CR1 reaffirmed in Ghana (split topic)

[Joetan 18]

On ‎7‎/‎28‎/‎2017 at 5:30 PM, dmh59 said:

For the NOIR I sent our conversations but with the reaffirmed proof, I just printed out the number of messages sent between us monthly.  Not like they go thru and read the messages -

how can I just print out the messages between me and my honey monthly it is very hard to screen shot the messages then cut than paste thank you im waiting for my case to be reaffirmed mine case got back to uscis april 2017 still nothing

 

[Joetan 18]

On ‎9‎/‎27‎/‎2017 at 5:47 PM, Shomefune96 said:

So this journey has also been a long one for my husband and I from the start of the Petition in May of 2014 to now where he has had his last interview. We still do not have the firm visa, but they did take his passport. But they wanted to verify if i had changed my last name and if so, they wanted proof. Helloooooo....nothing in our paperwork gave them any reason to think i'd changed my last name. So basically we are waiting longer, just so i could write them a letter to tell them no, i haven't. You took our original marriage certificate at the first interview and haven't given it back to us. So no, i can't do anything without that. Anyway so here is how ours went

 

May 2014 Petitioned

5 months later

September 2014 Got the I-797 Petition Approval

4 months later

January 2015 notice from NVC that they were at least 90 days behind

2 months later

March 2015 Notice to come for interview in June

2 months later

First Interview June 2015-  was told to come back with some additional proof of our conversations in the beginning of the relationship

1 month later (i think we got lucky on this interview date to come back. I've seen others get a date as far out as 5 months)

July 2015- they didn't even look at the paperwork THEY requested, they just handed him a 221G (Administrative Processing) as soon as he walked up to the window with no explanation to why, told to reach out to them after 60 days)

60 days passed, Called NVC, called USCIS, no one had heard a peep from the Ghana embassy. Long story short, it took the embassy until February 2016 to return our case (literally 8 months) and this didn't happen until after i got the congressman involved.

 

Then nothing for 21 months.

 

April 2017- Case Reaffirmed by USCIS and sent back to Ghana (they never asked us for any additional proof, we never got an NOA)

July 2017-received notification of appointment, set for 9/18/17

Sept 2017- Second Interview, went well, they required only proof of last name change IF i had done so, but they took his passport, his phone numbers to call him directly and gave him the form to take to DHL to drop off this information. We took it to DHL same day.  Now we are waiting for the status to change from Administrative Processing to Issued!. They say it takes 2 weeks from the time they receive it. We shall see.  

 

NOTE: If you are reaffirmed and get the appt date, you are only required to have the things that have expired since you were there the first time, so make sure to look in your file at those things that would have expired. If you have other documents other than the ones i list then you'll need to get updated versions of those as well if they have expired. The main things will be police report, medical report, affidavit of support, updated tax records for 3 years, updated tax transcripts for the same year as the taxes, include updated biographic pages if you have moved, and then you will add whatever additional proof you have of your marriage, pictures, copies of plane tickets, cards you've sent each other.. My husband and i talk over the internet so i had to do print outs of our conversations. It ended up being over 500,000 pages of conversations and that was just from 2015 to 2017. i literally printed the first 50 of our conversations from his last interview and the last 50 of the most recent conversations. He'd gone back in July with the additional proof they asked, armed with 800 pages of conversations they never looked at, so i wasn't about to waste my money.

 

Also YES you will have to do that whole medical process over again and pay that ridiculous amount that has increased about 400Ghc more than it was previous. HOWEVER, there are vaccines they have you take during this process, that will not have expired by the time you go in to do this again. Make sure you tell that to the doctor and make it clear you do not want or need those vaccinations and you don't expect to be charged.  Not to be rude, but to make sure you are NOT, because you can tell them and someone forgets or doesn't make note of it, and voila, you pay full price. This way you don't have to pay for those again, that can lower your cost on it. 

 

I think basically anyone out of Ghana who are MARRIED, can expect this process to take at least 2 years to 3 years. That is at the least. I believe the process is much faster when applying for a Fiancee' visa. You don't have to prove all that you have to prove when you are going for a spousal visa. Just looking at all the forums here over the past 3 years and also people that i know in Ghana that have applied AFTER us, and arrived in America within 1 year of application while it took us 1 year just to get an interview. 

 

Also just so you know that during all this time i had been reaching out to our congressman. My first contact with them was to finally get our case back in the States from Ghana. Which i felt worked so i kept referring to them. Every time that i sent a request they responded, but nothing at all ever happened with it. One day i was talking to a cousin who also married a Ghanaian some years back. Their issue was different, they met and got married while he was here in the states, but just after they married his visa expired, so he'd stayed over. They applied for his adjustment and were denied. after about a year of BS answers from people she finally was able to get someone at the USCIS that would take enough time to work with her and explain what she needed to do. First he had to go back to Ghana and THEN they could apply. So he did. Took them 2 years from their petition, but he is back here. However, she stated that during the process after about a year nothing had moved, she couldn't get any answers and everyone was giving her the same old story. She had called the congressman several times to a point where they knew her by first name, but got nowhere. She read online somewhere to contact the Senators office. She did, as soon as she did her case started moving rapidly after that. 

 

The reason i tell this story is because this is the same thing that happened to me (not that you will get the same result) but we'd contacted the congressman several times trying to get answers. It wasn't until she told me to contact our senator that anything happened on our case at all. From June of 2015 all the way up to February of 2017 we heard not one thing from USCIS, not even a letter to say F you, and the updated date on the NVC Case status page never changed from the time our case went into AP Status in 2015, nothing! I spoke to my cousin in February this year. I wrote the senators office that same day, they responded the same day, 3 days letter i got a message back from them that they had reached out to USCIS and were told our case was in progress, i checked the status page the next day and Holy Moly it had updated. It was the greatest moment of my life at that time. And after that it continued to move forward, April we got the reaffirmation email and then the letter in the mail, then in July we got the message to come to the embassy. So bottom line, bypass congressman and reach out to the senator and start doing it as quickly as possible. Basically if you haven't heard anything in 90 days follow up. They have more power and yield's faster results from what i have observed. 

 

Another agency i would say bypass completely. INFOPASS. that is just a way to pacify us cause they tell you absolutely nothing more than you can get from calling. Only this time  you have took time off work to go, got all dressed up and cute to look presentable, only for them to tell you, its in progress. Unless you have questions about filling out forms or the process in general or need help getting it filled out, etc. Infopass is just a waste of time. 

 

I also found that after not having any info back for so long on our case, meant there were no updates at the NVC. So sometime in there, they had placed our case in Pending Cancellation status. I called them up like WT Fudge are ya'll doing and she said this happens when they have not heard from you or anyone else on your case in at least 1 year. So, note that every now and then, contact the NVC to just inquire at least on the case, that should be enough to not get that heart dropping to your knees feeling you get when you see that Pending cancellation notice. 

 

One last thing as well that i found out from other friends experience. If you are denied the first time and given a 221G and put into Admin processing. As long as your case is still in Ghana you have the chance to reconcile it. Got this info from 2 of my friends lawyers. You want to fight as much as possible WHILE it is there. Your husband or wife will need to go up to the Embassy on those Tuesday and Thursday days they have for questions, find out how to set up an appointment to get into the Embassy and set up an appointment to speak to someone. Do whatever it takes, because once it comes back to the states, that is when it goes into the black hole of mummified death until someone revives it again. 

 

Thank u for your post I am grateful you took the time to write all this it made me laugh it gave  me hope it did a lot for me as I was down and confused. Your post was well written I love the way you outlined every point. I pray that the Lord always meet your needs and exceed your expectations. You are awesome thanks again.

[dmh59 16]

8 hours ago, Joetan said:

how can I just print out the messages between me and my honey monthly it is very hard to screen shot the messages then cut than paste thank you im waiting for my case to be reaffirmed mine case got back to uscis april 2017 still nothing

 

Where r u talking?  On WhatsApp under ur contacts name you can export ur chat to ur email then I saved the file under Microsoft word - I edited it there (they don’t need to read all ur conversations) and printed it from there.  If ur talking text on ur phone - copy and paste is the only way I know of - tedious.  Let me know if this helps or u have more questions.  Good luck.  We waited 18 months to hear something.  I’d advise you to contact the ombudsman for assistance sooner than later. 

[Joetan 18]

3 hours ago, dmh59 said:

Where r u talking?  On WhatsApp under ur contacts name you can export ur chat to ur email then I saved the file under Microsoft word - I edited it there (they don’t need to read all ur conversations) and printed it from there.  If ur talking text on ur phone - copy and paste is the only way I know of - tedious.  Let me know if this helps or u have more questions.  Good luck.  We waited 18 months to hear something.  I’d advise you to contact the ombudsman for assistance sooner than later. 

Ok thank you i was referring to whatsapp i exported my chats but i started screen shot cutting and pasting because the way the chats came up in ms word i thought the embassy might accuse me of making the chats up since we all lying about having a legitimate marriage therefore causing our cases to be sent back and this death sentence of a weight that we are going through and I have a daughter that will be turning one years old with my husband he's not here to witness anything can you imagine I want to see my husband a total of 15 times yes I said 15 times since the three and a half years we've been together I don't understand what other proof they will need along with all the other pictures and chats and emails I sent even the immigration offices in Ghana joke and say you sure are here a lot how can my passport lie you can see the stamps coming and going this is a horrible horrible! Experience

[trustG 74]

3 minutes ago, Joetan said:

Ok thank you i was referring to whatsapp i exported my chats but i started screen shot cutting and pasting because the way the chats came up in ms word i thought the embassy might accuse me of making the chats up since we all lying about having a legitimate marriage therefore causing our cases to be sent back and this death sentence of a weight that we are going through and I have a daughter that will be turning one years old with my husband he's not here to witness anything can you imagine I want to see my husband a total of 15 times yes I said 15 times since the three and a half years we've been together I don't understand what other proof they will need along with all the other pictures and chats and emails I sent even the immigration offices in Ghana joke and say you sure are here a lot how can my passport lie you can see the stamps coming and going this is a horrible horrible! Experience

Thoes ppl are putting ppl through hell, didn't u provide a birth certificate that shows u two have a child together, it's a shame how they think all Ghana marriages are fraud. And they will lie terribly in the noir. I remember crying like my world has ended, thank God we've overcome. Can't wait for my husband to pick up his passport from dhl. God willing all of u shall overcome. 

[trustG 74]

Has anyone received a text or email from the embassy that their passport and package is ready for pick up at DHL 

[#Gh79# 4]

You don''t need a text or a call  just go to DHL in 2 weeks  to pick up ur passport and package. 

[Shomefune96 28]

1 hour ago, trustG said:

Has anyone received a text or email from the embassy that their passport and package is ready for pick up at DHL 

Hi trustG,

 

I can tell you that my husband didn't wait for a text or a call. They said it would be ready within 2 weeks of us dropping it off. So we waited exactly 2 weeks. He went over to DHL, they had it. You may want to try that if it has been at least 14 full days. 

[trustG 74]

13 minutes ago, #Gh79# said:

You don''t need a text or a call  just go to DHL in 2 weeks  to pick up ur passport and package. 

Okay thank u,  did u get pick up urs today? 

[trustG 74]

14 minutes ago, Shomefune96 said:

Hi trustG,

 

I can tell you that my husband didn't wait for a text or a call. They said it would be ready within 2 weeks of us dropping it off. So we waited exactly 2 weeks. He went over to DHL, they had it. You may want to try that if it has been at least 14 full days. 

Okay thanks I'll tell my husband to go there next Tuesday. 

[#Gh79# 4]

yes

[trustG 74]

16 minutes ago, trustG said:

Okay thank u,  did u get pick up urs today? 

@#Gh79# & @Shomefune96 pls do my husband needs anything besides his ID for picking up his passport and package. 

Edited October 24, 2017 by trustG

[dmh59 16]

10 hours ago, Joetan said:

Ok thank you i was referring to whatsapp i exported my chats but i started screen shot cutting and pasting because the way the chats came up in ms word i thought the embassy might accuse me of making the chats up since we all lying about having a legitimate marriage therefore causing our cases to be sent back and this death sentence of a weight that we are going through and I have a daughter that will be turning one years old with my husband he's not here to witness anything can you imagine I want to see my husband a total of 15 times yes I said 15 times since the three and a half years we've been together I don't understand what other proof they will need along with all the other pictures and chats and emails I sent even the immigration offices in Ghana joke and say you sure are here a lot how can my passport lie you can see the stamps coming and going this is a horrible horrible! Experience

WOW!! 15 times. That’s a lot!!!  With all the WhatsApp conversations (we had over 1700 pages) they can’t possibly  think someone could fake all that.   I feel ur pain I do and it is a shame ur daughter doesn’t get to b w her father.  Stay strong it will come to pass.  Good luck.  Don’t hesitate to ask further and keep us posted as to ur progress.  Praying

[dmh59 16]

9 hours ago, trustG said:

Okay thanks I'll tell my husband to go there next Tuesday. 

So “within 2 weeks”   Any chance would b ready bf the 14 days say like 10 or 12. Lol I I know I’m pushing it huh ...

[trustG 74]

3 minutes ago, dmh59 said:

So “within 2 weeks”   Any chance would b ready bf the 14 days say like 10 or 12. Lol I I know I’m pushing it huh ...

😂😂😂😂😂😂 I know u can't wait lol,  will update u