K1 Visa Issuance Affected by EO after all?

[goldhex 21]

Those of us that had K1 visa appointments scheduled for July at the US Embassy in London have received cancellation notices today. In addition to this, the below email has also been received:

 

 

The text of this email suggests that as K1 visas are issued by the Immigrant Visa unit they are unable to process them at this time. Has anyone being processed by other embassies received similar correspondence?

[emma24 161]

This is what I received from Stockholm when I asked about it last month.

 

[arae 81]

Definitely perplexing. We've seen embassies give very inconsistent guidance on K1s - some have said K1s are impacted by the EO, and other have said K1s are not impacted.

 

Anecdotally, we have seen a recent K1 approval and visa issuance out of Australia (though this was for an expedited case). I have to imagine, expedited or not, they wouldn't move forward with issuing the visa for a K1 if the applicant would only be denied entry under the EO.

[Rebecca95 1]

I received one too a few hours ago, I had an appointment booked for July in London. I find it a bit strange that they left it this late to tell us but it's a shame that our  visas are included in this.

 

Edit: I thought I'd add this in an edit rather than a whole new post but, what happens to the fees we've paid for the appointment itself? This is the first cancellation I've experienced and I'm not sure what happens with the paid fees.

Edited June 19, 2020 by Rebecca95

[geowrian 22,337]

19 minutes ago, Rebecca95 said:

Edit: I thought I'd add this in an edit rather than a whole new post but, what happens to the fees we've paid for the appointment itself? This is the first cancellation I've experienced and I'm not sure what happens with the paid fees.

You should be able to reschedule. MRV fees are valid for up to 1 year IIRC (or at least until the visa registration expires).

Edited June 19, 2020 by geowrian

[goldhex 21]

57 minutes ago, arae said:

Definitely perplexing. We've seen embassies give very inconsistent guidance on K1s - some have said K1s are impacted by the EO, and other have said K1s are not impacted.

 

Anecdotally, we have seen a recent K1 approval and visa issuance out of Australia (though this was for an expedited case). I have to imagine, expedited or not, they wouldn't move forward with issuing the visa for a K1 if the applicant would only be denied entry under the EO.

Perplexing is certainly the word I'd use...

 

Do you have a link to where you saw about the Australian K1 approval?

 

EDIT: Found it, for those curious its this user https://www.visajourney.com/profile/325129-cilllah/ 

Edited June 19, 2020 by goldhex

[SalishSea 17,829]

7 minutes ago, goldhex said:

Perplexing is certainly the word I'd use...

 

Do you have a link to where you saw about the Australian K1 approval?

I believe it was @Cilllah, who references it in this thread.

[arae 81]

@goldhex here's a portion of the discussion. There has been a bit of activity in Australia over the last month or two - people were able to get expedited or emergency interviews and received visa approvals.

 

I think we would all appreciate some overall clarity on the status of K1s and the EO. It's obvious the embassies did not receive uniform guidance or any guidance at all since London is saying K1 is impacted, Sweden says K1s are not impacted, and Australia has moved forward with issuing a K1.

 

 

[igoyougoduke 1,656]

11 minutes ago, goldhex said:

Perplexing is certainly the word I'd use...

 

Do you have a link to where you saw about the Australian K1 approval?

 

EDIT: Found it, for those curious its this user https://www.visajourney.com/profile/325129-cilllah/ 

she has an emergency appointment not regular 

[goldhex 21]

Just now, James120383 said:

she has an emergency appointment not regular 

Yeah I understand that... It was more the fact that someone was actually approved recently, which seems to go against the email I and many other received today.

[arae 81]

3 minutes ago, James120383 said:

she has an emergency appointment not regular 

Right! I want to be clear that I'm not suggesting that the emergency is not valid or anything like that. I was just using it as an example of a K1 approval and issuance (while also noting that there were special circumstances).

[igoyougoduke 1,656]

3 minutes ago, arae said:

Right! I want to be clear that I'm not suggesting that the emergency is not valid or anything like that. I was just using it as an example of a K1 approval and issuance (while also noting that there were special circumstances).

Emergency visas have no category restrictions. Routine K1 visas seems to be affected

[goldhex 21]

7 minutes ago, arae said:

I think we would all appreciate some overall clarity on the status of K1s and the EO. It's obvious the embassies did not receive uniform guidance or any guidance at all since London is saying K1 is impacted, Sweden says K1s are not impacted, and Australia has moved forward with issuing a K1.

 

Amen. Do we know if the Immigrant Visa unit handles K1s in Australia/Everywhere but London? I'm wondering if thats perhaps the difference here?

[payxibka 10,045]

23 minutes ago, goldhex said:

Amen. Do we know if the Immigrant Visa unit handles K1s in Australia/Everywhere but London? I'm wondering if thats perhaps the difference here?

The IV unit interviews k1s and the NIV unit issues the visas worldwide

[goldhex 21]

8 minutes ago, payxibka said:

The IV unit interviews k1s and the NIV unit issues the visas worldwide

Gotcha, thanks. The perplexity persists..