Why did the NVC ask for a police certificate for a country the applicant had been in for under 3 months?

[American Husband 1]

When preparing to help my wife apply for a US visa, I read that she would need a police certificate from every country she had been in for 6 months or more. When we did the DS-260 we listed Malaysia as a country my wife had been in, but she had been there for less than three months so we were very surprised when we are asked to submit a Malaysian police certificate as one of her civil documents. We think it would be enormously difficult to get a Malaysian police certificate so we submitted a typed explanation that my wife had been there for less than three months instead.

 

Will the explanation be enough? Why were we asked for the police certificate to begin with? 

[Boiler 46,570]

She is Malaysian?

[American Husband 1]

Thanks for the reply. She is not Malaysian. We just briefly visited Malaysia together

[OldUser 8,501]

  On 9/13/2024 at 1:21 PM, American Husband said:

 so we submitted a typed explanation that my wife had been there for less than three months instead.

 

Will the explanation be enough?

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Did you support it with any scans of passport with entry / exit stamps to Malaysia?

 

  On 9/13/2024 at 1:21 PM, American Husband said:

Why were we asked for the police certificate to begin with? 

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Looks like somebody made a mistake. 

[American Husband 1]

  On 9/14/2024 at 3:23 PM, OldUser said:

Did you support it with any scans of passport with entry / exit stamps to Malaysia?

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No, but we included a plane ticket showing our date of entry and the marriage certificate from another country right after we left.

 

Someone making a mistake seems strange, because this was part of an automated online system. It seemed to populate the list of police certificates we needed based on the countries she visited.

[Crazy Cat 42,986]

  On 9/14/2024 at 4:58 PM, American Husband said:

No, but we included a plane ticket showing our date of entry

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Why was that required?  Sounds like the DS-260 indicates she lives there....or lived there.

[Crazy Cat 42,986]

  On 9/13/2024 at 1:21 PM, American Husband said:

I read that she would need a police certificate from every country she had been in for 6 months

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Where did you read this? 

 

 

 

Edited September 14, 2024 by Crazy Cat

[American Husband 1]

  On 9/14/2024 at 5:04 PM, Crazy Cat said:

Why was that required?  Sounds like the DS-260 indicates she lives there....or lived there.

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We spent over two months there. Should we not have counted that as a place she lived?

[Crazy Cat 42,986]

  On 9/14/2024 at 5:23 PM, American Husband said:

 

We spent over two months there. Should we not have counted that as a place she lived?

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I thought she visited there.  I would not have listed it as a residence.  Even so, a police certificate would not be required even if she lived there less than 12 months.

Edited September 14, 2024 by Crazy Cat

[Ryan H 3,849]

Moved from Progress Reports to Process & Procedures.

[American Husband 1]

  On 9/14/2024 at 5:08 PM, Crazy Cat said:

Where did you read this? 

 

 

 

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I guess I must've misremembered because of the country of nationality and country of current residence. In any case, 12 months is even longer so that makes it even stranger that a stay under three months would get flagged in their system as something that requires a police certificate. Thanks for reassuring me that I haven't misunderstood the rules.

[American Husband 1]

  On 9/14/2024 at 5:26 PM, Crazy Cat said:

I thought she visited there.  I would not have listed it as a residence.  Even so, a police certificate would not be required even if she lived there less than 12 months.

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I guess it was an ambiguous case because it was a transition period where she didn't have a permanent address. We're both travelers.

[pushbrk 13,299]

  On 9/15/2024 at 7:32 AM, American Husband said:

I guess it was an ambiguous case because it was a transition period where she didn't have a permanent address. We're both travelers.

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What you have done should satisfy NVC.  Your mistake was listing a place you visited, as a place of residence.