Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	i had my interview :(	What embassy are you applying through? Please fill out the details of your situation. It helps us, and it makes it easier for us to help you.	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-04-05 05:24:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	Condescending Effers	Well, the Embassy finally did something sensible. Today, when Jacinta went for her appointment to drop off the medical exam results, they also performed the interview, and she was approved! She can pick up her visa on April 26--the same day as when I defend my Ph.D. dissertation! F'n A!	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-04-12 22:17:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	Condescending Effers	I'm thinking a lot of your problems are due to the country you are speaking of and not just the embassy officials. Andre came from Jamaica. He had the same issues getting to the embassy....a 4-5 hour taxi ride to get there, the lines, the rudeness, the never being able to get them on the phone or answers via e-mail in a timely fashion,.....we've seen it all. And, as far as his exam went, same thing. He had to strip naked, no covering of any kind, and they went over him with a fine tooth comb. I think you may be right in part, but the doctor was an American, an old white guy, and the whole thing just seems a little shady to me. There's this perception, probably based a lot on fact, that old rich white guys in Kenya often exploit young Kenyan women. So there was this added subcultural detail that made it even more uncomfortable for her. But whether there are inefficiencies in the Kenyan system, which there certainly are--I don't necessarily blame the fact that my fiancee has to travel 90 minutes by public transportation on the Embassy--it is US officials at the Embassy who make those policies. It is an arm of our government after all. I mean, for example, if a DHL carrier can deliver the visa information from the NVC to the Embassy, why can't the same kind of service be used to send the medical results from the doctor's office to the Embassy. In fact, the doctor's office does in fact send medical specimens to the Embassy for analysis, so as to avoid possible tampering. All signs point to intentional and completely unnecessary complications for potential immigrants.	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-04-05 14:48:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	Condescending Effers	Like I said, I don't know what the normal protocal for women's exams is, but this seemed more than necessary, IMO. She was told to strip completely naked. Then to turn around while the doctor examined her all over. And then with rubber gloves and a flashlight inspected her female parts. I don't think it actually was "internal", but it seemed a bit over the top to her.	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-04-05 12:35:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	Condescending Effers	Oh, I hope you don't have to travel often between Kampala and Nairobi. I've taken the Busia-Nairobi bus so many times, and it's always an adventure! In my complaint to my congressman, I asked rhetorically what people are supposed to do if they don't live in Nairobi?! I actually under-described by 1 the number of trips my fiancee had to make to the doctor's office in Nairobi; she also had to go to get some missing immunizations. I would think that there's a certain degree of security in hand-delivering documents to the doctor's office and to the Embassy, but the amount of time it takes, including making the appointments for the visits is mind-boggling! If I were in Nairobi helping Jacinta, I would have ignored their messages to set up the appointments after getting the paperwork and tried setting up the appointments about a week ahead of when I knew I would have whatever paperwork I needed to deliver to them. That would at least have cut down on some of the waiting between setting up the appointment and the appointment itself--usually about a week.	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-04-05 00:51:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	Condescending Effers	Thanks. I sent an email to the case worker for my congressman who helped me earlier, when there was a problem with the approved petition being stuck somewhere between USCIS and the NVC. I haven't heard back yet, but we'll see. They were very useful before. If nothing else, it felt good to get the story off my chest.	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-04-04 23:49:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	Condescending Effers	Does anyone know of a way to lodge an official complaint about the policy of a US Embassy/Consulate? Some of the policies of the US Embassy in Nairobi, and American doctors working for them at the Sarit Centre clinic, are completely ridiculous. My fiancee made her fourth visit in about a week to the doctor's office, which takes about 90 minutes for her to get to. She had to go there initially to set up the first appointment (they don't allow appointments to be set up over email or the phone). She then went on Tuesday last week for the lab tests, and then Thursday for the blood work and doctor's exam (which itself seemed way too invasive, but that's another story and maybe that's just what all women go through when they see the doctor (if so, I'm really sorry)). Finally, today thought she had reached the end of the line, when she went back to pick up the results of the exam, but on her way home they called her to tell her that there was some kind of problem, and she has to go back tomorrow to get it fixed. Can you imagine being treated like this by a doctor in the US? Why does she have to pick up the results herself? Why can't they be forwarded to the Embassy? ####### does someone do if they don't live in Nairobi?! As if that weren't bad enough, Jacinta had been told that she had to get the results of the medical exam before she could schedule an appointment with the Embassy. I thought this appointment was the interview itself, but apparently it's not. She had to schedule an appointment just to *drop off* the results of the medical exam, and only then will the Embassy schedule the actual interview. Well, they scheduled the appointment--for Thursday, the 12th. So she has to wait over a week just to drop off the results. ####### is that?! Our best guess is that the interview will take place about a week after that, so hopefully before the 20th, but it's up to the Embassy to decide. And there's a complicating factor that I'm not even prepared to deal with yet--our approved petition expires April 25. This whole process is really embarassing and infuriating that my fiancee is being treated like this by an arm of our government, for no good reason, except to make it more difficult for her to come to our country. We can't wait for all of this to be over. I'm going to send another message to my Congressman to see if they can do anything. I doubt it will help since everything now is overseas, but maybe they can make a call and get things moved up. I doubt it, but I need some way to vent.	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-04-04 01:36:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	Condescending Effers	Right, when this is the face of America, she's got to wonder, "What am I going to find when I actually get there?!" Of course, as a US Citizen, I could have simply provided my passport to enter the Embassy to go to the bathroom--it would have been a bit of a wait to actually get there--but when I went to the Embassy back in November I didn't have to tell them at security what I even wanted after I showed them my passport. Then I got to walk around the long line of Kenyans and go directly in to have my items x-rayed. I really wish I could be there with her to go through this together, but I have to do my work here for now. And then again I get even angrier than she does when I see this kind of behavior. Great suggestion on taking everything--just in case she actually gets interviewed. I'll remind her of that. Then all she would have to do is provide the medical report next week and she'd be ready to go! I'll keep our fingers crossed for that.	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-03-21 15:56:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	Condescending Effers	My fiancee, Jacinta, picked up the Packet 3/4 forms from the US Embassy a couple weeks ago. She got all the paperwork filled out, collected all the documents, got her passport photos, and paid her application fee. She went to the Embassy yesterday to return all the paperwork, set up her interview, and get the letter she needs from the Embassy to get her medical exam--the only requirement besides the interview she has left to complete. However, she was turned away by security for not having an appointment. #######: an appointment to hand over all the forms she filled out?! It would have been considerate if they had told her that when she picked up the forms in the first place. In any case, they condescended to give her an appointment this coming Monday at 8am, so my hope is that she'll at least be able to schedule the interview then and we'll get a better sense of the timeline. The medical exam shouldn't be a problem, but she can't even schedule it without the letter that she's supposed to get from the Embassy. It's such a hassle for her to get to the Embassy in their 8-10am morning window, the only time they will serve immigrant visa applicants--though it's not as bad as the 20-hour bus ride I read about earlier in the MENA forum. She lives in the same city as the Embassy but has to walk about a mile from her apartment along a muddy path to pick up an overcrowded matatu (14-passenger public service van) to take her to the city center in the morning. From there she has to walk another half-mile or so to pick up another matatu toward the Embassy, which is thankfully only another five to ten minutes by foot from the main road where the matatu stops. It's easily a two-hour trip door-to-door, and then she gets to deal with security at the Embassy, where then she can demean herself further by begging to be allowed in, into the Embassy and into the US, by the racist and tribalist workers at the Embassy, who appear to think they're better than those they're serving. It's really a thankless and inhumane process. In an age of "progress", we need to be breaking down these power inequalities and deconstructing the harmful and dangerous notion of the nation-state, with its artificial borders. No person is illegal.	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-03-21 12:27:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	What do they do at the medical exam...	My fiancee's medical seemed to be more invasive than most. The exam didn't quite become "internal", but the doctor did seem interested in getting to third base. He had her strip naked, turn around, and then with rubber gloves and a flashlight wanted to check out her female parts. You can read more about the experience here: http://www.visajourn...mp;#entry791406 I hope your experience in China will be better than ours in Kenya. Good luck.	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-04-19 19:05:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	SHE DO NEEDS YOUR ADVICE K-1	Yes.	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-04-23 01:59:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	contract-to-hire a bad idea?	I'm also thinking that the contract-to-hire thing isn't a big problem, as long as you can document that you have enough cash. In my situation, I've had money coming from different sources while I've been a graduate student, some from teaching, some from fellowships I've had, and basically all of my funding was scheduled to run out at the end of this month. As it turns out, I have gotten a teaching position for the next two months, and a one-year job at UCLA beginning in the fall, so I'm OK, but actually the Embassy had no idea about that at the time of Jacinta's interview last week. All they knew was what I had put in the financial materials I had sent, which I did back in October, which said nothing about employment this summer--at the time Jacinta is actually going to be here. In October, all I could say was that I had funding through summer 2007 and was applying for jobs. My advisor more or less said the same thing in his "employment verification" letter, and said something like "I am confident that he will find a job". I think you'll be fine! And maybe you'll get hired permanently with a big raise! :-D	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-04-15 17:34:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	My Case is LOST!!	I'm so sorry to hear this. I had something similar involving the NVC but luckily not the US Embassy in Kenya. The only advice I can give is something that you've already done--get your congressmen involved. I recently moved from Michigan to Indiana, so I actually contacted a local representative and a senator from each state. I found that some of the congressmen work faster than others. One of them called me the following day, the next one within a week, and a third one a few weeks later. It appears that the second of the three congressmen who replied (I haven't heard anything from the fourth) did an excellent job getting things moving, but the third one just called me today with information a couple weeks old. So they're trying, but not doing as successfully. You might try recruiting a local reprentative to see if s/he can help you out (don't mention your senator unless they ask). Your case should have been sent by DHL from NVC to the consulate in Accra. The NVC should be able to check whether the package was received and there should be a signature of who signed for it. So perhaps call the NVC. Don't don't give up hope, there will be a way of tracing your case! It just might take longer than you want before you get your packet 3/4 information.	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-03-05 12:32:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussion	Administrative Review - Who else, how long	I don't see why any of you are delaying in contacting the congressmen. They can't hurt your cases; they can only help. You don't have to promise to vote for them or anything; they've already been elected, and they're public servants. I haven't had to deal with AR--thank God--but contacting my congressmen resulted in an almost immediate positive impact in my case and sped things along tremendously. Turboguy: your problem likely has to do with the country of your fiancee. Unfortunately, it seems that Russians are scrutinized excessively. There are some horror stories out there about how long some Russians have been under AR. I'm so sorry this has happened to you and hope your case goes quickly. Omoba: what a nightmere that you went into AR after the interview. I can only empathize with you. Do you suspect they're investigating you for possible marriage fraud? It seems there is a lot of prejudice out there against African women, that they are trying to enter the country fraudulently. And cases like Billyboy's don't help. :-(	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-03-08 22:52:00
Canada	Should I be panicking?	You poor thing. Don't get yourself sick over this. I don't have any direct experience with this, so I can't speak with any authority, but how could they require your tax transcripts from 2006 before April 15. I really hope you don't have a problem with this; it would be very unfair of them to require this information. My sister, for example, only got her W-2's in the mail yesterday, and most people are still trying to sort out their taxes as we speak. Well, they're probably sleeping actually, but maybe in a few hours they'll be trying to sort out their taxes.	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-03-17 03:32:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	Approved Finally	Congrats, but be patient, you still have a long way to go! I hope your application reaches the US Embassy in good time and procedes quickly from here on.	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-04-24 14:05:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports	in the 3rd week of waiting for NVC	At the six weeks point, contact your congressman. They'll get it back on track if there's a problem. Until then, hang in there and keep calling/emailing the NVC. Make sure when you call, you actually talk to a person, as the automated system doesn't get updated for K1 visa info.	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-04-16 20:48:00
Middle East and North Africa	Police Check/Background Check - Tanzania	Post this in the sub-Saharan Africa forum. You might also PM esjessi who is applying for a K1 visa in Tanzania. We got ours in Kenya through the local police station in Meru district where my fiancee grew up, but it would have been easier in the capital city, Nairobi, from the CID Headquarters. It's not called a "police check" there, but a "Certificate of Good Conduct". Maybe the terminology is just confusing. Just got this if you're outside Tanzania, so if you're near Dar or Zanzibar, I'd suggest going to the CID Headquarters there, and you can probably get it sorted out. But esjessi or someone else who's already done this for Tanzania can probably tell you more specifically what to do. POLICE RECORD Available. To obtain a certificate of good conduct for mainland Tanzania, applicants residing outside of Tanzania must send a complete set of fingerprints, together with a written request to the following address: Ministry of Home Affairs Criminal Investigations Department P.O. Box 9094 Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania Submitted fingerprints should be taken by a local police official in the requestor's place of residence, and should bear an official stamp or seal. The official should verify the identity of the individual being fingerprinted with a passport or identification card, noting the details of the identifying document. The fee is U.S. $25.00 for a foreign national, or 2,000 Tanzanian shillings for a citizen of Tanzania. Results are generally available within two weeks of application. Police records for Zanzibar are separately maintained and must be requested from the following address: Officer in Charge Identification Bureau, Fingerprint Section Police Force P.O.Boz237 Zanzibar, Tanzania Fees and application requirements are identical to those for Mainland Tanzania, above. Edited by mmarlo, 16 March 2007 - 11:55 PM.	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-03-16 23:52:00
Middle East and North Africa	Being Jerked around at US Consulat in Morocco	Wow, I'm so sorry. This must be very difficult, and your fiance is so dedicated, it must hurt to see him go through so much. I got angry at the US Embassy in Kenya today because after a 90 minute trip for my fiancee, she got turned away for not having an appointment--an appointment to return her completed packet 3 materials! Unfortunately, I can't offer any advice, but I'm wondering what exactly they told your fiance. It may be that he is now under administrative review. It happens quite frequently to Moroccan beneficiaries and could be another hardship that you have to overcome. Good luck. PS Is your fiance a Tuareg?	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-03-21 02:29:00
Middle East and North Africa	Favorite quotes	I've got a few: "Everybody's worried about stopping terrorism. Well, there's a really easy way: stop participating in it." "The Bush Administration do have moral values. Their moral values are very explicit: shine the boots of the rich and the powerful, kick everybody else in the face, and let your grandchildren pay for it. That simple principle predicts almost everything that's happening." "If there was anyone who actually fit the category of conservative, if there was such a category of people, they would have a very easy way to deal with the fact that 60% of the children under 2 [in Nicaragua] are suffering probable brain damage. Namely, by paying their debts. Simple conservative principle. But that's beyond unthinkable. Compassionate conservatives might want to go beyond that, if they existed. But they're much more interested in making political capital over the fact that a woman in a vegetative state shouldn't be allowed to die in dignity." --Noam Chomsky	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-04-24 01:54:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Local Immigration office for I129F	I went to my local DHS office yesterday. They're not much help. They have access to as much info as the USCIS customer service people do, which is basically the same as what you can see if you check the status of your case online. I finally got help with my problem today through USCIS Customer Service, after about four calls to them. In my case, the approved 129F seems to have gotten lost between the California Service Center and the National Visa Center. It was approved by the CSC Dec. 26, but as of today (Feb. 15), the NVC still has no record of my application on file. The various CIS people I've talked with have given me numbers for the State Department visa information line, have told me to contact NVC, have told me to talk to the local DHS office for more information about my case. Basically, my impression is that they send you in circles until you have enough information and sound confident enough with them on the phone that you force them into some action. I should point out that the local DHS person was helpful not in giving any specific information about my case, but in suggesting that I contact the USCIS customer service and the NVC and ask them to "run a trace" on my petition. So finally today, I got the CIS customer service lady to send an internal email to the CSC, saying that I've been in touch with the NVC and they still have no record of the file. She said the message went through successfully, gave me a referral number, and I should hear something from them within 45 days. That's better than what I got from the NVC who more or less intimated that there's nothing they can do until 90 days have passed from the time the application was approved. Legally, they have 90 days to receive the application. That was the message I got from them about a week ago on the phone. They haven't replied yet to the email I sent them asking them to "run a trace". I also got some potentially useful advice from an immigration attorney, which was to write letters to my congressmen. If you look on the websites of your local representative and state senators, you will probably find that there's some kind of immigration consent form or privacy form, that you can send along with a cover letter and other information supporting your case to ask them for assistance. I sent letters to my congressmen yesterday. I don't know if it will help, but at least it's something. The worst feeling is when there's no hope and there's nothing you can do about it. It's better if you can continue to get information and at least try to do something to help your case, if there is a legitimate concern. Good luck.	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-02-15 13:33:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	NVC finally receives approved I129F petition	Thanks! I'm hoping it goes fast, too! Now that I know I've got two congressmen on my side and after reading HOOSIERKIEV's comments about "Congressionals", I'm quite optimistic. She would be a great present for completing my Ph.D. dissertation in April! And in 1 day, the package has now left the NVC and is on its way to the US Embassy in Nairobi. Yeah for Congressionals!	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-02-23 23:54:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	NVC finally receives approved I129F petition	Thanks! I'm hoping it goes fast, too! Now that I know I've got two congressmen on my side and after reading HOOSIERKIEV's comments about "Congressionals", I'm quite optimistic. She would be a great present for completing my Ph.D. dissertation in April!	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-02-22 12:52:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	NVC finally receives approved I129F petition	Fifty-seven days after the petition was approved by the California Service Center, I just got a message from my congressman's office with some outstanding news: "[Your petition] just arrived at the National Visa Center and my contact said it will be entered into the system for the processing there by the end of the day. That should take 3-4 weeks. Fortunately, the embassy in Kenya is one of the smaller, more efficient agencies and so once the documents are sent there and there are no questions about eligibility, an interview should be forthcoming fairly soon. All in all, you are still looking at 2-3 months before any real action will be taken. When you have an overseas case number let me know and I can continue to monitor it." I had been getting the run-around by CIS before finally asking them to run a trace on my petition. At the same time, I got my congressmen involved. Persistence pays off! Now at least I can say I'm back on track. Keeping my fingers crossed for no further delays!	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-02-21 15:26:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Track Case en route from NVC to Consulate	What is the email address to Casa? ivcasablanca@state.gov	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-02-24 08:32:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	No street address	My fiance and I are working on filling out the G-325. He's from Tanzania, where most of the streets don't have names, and most of the named streets don't have numbers. What should we write for his residence? The city he's living in now has neighborhood names. Would it be sufficient to put [neighborhood], [city], [province], [country]? Same thing for employment history? But he also lived in a tiny village that doesn't have any neighborhood names or street names. Should I just write N/A for street and number? We're having the same problem with the I-129. If he gets a P.O Box, can we write that as his address? My fiance and I both live in Grenada and have the exact same circumstances. I am one of the lucky few who hae a street name...but no number in site. His previous addresses were just neighborhoods as you said, we just put what we could. Is there a common name that the villagers use for a street?. When filling out mine, I assumed they were looking for a physical address since a PO box can't be a residence. If all else fails (this is my guess) it would be better to write 'no street name' instead of N/A...it just gives them a little more info. the embassy covering that area is most likely used to that situation. Best of Luck! sue Sounds like you got a PO Box -- that's what Jacinta and I did and just used that for her address. Seems to be much easier than describing the building she lives in, which is useless for the delivery of mail, anyway, since the post office doesn't deliver anywhere beyond their PO Boxes.	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-03-05 07:35:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	evidence	smscountry is pretty nice. it's only $.045 a message to Safaricom, but it's $.0675 a message to a Celtel number. they can write back to you, and your messages can be forwarded freely to your email. the best thing might be that you don't get charged to receive a message. from kenya, it's a 10 bob to the smscountry number (compared to a 5 bob to a Safaricom/Celtel number). but it's a much better deal than my cell phone here, which charges me $.15/message to send AND receive. smscountry is normally pretty reliable and the messages usually go through almost instantaneously, but occasionally there are network problems and the messages don't get through right away or if you send several in a row they might not get delivered in the right order, which can be confusing. all in all though i think it's a good deal and very convenient for me.	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-03-05 18:18:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	evidence	You don't need more than three or four photos. That's all I had, and it was fine. I did write in pencil on who was in the photo, the date, and where it was taken. I also used copies of my boarding passes, plus some phone card receipts, a print-out of SMS history (I use SMScountry to send messages to her Safaricom number, and all messages that go back and forth are logged there and can be downloaded), and a few emails. I wasn't too worried about marking out the personal stuff, and after reading SOONERKIEV's comments, it appears that the USCIS employees don't care about that information anyway, but of course it's up to you. Basically what you have is on track.	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-03-05 07:49:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	I129-F Extension	My approved I-129F was going to expire next month. It took a long time to get to the NVC, so there wasn't much time left after it got to the Embassy. I didn't request an extension, but I think we were given it automatically by the US Embassy in Nairobi. When my fiancee went to pick up her packet 3/4 information from the Embassy they told her she had 4 months to get it all worked out. So I think you can get a 4 month extension on the initial 3 months that you're given to get the visa from the time your I-129F is approved. Once you get the visa, you have I think 6 months to enter the US, but I think there's also a way to get an extension on that, but I know that involves a formal request to the US Embassy overseas. In any case, you're going to have to deal with your Embassy/Consulate overseas, but my recommendation would be to get the visa as quickly as possible and then ask for extra time after it's already in hand.	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-03-06 13:10:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Can we schedule the interview?	You need to be very careful with this. Your approved petition is only valid for 3 months from the date it is approved (with the possibility for a four month extension), so be careful in delaying with the hope of getting the timing for your visit correct. It might be easier just to let things run their natural course and then use the six-month window after getting the visa to enter the US together. In my case, I have an aunt and uncle who are planning a safari to Kenya, and are coordinating it so that my fiancee can enter the US with them together. I wish I had the money for an extra ticket, or I'd be going along too! At the US Embassy in Nairobi you can exercise a bit of control over your interview date. There, it is possible to pick up all of the Packet 3/4 materials directly from the Embassy and once the Packet 3 materials are ready to go and the medical exam is scheduled, you can call the Embassy or go back to the Embassy and set up your interview. This is certainly a policy that is specific to the US Embassy in Nairobi, but you may want to contact others who have gone through the Embassy in Ankara to see if they have anything similar.	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-03-06 16:46:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	NVC----No Record of receiving	Sorry guys about AR. Good luck; it's probably time to get your congressmen involved.	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-03-06 23:18:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	NVC----No Record of receiving	Thanks for the reply. they told me that some department in Washington is checking it as well, I don't know why, but she said it's for the new homeland security regulations for something. my cases was recieved on 2/2/2007. and the person did tell me that it is under ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW. what exactly does it mean, can you please explain?????? thank you Basically, it's a background check. Might only take a couple weeks, but sometimes it takes longer. Do some searches of the forums, and you can get more information. Try this: http://www.visajourn...h...6&hl=review	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-03-06 18:02:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	NVC----No Record of receiving	MMARLO, I have been waiting for 6 weeks already and getting very nervous about it. I called them today and they said it's been processed at washington and waiting for a response. they do have a case number for me though, How do you determine if the case has been screwed up. I don't wanna to bother the congressman until it's necessary. Thanks I don't understand what you mean when you say "it's been processed at washington". The NVC is in New Hampshire. I don't know what Washington has to do with it. If you were given a new NVC case number that is good; it means the NVC has at least done the initial processing on the petition. So then the question is why it hasn't been sent on to the US Embassy yet. I hope you are not under administrative review. If it is, you could be in for a long wait, and you should get your congressman involved. Did they say when the NVC received your approved petition? I hope it won't be long for you! Good luck.	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-03-06 16:57:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	NVC----No Record of receiving	First, for K-1 visas, do not bother with the automated system. They do not put our status on there, so it will always say that the NVC has no record of your application. You have to talk to an operator to actually find anything out. Most people should find out within a month that their approved petition was received and then forwarded to the US Embassy. If that's the case, get your NVC case number and ask what day it was sent. This will help you find out if the US Embassy has received the file or not. In my case, my fiancee was able to use the case number to pick up her Packet 3 and Packet 4 materials directly from the Embassy. Second, if it has been more than six weeks and the NVC still hasn't received your approved petition. They'll probably just tell you to contact USCIS, and USCIS will give you the run around. You might eventually get them to put a trace on your petition through your service center, but then they'll tell you that it will be up to 45 days before you hear anything. What you should do after six weeks is contact your congressmen and get them involved. You'll probably find that your case gets a touch and within a couple days is back on track for processing at the NVC. This is what happened to me.	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-03-06 15:40:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	At what point should I worry?	They probably won't deal with you for a while, but it appears the best way to get help is to contact your congressman if there is a legitimate problem. My advice: go to Jamaica for a while and relax. The time will fly by, and you'll be approved before you know it.	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-03-06 15:29:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	We got packet 4!!!!	Good luck!	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-03-07 02:27:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Embassy got k1 visa	This is great news. I hope the process through visa-granting continues to work so smoothly!	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-03-07 16:54:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Need a dvice please	like a bag of dirt. drop her.	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-03-07 02:30:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	TOUCHED!!!!	Best of luck. I hope this portends well for the future!	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-03-07 16:50:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	Could this be true?	Wow, great!!! Excellent news.	mmarlo	Male	Kenya	2007-03-08 13:33:00