|
|
| Houston TX |  Review on March 25, 2004: |
jortega999
Rating:  | Review Topic: General Review
Greetings
We are new here, but we have been watching this forum for a while. We finally had our AOS interview at the Houston service center around 7:30am. We were quite concerned because my wife entered on a B1 visa (Visa Laser) from Mexico and we had heard that this was very risky. Our lawyer, who is now disbarred, told us that everyone does it this way and that we shouldn't worry about it because he would be with us. Well, as you can guess he was nowhere to be found on judgement day, except maybe jail. Anyway, we went into the interview with our 5 month old baby, our tax forms, my company letter, insurance forms, mortgage insurance forms, etc... Turns out that when the agent saw the baby she didn't even ask for any proof. As you can guess the agent came to the dreaded question of "how did you enter the country" to my wife Blanca. She said that she used her Visa Laser(B1) at which time stood still for me. The agent didn't bat an eye and went on to the next questions:
How long did we know each other?
Where did we meet?
Had Blanca ever been deported?
Had she or I ever been arrested here or in Mexico?
So, everything was going great and then she said "everything is looks good, but we are missing your medical evaluation, vaccination records, and pictures." We both screamed what! "You lost our medical and pictures". I was about to blow a gasket. Even though we had made it through the visa question, I could not believe this mess. I had heard that these guys were inept at record keeping, but you only think it happens to other people. So, she said that she could schedule another appointment in two weeks to turn in the rest of the info. I went ballistic and told her that it was their fault and that this was totally unacceptable that my wife would have to submit to another set of exams at a cost of $175 because of their blunder, not to mention me losing another day of work. She sheepishly said that maybe we could just get the copies from the clinic where she had the exam.
So, we left and I was blurting out obsenities all the way to the car. We decided to go ahead and get the copies from the clinic. This clinic, Clinca del Sol, gave us some BS story that the INS would not accept a medical exam that was more than a year old, nor the vaccinations. After talking to a lawyer friend we decided to just get the copies. Thank God that they had them on file. So after we got those and the pictures we decided that we would go back to the USCIS office and try to talk to the agent that we had interviewed with. I had noticed that she seemed genuinely repentent for her agency's blunder. I told the guards that we had been there earlier that day and that the agent requested more information because they had lost it. Miraculously they let us in. MAKE SURE THAT YOU COPY THE INTERVIEW LETTER. That is what let us back in. We got the information officer to call the agent by telling him that she wanted to clarify an issue with the medical record. She agreed to see us! She came to the looked door of the interview area and we gave her the copies of the medical documents and the pictures. She looked at it and asked if we had my wife's passport. We gave it to her and she went inside and told us to wait. Fifteen minutes later we had a stamped passport and I had a wife in utter disbelief.
The morale of this story is this. In Houston a B1 is as good as a K1 as long as you are legit. Don't be alarmed by what you read on certain sites warning of doom if your spouse is not a K1. Also, make sure you have copies of everything and extra INS specific passport pics. It would be a good idea to take copies of the medical and vaccination records from the doctor or clinic from which you got them submitted. If you plead your case and make them feel at fault they may cut you some slack. They aren't the cold monsters that they are made out to be. They're just a bit careless.
Jesus and Blanca
| |
|
Consulate / USCIS Member Review #157