Changing Beneficiary Country (Embassy) Along with RFE

[PanamaWX 9]

Hi VJ-ers!

 

Long time lurker here

Ok here's the deal: my fiancée is Colombian, and also a legal resident of Panama. When we filed, she was living in Colombia but is now back in Panama. A few days ago, we received news of an RFE (still don't know what it is...). Our plan is to add a letter/addendum requesting that her address be changed to Panama and requesting our case be processed at the embassy in Panamá rather than Bogotá. We will attach a copy of her residence card as proof of being a legal resident in Panama This, in addition to whatever it is that USCIS is requesting with the RFE.

 

Do y'all think this is going to slow us down in a major way? Should we wait until it goes to NVC to make this change? We figure, if we're going to be sending the California Service Center materials anyways, may as well get this done at the same time.

 

Thanks for the insight and thoughts!

 

W&X

 

(Oh, and yes, we are aware of the horrible backlog in Bogotá and that is a bit of a motivator to move back to Panama :))

Edited July 27, 2021 by PanamaWX

[powerpuff 6,747]

Moved from K1 Case Filing and Progress Reports to K1 P&P

 

It’s worth a try I think. I don’t think it would delay your case. Even if you’re unable to change it at USCIS, you can change it at NVC which is what we did. 

Edited July 27, 2021 by powerpuff

[PanamaWX 9]

3 minutes ago, powerpuff said:

Moved from K1 Case Filing and Progress Reports to K1 P&P

 

It’s worth a try I think. I don’t think it would delay your case. Even if you’re unable to change it at USCIS, you can change it at NVC which is what we did. 

 

Thanks for the response. Just out of curiosity: What was your process for changing your embassy? Did you write to the inquiry email address? Did you call?

 

Thanks!

 

W&X

[payxibka 10,047]

34 minutes ago, PanamaWX said:

 

Thanks for the response. Just out of curiosity: What was your process for changing your embassy? Did you write to the inquiry email address? Did you call?

 

Thanks!

 

W&X

Since you need to attach proof,  email will be better 

[PanamaWX 9]

2 minutes ago, payxibka said:

Since you need to attach proof,  email will be better 

Well, I think I'm going to go with the idea I proposed in my OP. I'm just curious what process powerpuff followed to change their embassy. Have you done it, too, payxibha??

[payxibka 10,047]

1 minute ago, PanamaWX said:

Well, I think I'm going to go with the idea I proposed in my OP. I'm just curious what process powerpuff followed to change their embassy. Have you done it, too, payxibha??

No, but I have been on this site long enough to know 100's who have

[PanamaWX 9]

Just now, payxibka said:

No, but I have been on this site long enough to know 100's who have

That's very reassuring! Thanks for weighing in

[powerpuff 6,747]

1 hour ago, PanamaWX said:

 

Thanks for the response. Just out of curiosity: What was your process for changing your embassy? Did you write to the inquiry email address? Did you call?

 

Thanks!

 

W&X

Once we got the case number we contacted them through public inquiry form on their website, attached a scan of my passport and got a response 2 weeks later with a new case number.

[PanamaWX 9]

Hi All,

I just wanted to follow up with this because I thought it might be useful to others. I submitted a formal letter requesting that my fiancée's address be moved from Colombia to Panama (along with the contents for my RFE). It was received on August 9th, and the case was approved on August 16th. Today (August 17th) I called USCIS to see whether her address had been changed, and it had not. The service rep told me he wasn't sure what to do, and created an "urgent" case. He told me a Tier II rep will call me within 72 hours to help me straighten this out.

I suppose worst case is that the approved case gets sent to NVC with a Colombian address, and I try again at that stage. Best case, the Tier II person is able to dig up the letter for me (???).

 

Either way, I'll let you know how it goes.

 

W&X

[SalishSea 18,079]

7 hours ago, PanamaWX said:

Hi All,

I just wanted to follow up with this because I thought it might be useful to others. I submitted a formal letter requesting that my fiancée's address be moved from Colombia to Panama (along with the contents for my RFE). It was received on August 9th, and the case was approved on August 16th. Today (August 17th) I called USCIS to see whether her address had been changed, and it had not. The service rep told me he wasn't sure what to do, and created an "urgent" case. He told me a Tier II rep will call me within 72 hours to help me straighten this out.

I suppose worst case is that the approved case gets sent to NVC with a Colombian address, and I try again at that stage. Best case, the Tier II person is able to dig up the letter for me (???).

 

Either way, I'll let you know how it goes.

 

W&X

Not sure why you are trying to get the location changed through USCIS.  That is normally done through the DOS at the NVC/embassy level.

[PanamaWX 9]

7 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

Not sure why you are trying to get the location changed through USCIS.  That is normally done through the DOS at the NVC/embassy level.

I solicited advice on this here and it seemed like the response was: Worth a shot, give it a try.

[PanamaWX 9]

Hi All,

 

Follow up: The USCIS agent never called me or got in touch. I thought: "Oh, well. I'll change it at NVC". I waited a few weeks and then called NVC to get my case number. Much to my surprise, the case number is a PNM number. The agent confirmed with me that our application will be sent to the embassy in Panama and NOT Colombia. USCIS never communicated that they changed my fiancée's country, but they must have.

 

To others in this situation in the future: I'm not sure my case is enough to advocate for or against doing what I did. Try your luck, I guess.