Foreign police certificate requested

[Nik+Heather 121]

I have just had a RFE from the NVC in Portsmouth for a Dutch police certificate. I live in the UK, but lived in The Netherlands for 6 years. I did my research and saw that I could not apply directly to the Dutch authorities for this as only the US Embassy can make such a request (as highlighted in the above quote from post #11).

I assumed the US Embassey would make this request upon receipt of my detials from the NVC. But apparently not as I have this RFE! (To make matters worse, they are also refusing to accept my birth certificate too....but that's for another thread!).

Can anyone please advise what I need to do?

I assume that your case is no longer moving from NVC until they clear up the RFE, so something definitely needs to be done. I'm not an expert on what will work (maybe any of them!), but I have some ideas to try:

1. Respond to the RFE with the reciprocity schedule information, and a letter explaining why you cannot comply with the request. I actually don't like this idea, it is too open ended for me. A power-tripping bureaucrat could throw your file in the trash! This is something the state department should have, it's on their own website for crying out loud! http://travel.state.gov/visa/fees/fees_4881.html?cid=3634#docs

2. If you're at the NVC, you have a London case number (right?) use that to call the extortion line, and see if they will make the request.

3. Get your senator/congressperson involved. Explain why you feel the RFE was issued in error, and ask them to please clear things up. Sometimes this works. Sometimes it works halfway, but gets things moving (that's what happened to us) and sometimes they just say no. But, you never know until you ask. I personally think this is the best way to go, because it's not likely to get messed up with some know-nothing new guy who doesn't realize the certs aren't available from the Netherlands.

or

4. Find other members from the Netherlands going for IR-1/CR-1 visas and see what their experiences are. Maybe it's a common problem with an already proven solution.