Embassy Assigned to Us doesn't want to take us

[MasterCarrot 9]

Hello, 

 

My husband is from Belarus. 

 

Even though we had put down the Polish Embassy at the start of the process we were assigned the Jakarta Embassy. 

We had tried to change embassies but no one would take us. 

We had been sent an interview date and flew to SE Asia to get ready for the interview.

Now, they do not want to take us saying they don't take anyone who does not have a residency permit. 

We are at a loss on what to do. No other embassy wants to take us, my husband cannot come back home to his country, and he does not have residency anywhere. 

He has been flying around the world waiting for our application to get accepted for all this time. 

 

Please help, any advice would be amazing. 

 

[millefleur 5,047]

2 minutes ago, MasterCarrot said:

Now, they do not want to take us saying they don't take anyone who does not have a residency permit. 

How far are you in the process? Were you assigned a case number? If so, what are the first 3 letters? Example: MOS123334etc, MOS for Moscow etc. It denotes which embassy your case is assigned to.

 

Did you go there for the interview and they turned you away?

 

 

[MasterCarrot 9]

6 minutes ago, millefleur said:

How far are you in the process? Were you assigned a case number? If so, what are the first 3 letters? Example: MOS123334etc, MOS for Moscow etc. It denotes which embassy your case is assigned to.

 

Did you go there for the interview and they turned you away?

 

 

Hello, we had already been assigned a date for our interview and we tried to book a medical appointment. The interview was supposed to be on October 5th. 

The hospital messaged the Embassy and the Embassy ended up sending us an email that they won't take us because we don't have residency in Indonesia. However, we had never specified Jakarta as our embassy the US government assigned them to us. 

 

Our case number is: 

JAK_____

Edited September 1, 2023 by TBoneTX
full case number edited for privacy

[TBoneTX 45,593]

The case number above has been edited for privacy.

[MasterCarrot 9]

3 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

The case number above has been edited for privacy.

Thank you, I didn't even realize im just writing all of this through tears right now trying to figure something out. 

[TBoneTX 45,593]

6 minutes ago, MasterCarrot said:

im just writing all of this through tears right now

This is traumatic, undoubtedly.  It's also a first that I've heard of.

Have faith, because it will all work out.

[TBoneTX 45,593]

Unless your case has some connection with Indonesia, it's strange indeed that Jakarta was assigned.  At minimum, no one there would automatically seem able to determine the validity of Belarus documents.

[MasterCarrot 9]

8 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

Unless your case has some connection with Indonesia, it's strange indeed that Jakarta was assigned.  At minimum, no one there would automatically seem able to determine the validity of Belarus documents.

We were there on a visitor Visa for about a year. We had never put down Jakarta as our embassy location and had put down Warsaw. When assigned to Jakarta, I even contacted NVC and explained the situation to which they told us that we could not change our Embassy. I had even written to Kazakhstan and tried to transfer but was refused. 

 

edit: at the time of applying we had lived in 3 other countries. After all of this we had come to the conclusion that the US had probably just chosen the embassy which accepted us. 

Edited September 1, 2023 by MasterCarrot

[TBoneTX 45,593]

Well, someone here who's really knowledgeable may come along to help.

 

Have you sought intercession from your Congressman's or Senator's office?  If not yet, there's a release form on their websites for you to complete, giving them permission to inquire on your behalf.

 

It's way past my bedtime here, so I'll be back tomorrow.

[BenNomad 89]

The Jakarta Embassy's behavior is despicable. You really shoujld not have been assigned to Jakarta since you don't have residency, but they shouldn't go back on their word after agreeing to take your case. I don't understand it. The NVC really should figure this out, it was their mistake, but communicating with them is like shouting at a brick wall. By default you should have been assigned to Warsaw.

 

@TBoneTX's suggestion to seek Senate/Congressional seems like a good option. If I were in your shoes I would look into suing the Jakarta Embassy, but I'll admit that's probably not the best way to solve the problem. 

 

Did you try contacting the Jerusalem Embassy? It's the only place currently that seems to be taking transfers without residency. 

 

But since you've already traveled to SE Asia, I would fight to stay with the Jakarta Embassy unless you're too upset with them now to 

want to do the interview there. 

 

You originally wanted to do the interview in Warsaw, right? Does your husband have a valid Schengen visa? If not, he won't be able to get one unless he goes back to Belarus to apply. 

 

[MasterCarrot 9]

4 minutes ago, BenNomad said:

The Jakarta Embassy's behavior is despicable. You really shoujld not have been assigned to Jakarta since you don't have residency, but they shouldn't go back on their word after agreeing to take your case. I don't understand it. The NVC really should figure this out, it was their mistake, but communicating with them is like shouting at a brick wall. By default you should have been assigned to Warsaw.

 

@TBoneTX's suggestion to seek Senate/Congressional seems like a good option. If I were in your shoes I would look into suing the Jakarta Embassy, but I'll admit that's probably not the best way to solve the problem. 

 

Did you try contacting the Jerusalem Embassy? It's the only place currently that seems to be taking transfers without residency. 

 

But since you've already traveled to SE Asia, I would fight to stay with the Jakarta Embassy unless you're too upset with them now to 

want to do the interview there. 

 

You originally wanted to do the interview in Warsaw, right? Does your husband have a valid Schengen visa? If not, he won't be able to get one unless he goes back to Belarus to apply. 

 

Hello, 

 

Originally we did our USCIS papers with a lawyer who told us that we needed to put down Warsaw as our embassy which is why we did it, he then said when the time came we would be able to transfer to another embassy. My husband does not have a Schengen and apparently, we cannot get it from any embassy not in Belarus which is insane. After waiting about a year and living in SE Asia we went to Georgia for a few months to wait it out and try to get into another embassy. Kazakhstan did not take us and we saw a lot of issues with getting visas from Israel from acquaintances and on forums, we had also lived in Turkey, Indonesia, and been in Dubai which are massively Muslim countries so Isreal would be a risk as in we were told they might not even let us in because of this. 

 

When our Embassy was assigned to Jakarta, I contacted NVC and explained the situation, i.e. that we only had visitor visas in Jakarta and needed help transferring our case to another embassy. They basically told me that they couldn't do anything because my husband does not have proof of residency in any other country. We sent our papers in, no where in the process did they ask for residency, Jakarta accepted all of our papers and even gave us an appointment day which is even crazier bc according to visa agencies in Indonesia (we had already talked to two agencies and a friend from Indonesia who helps get American visas) they shouldn't have even accepted our papers in the first place. Apparently, we could try to get him a work Visa but that would be seen as fraud since the work visa would come in after we even got an appointment date. 

 

I wrote to my congressman and am waiting for a reply hopefully but I think the only other option would be trying to get a residency or work/student permit in a country around us and transferring our case. We had spent so much money already on flights and Airbnbs that flying back anywhere would really start to run us dry. 

 

***SORRY for the rant, I am just at a loss that all of this was allowed to happen and we were told they won't accept us when we tried to get a medical appointment when we had already traveled halfway across the world for this. This feels completely unethical from the US embassy side tbh...after multiple communications with NVC and no issues or questions from Jakarta we had assumed Jakarta had taken us in with good faith knowing the situation happening in eastern Europe. 

[MasterCarrot 9]

Update: Trying to talk to the embassy is like talking to a wall. I have explained the situation multiple times and they just respond with "Please send evidence of residency."

[BenNomad 89]

54 minutes ago, MasterCarrot said:

This feels completely unethical from the US embassy side 

I agree. Somebody screwed up and they are not taking responsibility for it. Don't feel you are ranting! It is a slap in the face.

 

My wife (Russian) and I were in Egypt when our case went to the NVC and I listed our current address in Egypt hoping they would take our case in Cairo. But they asked us for proof of residency. We considered enrolling our kids in school there to get residency but then I read that a number of people waiting for IVs had filed a lawsuit against the Cairo Embassy for excessive delays (and eventually won I think). So we then tried to transfer to Almaty and were rejected. We were left with no choice but Warsaw, got an interview date of Oct 04, and my wife had to go back to RF to apply for the Schengen visa. 

 

I spent a lot of time looking into digital nomad visas over the past year as a way to get residence, and therefore be able to transfer our case somewhere. But not all of them actually give you residence and it's a whole process in itself. If you work remotely you might be able to go that route if the congressional channel doesn't help. I can't imagine a case more deserving of congressional intervention though, so I hope they can solve the issue for you and quickly.

[MasterCarrot 9]

3 hours ago, BenNomad said:

I agree. Somebody screwed up and they are not taking responsibility for it. Don't feel you are ranting! It is a slap in the face.

 

My wife (Russian) and I were in Egypt when our case went to the NVC and I listed our current address in Egypt hoping they would take our case in Cairo. But they asked us for proof of residency. We considered enrolling our kids in school there to get residency but then I read that a number of people waiting for IVs had filed a lawsuit against the Cairo Embassy for excessive delays (and eventually won I think). So we then tried to transfer to Almaty and were rejected. We were left with no choice but Warsaw, got an interview date of Oct 04, and my wife had to go back to RF to apply for the Schengen visa. 

 

I spent a lot of time looking into digital nomad visas over the past year as a way to get residence, and therefore be able to transfer our case somewhere. But not all of them actually give you residence and it's a whole process in itself. If you work remotely you might be able to go that route if the congressional channel doesn't help. I can't imagine a case more deserving of congressional intervention though, so I hope they can solve the issue for you and quickly.

Fingers crossed, if the congressman's office does not reply I will send another inquiry on Monday. I guess the only thing left is to keep trying. 

[jan22 3,056]

5 hours ago, MasterCarrot said:

Hello, 

 

Originally we did our USCIS papers with a lawyer who told us that we needed to put down Warsaw as our embassy which is why we did it, he then said when the time came we would be able to transfer to another embassy. My husband does not have a Schengen and apparently, we cannot get it from any embassy not in Belarus which is insane. After waiting about a year and living in SE Asia we went to Georgia for a few months to wait it out and try to get into another embassy. Kazakhstan did not take us and we saw a lot of issues with getting visas from Israel from acquaintances and on forums, we had also lived in Turkey, Indonesia, and been in Dubai which are massively Muslim countries so Isreal would be a risk as in we were told they might not even let us in because of this. 

 

When our Embassy was assigned to Jakarta, I contacted NVC and explained the situation, i.e. that we only had visitor visas in Jakarta and needed help transferring our case to another embassy. They basically told me that they couldn't do anything because my husband does not have proof of residency in any other country. We sent our papers in, no where in the process did they ask for residency, Jakarta accepted all of our papers and even gave us an appointment day which is even crazier bc according to visa agencies in Indonesia (we had already talked to two agencies and a friend from Indonesia who helps get American visas) they shouldn't have even accepted our papers in the first place. Apparently, we could try to get him a work Visa but that would be seen as fraud since the work visa would come in after we even got an appointment date. 

 

I wrote to my congressman and am waiting for a reply hopefully but I think the only other option would be trying to get a residency or work/student permit in a country around us and transferring our case. We had spent so much money already on flights and Airbnbs that flying back anywhere would really start to run us dry. 

 

***SORRY for the rant, I am just at a loss that all of this was allowed to happen and we were told they won't accept us when we tried to get a medical appointment when we had already traveled halfway across the world for this. This feels completely unethical from the US embassy side tbh...after multiple communications with NVC and no issues or questions from Jakarta we had assumed Jakarta had taken us in with good faith knowing the situation happening in eastern Europe. 

I'm sorry you are having this trouble.  It must be particularly frustrating when you thought you were so close to the finIsh line.  Please bear with me if this becomes a long post as I think through things. Sometimes understanding how things reached the current state can help unravel the knots, so it might be helpful to know/think about the following to try to see a way to possibly get things straightened out:

1. You said you spent about a year in Indonesia.  Did you list Indonesia as your current address when you submitted the I-130?  That would explain the assignment to Jakarta. And, once NVC assigned it there based on your address and scheduled the interview there, the Embassy would not have been asked to formally accept the case and likely had no idea you were not resident in Indonesia until the medical appointment.
2. NVC -- which it seems may have been the official cause of the problem or, at a minimum, a large contributor to it -- cannot change the Embassy to which a case is assigned based on the I-130 unless the request is based on citizenship or residency of the beneficiary or it was assigned incorrectly. Appears NVC was not willing to accept that they assigned it incorrectly and left you in a situation where you could not meet the requirement for the other way to get it re-assigned at NVC (showing residency in another country).
3. If NVC had assigned it correctly, though, the default would have been Warsaw, as it is the designated processing post for Belarusians. You said your husband could not go back to Belarus to apply for a Schengen visa, right?  I assume that is because of the security situation there that led to the suspension of services at the US Embassy.  But, is there another reason that might somehow affect his vIsa processing there or anywhere else?  
4. That left you with the only other option for reassignment -- requesting another Embassy to take your case, and if/when they agreed they would request the case file from jakarta.
5. To clarify, you said that no other Embassy would accept your case, but only mention Kazakhstan as having said no and then describing your concerns about processing in several other countries.  Did you formally request countries other than Kazakhstan  to take your case and were told no or did you rule them out based on your concerns (just trying to clarify -- not making any judgments)?  Which Embassies have you formally asked?  Someone might be able to offer other suggestions.
6. Since you and your file were already in Jakarta, they could have exercised their discretion and proceeded with your case.  They may not have done so because of workload issues, especially right after the month of September when appointnents for other immigrant visas might get reduced to ensure Diversity Visa applicants get interviewed and issued by the end of the month.  I assume you made a formal request to US Embassy Jakarta that, since the Embassy in Minsk is closed, they accept your case for processing without requiring formal residency, and request they schedule/reschedule your appointment?  If not, I would try it. If you did, and got a negative response, I would try to foward the original e-mail and the response to the Consul General and/or the Ambassador's office.  They would likely refer your inquiry back to the Consular Section for response, but that response might be different given that you've now gotten higher level interests involved.
7. If you make a second request for assistance from your Congressional representatives, I would also include a request that they ensure your case is brought to the attention of the Ambassador, to ensure he is aware of your case and the interest in it.

 

Edited September 1, 2023 by jan22