Australians Waiting For Interview at US Consulate Sydney

[Mayflower girl 6]

Hi all,

 

Well it has been quite the journey for my husband who was DQ'd on April 6 and expedited on July 8 but then stuck in Melbourne and unable to get an appointment. He had his interview today November 17 and his visa has also been issued today so he is waiting to receive it in the mail. Our story in a nutshell is that we've been married since 1993 after meeting in Melbourne where we were both living. (I'm US born and raised but moved to Australia back in the 80's.) We bought a house and raised our kids in Melbourne and they are dual citizens, now aged 25 and 19. Our son decided to follow his dream of working for a baseball team some years ago after he finished uni and has been living in the US since then. Our talented daughter earned a sports scholarship to a US university which she took up earlier this year. With both of our kids in the US and retirement approaching we decided to embark on a new adventure and move to the US! It's been an adventure just getting here! I've been here since March getting our new home and lives all set up while Paul's been stuck in Australia. But it shouldn't be too much longer that we'll be separated. 

 

I know that the Vic/NSW border is scheduled to open on the 23rd so hopefully for all the Victorians waiting that will come about.  Back in mid-October we didn't know when the border was going to open so we made other plans. So how did a Victorian get to Sydney when there are really no exemptions to cross the NSW border that apply? Well he flew to Brisbane where he used the exemption that he was moving to Queensland. (We'd already sold our house back in May so he had proof that he had no ties to Vic.) He did his quarantine there which is $200 less than NSW and also includes 'fresh air breaks' out of the room which I think NSW isn't doing. Then he moved to a short-term apartment before flying to Sydney where Queensland arrivals don't have to quarantine. 

 

His appointment was at 8am this morning. Erin, you get there at 7:45 so you can clear security. Also be aware that multiple people are given the same appointment time in order to streamline the process. Paul had all of his documents in order and had done his medical in Melbourne before he left for Queensland a month ago so there was no hold up with that. The questions he was asked were--Where did we meet and when? (On a bushwalk over Easter in 1992) Your wife was divorced? (yes back in the 80s!) Your wife is in the US now? (Yes) Where? (At our new home in Arizona.) That was it. Nothing about finances or health insurance or anything else. The CO did note that we'd been married 27 years. 

 

So we are coming to the end of this journey that started in December, 2018 when we lodged the I-130. Our kids and I are eagerly awaiting their Dad's arrival in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

 

I will post again once Paul arrives. I'm looking forward to having human company and our 4 kitties (2 Aussie, 2 American) will also enjoy having another human around to give them attention. 

 

Take care,

Diane

 

 

[ErinB 17]

4 minutes ago, Mayflower girl said:

Hi all,

 

Well it has been quite the journey for my husband who was DQ'd on April 6 and expedited on July 8 but then stuck in Melbourne and unable to get an appointment. He had his interview today November 17 and his visa has also been issued today so he is waiting to receive it in the mail. Our story in a nutshell is that we've been married since 1993 after meeting in Melbourne where we were both living. (I'm US born and raised but moved to Australia back in the 80's.) We bought a house and raised our kids in Melbourne and they are dual citizens, now aged 25 and 19. Our son decided to follow his dream of working for a baseball team some years ago after he finished uni and has been living in the US since then. Our talented daughter earned a sports scholarship to a US university which she took up earlier this year. With both of our kids in the US and retirement approaching we decided to embark on a new adventure and move to the US! It's been an adventure just getting here! I've been here since March getting our new home and lives all set up while Paul's been stuck in Australia. But it shouldn't be too much longer that we'll be separated. 

 

I know that the Vic/NSW border is scheduled to open on the 23rd so hopefully for all the Victorians waiting that will come about.  Back in mid-October we didn't know when the border was going to open so we made other plans. So how did a Victorian get to Sydney when there are really no exemptions to cross the NSW border that apply? Well he flew to Brisbane where he used the exemption that he was moving to Queensland. (We'd already sold our house back in May so he had proof that he had no ties to Vic.) He did his quarantine there which is $200 less than NSW and also includes 'fresh air breaks' out of the room which I think NSW isn't doing. Then he moved to a short-term apartment before flying to Sydney where Queensland arrivals don't have to quarantine. 

 

His appointment was at 8am this morning. Erin, you get there at 7:45 so you can clear security. Also be aware that multiple people are given the same appointment time in order to streamline the process. Paul had all of his documents in order and had done his medical in Melbourne before he left for Queensland a month ago so there was no hold up with that. The questions he was asked were--Where did we meet and when? (On a bushwalk over Easter in 1992) Your wife was divorced? (yes back in the 80s!) Your wife is in the US now? (Yes) Where? (At our new home in Arizona.) That was it. Nothing about finances or health insurance or anything else. The CO did note that we'd been married 27 years. 

 

So we are coming to the end of this journey that started in December, 2018 when we lodged the I-130. Our kids and I are eagerly awaiting their Dad's arrival in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

 

I will post again once Paul arrives. I'm looking forward to having human company and our 4 kitties (2 Aussie, 2 American) will also enjoy having another human around to give them attention. 

 

Take care,

Diane

 

 

Wow, Diane, what a journey! Congrats on your visa being issued, and thanks for the advice about the arrival time. We'll also be living in Arizona! My husband currently lives with family in Phoenix so we'll be staying around the area for a year or so. 

[John0990 23]

4 minutes ago, Mayflower girl said:

Hi all,

 

Well it has been quite the journey for my husband who was DQ'd on April 6 and expedited on July 8 but then stuck in Melbourne and unable to get an appointment. He had his interview today November 17 and his visa has also been issued today so he is waiting to receive it in the mail.

 

I will post again once Paul arrives. I'm looking forward to having human company and our 4 kitties (2 Aussie, 2 American) will also enjoy having another human around to give them attention. 

 

Take care,

Diane

 

 

Hi Mayflower, I am so glad all has gone well for you both. Our thoughts and well wishes for your future.

John n Donna.

[Mayflower girl 6]

Just now, ErinB said:

Wow, Diane, what a journey! Congrats on your visa being issued, and thanks for the advice about the arrival time. We'll also be living in Arizona! My husband currently lives with family in Phoenix so we'll be staying around the area for a year or so. 

Hi Erin,

 

Let me know when you get here and we can meet up. I'm in the East Valley.

 

Diane

[Mayflower girl 6]

1 minute ago, John0990 said:

Hi Mayflower, I am so glad all has gone well for you both. Our thoughts and well wishes for your future.

John n Donna.

Hi John,

 

I'm sorry for the hiccup in your process and thank you for the well wishes. Just keep thinking positive and keep working towards your goal. I look forward to hearing that you made it.

 

Cheers,

Diane

[BLST 11]

4 hours ago, ErinB said:

Well, the email has arrived. Our interview is finally scheduled, for December 22nd. I'm SO nervous. 

Wohooo! That is exciting news!! Congratulations!!! 

[Sharni 27]

18 hours ago, Mayflower girl said:

Hi all,

 

Well it has been quite the journey for my husband who was DQ'd on April 6 and expedited on July 8 but then stuck in Melbourne and unable to get an appointment. He had his interview today November 17 and his visa has also been issued today so he is waiting to receive it in the mail.

 

So we are coming to the end of this journey that started in December, 2018 when we lodged the I-130. Our kids and I are eagerly awaiting their Dad's arrival in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

 

I will post again once Paul arrives. I'm looking forward to having human company and our 4 kitties (2 Aussie, 2 American) will also enjoy having another human around to give them attention. 

 

Take care,

Diane

Congratulations Diane,  I hope Paul arrives soon.   It was interesting to hear how he managed to get around the confusing process of quarantining and the various rules for the different States.  My visa was approved in September and we arrived in LAX last Thursday the 12th.  Now settling into our new apartment in San Diego and glad that this is mostly finished.  We have yet to receive the green card and the social security card in the mail.  We changed our address when we came into the USA, so hopefully this will flow through. Good luck with the rest of this journey for you and Paul.

[HRQX 4,145]

22 minutes ago, Sharni said:

We have yet to receive the green card and the social security card in the mail.

Note that you can already work, travel internationally, etc. An example of working without SSN after entering with Immigrant Visa:

https://www.twc.texas.gov/news/efte/employees_without_ssns.html "It is certainly legal to hire someone who is authorized to work in this country, but who does not have a social security number"

Your immigrant visa should be endorsed by CBP. Thus, it'll serve as I-551 document for 1 year: https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/temporary-i-551-stamps-and-mrivs "The employee’s foreign passport with the MRIV is evidence the employee has permanent residence status for 1 year from the date of admission."

 

Did you already pay USCIS Immigrant Fee? https://my.uscis.gov/uscis-immigrant-fee/

 

About SSN: I assume you selected "yes" for SSN issuance on DS-260: https://www.ssa.gov/ssnvisa/Handout_11_1.html "You should receive your Social Security card within 3 weeks after you arrive." If you can't resolve it over the phone, fax, and/or physical mail, you'll need an appointment to go in-person: "If you believe you qualify for an in-person appointment, call your local office. You can look up the phone number for your local office by accessing our office locator. Please note that appointments may not be immediately available, depending on local health and safety conditions and staffing." https://www.ssa.gov/coronavirus/

[John0990 23]

Update, certainly not what we wanted to hear. This morning US time we got some legal advise, after being told it would cost us $5000 US for them to take it on with a maybe timeline of 6 to 12 months or more with no guarantees of the waiver. Now should we go this road and somehow get the waiver it seems the final decision still rests fully with the Embassy officer on the visa decision.

All this over a very stupid decision at 18yo, $600 Au and some 40 years ago.

 

We will now have to look at closely at our options, Donna has just on 12 months in which we can most likely get her back into Australia before that expires. Should we have to go this road it means selling everything in the US, House, goods everything.

 

Not the dream we had but Thats our story.

 

Sending out hopes and prayers to everyone still in the system that things go well for you all.

 

[HRQX 4,145]

27 minutes ago, John0990 said:

and somehow get the waiver it seems the final decision still rests fully with the Embassy officer on the visa decision.

The CO could find a determination of inadmissibility for something else but the CO can't second guess the waiver approval because INA 212(h) says the "Attorney General" has final say on that waiver approval.

[John0990 23]

Just now, HRQX said:

The CO could find a determination of inadmissibility for something else but the CO can't second guess the waiver approval because INA 212(h) says the "Attorney General" has final say on that waiver approval.

Yeah sorry poor wording on my side, the waiver decision would rest solely with the AG as you stated and then cannot be taken into account. I meant the final visa decision rests fully the Embassy.

Cheers.

[ErinB 17]

54 minutes ago, John0990 said:

Update, certainly not what we wanted to hear. This morning US time we got some legal advise, after being told it would cost us $5000 US for them to take it on with a maybe timeline of 6 to 12 months or more with no guarantees of the waiver. Now should we go this road and somehow get the waiver it seems the final decision still rests fully with the Embassy officer on the visa decision.

All this over a very stupid decision at 18yo, $600 Au and some 40 years ago.

 

We will now have to look at closely at our options, Donna has just on 12 months in which we can most likely get her back into Australia before that expires. Should we have to go this road it means selling everything in the US, House, goods everything.

 

Not the dream we had but Thats our story.

 

Sending out hopes and prayers to everyone still in the system that things go well for you all.

 

I'm so sorry John. This whole thing just makes me so mad. I've been researching like crazy because I also have convictions against my name (not CIMT, thankfully, and potential aggregate sentence does not exceed 1 year, so I believe we're all good), and some of the advice/responses on VJ, as well as some of the basic ideas behind this process, are infuriating and completely illogical:

This argument that it's not the actual sentence that is considered but rather the possible potential sentence - and the high and mighty responses all over VJ that immigration criminal assessments don't go via criminal conviction rules and don't care about circumstances and that's how it should be - really grinds my gears. Sentencing gradings are an option of the courts specifically so that they can say "I understand you committed this crime, but given the circumstances surrounding the incident and the extent of the crime itself, I believe this is how you should be punished". Deciding what punishment is appropriate for the nature and intent of the crime is the entire purpose. It makes no sense to me that a court of law can make a determination that something was such a low level offence that there isn't even a fine imposed, but that person can be separated from their family indefinitely, for the same offence, on the grounds that they present a threat to society based on their previous "malicious" conduct. 

The fact that things that happened decades ago - when people were too young to even know what they were doing would have ramifications this far into their lives - can be held against them in this manner is absurd. 

The lack of continuity regarding CIMT's and non-CIMT's is absurd. 

The fact that whether something is or isn't illegal in the US should be the determining factor - particularly regarding drug crimes - regardless of how the conduct was viewed in the country it was committed in, is also absurd. How can you judge someone as immoral and undeserving of immigration benefit when they were operating within the socially acceptable bounds of the nation they were living in? 

I realise ranting about this makes no difference, but it just baffles me. 

Edited November 18, 2020 by ErinB

[John0990 23]

4 minutes ago, ErinB said:

I'm so sorry John. This whole thing just makes me so mad. I've been researching like crazy because I also have convictions against my name (not CIMT, thankfully, and potential aggregate sentence does not exceed 1 year, so I believe we're all good), and some of the advice/responses on VJ, as well as some of the basic ideas behind this process, are infuriating and completely illogical:

This argument that it's not the actual sentence that is considered but rather the possible potential sentence - and the high and mighty responses all over VJ - that immigration criminal assessments don't go via criminal conviction rules and don't care about circumstances and that's how it should be - really grinds my gears. Sentencing gradings are an option of the courts specifically to that they can say "I understand you committed this crime, but given the circumstances surrounding the incident and the extent of the crime itself, I believe this is how you should be punished". Deciding what punishment is appropriate for the nature and intent of the crime is the entire purpose. It makes no sense to me that a court of law can make a determination that something was such a low level offence that there isn't even a fine imposed, but that person can be separated from their family indefinitely, for the same offence, on the grounds that they present a threat to society based on their previous "malicious" conduct. 

The fact that things that happened decades ago - when people were too young to even know what they were doing would have ramifications this far into their lives - can be held against them in this manner is absurd. 

The lack of continuity regarding CIMT's and non-CIMT's is absurd. 

The fact that whether something is or isn't illegal in the US should be the determining factor - particularly regarding drug crimes - regardless of how the conduct was viewed in the country it was committed in, is also absurd. How can you judge someone as immoral and undeserving of immigration benefit when they were operating within the socially acceptable bounds of the nation they were living in? 

I realise ranting about this makes no difference, but it just baffles me. 

Hi Erin, I hear what you are saying and agree to me their decision seems to be way our of context. How a basic (no excuses are being made) theft 40 years ago somehow fits under the same banner of CIMT is beyond me. CIMT- which btw for those who have not looked it up includes - Rape, Murder, Aggravated Assault to name a few.

 

But they have made a call on what fits into the boxes on their screen, all else (family separation, health wellbeing etc) has no bearing so it seems.

Donna has arthritis in her hands, a heart issue and the start of macular degeneration.

 

Our decision now has to rest on what we honestly have left inside in the fight to get me the US compared to selling everything and getting her here so we can at least be together.

 

Cheers

[HRQX 4,145]

13 minutes ago, John0990 said:

Donna has arthritis in her hands, a heart issue and the start of macular degeneration.

I-601, like any form filed with USCIS, can be requested for expedite for free:

First step is to file the form. Then request an expedite based on USCIS's criteria ("urgent humanitarian reasons" is most common): https://www.uscis.gov/forms/forms-information/how-to-make-an-expedite-request

[BLST 11]

6 hours ago, Sharni said:

Congratulations Diane,  I hope Paul arrives soon.   It was interesting to hear how he managed to get around the confusing process of quarantining and the various rules for the different States.  My visa was approved in September and we arrived in LAX last Thursday the 12th.  Now settling into our new apartment in San Diego and glad that this is mostly finished.  We have yet to receive the green card and the social security card in the mail.  We changed our address when we came into the USA, so hopefully this will flow through. Good luck with the rest of this journey for you and Paul.

Hi Sharni,

 

Congratulations on making it over. I will soon be a fellow San Diegan. 😊 It’s a beautiful place, reminds me of Australia, with all the eucalyptus trees. Best sunsets and so dog friendly. 
 

 I’m interested to know how you are finding San Diego’s Covid restrictions and vibe compared to Australia?

 

If you haven’t joined, I recommend joining the app- Nextdoor neighborhood. It’s great way to know what is happening locally, network, find businesses, services, recommendations.