K1 Visa Milligan v Pompeo Lawsuit

[J&YUSCN 3]

This was just posted sometime today at DOS Notices section:

The date shows 2/10, but it wasn't there this morning:

 

K Visa Processing Update

Last Updated: February 10, 2021

 

On November 19, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia enjoined the government from suspending K-1 fiancée visa adjudications for the named plaintiffs in Milligan v. Pompeo due to the geographic COVID-related Presidential Proclamations (P.P.s) 9984, 9992, 9993, 9996, and 10041.  These COVID-related geographic proclamations suspended entry into the United States of foreign nationals who had been physically present in the People’s Republic of China, Islamic Republic of Iran, Schengen Area, United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, or Brazil in the 14-day period prior to their entry or attempted entry into the United States.  On January 25, 2021 President Biden signed P.P. 10143 continuing the suspension of entry of certain travelers physically present in the Schengen Area, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, and Brazil, and expanding restrictions to include travelers present in South Africa.  The restrictions on travelers physically present in the People’s Republic of China and the Islamic Republic of Iran also remain in effect.

 

K-1 visa applicants who are named plaintiffs in Milligan v. Pompeo and subject to a geographic proclamation should contact their nearest Embassy or Consulate for guidance on scheduling a visa interview.  While such applicants may, pursuant to the court order, be scheduled for a visa interview even though they are subject to a COVID-related geographic proclamation, the court order does not require that plaintiffs be given special priority ahead of other K visa applicants who have requested interviews or who already have been scheduled for interviews.  Even if issued visas, K-1 plaintiff applicants remain subject to the geographic P.P.s and, unless able to meet the criteria for an exception, are barred from entering the United States if they have been present in a country covered by a geographic P.P. in the 14 days prior to entry.  

 

K visa applicants who are not plaintiffs in Milligan v. Pompeo and who are not subject to COVID-related geographic proclamations will continue to have their applications prioritized and processed in accordance with existing phased resumption of visa services guidance.  Please check the website of the Embassy or Consulate where you wish to apply to see what categories of visas are currently being processed.

 

K visa applicants who are not plaintiffs in Milligan v. Pompeo and who are physically present in a country covered by any of the COVID-related geographic proclamations (the People’s Republic of China, Islamic Republic of Iran, Schengen Area, United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Brazil, or South Africa) will not have their K visa application processed unless the applicant is eligible for a National Interest Exception.  K visa applicants who are physically present in a country covered by any of the COVID related geographic proclamations, who are not plaintiffs in Milligan v. Pompeo, and who are not eligible for a National Interest Exception cannot be issued a K visa and thus will not be scheduled for a K visa interview while the geographic proclamations remain in effect.  K fiancé visa applicants are not spouses of U.S. citizens and therefore are subject to the geographic proclamations.  

The resumption of routine visa services, prioritized after services to U.S. citizens, is occurring on a post-by-post basis, consistent with the Department’s guidance for safely returning our workforce to Department facilities.  U.S. Embassies and Consulates have continued to provide emergency and mission-critical visa services since March 2020 and will continue to do so as they are able.  As post-specific conditions improve, our missions will begin providing additional services, culminating eventually in a complete resumption of routine visa services.  Applicants should check the website of their nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate for updates on what services that post is currently able to offer.

[Sherbird 2]

On 2/10/2021 at 12:05 AM, MarieJames said:

I don't think links to places requesting money are allowed to be posted, so in case the link above gets deleted just google "Milligan v Pompeo onboarding" or "join Milligan v Pompeo" and hopefully you will find what you are looking for.

Thank you so much!! We submitted our documents and can’t wait for the result🤞

[J&YUSCN 3]

They did state this, but one of the attorneys on this case spoke to the US District Attorney last week. District Attorney said they would fight class action. However, they would likely not fight adding plaintiffs since judge ruled on this and they would look rather silly doing so. The DA also added that he could not guarantee they would not fight adding plaintiffs.

 

This was in the Monday 2/15 update video. I think around 14 minute mark. 

 

They did later state toward last part of video, they would split this into two motions. One for Class Action and one for additional plaintiffs.

 

Hopefully, the judge decides to allow everyone since that was the intention of the initial judgement. It was DOS and DA that interpreted the judgement to only include plaintiffs and judge was not too happy.

 

 

 

[jammer742 3]

+1 Thank you for the info J&YUSCN

 

Wow. Really happy I got in Round 3, but hopefully they'll be able to win the motion for unilateral processing for anyone who didn't join the lawsuit. The government will not cease to amaze me at this point...

Edited February 18, 2021 by jammer742

[J&YUSCN 3]

Most welcome!

 

I also got in round three. Back in December, I kept thinking that Biden's administration would at least give direction to Consulates to begin processing even if they did not lift travel bans. When this did not happen, I decided this was the best course of action when round three was announced. A gamble, but a better bet than doing nothing and waiting. I did consult with another attorney before joining and he felt the odds were better to be added to plaintiffs than getting class status. But also added it is only an educated guess.

 

Of note... I did notice yesterday that our CEAC "Case Last Updated" changed to 2/17/21. I'm sure it was not due to joining the lawsuit as motions wont be filed until 2/22. I have only seen the date change each time I have contacted the Consulate over the last year. Most recently, I asked my congressman to see if he could get any info like a timeline (he got usual boilerplate response). That was two weeks ago, so not sure why it was updated yesterday. We only needed packet three when Covid shut everything down at the Guangzhou Consulate in early February of 2020.

 

BTW, this is the largest group joining according to one of the attorneys on the video referenced above.

 

Best of luck to us all!

 

 

[adnap129 1]

Hi all,

 

What is the meaning of processing in the context of this update? We have our NOA1 from August and are waiting for NOA2 (hopefully soon given July ones coming in). Will this still be processed given the UK is on the travel ban list and it will not be processed for now at the embassy? Or will we not be getting an NOA2 processed at all for now?

[HRQX 4,145]

11 minutes ago, adnap129 said:

Or will we not be getting an NOA2 processed at all for now?

The proclamations don't affect I-129F processing. For example, the following beneficiary is in Spain and received NOA2 3 weeks ago:

 

Edited February 18, 2021 by HRQX

[Ontarkie 14,221]

THread locked to further discussion as the thread has derailed fro the OP's question. The ongoing thread for this topic is in the following link.