K1 visa denied at Montreal Consulate

[Hbomb 22]

Hello,

 

I just had my interview in Montreal. The lady who interviewed me said I’m ‘totally approvable’, but the person who adjudicated my I-129f made a mistake and forgot to ‘check a box’ and thus she has to send the petition back to the USCIS to be processed. She labeled it as ‘extremely urgent’ for the USCIS as we were planning to have our wedding in early August. 

She gave me a 221g form and returned my passport (yikes). She encouraged me to email the office often for updates. 

 

I keep hearing horror stories of cases being sent back and people waiting months and months. 

 

Has anyone had a similar experience? Regarding my case, no red flags that I know of: he’s 3.5 years older, good income and assets, same religion, same ethnicity, neither of us have been married and neither of us have children, and neither of us have a criminal record. It’s a very cut and dried case. 

Plus we have visited each other at least 50 times in the last year and a half because we live just a three hour drive away from each other so we are able to visit often. I had lots of proof to support the relationship. 

 

Has this happened to anyone before? How long should I expect to wait? Should I get a lawyer? Dear God!!

[EandH0904 1,184]

Did she state what exactly the box was that was mistakenly not checked - was it your error or did she lead you to believe it was a clerical error when your form was being adjudicated? 

If it is the latter, I would hope that the matter would be cleared quickly - as it was no fault of your own. 

 

If it was something you did erroneously it may take a little bit longer. 

[Hbomb 22]

2 minutes ago, EandH0904 said:

Did she state what exactly the box was that was mistakenly not checked - was it your error or did she lead you to believe it was a clerical error when your form was being adjudicated? 

If it is the latter, I would hope that the matter would be cleared quickly - as it was no fault of your own. 

 

If it was something you did erroneously it may take a little bit longer. 

No she didn’t specify. Only that there was no action expected on my part. 

Just now, Hbomb said:

No she didn’t specify. Only that there was no action expected on my part. 

... she led me to believe it was clerical but they are so ambiguous. 

[Boiler 45,525]

Nothing much you can but wait.

[geowrian 22,337]

Sounds like some IO forget to mark something. While there are no guarentees, I wouldn't be too surprised if this is that long of a delay given the circumstances. It sucks that you pay the cost because of it, but the process has certain requirements and everything has to have the "i"s dotted or else it will come back on the CO too. Please keep the thread updated.

[faithintrust 0]

10 hours ago, Hbomb said:

Hello,

 

I just had my interview in Montreal. The lady who interviewed me said I’m ‘totally approvable’, but the person who adjudicated my I-129f made a mistake and forgot to ‘check a box’ and thus she has to send the petition back to the USCIS to be processed. She labeled it as ‘extremely urgent’ for the USCIS as we were planning to have our wedding in early August. 

She gave me a 221g form and returned my passport (yikes). She encouraged me to email the office often for updates. 

 

I keep hearing horror stories of cases being sent back and people waiting months and months. 

 

Has anyone had a similar experience? Regarding my case, no red flags that I know of: he’s 3.5 years older, good income and assets, same religion, same ethnicity, neither of us have been married and neither of us have children, and neither of us have a criminal record. It’s a very cut and dried case. 

Plus we have visited each other at least 50 times in the last year and a half because we live just a three hour drive away from each other so we are able to visit often. I had lots of proof to support the relationship. 

 

Has this happened to anyone before? How long should I expect to wait? Should I get a lawyer? Dear God!!

I hope to God the officers aren't biased on giving preference to race, religion, previous relationships, etc.  Living in close proximity and frequent visits sound like a plus, in my opinion. 

A checkbox?  What an unfortunate bureaucratic excuse to prolong your case.

Edited May 19, 2018 by faithintrust

[Hbomb 22]

40 minutes ago, faithintrust said:

I hope to God the officers aren't biased on giving preference to race, religion, previous relationships, etc.  Living in close proximity and frequent visits sound like a plus, in my opinion. 

A checkbox?  What an unfortunate bureaucratic excuse to prolong your case.

Nahh....if anything between the couple is vastly different like age, religion, multiple filings, or language then it’s POTENTIALLY a red flag. Just saying.  

[Crazy Cat 41,885]

I agree with @geowrian.  It sounds like an administrative oversight.   Hopefully, they will just correct the error and send it forward......good luck...please keep us informed.

[Mrsjackson 300]

Make sure you do what she said and keep inquiring for updates from them. Keep it fresh in their minds. I personally would bypass the lawyer. 

Edited May 19, 2018 by Mrsjackson

[TNJ17 1,329]

Hmmm strange... my understanding is that when K1s get sent back to USCIS it’s to let it die and you’d have to file again. I’d try to get in touch with the embass6 and then USCIS asking exactly wha5 the error was and if it’s fixable or if you’re just gonna be sent there to let it die. 

[Cathi 5,755]

Have your fiance call their US Senator's office and ask to speak to the immigration liaison and ask whomever that person is to check into your case and follow it. Our case got stuck at the NVC for weeks after the fees decreased way back when, while no one else wasn't having a problem. The liaison at my Senator's office(Jeanne Shaheen) was more than helpful and she had our case moving within 24 hours.

[Hbomb 22]

On 2018-05-19 at 11:40 AM, Cathi said:

Have your fiance call their US Senator's office and ask to speak to the immigration liaison and ask whomever that person is to check into your case and follow it. Our case got stuck at the NVC for weeks after the fees decreased way back when, while no one else wasn't having a problem. The liaison at my Senator's office(Jeanne Shaheen) was more than helpful and she had our case moving within 24 hours.

My fiancé and I had a meeting at the senator’s office this morning. The immigration liaison will give us updates from the Consulate and hopefully USCIS within a week. In the meantime I will be saying my rosary twice per day...

[SMK 89 68]

On 5/22/2018 at 2:29 PM, Hbomb said:

My fiancé and I had a meeting at the senator’s office this morning. The immigration liaison will give us updates from the Consulate and hopefully USCIS within a week. In the meantime I will be saying my rosary twice per day...

Hi there - just saw this in the Canada forum and wanted to check in with you on how this is all playing out? Any progress??? Keeping my fingers crossed for you that this is a super quick fix! I had no idea something like this could pop up after all the waiting in the first place!!!!! 

[Hbomb 22]

Update! I can’t believe this. 

Remeber when at the Consulate, the CO told me the USCIS adjudicator forgot to ‘tick a box’ and legally she can’t give me the visa?

well, Montreal emailed me today and said:

 

USCIS needs to perform additional administrative steps under the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act (IMBRA) before we can continue processing your case. Additional information regarding the Rights and Protections for Foreign-Citizen Fiancé(e)s under IMBRA is available herehttps://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/imbra.html

 

and now, check out the image with the unchecked IMBRA box. I can’t believe they are withholding my visa for this!! At least it sounds like an easy fix. 

[geowrian 22,337]

Figures as much...basically what I thought, but still silly that it has to go all the way back. But policies are policies. Thanks for the update!