Help! Situation critical, all input appreciated

[jjohnson97526 0]

My fiance in Thailand is very bored with the visa process.  We have been waiting since February 2020.  Our case is at the embassy, but that's where the trouble starts. Before we actually met in person, we tried to get her a visit to the US on a tourist visa.  A complete waste of time during the Trump Administration(circus).  She was denied April 2019 after only 2 questions into her interview.  I love her so much, it didn't slow me down a bit.  I made it to Thailand in September of 2019, and hired an attorney($4000) to handle the case.  

After an extended wait due to COVID, we received our first RFE in January 2021.  Everything they asked for hasd already been included in our original petition.  There was 1 hotel receipt missing out of everything they had requested.  

Fast-forward to May. Our login to CEAC showed "no data available" for 2 weeks.  I called NVC and after a solid hour of Muzac I was fortunate enough to speak with a human.  I may as well have been talking to a wall, but a couple of days later the status changed to "ready"

 

Our attorney attempted to login to CEAC in order to make arrangements to pay the visa fee , but our account  was security locked because of our B-1 attempt, preventing any further action.

This weekend she found her login, but now our attorney is on vacation.  Can't blame him for that.

 

The question I pose is thus: Shall we continue ahead by logging into the CEAC on our own, or wait for our attorney?  A very detailed list of actions was included with our NOA2.  Since we are in "ready" status, should we try to arrange payment of the visa fee and move forward with an interview date, or should we wait for professional counsel to continue our battle?

 

I must admit that the current visa process is very boring, to the point I can catch a whiff of discrimination by the hands of my government.  If I were a UK or European Union resident, I wouldn't be here venting about how broken our immigration policy has ALWAYS been, because the acceptance period is under 90 days.  That's the case everywhere, except the USA.

 

No interview has been scheduled,  and we've been waiting for the step.

 

What Is It?

JJ

 

[Dr. Bob 48]

Did you receive an email from the embassy stating that they are ready to schedule an interview appointment?  If so, then you can pay the $265 visa fee by following the instructions posted on the UStraveldocs website.  But even if you do pay the fee now, the embassy has temporarily closed interview appointment scheduling.  It's probably a good idea to pay the visa fee now so you are ready to take any available appointment slots as they open.

[Joyoussinger 1,425]

I wouldn't wait for the attorney. You really can do it all yourself and could have saved what seems like an exorbitant fee. Visas take time. That's the one thing everyone here has in common. We wait and wait - and the wait, while frustrating, is worth it. Your situation doesn't really seem critical, although I'm sure it feels that way. My (then) fiance and I kept the wait interesting by taking "trips" together via Google Earth. We had dinner/breakfast dates and did many other things together, while we were on video chat. As I said, I know it's frustrating but it doesn't have to be boring. 

[emosborn 4]

On 7/7/2021 at 2:06 PM, Dr. Bob said:

Did you receive an email from the embassy stating that they are ready to schedule an interview appointment?  If so, then you can pay the $265 visa fee by following the instructions posted on the UStraveldocs website.  But even if you do pay the fee now, the embassy has temporarily closed interview appointment scheduling.  It's probably a good idea to pay the visa fee now so you are ready to take any available appointment slots as they open.

Hey, where did you hear that the embassy has closed interview appointment scheduling? We're waiting for our interview and I contacted the embassy but they said interviews are still ongoing. Any info appreciated.

[Dr. Bob 48]

12 hours ago, emosborn said:

Hey, where did you hear that the embassy has closed interview appointment scheduling? We're waiting for our interview and I contacted the embassy but they said interviews are still ongoing. Any info appreciated.

Interviews are going ahead however these were all scheduled a few months ago.  At least for K1s, interview appointments thru August have been fully booked since mid-June.  My fiance and I have been waiting over a month for them to open up more appointments so we can schedule our interview.

[jjohnson97526 0]

Update:  Still Waiting.  Still bored with the process. I feel the need to visit her.  If I  do, it will be very difficult to avoid stopping by the embassy to look for answers.  This seems like the "Ugly American" thing to do.  Please, somebody talk me down.

[Dr. Bob 48]

We waited for months to get an interview date after our case went to Ready.  Things are moving along albeit very slowly at the Embassy.  Going there to make a scene in person is indeed the Ugly American thing to do and I seriously doubt it will yield results.  It's also very much frowned upon to make a fuss in public in Thailand as well.

 

My advice is to have your fiance in Thailand pay the K1 visa fee at a local Krungsri bank if she hasn't already.  The best way for you to stay involved is to check the UStraveldocs website a few times a day (four is the maximum per 24 hours) to see if any interview appointments open up.  That is what I did for 2 months and it finally paid off.

Edited September 11, 2021 by Dr. Bob

[rndz 12]

8 hours ago, jjohnson97526 said:

Update:  Still Waiting.  Still bored with the process. I feel the need to visit her.  If I  do, it will be very difficult to avoid stopping by the embassy to look for answers.  This seems like the "Ugly American" thing to do.  Please, somebody talk me down.

I'll second Dr Bob's comments - little chance a visit in person would result in anything positive, and I don't even know if the lockdown conditions would permit anything that wasn't scheduled in advance.  I'm not going to pretend to have any deep insight into the Thai mentality but I would always be mindful that the person I'm speaking with might have some leeway to slow things down even further.

 

We just got through a long wait ourselves, so your time will come!