

Sincerely!

KCC don't have anything to do with it once it has passed onto the consulate - you are entirely at the mercy of Johannesburg on this. Good luck!

[Cleida 0]

Good day sussie!
When we were denied the visa, the consular gives us a letter saying : Dear application: this office regrets to inform you that it is unable to issue a visa to you because you have been found ineligible to receive a visa under the following section...:
Section 212 (a)(5)(a)- incorrect chargeability. Should have been Drc and not Safr.

After doing some reach about that section I didn't nothing saying about country of chargeability. https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/general/ineligibilities.html

1. If i am wrong , Can you help me out about that section and tell me what it's says.

2. I am thinking to get a lower and print the section of9 FAM 502.6-4 DIVERSITY VISA PROCESSING that talking about the Errors in Choice of Country of Chargeability give it to an immigration lower to deal with it, because it was a mistake and maybe the consular didn't know there is a possibility to continue the process even if there is an error.
3) we did have some conversation with the Johannesburg consulor via emails. Can u read them and tell me if we still have chance to convince them and get the visa? (For the good understanding you can read them from the last email at the bottom to the top). Thank you
...

Subject :
Our disqualification won't affect our next application?


Good day! Thank you for the reply and all the details you give me. But we are heartbroken until now because of that mistake that cost us a lot.


Our disqualification won't affect our next application?


Good day! Thank you for the reply and all the details you give me. But we are heartbroken until now because of that mistake that cost us a lot. We ...
J

to me
7 hours agoDetails
Good Day,



Thank you for your email.



You are more than welcome to enter the Diversity Visa again. You have not qualified for this particular one due to the fact that you have chosen the wrong country of chargeability. In future kindly make sure you choose your country of birth as the country of chargeability. You may only choose South Africa if you are citizen of South Africa and have your Citizenship Certificate, ID and Passport of South Africa.



Kind regards,





Immigrant Visa Unit





From:
Sent: Sunday, June 12, 2016 9:07 PM
To: JohannesburgIV
Subject: Our disqualification won't affect our next application?



Good day!



Thank you for the reply and all the details you give me. But we are heartbroken until now because of that mistake that cost us a lot.

We don't want to do the same mistake again in the future. So we want to know if we try out luck again, this mistake won't affect our application? Because by saying "consular officers must follow U.S. immigration law, and unfortunately in this case the choice (even accidental) of the incorrect country is a disqualification because it would put applicants at an advantage" is that mean we were disqualified because we did choose the wrong country of Chargeability to get advantage or its just because of that error that can't be forgiven?

Thank you!


JohannesburgIV
to me
7 hours agoDetails
Good Day,



Thank you for your email.



You are more than welcome to enter the Diversity Visa again. You have not qualified for this particular one due to the fact that you have chosen the wrong country of chargeability. In future kindly make sure you choose your country of birth as the country of chargeability. You may only choose South Africa if you are citizen of South Africa and have your Citizenship Certificate, ID and Passport of South Africa.



Kind regards,





Immigrant Visa Unit





From:
Sent: Sunday, June 12, 2016 9:07 PM
To: JohannesburgIV
Subject: Our disqualification won't affect our next application?



Good day!



Thank you for the reply and all the details you give me. But we are heartbroken until now because of that mistake that cost us a lot.

We don't want to do the same mistake again in the future. So we want to know if we try out luck again, this mistake won't affect our application? Because by saying "consular officers must follow U.S. immigration law, and unfortunately in this case the choice (even accidental) of the incorrect country is a disqualification because it would put applicants at an advantage" is that mean we were disqualified because we did choose the wrong country of Chargeability to get advantage or its just because of that error that can't be forgiven?

Thank you!




On Friday, June 10, 2016, JohannesburgIV <JohannesburgIV@state.gov> wrote:

Good Day,





Thank you for your email.



At the conclusion of your interview, the consular officer explained the eligibility rules for the DV to you and your wife and printed out the FAQ regarding the instructions, which is also available in French online { http://redirect.state.sbu/?url=https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Diversity-Visa/DV-Instructions-Translations/DV-2017-Instructions-Translations/DV%202017%20French%20Translations.pdf } with the Diversity Visa. Adjudicating consular officers must follow U.S. immigration law, and unfortunately in this case the choice (even accidental) of the incorrect country is a disqualification because it would put applicants at an advantage.



You and your wife are welcome to enter the lottery again and ensure that you choose your Foreign Country of Chargeability according to the country from which you are a citizen and whose passport you use.



We wish you all of the best for the future.



Regards,





Immigrant Visa Unit





From:
Sent: Thursday, June 09, 2016 2:01 PM
To: JohannesburgIV
Subject: Visa denied


Hello

We were denied our visa before yesterday. Here is the cause : my wife and I are from Congo but we live in South Africa. When we were entering our information in 2014 for dv2017, we did selected Congo as our country of birthday. Then we selected south Africa (where we live ) as country of eligibility. We were selected in 2015 filled up the ds260 form, do the medical, bring all the documents before yesterday in Johannesburg at the interview and pay the visa fee. Unfortunately the consular denied us the visa saying that we sould select Congo (where we are born) as country of eligibility not south Africa ( where we live ). It was a mistake, we didnt do intentionally or fraud. there anything we can about this because both Congo and south Africa are in the same region and they are eligible contries ? Please help.

edit out personal info

Edited June 14, 2016 by Ontarkie

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

First, please edit your post to remove your real name and contact details.

All you can do is try, by highlighting and sending the extract. They are not obliged to look at it again but they might be sympathetic. Best of luck...

[Cleida 0]

Thanks

[Cleida 0]

!

[Cleida 0]

Help plz I a struggling to edit my post.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Help plz I a struggling to edit my post.

Time must have passed - hopefully a moderator will see and edit

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

This extract from the consulate's reply is worrying because it is actually incorrect.

"You and your wife are welcome to enter the lottery again and ensure that you choose your Foreign Country of Chargeability according to the country from which you are a citizen and whose passport you use."

Chargeability almost always depends on country of birth, not citizenship or passport.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Ah. I have to add something, notwithstanding the last post which is still a worry, I had earlier read your long post of the email exchange on my phone and missed the bit where they said the reason the visa was denied was because choosing SA rather than DRC gave you an advantage. This is actually a correct interpretation because DRC is one of the few countries where there are so many entrants that they have to limit the number of selectees (related to the limit per country allowed). In this sense choosing SA instead of DRC did give you a benefit - even if accidental and not fraudulent - so the CO is justified. I apologize for having missed this before and am sorry if I gave you false hope

[Cleida 0]

When we were denied the visa, the consular gives us a letter saying : Dear application: this office regrets to inform you that it is unable to issue a visa to you because you have been found ineligible to receive a visa under the following section...:

Section 212 (a)(5)(a)- incorrect chargeability. Should have been Drc and not Safr.

After doing some reach about that section I didn't see anything talking about country of chargeability. https://travel.state...gibilities.htm

Can anyone explain me that section please?