Is K1 visas included on the recent ban?

[remotercharm 31]

Someone just got an email from the London embassy saying it is included in the EO 

Since it's not clarified in the actual EO, it will be left up to interpretation, I guess.

[Just Paul 4,595]

27 minutes ago, Onelove1977 said:

All we can do is wait, but it's good to know that K1 visas are excluded from the ban.

Fortunately they started processing the "mission critical immigrant visas".  Hopefully things will progress so they can process K and F1 visas.  Btw they are doing B2 renewals via dropbox.

 

From their facebook feed on June 17th:

 

US Embassy Jamaica  · 9:51 We are resuming interviews for spousal visas (IR1 / Cr1). It may take some time for us to get to your case, but we will be rescheduling these interivews starting next week.

 

US Embassy Jamaica  · 6:39 We are happy to share that we will now be able to begin processing limited B1/B2 renewals via interview waiver. Please continue to check our website to learn more about whether you may be eligible to renew your B1/B2 visitor visa via interview waiver.

 

US Embassy Jamaica  · 7:29 The Embassy will consider requests to reissue immigrant visas for individuals who were unable to travel before their visa expired due to COVID-19 complications on a case-by-case basis. If this situation applies to you, you will need to contact the Immigrant Visa Unit at KingstonIV@state.gov once routine operations have resumed – we cannot consider requests to reissue under our current operating status. Please understand that we cannot guarantee a visa will be reissued and you would likely need to obtain results from a new medical exam and/or new police certificate. If your immigrant visa is still valid, you should travel before it expires.

[emma24 161]

I checked with Stockholm again just to be sure since I last checked in April. I also asked if there was any chance K1s could be deemed mission critical. 

[Empressdivine 113]

6 hours ago, Onelove1977 said:

I emailed the Embassy in Jamaica for clarification and this was their response:

 

The Consular Section remains closed for routine services until further notice to help control the spread of COVID-19. 

 

We do not currently know when the Consular Section will be able to resume providing routine services. 

 

K-1 visas do not fall under the June 22nd Presidential Proclamation.  Once we are able to resume normal visa operations, we will handle K-1 applications in the order they were received from March onward.  Please know that your visa case is important to us and it will be processed as soon as it is feasible to do so.   We appreciate your patience in the meantime. 

 

All we can do is wait, but it's good to know that K1 visas are excluded from the ban. 🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲

Thank you sooooo much for this update!! Great news  and confirmation!! Praying we hear something next month 🙏

[Omar N 0]

On 6/23/2020 at 5:39 PM, Lorena y Sean said:

Hey Paula! I spoke to the embassy this morning. K1 visas are not included in the executive order - we are okay. But i called the embassy to confirm and they told me that they are still waiting for permission to resume/process/issue K1 Visas. I don't understand. Do you want to try calling the embassy to see what they tell you? Other embassies are doing visa interviews (paris/australia/kenya/mexico/canada....)

Good news! I just waiting to reopen the embassy in Colombia for my fiancee's reschedule her interview.

[EricLT 29]

This is the response I got from Poland. I'm not sure what to say because other embassy are giving different answers. 

 

Dear Sir,

 

Thank you for your correspondence.

Pursuant to a Presidential Proclamation issued on June 22, all immigrant and diversity including K visa processing is suspended until December 31, with the exception of spouses and children (unmarried under age 21) of U.S. citizens (IR-1/CR-1 and IR-2/CR-2).

 

Sincerely,

 

 Correspondence Unit

Consular Section

U.S. Embassy, Warsaw

/dh

[agataa 88]

5 minutes ago, EricLT said:

This is the response I got from Poland. I'm not sure what to say because other embassy are giving different answers. 

 

Dear Sir,

 

Thank you for your correspondence.

Pursuant to a Presidential Proclamation issued on June 22, all immigrant and diversity including K visa processing is suspended until December 31, with the exception of spouses and children (unmarried under age 21) of U.S. citizens (IR-1/CR-1 and IR-2/CR-2).

 

Sincerely,

 

 Correspondence Unit

Consular Section

U.S. Embassy, Warsaw

/dh

This is very worrying because this is the reply I got from the very same embassy when I emailed them about the first EO back in April:

[EricLT 29]

9 minutes ago, agataa said:

This is very worrying because this is the reply I got from the very same embassy when I emailed them about the first EO back in April:

I think it's the non immigrant vs immigrant visa debate again and how each person interprets it. 

[agataa 88]

8 minutes ago, EricLT said:

I think it's the non immigrant vs immigrant visa debate again and how each person interprets it. 

But surely by now they should have some guidelines? It feels like the answer depends on who’s in the office on a given day and that’s just crazy.
Sorry, I had to blow off some steam because this is really disheartening. I’ll try calling them for clarification.

[EricLT 29]

3 minutes ago, agataa said:

But surely by now they should have some guidelines? It feels like the answer depends on who’s in the office on a given day and that’s just crazy.
Sorry, I had to blow off some steam because this is really disheartening. I’ll try calling them for clarification.

I agree. Please share when you find out more information 

[ninetoes 3]

Here's my experience, I contacted the London embassy through their form asking specifically whether the K1 visa is included in the EO. The answer I received was a copy and pasting of the updates on their website which does not refer to the K1 visa at any point. They did however in the text highlight the following section:

 

"Can I apply for a fiancé(e)/K-1 visa? What if my fiancé(e) visa petition expires? 
Routine visa processing is currently suspended.  We are only able to process visas for certain family members, such as spouses and children.  Therefore we are unable to proceed with fiancé(e) visa applications at this time.  

If the fiancé(e) visa petition expires, you may revalidate the petition with a letter from the petitioner stating that you both remain legally free to marry and that you will do so within 90 days of your arrival in the United States. You should take the letter with you to your visa interview in the future, not mail it or email it to the Embassy."

 

So no real updates here. I think if the K1 were included in the EO they would give me a flat out 'yes'. Right now it sounds like it's been forgotten about. I wouldn't trust anyone on these forums yet claiming to have the answer until we have an official statement from the Government or until routine services return.

Edited June 25, 2020 by ninetoes

[agataa 88]

22 minutes ago, EricLT said:

I agree. Please share when you find out more information 

I managed to get through and basically they don’t know anything right now. The lady I spoke with said that right now they are only able to process the visas listed on their website and that we have to wait and see, but she also mentioned that k1 visas were not listed as exemptions from the proclamation.

[geowrian 22,337]

3 hours ago, EricLT said:

I think it's the non immigrant vs immigrant visa debate again and how each person interprets it. 

2 hours ago, agataa said:

But surely by now they should have some guidelines? It feels like the answer depends on who’s in the office on a given day and that’s just crazy.

2 hours ago, agataa said:

I managed to get through and basically they don’t know anything right now. The lady I spoke with said that right now they are only able to process the visas listed on their website and that we have to wait and see, but she also mentioned that k1 visas were not listed as exemptions from the proclamation.

The issue is you are dealing low level staff and there is too much confusion and no clarity from the DOS yet (still...).

 

Whether K-1s are subject to the EO or not is not something that is determined on a case by case basis or vary from consulate to consulate. This is a matter of a fact & law, not discretionary.

The problem is they are not processing those visas due to the suspension of visa services, so they may not even schedule the interviews. And until they are actually regularly interviewing people, there is no way to to confirm what that decision is unless DOS provides guidance (FAM, memo, etc.).

 

But yes, I've also seen completely opposite answers to the same question by the same consulate. It's because those individuals don't really know. They are not COs and they have not been provided guidance.

 

Note that this is separate from the 14 day physical presence EO (March 11th EO). Compliance with that EO (even though somebody could travel to another country for 14+ days first) can also be a cause for not conducting interviews by consulates in countries impacted by it.

[agataa 88]

12 minutes ago, geowrian said:

The issue is you are dealing low level staff and there is too much confusion and no clarity from the DOS yet (still...).

 

Whether K-1s are subject to the EO or not is not something that is determined on a case by case basis or vary from consulate to consulate. This is a matter of a fact & law, not discretionary.

The problem is they are not processing those visas due to the suspension of visa services, so they may not even schedule the interviews. And until they are actually regularly interviewing people, there is no way to to confirm what that decision is unless DOS provides guidance (FAM, memo, etc.).

 

But yes, I've also seen completely opposite answers to the same question by the same consulate. It's because those individuals don't really know. They are not COs and they have not been provided guidance.

 

Note that this is separate from the 14 day physical presence EO (March 11th EO). Compliance with that EO (even though somebody could travel to another country for 14+ days first) can also be a cause for not conducting interviews by consulates in countries impacted by it.

Of course I do understand that this isn’t something that an embassy can decide for itself which makes the confusion with their answers only worse and I do hope we get some clarification at some point but it’s very disheartening that k1 status is all over the place right now.

 

It blows my mind that there are no clear guidelines when it comes to this type of visa and that we all just have to wait and see what happens, but I guess we knew going in that immigration process is very long and difficult, it’s just a shame that we get those additional hurdles  

 

But if I may, I wanted to say that answer to this particular problem and others about k1s do help me feel better, so thank you for that

[Fabercham 22]

The department of state, who, as I understand it, call the shots have said K1s are not included in the immigration/worker proclamation, so it is maddening when embassies say they will not issue K1s until after Dec 31st. I really hope  a universal statement is issued soon!