jan22

Most of the form has been translated into Spanish (and other languages). You can see the translation of a question by hovering your mouse over it. There is information about this and the choice of languages at the beginning of the form. But there's no problem with your help, as long as she "signs" the form by submitting it herself.

The following are general comments -- not enough information to know their applicability to your indivdual case, but I'm posting them here to perhaps give you another perpective. The consular officer doesn't just look at salary. They try to look at the totality of the individual's situation. While current income is very (the most?) important and usually rules, if you're in a new job with a much higher salary that does not at least somewhat follow the pattern of your employment history or for which there is a clear reason why it doesn't (e.g., it's in the same field where you have a progression of increasingly more responsible positions; you've recently finished school and this is your first position in the profession for which you've studied; you've recently returned to the US after living overseas for several years; etc) the officer might question the legitimacy of the job/pay stubs, or question how long you might keep this job, or think about the coincidence of getting such a higher-paying position just a few weeks or so before you filed the I-864, etc., and want to see more. Remember -- many (most, in some countries) consular officers have seen a wide variety of bogus claims and documents in visa cases and need to be sure everything is carefully reviewed. You have "read plenty of times" that it will be "okay" during the interview and clearly have already accepted that is the only correct answer to your inquiry here. That is quite possible -- it all might be fine. Unfortunately, there is no way anyone here or on any other public fora can say that for sure, as none know the full scope of your situation. I would urge you to give some thought to what people are saying here about a possible negative outcome and consider if there is anything you can provide to your wife in addition to additional pay stubs (for example, evidence of a new savings account that you've been able to open and put money into given the big boost in earnings; a probationary period performance evaluation indicating successful completion for continued employment; documentation of any assets you night have, etc) or anything to explain to her that she can then share with the officer about the timing or situation with the new job that helps show it is your new norm and not just a one-time earnings fluke. She's, I'm sure, already going to be nervous during the interview, so anything you can do to help prepare her for a possibly difficult question would be helpful. Hope all goes well for you/her.

No problem. There are also nationalities where the maximum validity for a B2 is 3 years (e.g., Russian Federation) and, the most restrictive I remember -- 3 months 1-entry (e.g., Cuba, Iran, Sudan), 3 months 2-entry (e.g., South Sudan), and 3 months, multiple entries (e.g., Syria). Of course, bottom line, the length of the visa's validity can also be limited by the consular officer to whatever time frame they think is appropriate. But, the maximum is limited -- as seen in the above examples -- by the reciprocity table: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country.

The maximum validity of a tourist visa (B2) for a Vietnamese citizen is 12 months. So, she would need to use the visa within that time period, i.e., before the expiration date on the visa.

Unless the visit you are referring to is more than a year away, there is essentially no chance of another interview appointment that would get a visa in time, even if it were approved (which is highly unlikely, IMO). The wait times for a visitor visa interview (B1/B2) appointment at the IndIan posts range from 400 days (Chennai) to 582 days (Mumbai). The other three have wait times of 428, 539, and 409 days.

Possibly. Is the visa applicant Colombian? If so, when did the Embassy tell you it would be ready when they approved your request to pick it up? It usually takes a minimum of 24 hours to get all of the security checks, etc. processed after the interview. The visa can only be printed after that.

You provide the correct documentation from the country in which the marriage occurred. As I understand your post, you complied with all of the civil procedures to get legally married in Turkey and your marriage is recognized by tne Turkish government, right? If so, you submit the Turkish marriage certificate as described at https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country/Turkey.html. It does not matter to the US government if the marriage is recognized in Iran or not, as long as it is a legal marriage in the jurisdiction where it was performed. Just to clarify -- the reciprocity table information describing the required documents is for the "nationality" of the document -- tbe country that issued it -- not the nationality of tbe person to whom the document was issued.

I'm not trying to be argumentative, but wanted to respond to this, in case others now or in the future are trying to get information to apply to their own case. Re your Point 1: Your statement that my answer about NVC not having approved your case was not accurate is, itself, inaccurate. I had no doubt that you had an I-140 approved by USCIS. You wouldn't have been to a visa interview if you hadn't. But, I was addressing your statement to Boiler in the response I quoted, "The NVC has already approved my case." The USCIS approval of your I-140 petition was based only on documents submitted by you and your lawyer. While an approved petition is prima facie evidence that the applicant is qualified for the visa, it is the consular (not counselor) officer's right -- actually, their duty -- to review that information with the applicant, confirm the accuracy of it, address anything else that might come up in the interview, and reach an independent decision on the applicant's qualifications for the visa. The decision would 100% be based on your qualifications, even if it differed from the USCIS. Just discussing the process here, not your case specifically. The officer in your case, of course, also found you were qualified; if they hadn't, your case wouldn't have been sent on for additional processing. Re Point 2: While we agree that the need for adminstrative processing was the individual officer's decision, we don't agree on what that actually means. With all due respect to Harvard et al that you refer to, their list is a compilation of what they believe the criteria to be. There are other areas that, for security and other reasons, may not be as obvious to the compilers of the list. I think it most likely that it is based on your PhD field or more recent research, but -- especially since you haven't responded to questions about your PhD field -- that is only a guess on my part. (Which might explain the difference between this application and your 2018 visa -- especially the topics of your research since then, although the security and other checks are also often more stringently applied for an immigrant visa than a short-term visitor's visa). I am sure that the "not knowing" is extremely frustrating for you and your family. And, this is made ever worse by the non-responsiveness to your inquiries, which is completely unacceptable, IMO. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of recourses available, except to wait and continue to try to get an Embassy response, as others have indicated. The final section of your post -- although I may be reading it entirely wrong -- makes it seem that you think posters here are enjoying or laughing at, or are unsympathetic to, your situation. I have been on VJ for several years, and I can honestly say that I don't believe that is the case. Sometimes, when trying to respond, there can be a mis-interpretation of the tone or intent of a post. I hope you get positive news very soon!

A point or two for clarification: NVC did not, and never does, approve your case. NVC is basically a paperwork clearinghouse -- they are checking that you have paperwork for all the required documents. They do not evaluate the quality of the information nor your qualification for the visa. The NVC "approval", i.e., stating that you've met the documentary requirements, means only that -- you have the documents you need to move forward. While it is the decision of the individual consular (not immigration) officer at the Embassy -- with his/her supervisor's concurrence -- that a case needs further administrative processing, it is a decision made within fairly strict parameters that limit the officer's choices. This is especially true in some STEM areas -- basically, officers are told that when a case meets these conditions, you must send it for further processing/review, making it really not the officer's choice/decision.

The only way to file a DS-160 for a tourist visa now -- and has been for 15-20 years -- is on-line. Even if an individual qualifies for an interview waiver (which the individual here would clearly not), the DS-160 is done on-line and the passport and any required supporting documents (I-20, DS-2019, etc) are then sent into the Embassy/Consulate. And, BTW, the officer may or may not actually look at other, not required, documents even if they could be mailed in.

This suggestion is impossible to do. There is no mechanism to add documents to a DS-160 visa application. She can take the documents with her to the interview, but they may or may not even be looked at by the consular officer.

It'll be several years (+4 years, at least) yet. The current Priority Date for an F3 petition (married daughter of US citizen) is 08 Jan 2009.

It isn't for a four year old -- it's for a 35+ year old who could have perhaps gone back into India at some point as an adult. The police certificate would support that he never re-entered India after his initial US entry in 1987.

Try to take a look at this from the Consular officer's viewpoint. If I understood what you've written: You said you are not residing in India but also said you obtained and submitted the police clearance certificate -- which is the documment required for Indian nationals living in India. You seem to believe they don't understand that you have resided for more than 30 years in the US even though you showed ample evidence of that. The issue is just the opposite -- they have accepted that and are now waiting for you to follow the proper procedure for obtaining the police certificate for an Indian national residing outside India. You now sort-of acknowledge the docunent you should have submitted was one you could/should have gotten from the Indian Embassy/Consulate in the US, but didn't know that -- which is not the US Consulate's fault and something your lawyer certainly should have told you. But, because you didn't know it was required, they should make an exception for something that clearly says "Exceptions: None". You also still appear to be placing blame back on the reciprocity instructions because they don't specifically say you needed it from the Indian mission in the US -- which it couldn't, as these instructions are for any Indian national resident anywhere but India -- it clearly states the "local" Indian Embassy, which in your case would of course be the US. You incorrectly assume the certificate provided through the Indian Embassy in the US would only be run against US police records and, therefore, duplicates USCIS when the certificate is primarily an attestation that you had no known criminal record in India. You had your lawyer submit an "explanation of their own guidelines" -- his interpretation, that is -- in essence telling them they don't know what they're doing and should accept his interpretation without question rather than review it against the requirements themselves or with State Department lawyers. You are "mind-boggled" that they wouldn't automatically declare a required document "unobtainable" when it clearly WAS obtainable, but you didn't follow the procedures to obtain it and are now placed in a difficult position. And, you don't want to think it should cause significant delays -- it's already been more than a week! -- in your case while they review the idea of making an exception for a non-exceptionable issue? This all might take some time to resolve.

Assuming that the applicant truly does not benefit under CSPA any longer, i.e., they have legally aged-out, if the consular officer issued a visa it would either be a complete mistake on their part or a violation of immigration law that could result in their termination and possibly prosecution, depending on the circumstances. There is no provision for discretion in this area, for any reason -- even exceptional ones. Worth noting, though, that the consular officer has the final calculation on CSPA, so it's certainly worth raising the issue with them so they take a careful look to see that CSPA was correctly applied.

Yes, it should.

One other piece of information needed: Did she "seek to acquire" the immigrant vIsa (usually done by submitting the DS-260) by June 2022? This must be done within one year of the Priority Date becoming current.

A FOIA request for a visa application is unlikely to get you any of the information you want. FOIA regulations exempt from release any information that is protected by any law that protects them from disclosure. Visa records are "inviolable" under section 222(f) of the INA and are protected from release. The information that can/will be released from a visa record is extremely limited -- usually nothing more than copies of the information and civil documents submitted by the applicant. Information on filing a FOIA request for visa applications is available at the following website (review carefully the "Please Note" paragraph at the end of "Step Two): https://foia.state.gov/Request/Visa.aspx. You said you don't speak Vietnamese and your MIL often omits critical details. If she has not already done so, I would urge your wife to have a serious "heart-to-heart" with her sister to get as many details of the three immigrant visa applications and interviews as possible so you have a really good understanding of what the issue is. I agree with @Family that you don't need to address them directly in the waiver application, but knowing what was discussed and how it led to a conclusion of a fraud finding might help how you frame things.

This plan would only work if they had an I-612 waiver approved (waiving the 2-year home residency requirement for a J-1 visa). Without that waiver, there is no way to adjust status in the US. If the I-612 is approved, and they can apply to adjust status in the US, then there is no need for the I-601 waiver for the overstay, as that ineligibility only applies once the person Ieaves the US. Otherwise, the overstay adjudication for the spouse of a US citizen essentially occurs within the I-485 Adjustment of Status process If a person doesnt leave the US.

Since there was mention of a "boyfriend" in the US, I would think (hope) that meant there wasn't also a US citizen spouse who would mean that the 3-year rule was even a possibility -- must be 5-year rule.

Apply for the B1/B2 visa and take the first available appointment date. Then, follow the instructions for requesting an expedited visa appointment. No guarantees, it may be approved since it involves business for a US company. https://ca.usembassy.gov/visas/categories-and-requirements/

If the beneficiary is your spouse, you do not file the i-134 at all. You need to file an I-864. To a newer your question about the I-134, though, there is no need for an interpreter.

Sorry -- tried to edit to add the following, but couldn't, for some reason. The IR-2, if a minor, would still need the approval of the IR-1, in most cases. I have seen a fair number of cases where the IR-1 has some reason(s) to delay travel to the US -- usually work or family related -- for a few months and the IR-2 goes ahead for some reason (e.g., to start school on time).

Wrong. 100% the IR-2 can come without the IR-1.

To be precise, the I-130 is not a petition for a spouse visa. It is petitioning for approval to bring a spouse (or other qualifying family member) into the US to live once the proper process is completed. Once the I-130 is approved, it allows the beneficiary of the approved petition to apply for either an immigrant visa or adjustment of status.