Is K1 visas included on the recent ban?

[EricLT 29]

On 6/25/2020 at 8:27 AM, 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.

I received another email today and they said it was a mistake. This is good for us

 

Dear Sir,

 

Please disregard previous email we've told you that we can't process K visas until 2021, when the June 22 PP expires. This is not correct.

Fiancé applicants are affected only by the March 11 Presidential Proclamation that bars entrance to the United States to anyone who has been in the Schengen Area in the previous 14 days

K visa applicants ARE affected by the March 11 PP barring most travelers who have been in the Schengen Area recently. This means that when the March 11 PP is lifted, we'll be able to process K visas again.  We don't know when this will be, but we might be able to process K visas BEFORE 2021.

 

We hope the above information is helpful.

 

Sincerely,

 

Correspondence Unit

Consular Section

U.S. Embassy, Warsaw

/dh

[agataa 88]

17 minutes ago, EricLT said:

I received another email today and they said it was a mistake. This is good for us

 

Dear Sir,

 

Please disregard previous email we've told you that we can't process K visas until 2021, when the June 22 PP expires. This is not correct.

Fiancé applicants are affected only by the March 11 Presidential Proclamation that bars entrance to the United States to anyone who has been in the Schengen Area in the previous 14 days

K visa applicants ARE affected by the March 11 PP barring most travelers who have been in the Schengen Area recently. This means that when the March 11 PP is lifted, we'll be able to process K visas again.  We don't know when this will be, but we might be able to process K visas BEFORE 2021.

 

We hope the above information is helpful.

 

Sincerely,

 

Correspondence Unit

Consular Section

U.S. Embassy, Warsaw

/dh

Yup, was just about to post the same thing:) phew, that’s a load off my mind!

[EricLT 29]

6 minutes ago, agataa said:

Yup, was just about to post the same thing:) phew, that’s a load off my mind!

Have you tried to schedule an interview? 

[agataa 88]

1 hour ago, EricLT said:

Have you tried to schedule an interview? 

No, they are currently not processing k1 visas so there’s no point trying to schedule an interview, I think 

[holdingonforhope 16]

3 hours ago, EricLT said:

I received another email today and they said it was a mistake. This is good for us

Thank you for sharing, EricLT. Am I understanding correctly that your fiancé(e) is from Belarus, but you’re applying through the Embassy in Warsaw, Poland?

 

I’m glad to hear they did these follow-up emails. I hope we get more news soon.

[EricLT 29]

7 minutes ago, holdingonforhope said:

Thank you for sharing, EricLT. Am I understanding correctly that your fiancé(e) is from Belarus, but you’re applying through the Embassy in Warsaw, Poland?

 

I’m glad to hear they did these follow-up emails. I hope we get more news soon.

She is Belarusian but has to go to Poland for k1 visa. It's very annoying because she has to get a schengen visa also. 

[payxibka 10,045]

9 minutes ago, holdingonforhope said:

Thank you for sharing, EricLT. Am I understanding correctly that your fiancé(e) is from Belarus, but you’re applying through the Embassy in Warsaw, Poland?

 

I’m glad to hear they did these follow-up emails. I hope we get more news soon.

What more news do you want?  Several consulates are finally confirming that k1s are not affected 

[holdingonforhope 16]

Just now, payxibka said:

What more news do you want?  Several consulates are finally confirming that k1s are not affected 

Oh, it's great news, don't get me wrong. But it's still a "wait and see" when they can do it (for Warsaw). Better than before, though.

 

And for me, since I'm at the beginning of the process, I also have to deal with the anticipated USCIS furlough.

[David and Anna 118]

Thanks to everyone here for calling and writing the embassies and then posting what they learned here.  

 

Put simply, since the EO is silent on K-1s (they are neither listed as "included" nor as "exempt"), we are all suffering from the lack of official clarity (obviously even the embassy staff themselves are unsure on how K-1's are to be treated - as proven by the yes and no answers given from time to time).

 

Regardless of the treatment of K-1's under the June 22 EO limiting visas/immigration, there are still two hurdles to overcome:

 

1)  The travel ban - given that the EU is about to ban travelers from the USA, I suspect that Trump will not let the USA travel ban lapse any time soon.

 

2) The stoppage of routine visa processing - there is no excuse for the embassies and NVC not being back to work at this point in time...yet here we are.

 

 

Edited June 28, 2020 by David and Anna

[geowrian 22,337]

23 minutes ago, David and Anna said:

Put simply, since the EO is silent on K-1s (they are neither listed as "included" nor as "exempt"), we are all suffering from the lack of official clarity

It also didn't mention A, C-1/D, O, etc. visas. The lack of saying anything towards them would indicate it has no bearing on them.

 

23 minutes ago, David and Anna said:

2) The stoppage of routine visa processing - there is no excuse for the embassies and NVC not being back to work at this point in time...yet here we are.

No excuse? Depends on local conditions. Some places are experiencing different levels of restrictions and infection rates than others.

 

NOTE: NVC is processing cases normally. They just can't schedule anything because that's done with the consulate.

[David and Anna 118]

17 minutes ago, geowrian said:

It also didn't mention A, C-1/D, O, etc. visas. The lack of saying anything towards them would indicate it has no bearing on them.

 

No excuse? Depends on local conditions. Some places are experiencing different levels of restrictions and infection rates than others.

 

NOTE: NVC is processing cases normally. They just can't schedule anything because that's done with the consulate.

Argumentative and defensive much?  Do you work for the government?

 

To your point, I should have added the word "most" or "most all" of the embassies should be back to work.  I can think of dozens, and I suspect the vast majority of Embassies are in countries where office workers have been allowed to return to work for weeks.  Businesses are working again (from home or from the office), but not the government.  Shocking.

 

And, so what if the EO was silent on some other visa types?  The fact is that it was silent on K-1's and that has been proven to have caused confusion even among the embassy's own employees (see this thread for proof of that).

Why you couldn't just read that and say "yup" without feeling the need to defend tells us something about you.

[geowrian 22,337]

25 minutes ago, David and Anna said:

Argumentative and defensive much?  Do you work for the government?

Project much?

I was just pointing out flaws in the statements.

No I don't (at least not directly...I do contract work). Not sure how that's relevant, though...?

 

Quote

To your point, I should have added the word "most" or "most all" of the embassies should be back to work.  I can think of dozens, and I suspect the vast majority of Embassies are in countries where office workers have been allowed to return to work for weeks.  Businesses are working again (from home or from the office), but not the government.  Shocking.

Again, depends on local conditions. That may be the case. But it's something that would be (and currently is) being evaluated on a location by location basis. DOS has published guidelines for the phased reopening. Each consulate/embassy is evaluating those and resuming services (or not) based on the results of it.

 

Quote

And, so what if the EO was silent on some other visa types?  The fact is that it was silent on K-1's and that has been proven to have caused confusion even among the embassy's own employees (see this thread for proof of that).

Because (virtually) nobody is questioning if it applies to those other visas that were not mentioned in the EOs. Why would it apply to the K-1 but not those?

The only possible reason is because it's the same people who process those cases, although that falls flat based on history.

 

Quote

Why you couldn't just read that and say "yup" without feeling the need to defend tells us something about you.

Why would I say "yup" when I disagree with some points? Or are the points infallible or something?

Also, I'm not sure what I was "defending" in my prior post....?

Edited June 28, 2020 by geowrian

[Ermehgerdd 172]

4 hours ago, David and Anna said:

Regardless of the treatment of K-1's under the June 22 EO limiting visas/immigration, there are still two hurdles to overcome:

 

1)  The travel ban - given that the EU is about to ban travelers from the USA, I suspect that Trump will not let the USA travel ban lapse any time soon.

 

2) The stoppage of routine visa processing - there is no excuse for the embassies and NVC not being back to work at this point in time...yet here we are.

 

 

I agree with you.  We are one of the countries with the highest infection rate (or the highest?) and yet the current administration is advocating for the reopening of business across the country and holding in person rallies.  It is contradictory to encourage internal reopening while simultaneously halting operations outside of the country.  How are people coming in from regions with lesser infection rates of any bigger risk to the general public than the current population is to itself? 

 

The actions of this administration have demonstrated nothing but disdain towards immigration, and they are utilizing a pandemic to do what they can to halt it.

[Logan & Luana 0]

l

Edited June 29, 2020 by loganaf98