Daisy.Chain

There is a section for humanitarian parole for organ donation on the USCIS website! I already have the medical documentation -piles of it. I am unsure if it can be done at the border - it looks like an application with a time period. Do you know for sure it can? I will update if I find out more info.

I don't know but will find out. I figure that getting the word out might help attract an altruistic donor even if they can't help with the visa.. or could they? I have never heard of a case in which a B2 denial was reversed ever. The applicant could apply again, I guess. In fact, the person who denied her said she could apply again - which seems odd to say as she was being denied.

I'm currently reading everything I can. Is this currently a possibility? How do you know? I'm googling it. I thought I had exhausted the medical expedite option - can it be different at POE? It is so frustrating to not be able to search for similar stories - it feels like we're working blind not only in the medical situation but also in the medical visa part.

The rep's office got a reply from the consulate that the request would be noted in their file and -after the interview- told me that it had been denied. They are now requesting the specific reason why but I don't have high hopes. I hadn't thought of escalating it within the office - do you think there's a chance that would help? I'm not sure if they can do anything if it's been denied - would we the have to do a new tourist visa? Yes, he's a USC.

Not frivolous at all imo! I didn't know this existed but am calling tomorrow. Thanks for the idea. I will be persistent and let everyone know how it goes. We have NO qualifying donors so far - so far no one we know has even qualified for paired donation and at the same time his family members have done the pre-testing they can the DR and are likely to be good matches. In the past 3 weeks my husband has gone from being at a stable-ish decline to tanking- he was a big strong guy and now is in pain, has fatigue to where taking care of himself is hard, can't walk around the block and this week the nausea was so bad he vomited/tried to multiple times trying to brush his teeth. From "normal" to this within a year is a scary decline for a spouse to watch. We have to get this figured out ASAP because it truly is life or death without a different donor. We are Christians and he is not afraid of dying but obviously we are exhausting all other options prior to.

Yes, they got the 214b denial. I meant that there was not a specific reason given.

No reason, just the general denial - not even a comment from the person who gave it to her. She said the woman who called her up looked irritated before she even got to the window. I asked our rep to request the "why" and they did but I haven't heard yet. I'm less sure about expedited through the Dominican legal system but BIL is moving as quickly as he can! 😕

Update for anyone else in the same situation: The emergency expedite process was comparatively straightforward. The person applying just goes I to US travel docs and hits "apply for expedite", upload documents and write a brief description of the situation. Both siblings' medical expedite appointments were approved within 24 hrs, and given about a week in which to schedule (although you could schedule out farther, you had to do the scheduling within a week). After the appt approval but before the appt I also had our state rep call the embassy. That was not helpful or a smooth process - they are used to calling for potential immigrants, not for B2 medical visas and I explained a LOT of times but still wasn't sure they understood the process-. One visa was denied for no specific reason and the other was delayed (they kept the passport) while the sibling gets some legal documents together that require a judge and could take months which is longer than we currently have available, health-wise. I'm pretty bummed about the denial -Mr. Daisy is not doing well at all- and also am hoping the getting-the-documents process somehow goes quickly. I understand that there are NO immigration guarantees but am so frustrated to see so many people -even people we distantly know- walk across the border or abuse/overstay their B2 tourist visas having had that plan all along and then have free housing, food tickets, work etc with no immediate consequences. We try the legal way with stable 40+ yr old siblings who have traveled internationally, have good jobs and what the heck? Lots of disillusionment this week. If anyone is A+ or O+ and is interested in kidney donation, please reach out! 😭

Hi everyone! New fear unlocked - can anyone help with this? This emergency medical visa is quite a process! The doctor's signatures are taking longer than I thought to get. Fortunately Mr. Daisy is on a new medication that might help extend things a few weeks (although it makes him feel like #######) As far as the expedite is concerned.. both siblings that are potential kidney donors already have a B1/B2 visa in progress and have for a few months. They were going to come to visit/for tourism until this came up. So now when I need the expedite for a different reason - medical- do I need to RESUBMIT (and pay both fees again) for a B2 visa (medical) visa? Or is that included in the B1/B2 visa? Travel.state.gov says "Visitor visas are nonimmigrant visas for persons who want to enter the United States temporarily for business (visa category B-1), for tourism (visa category B-2), or for a combination of both purposes (B-1/B-2)" BUT on the DS-160 it specifies: I'm not sure if resubmitting would help or confuse the issue. What do you think? #tbonetx #Boiler

Hi everyone, Here is an update on our progress in case anyone else goes through something similar or was interested :) : We are almost a month in to the kidney transplant process and Mr. Daisy has undergone the transplant evaluation and is -barring complications from the single remaining exam Monday- ready for transplant and to be listed! The medical expedite for a tourist visa for his siblings is done by going in to the B2 application in ustraveldocs (on a desktop, not a phone - at least not on my phone as of 12/23) and selecting "emergency request". The requirements on that website state: Medical Emergency Purpose of travel is to obtain emergency medical care, to accompany a relative or employer for emergency medical care, or to travel to be with an immediate family member (mother, father, brother, sister, child, grandparent, or grandchild) undergoing emergency medical care in the United States. Required proof: A letter from the doctor who is treating or will treat you or your loved one. The letter must describe the medical condition and the urgency of the situation. You must also present evidence of your relationship to the sick or injured person. The medical letter is relatively easy to write - we have piles of medical things. The "evidence of your relationship to the sick or injured person" - Could this be as simple as sibling's birth certificate and Mr. Daisy's, both showing the same parents? I am coming from K1 "evidence of relationship" where I included a TON of things, so that seems too easy.

Thanks!

Hi everyone, My USC husband is planning to petition his mom from the Dominican Republic. We are concerned because I'm not sure we have proof of her name change. (In the specific examples below I used fake names.) MIL legally married FIL -husband's dad, 1st last name Rodriguez- after the birth and declaration of my husband. On his birth certificate her name is (for example) Mary Jane Doe Smith. Later her married name became Mary Jane Doe de Rodriguez. The married name is on the passport and visa. The VJ guide says a marriage certificate is evidence of name change. However, on her marriage certificate no name change is listed. It just says that MIL's maiden name is marrying FIL. In the US the name change is spelled out really clearly. Is the Dominican marriage certificate I described good enough evidence to justify the difference between her passport and birth certificate? She has no other document and if she needs one I don't know what to tell her to get. I THINK it is ok but..anyone here who knows?

Thank you! In comparison, my current transplant center does over 1,000 transplants of the kidneys alone per year. My husband has a rare condition that affects his kidneys but is caused by an autoimmune condition - so for example there is likely to be more complicated scarring on his kidneys (due to the cobdition before they operate, not due to the operation itself) so we're looking for an experienced surgeon who has seen s lot of complications. If we go to the DR the trip alone risks his life as he is pretty fragile, but that is our backup plane if absolutely nothing else works. We are going to try paired donation where I give a kidney to someone else and their loved one gives Mr. Daisy a kidney first so I don't think we'll need to risk the journey. I am hoping for the best possible outcome which is generally from family, but we will consider other alternatives if needed. .I never knew I'd need to do so much research on all this stuff. I learned not terribly long ago that kidney transplants don't remove the diseased kidney (in the condition my husband has). They just add a new one in this maintaining a little of the original function and adding to it. It makes sense but is weird. Some people have even more than 3 kidneys bc of this!

Thanks, I needed to know this! We have piles of medical paperwork. I have to get some final forms signed hopefully on Tuesday and then it should be complete. Both siblings currently have scheduled tourist visa appts a few months down the road. I will check with them asap to look for an expedite request - I think I remember it now! So it's not a form to send somewhere, it's actually on the appt form itself - thank you so much! We'll check into this ASAP and ask our senator if we don't get it. I appreciate the help. I was thinking I'd have to mail a physical document so where and couldn't figure it out.

Aww, thank you! I definitely will. We can do some of the testing in the DR but then I think we'd have to repeat it here in the US - maybe not if I csn figure out sone way to certify it? This is one of my questions for the consult meeting! If I can't figure out the expedite I am going to ask my rep/senator for sure. Thanks again for the *hugs* and advice!

Yes, this is our backup plan but I have high hopes we can figure it out here. It would be a huge health risk for him to travel at this point in the disease progression and then restart the testing/donation at a center there. I'm planning paired donation (where I give one to someone else in need and their loved one gives a kidney to my husband) prior to that. Family is the best match though for a few reasons so it is our #1 choice.

Yeah, there is a much higher chance of a match from a family member, esp an immediate family member. A parent is a 50% chance and a sibling is 25% which is amazing compared. A live donor is way better than a deceased donor as far as function as well. We have a lot of offers and I want to narrow down candidates from his family as much as possible though to avoid unnecessary flights/expenses. No need to plan for 50 people when 2-3 might do. Is "Medical B" the B2 visa?

Also, I hope your reason for going to the hospital is better as well. Medical stuff is no fun.

I will definitely keep this in mind. It is certainly a legit cause! Do you think they know how to do the medical expedite or that they can help move it along? I'd rather try on our own following the steps if I can..but I'm getting nowhere looking for the steps for it. But I know people have tried to apply for it based on pregnancy and gotten declined so it has to be here somewhere but everything I'm seeing is for k1 or spousal visas.

The DR doesn't have any kind of official initial testing that I'm aware of that translates between the two countries - certainly nothing we're currently signed up for. I'll keep a copy of the testing paperwork as documentation though. The US health insurance company pays for all the testing for donors as well as the actual procedure - IF they are in the US. However, the visa application/flights/ lodging/travel would be out of pocket for us so to minimize that we're doing some preliminary "easy" testing in the DR where it's way cheaper to do. There's no point in applying for a visa for someone of the wrong blood type, for example, so we're getting the blood types and doing some of the next step of bloodwork. I'm trying to figure out how to apply for a medical expedite - so you know if this is posted anywhere I can review? I keep finding dead links and am not sure where to look. (Also, my brain might be fried from all the things this week do I'll keep trying tomorrow)

Thank you!! We tried patient services at Mayo and asked for people to help with the visa paperwork. I have to verify that we go to the actual department you listed since they transferred me and I'm not 100% sure. Regardless, though, both nephrology and the transplant center are willing to help make the documents BUT they won't until we have the initial transplant consult - and the first appt is in MARCH. (They restart their normal 8 week timer when our insurance changes 1/1/24 which is lame imho) (!!!) Not much time for visa paperwork even expedited although we'll stay on their schedule until we get a better solution. I called about every transplant center all around and found one in our area with good stats that has a consult available Tuesday so I'm hoping they'll connect us with the right people for this as well!

Hi everyone, Mr. Daisy became a US citizen through a k1 a few years ago - thank you all for your help. I'm coming back with another question for you. Mr. Daisy has a rare really aggressive autoimmune disease that affects his kidneys. It is not the traditional kidney disease where sometimes dialysis is an effective time buyer while you wait for a donor kidney. He went from "fine, slightly high bp" to where we are now (level 5 kidney failure) in less than one year. We knew he was sick but Mayo Clinic this week gave him 6 months if we can't find a donor. This is after we're doing EVERYTHING possible to slow this down. Family is the most likely shot at a match and we have lots of family volunteers in the DR that are possible matches. but the processing time for a B2 is longer than he has. We have tons of documentation and I'm hoping this qualifies for a medical expedite for them to come and get tested/possibly donate in the same visit. Is there any guide for an emergency medical B2 visa of what or how to submit for an expedite? I am looking but some of the links I've found don't work and I don't want to do it wrong. Is it just a normal B2? If so, how do I request an expedite? I apologize is this is somewhere on here that I've missed. My brain about to go crazy. At least one of my husband's siblings is a very possible match -we're testing OOP as much as possible in the DR with plans to repeat in the US- and already applied for a tourist visa a few months ago for unrelated (wanting to visit) reasons but the appt is several months away. Is there a way to request an expedite of this existing B2 application? Our last ditch scenario is to attempt it in the DR but my husband is deteriorating really fast and is currently fragile. Doctors would never let him travel but if we ignored them and did anyway it would be really dangerous...and we'd have to start all over there with the transplant evaluation and I don't know if we have enough time. 😞 Thanks everyone in advance.

Are they made of glass? If so (and they aren't a weapon), she could be overdressed!

9ish more months to go (hopefully), then.

Did you get your WAC number? It should be on the letter you got a week or two after submitting the K1. You can check for USCIS status updates with that number. It just took a family member 16 mos to reach the point where he can schedule the interview at the consulate in a month or two. 😕