K-1 recalled from embassy by USCIS in "Administrative Processing" at NVC now

[ctruesmith 4]

Hello all,

 

So our K-1 Visa process has been difficult so far.

 

NOA1 April 2020. 

Received our NOA2 in March 2021.

 

In April 2021 our case was returned to the USCIS by the Dept of State. On July 6th 2021 our case was finally forwarded to the embassy in Panama by the NVC. We received our welcome package from the Panama Embassy and we were preparing our documents/scheduling an interview date. On July 15th 2021 we were informed our case was requested back by the NVC. 

 

Called the NVC and was told that the case was requested to be returned by the USCIS. I have requested to speak to a Tier 2 officer at the USCIS but am still awaiting a call back (deadline August 30th 2021). I spoke with the NVC today (August 16th 2021) and was told they still have our case and that it is undergoing "Administrative Processing" before it will likely be returned to the USCIS. 

 

Is any of this normal? What can we expect at this point? Our NOA2 has already expired, is that going to be an issue? Anything we can do at this point?

 

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. Feeling like we are getting nowhere. It is always one step forward, several steps back😔

[SalishSea 18,080]

1 hour ago, ctruesmith said:

Hello all,

 

So our K-1 Visa process has been difficult so far.

 

NOA1 April 2020. 

Received our NOA2 in March 2021.

 

In April 2021 our case was returned to the USCIS by the Dept of State. On July 6th 2021 our case was finally forwarded to the embassy in Panama by the NVC. We received our welcome package from the Panama Embassy and we were preparing our documents/scheduling an interview date. On July 15th 2021 we were informed our case was requested back by the NVC. 

 

Called the NVC and was told that the case was requested to be returned by the USCIS. I have requested to speak to a Tier 2 officer at the USCIS but am still awaiting a call back (deadline August 30th 2021). I spoke with the NVC today (August 16th 2021) and was told they still have our case and that it is undergoing "Administrative Processing" before it will likely be returned to the USCIS. 

 

Is any of this normal? What can we expect at this point? Our NOA2 has already expired, is that going to be an issue? Anything we can do at this point?

 

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. Feeling like we are getting nowhere. It is always one step forward, several steps back😔

This is atypical.  For some reason, they are questioning whether the petition should have initially been approved.  

 

Is there possibly a criminal history there?  Any red flags?  NVC in general does not do much at all with I129F petitions, other than dispatching them to consulates.  I have never heard of them doing AP for one.

[ctruesmith 4]

Thanks for the reply. 

 

No criminal background for either of us. Should not be any red flags that we can think of. We have plenty of evidence of an on-going 5 year relationship. We haven't even been able to complete the interview.

[Ontarkie 14,413]

It is not the first time that a petition made it to the Embassy and needed to be sent back. It can be anything really sometimes it is simply someone didn't put the proper stamp or signature on it. 

[ctruesmith 4]

I have seen that before. In those cases though, is it usually the USCIS calling it back? Also, after our NOA2 approval in March the case was sent back to USCIS by NVC (don't know why) where it stayed until July 6th when it was forwarded to NVC then down to the Embassy.

[SalishSea 18,080]

2 minutes ago, ctruesmith said:

I have seen that before. In those cases though, is it usually the USCIS calling it back? Also, after our NOA2 approval in March the case was sent back to USCIS by NVC (don't know why) where it stayed until July 6th when it was forwarded to NVC then down to the Embassy.

It is possible that there is some clerical process (such as a stamp, like Ontarkie suggested) that NVC does complete.

 

Is your US embassy conducting K visa interviews at the moment?

[ctruesmith 4]

1 minute ago, Jorgedig said:

It is possible that there is some clerical process (such as a stamp, like Ontarkie suggested) that NVC does complete.

 

Is your US embassy conducting K visa interviews at the moment?

Yes they are. We had received our welcome package from the embassy in Panama and we were preparing to schedule our interview when the case was returned. It literally happened 24 hours after we received the email from the embassy with the information for scheduling the interview. 

[SalishSea 18,080]

28 minutes ago, ctruesmith said:

Yes they are. We had received our welcome package from the embassy in Panama and we were preparing to schedule our interview when the case was returned. It literally happened 24 hours after we received the email from the embassy with the information for scheduling the interview. 

Well, that is strange.

 

I rarely recommend folks reaching out to their congressperson, but in your case, I think it might be the best option.  What you are describing is definitely odd.  I would have the USC do a request for assistance from their US congressional rep via the rep's website.

 

Their office can then reach out and try to find out the reason for all the back-and-forths.   Good luck, and please let us know if you find anything out.

[panamerican24 0]

How did it go? Did you manage to get the interview?

[ctruesmith 4]

We ended up reaching out to all our various congressmen. The initial emails we received from the USCIS through the congressmen were along the lines of "The case is under review and there are 3 outcomes, request for evidence, approved or denied, the case is being processed in order". Really basic and pretty useless information. However at the end of December around the 28th we received a letter from a congressman forwarded from the Embassy in Panama stating that the paper version of the case had been received by the Embassy in Panama and they were awaiting the electronic version in order to proceed with scheduling of interviews etc. However, it has been over a month and there has been no contact from the embassy in Panama, the case status on the USCIS website has not been updated, nor has the case status of the Embassy in Panama's website. It has been an incredibly slow and frustrating process.