Medical Expedite, transfering from Cuba to Bogota

[VeredAK 2]

Hi all...

 

We were scheduled for our interview in Havana September 15, then the hurricane bumped us to November 17, and now the cases are being transferred to Bogota with no information. I have an emerging serious medical condition and have filed for an medical expedite (lawyer sent information to NVC and Havana). But it has been 2 weeks with zero response. It seems no one knows anything about when they are planning to schedule the interviews in Bogota. We are having a terrible run of luck - first acts of god with the hurricane, then diplomatic bad luck, and now evolving health issue.

 

My lawyer said she's trying to figure out this goat rope, but it seems information is in a vacuum. I'm hoping someone has heard something new.

 

Questions:

1) Has anyone who got bumped to Bogota received ANY information about their interview date?

2) Has anyone actually been interviewed in Bogota since they moved everything there?

3) Does anyone know anything about medical expedites or how quickly they process them? I have an MRI guided biopsy next week, and my surgery is likely to happen soon after, with whatever treatment plan to follow.

[Raulandlisa 0]

VeredAK, I feel your pain, this  is heartbreaking.  My situation is similar. We filed  for  the K1 and after 2 years  was denied. We were married  June 05,2017 and our paperwork is now still at the  USCIS (5 months), waiting for  NVC and embassy stages.  I just got  back  from Cuba  yesterday from a month visit with my husband. I also have medical issues and was denied expedite  twice, even with a lot of documentation from my doctor which they wouldn't  even let me submit. After 2 weeks you have to call them  about your expedite and they will make a decision. I wish you luck and hope it  works out for you. We are also  now trying to get information to interview in another country.

 

Does NVC automatically assign to another country or do we need to choose a country that he can either obtain a visa to OR a country where he does not need a visa like Dominica or Russia or Guyana? Anyone have  any information about this? 

[VeredAK 2]

Hi Raul and Lisa,

 

You can transfer your case to a third party country, but NVC will automatically transfer it to Colombia. If you're on a K-type visa, it is easier to transfer, but if you are on an "Immediate Relative" visa, it is more difficult. Since your case is still with USCIS, you may luck out and the embassy in Havana might go back to normal, though I doubt it. Given the current climate and attitudes toward Cuba by Rubio and others, it seems unlikely that they will return the embassy to being fully functional.

If you were to try to transfer to a third party country that doesn't require visas, you'll want to make sure the embassy there will accept the transfer, and that it won't result in a delay. You have to prove that you can be able to reside (at least that your Cuban spouse can reside) in the country of transfer. Guyana requires 100% English proficiency from what I understand. It wouldn't be an issue for us, but for others, it will be. The bottom line is it will cost a lot more, take a lot more time, and be less certain.  I call daily to NVC to see where things are, and it seems that they are sort of in chaos as well--not much information, and conflicting status reports, along with understaffing. I think they are trying the best they can with the cards they were dealt from State, but it basically means we're all stuck in limbo until someone somewhere begins actually dealing with the backlog of thwarted interviews. I anticipate it will cost an additional $5,000 to $7,000 USD for the whole process. Plane tickets from the US to Havana, to Bogota, back to Havana, and to the US along with being forced to be in country for up to three weeks, with a place to stay, food, etc... Nothing will be easy.

 

Ultimately, it's a big goat rope of tail chasing until they actually begin making the appointments. I did see today that the embassy has said ALL cases have been transferred back to NVC and that they are near ready to schedule interviews. That is GOOD news, but not enough for those of us with real medical issues. It seems that if you are still in the PRE-NVC stage of things and still with USCIS awaiting approval, that you'll be waiting longer than normal as they lost 2 full months of interviews since September 7th, and losing interview days daily, which means that there are a lot of people ahead of you in the line who are already approved.

I'd brace for a longer process. RFEs have become more common as well, which slows things down significantly. If you haven't received one, great! But if you haven't heard from USCIS, you may want to brace for another round of evidence gathering. My file is now two very large binders of material - plane tickets, insurances, finances, letters, photos, and so forth.

 

Patience is the only answer... and maybe a stiff drink to go with the patience.
Good luck to you both!!! We are all in the same leaky boat together...