Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	Hello All I had a great opportunity Saturday evening to have dinner with and spend several hours with a director at the VSC. He is currently in charge of the department that handles I-751s among other things. His wife is an adjusicator that handles YOUR petition (if it went through VSC). His wife is Russian, arrived on a K-1 and is now a citizen. This man has worked for USCIS for many years and was at several local offices before being assigned to the VSC. His wife is a friend of Alla's and we were all at a dinner party for several American/Russian/Ukrainian couples Saturday. We had a long chat, he was very open and helpful. We talked about a lot of the things we see here on VJ and I was trying to remember all the "usual questions" I read about and pin him down for some answers. I also have asked him if he will give an "official interview" for VJ. He said he will check out the site and I will call him later this week. So, anyway I will try to cover what we discussed, he was quite frank and direct in his answers, not rude, not at all, but he knows his stuff and answers without hesitation. It turned into an impromtu and fun "interview" with me trying to remember all the hot button issues I see on VJ I told him that the number ONE and number TWO "complaints" I see are Why is the VSC taking so long and why can't we get through to you guys? Why is VSC taking so long, what happened? I was approved in 58 days!: We had problem with labor last year and lost many workers, we hired more last November and it took some time to get them trained. Some of the petitions were sent to California and we also assign people to different tyopes of visas. They will concentrate on one tyoe, get behind on another and then shift many people back to the other type. Lately we have shifted many, almost all, adjudicators to I-129fs, so that should make people happy. They will do that until they get caught up. Summer is a busy time for I-129fs, usually about June we get slammed with them. The winter or early spring is the slowest time for I-129fs, but then it depends what they have everyone working on also. OK, why can't we get through to you? The 1-800 line is useless. Those are contract employees and they are trained to select answers from a menu of 14 answers. They pick which one is best for your question. There are thousands of visas being processed at any time and everyone is special and everyone has special circumstances and if we had direct lines we weould do nothing but field requests by petitioners to give them priority, we just can't do it. How would you feel if your petition got bumped because some woman called and cried on the phone and then her petition got moved up ahead of yours. We simply have to operate in a way that avoids any chance of fraud, corruption or unfairness. So what about some people get approved ahead of others? Sme petitions have problems or delays, we do not hold back others for this. If an adjudicator has problems, he puts that one aside or sends an RFE and goes on to the next. The next one may be clean and gets approved right away, in just a few minutes, they adjudicate 15-20 petitions a day per person, and the ones with problems may wait weeks for the petitioner to respond to the RFE, or maybe it is a name check they are waiting for. Petitions are assigned as they arrive, when we are working on those petitions, but they do not go out the door in the same order they came in. G-325a, Signed or Unsigned? Unsigned. WHAT? Ok I have seen the memo but lots of VJ members got RFEs for unsigned G-325s, what gives? They do not have to be signed,they can be signed at the consualte interview. Some adjusicators haven't read all the memos, we get hundreds of the things, and maybe they make a mistake. If you want to be sure there is no mistake, sign it. Or send a letter expalining why it is not signed and request it be signed at the interview. Do you have that memo? It is on the VJ website somewhere You can print a copy of that and send it with the I-129f and G-325a. Fiancee intent letter? Signed or unsigned? Signed. What about a faxed or emailed signature? When I was adjudicating, if I could see a signature, I accepted it, but many adjusicators will not. Signed is better. Lawyer or no lawyer? For what? Enough said. Now a hot issue, a very controversial one. There seems to be a trend in some countries of foreign men marrying American women and the women are considerably older. There is always a question if this is a problem. It never seems to be a problem for older men/younger women (My wife is 13 years younger, his wife is also considerable younger than him) Is it a problem? For us, USCIS, no. "Free to marry". What about the consulates or for AOS or I-751? Consulates do what they do, it is not USCIS, some of them are bastards. Kiev is easy, they approve everyone (laughs), they used to be bastards but they got easier since they first started doing those in 2005, before then you would have had to go to Warsaw, you know. For AOS if they can prove they are legitimate we do not care about age but anything that is "not normal" for the culture will draw suspicion. They probably will not get a no questions asked interview (I had told him our AOS was "no questions asked") What about birth certificates, some people have trouble getting them? This is a problem for us also. Some people, especially our younger staff, think all the world is like the USA. I remember one, when I was in the Kansas City office, the beneficiary was from Viet Nam, she was born in 1954 there was no birth certificate. The CO asked me about this and I looked at the file. I said "Do you know what was going on in Viet Nam in 1954?" She looked at me, straight faced and said "What, their computers were down?" If a birth certificate cannot be obtained they can usually get something from a church, a village official, something, and send that with a letter of explanation. Or just their passport and a letter explaining the situation (this applies to AOS more than I-129f as beneficiary birth certificate is not required for the petition, but I wanted to ask anyway, it seems a common question here) What about extra documents? Proof of relationship? We don't need it, only that they have met for the fiancee visa. What about the consulates? Consulates do what they do, as I said, some are bastards. They get whatever we get when it is sent on. I can't tell you what NVC and consulates do, I know some are terrible and some are really easy, but I do not know all the details of each. Kiev is easy, western Europe is easy, Nigeria is horrible, but you would not believe the scams from Nigeria, I get jaded. I am surprised a lot of them get visas and then we have to deal with them. I have to ask for a collegue, Ecuador? Bastards. What about changes? Are there any in the works? Is Obama ouching you guys to work faster? I am not sure Obama knows we exist. There have been no changes and no pressure other than the usual workload and shifting things around. I do not expect any immigration changes in the next year or two, at kleat not in rules or amnesty or anything like that. I do expect FEE INCREASES within the next year...across the board. How much more? I cannot say, that is not my area, I just hear talk. He added, "We try not to deny petitions, people really get angry and make lots of trouble. Denials usually come at the consulate or maybe AOS or sometimes even with the I-751. If we deny someone we need good reason, if they meet the criteria, we will approve it, they just have to give us what we need to approve them." So how can I speed up my petition? You can't really. If it gets to be too long and if you can get a congressman or senator to call, that will get some action, but half the time those guys dont'' call or they do and the petition has only been there 3 months. Sometimes one falls through the cracks, gets overlooked, we are human. A congressman can get through and get them to dig it out if it has been too long, but I wouldn't call that "speeding it up". That's a fix for whn it is too slow. we talked for some time more, about 5 hours altogether, briefly interrupted by Alla every now and again who had her own questions about the I-751 procedure which I posted in that forum, about VJ and other topics (his Navy days) He said he will check the site and gave me his home number. He said "call anytime but not 3 in the morning" I asked about an interview or answering prepared questions, he said possibly, he will check the site. He said many internet sites are advertisement for immigration attorneys or instructing people on how to pull scams, I assured him he would be very pleased with VJ and he thinks it is great that there is a good site for information and advice. (he never heard of VJ before this) I can also say, that speaking to him, I heard so many of the same buzzwords or advice that I have seen right here, this is really a great site with some great folks giving some really great info.	Gary and Alla	Male	Ukraine	2009-09-28 17:24:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	QUOTE (Stephen + Elisha @ Sep 28 2009, 06:34 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Gary, if you talk to him again, I thought of another hot one: G-325A: one page or four? I knew there would be something I forgot!	Gary and Alla	Male	Ukraine	2009-09-28 17:38:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	Did you mention Linh's I-751 specifically?	Anh map	Male	Vietnam	2009-09-28 17:39:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	QUOTE (Anh map @ Sep 28 2009, 06:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Did you mention Linh's I-751 specifically? No but I did ask alot about the I-751, I posted in that forum also. I thought of you when he told me about the Viet Nam case, but then he said "1954" and I thought ...Naaaahhhhhhh	Gary and Alla	Male	Ukraine	2009-09-28 17:57:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	QUOTE (Gary and Alla @ Sep 28 2009, 05:24 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> What about the consulates? Consulates do what they do, as I said, some are bastards. They get whatever we get when it is sent on. The second sentence is a relief to know. QUOTE I have to ask for a colleague, Ecuador? Bastards. Why, thank you, colleague! And, it's good to know that someone besides "all of us" has come up with the correct synonym for Guayaquil, si man. More questions (a couple of them multipartite) to ask the dude: 1. Does it slow down the processing perceptibly if people front-load their applications in anticipation of dealing with the consulates later? Do his staffers mind this, or they deal with it because "a package is a package"? 2. What percentage of the VSC's workload is dealing with petitions that have been returned from the consulates? 3.a. How exactly does he define "#######" consulate? How specifically do Guayaquil & others qualify, and is the VSC doing anything in particular to make it known, such as reaffirming 99.44% of returned petitions from there? 3.b. Can you get him to come up with a list of the 15 or 20 "most #######" consulates, along with seemingly common reasons that these places return petitions to the VSC? (This is a back-door way of learning tips for front-loading.) It would also be helpful if he could offer a reason or two why each is a #######, as he did for Lagos. 4. Does he know anyone by name & title in the Dept. of State to whom to complain about "#######" consulates? (This last could be valuable also for those who have been subjected to the blonde in Casablanca, and, I think, to some ill-tempered consul in Vietnam that I seem to remember reading about -- individual misbehavior means institutional tolerance of it.) 5. Can he (or someone who works for him) provide an updated, detailed, insider's description of what a file goes through when it's received and processed? That "former adjudicator at the NSC" thread here on VJ was immensely interesting, but it's 5 or 6 years old; parts of it still likely apply, but other parts are certainly wildly out of date. Part of the insatiable search for knowledge, si man. Gracias again.	TBoneTX	Male	Ecuador	2009-09-28 23:30:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	QUOTE (TBoneTX @ Sep 29 2009, 12:30 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (Gary and Alla @ Sep 28 2009, 05:24 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> What about the consulates? Consulates do what they do, as I said, some are bastards. They get whatever we get when it is sent on. The second sentence is a relief to know. QUOTE I have to ask for a colleague, Ecuador? Bastards. Why, thank you, colleague! And, it's good to know that someone besides "all of us" has come up with the correct synonym for Guayaquil, si man. More questions (a couple of them multipartite) to ask the dude: 1. Does it slow down the processing perceptibly if people front-load their applications in anticipation of dealing with the consulates later? Do his staffers mind this, or they deal with it because "a package is a package"? 2. What percentage of the VSC's workload is dealing with petitions that have been returned from the consulates? 3.a. How exactly does he define "#######" consulate? How specifically do Guayaquil & others qualify, and is the VSC doing anything in particular to make it known, such as reaffirming 99.44% of returned petitions from there? 3.b. Can you get him to come up with a list of the 15 or 20 "most #######" consulates, along with seemingly common reasons that these places return petitions to the VSC? (This is a back-door way of learning tips for front-loading.) It would also be helpful if he could offer a reason or two why each is a #######, as he did for Lagos. 4. Does he know anyone by name & title in the Dept. of State to whom to complain about "#######" consulates? (This last could be valuable also for those who have been subjected to the blonde in Casablanca, and, I think, to some ill-tempered consul in Vietnam that I seem to remember reading about -- individual misbehavior means institutional tolerance of it.) 5. Can he (or someone who works for him) provide an updated, detailed, insider's description of what a file goes through when it's received and processed? That "former adjudicator at the NSC" thread here on VJ was immensely interesting, but it's 5 or 6 years old; parts of it still likely apply, but other parts are certainly wildly out of date. Part of the insatiable search for knowledge, si man. Gracias again. all great questions. I am making a list as I will talk to him again and I have asked Cap'n Ewok in a PM how he would like to handle an interview or prepared questions, the man says he will do this. I did ask him about "frontloading" in a roundabout way (extra proof of relationship) but he did not indicate it was a problem, seemed nonchalant about it. (mentioned in my post)Your other questions are ones I didn't think of. and no he did not indicate a list of consulates which are bastards or what constitutes that in his book. It may not be the same thing that constitutes it your books and it is just a coincidence they give him heartburn also.	Gary and Alla	Male	Ukraine	2009-09-29 00:50:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	Tbone, I also got the impression that he meant some consulates were "bastards" because they are hard on applicants because of high fraud countries and others may be bastards because they cause him grief. Not sure where Ecuador falls in that rating. From what you say, maybe the latter. Also this man is no longer involved directly with K-1 visas, but now is handling I-751s, but he did handle K-1s at one time. Some of his comments were made when Alla was in earshot for her benefit, such as "Kiev is easy, they will let anyone in" As Alla was standing next to me. She said "Hey...what do you mean by that?" LOL But really he said they were now easy but not for tourist visas (true) He really had nothing to say about "frontloading" other that it is a consulate issue. They seem to be very compartmentalized...USCIS does their thing and sends it on, then they do their thing again for AOS and Lifting conditions, citizenship, etc. He had some off the record comments about how he feels about the citizenship test also, but I will spare him those. This was a casual outdoor dinner/bar-b-que get together and I really don't want to repeat something said "out of school"	Gary and Alla	Male	Ukraine	2009-09-29 01:06:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	QUOTE (Starlight95 @ Sep 29 2009, 02:05 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I have one questions that seems to be a hot topic. Some countries like India consider your religious divorce legal and does not need to be registered through civil authorities. What would be acceptable type of evidence for this? What do they look for EXACTLY in foreign divorce decrees. A lot of VJ members get RFE's for divorce decrees and its a difficult to proof because every country has different types of divorce decrees. Some countries you get one page with a stamp and you will get an RFE because they want the full copy of your decree. Another good question (I am making a list) I will say this man (not a young guy) seems pretty knowledgeable in the ways of the world and that not everyone does things as here. He seemd like HE would make sensible judgements when he was an adjudicator, the example of foreign birth certificates was an example, and he said his wife had passed through petitions that were from Russian speaking countries where the divorce certificate was not translated as she could translate it herself and sometimes went to other adjudicators for questions. He said there are adjudicators there that speak various languages and sometimes they bring petitions to each other to sort out something not translated or not clear. There are also adjudicators that never leave their cubicle and if what they want isn't there, you get an RFE. But good question. Definitely would be good to know where they draw the line. Edited by Gary and Alla, 29 September 2009 - 01:14 AM.	Gary and Alla	Male	Ukraine	2009-09-29 01:12:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	Gary: Both messages understood completely; gracias. The "####### consulate" question meant to refer to those that give HIM or the service center grief. I suspect that a list of those from him would come pretty close to a list that give the applicants grief. New question, again perhaps out of his immediate area of expertise: What does he recommend when civil surgeons insist on performing full medicals when only the I-693 vaccination section needs to be filled out? Bedtime, zzz man.	TBoneTX	Male	Ecuador	2009-09-29 01:14:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	QUOTE (TBoneTX @ Sep 29 2009, 02:14 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Gary: Both messages understood completely; gracias. The "####### consulate" question meant to refer to those that give HIM or the service center grief. I suspect that a list of those from him would come pretty close to a list that give the applicants grief. New question, again perhaps out of his immediate area of expertise: What does he recommend when civil surgeons insist on performing full medicals when only the I-693 vaccination section needs to be filled out? Bedtime, zzz man. Got it, and that should be a good one for him, he used to do the AOS interviews. He did get into I-601s a little and VAWA ("Good law but badly abused") but it is not something I really know a lot about and did not understand everything, and he kind of wandered into the suject and wandered out.	Gary and Alla	Male	Ukraine	2009-09-29 01:19:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	Thank you for this valuable information, it is indeed priceless!!!! And I agree 100% with you....this site is amazingly helpful!!!	Maire	Female	Cuba	2009-09-29 07:52:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	QUOTE (Gary and Alla @ Sep 28 2009, 11:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> ...it is a consulate issue. They seem to be very compartmentalized...USCIS does their thing and sends it on, then they do their thing again for AOS and Lifting conditions, citizenship, etc. That's so stupid - most people can agree that "throw it over the wall" types of processes never work well, and it's better to have communication and standards across the board. HMPH. Stephen+Elisha beat me to the question about 1 or 4 pages, I was trying to psychic my way into your message "Ask about how many copies! Ask about how many copies" a la "Look behind yooooooouuu" for horror movie victims.	Nik+Heather	Female	United Kingdom	2009-09-29 08:26:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	Did I read about another fee increase??? Are they serious? Also, question for N-400 and the biometrics (again). I see some people are getting receipts (NOA1s) for $595 and others for $675. What is happening with discrepancy - are people's old biometrics being used and they're still charging the $80 or what? If the biometrics from I-751 is still valid, why pay another $80 for something they already have? And since January 2009 all returning PRs get their picture taken as well as fingerprinted (index fingers only) at POE so it looks like they don't really need new biometrics. Also question about GCs that never show up (either CR-1 visas or AOS). Why such lax security (plain envelope, no signature required) when sending such an important document as someone's GC? Why do we have to jump through hoops to prove we did not change address but never received GC and were still asked to pay additional $380 for something never produced - direct info from INFOPASS "happens all the time, submit I-90 saying you lost, mutilated or detroyed your GC and pay another $380"? [We ended up involving our senator and only the 2nd sending of I-90 (no fee) was accepted]	milimelo	Female	Bosnia-Herzegovina	2009-09-29 15:10:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	QUOTE (tri_gear @ Sep 29 2009, 02:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> What about extra documents? Proof of relationship? We don't need it, only that they have met for the fiancee visa. So are you saying that all these people here who have been sending in a novel full of information/pictures is NOT necessary?? Most yes. Of course. We were approved with a two sentence description of how we met and ONE photo plus passport stamps and copies of boarding passes. But I have been saying that for a long time. Unless you are dealing with one of those "#######" consulates or need to meet some local cultural standards (such as engagement parties in Viet Nam or Thailand, etc.) Yes.	Gary and Alla	Male	Ukraine	2009-09-29 17:26:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	QUOTE (milimelo @ Sep 29 2009, 04:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Did I read about another fee increase??? Are they serious? Also, question for N-400 and the biometrics (again). I see some people are getting receipts (NOA1s) for $595 and others for $675. What is happening with discrepancy - are people's old biometrics being used and they're still charging the $80 or what? If the biometrics from I-751 is still valid, why pay another $80 for something they already have? And since January 2009 all returning PRs get their picture taken as well as fingerprinted (index fingers only) at POE so it looks like they don't really need new biometrics. Also question about GCs that never show up (either CR-1 visas or AOS). Why such lax security (plain envelope, no signature required) when sending such an important document as someone's GC? Why do we have to jump through hoops to prove we did not change address but never received GC and were still asked to pay additional $380 for something never produced - direct info from INFOPASS "happens all the time, submit I-90 saying you lost, mutilated or detroyed your GC and pay another $380"? [We ended up involving our senator and only the 2nd sending of I-90 (no fee) was accepted] I added these questions to the list. It appears this is going to be a "prepared list" type of thing, which is OK. All valid and good questions	Gary and Alla	Male	Ukraine	2009-09-29 17:28:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	Gary, Highest compliments on this thread. I don't expect your friend to explain the WHY of everything in the process, because I expect they have to retain a certain degree of "mystery." However, they might think a little more of how they can fill in the "WHAT" part. For example, there has been debate about how many copies of what form to send in (no need to mention the form). If they require multiple copies, they might indicate that a little more clearly as it isn't always clear. Also, if they require multiple copies, they might indicate where those copies get attached, as this should not be a secret either and helps (in our minds at least) the future stages of the process to fall into place better. Anything to reduce RFE's; but if RFE's are reduced does that put them out of business?	thongd4me	Male	Thailand	2009-09-30 04:44:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	QUOTE (thongd4me @ Sep 30 2009, 05:44 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Gary, Highest compliments on this thread. I don't expect your friend to explain the WHY of everything in the process, because I expect they have to retain a certain degree of "mystery." However, they might think a little more of how they can fill in the "WHAT" part. For example, there has been debate about how many copies of what form to send in (no need to mention the form). If they require multiple copies, they might indicate that a little more clearly as it isn't always clear. Also, if they require multiple copies, they might indicate where those copies get attached, as this should not be a secret either and helps (in our minds at least) the future stages of the process to fall into place better. Anything to reduce RFE's; but if RFE's are reduced does that put them out of business? Ah yes, we did discuss the nuances of government instructions. Let's just say he is of like mind and often has the same problem. I guess I often forget that government inefficiency applies to all involved, we are not the only victims. No they do not need RFEs to keep their jobs.	Gary and Alla	Male	Ukraine	2009-09-30 05:03:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	QUOTE (Haymsmorgan @ Sep 29 2009, 11:16 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> great info....you covered quite a bit....im suprised he was so open to your questions....he was more helpful than these customer service reps....they annoy me.....thanx for posting!!!!!!! He was more open than my neighbor also. It doesn't surprise me so much he speaks about procedural things or what is good evidence for the I-751, after all it makes his job easier. I was a bit surprised he was open about how the petitions are processed and how they seem to do things in "batches" and switch from one type of petition to another, etc. My neighbor (a lower level supervisor) never will discuss that. Maybe it is a personal thing rather than national security thing.	Gary and Alla	Male	Ukraine	2009-09-30 05:06:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	QUOTE (SophWeb @ Sep 30 2009, 07:18 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> many consulates do not accept new evidence when you go for your interview. So would you agree it's still best to overload your original packet with evidence, which they are forced to look at? For the "#######" consulates, definitely. Offhand, one would doubt that Australia sinks to this level (check the Reviews for patterns or individual worst-case reports).	TBoneTX	Male	Ecuador	2009-09-30 11:26:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	QUOTE (TBoneTX @ Sep 30 2009, 12:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (SophWeb @ Sep 30 2009, 07:18 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> many consulates do not accept new evidence when you go for your interview. So would you agree it's still best to overload your original packet with evidence, which they are forced to look at? For the "#######" consulates, definitely. Offhand, one would doubt that Australia sinks to this level (check the Reviews for patterns or individual worst-case reports). Tbone, I think Thailand probably falls in between Ecuador & Australia; the fact that it is one of the most popular K-1 sites may have forced them to adopt good standards but on the other hand I could be wrong when it comes to attributing any motivation on the part of government officials. I love Thailand almost as much as I love my fiancée, but trying not to view it in through rose-colored glasses, I might call it "corruption with a smile." I'm just talking about the country, not the consulate. I don't view the consular staff as very corrupt from the reviews I've seen. In any case, I front-loaded my packet with stuff that probably won't be looked at until the interview (around 130 pages worth) and only time will tell if it does us any good.	thongd4me	Male	Thailand	2009-09-30 12:49:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	QUOTE (SophWeb @ Sep 30 2009, 08:18 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Wow. This is fantastic. This will be extremely useful to so many of us. Thank you. The fact that you need no evidence of an on-going relationship is what astounds me the most. And also relieves me! It seems that 'lack of evidence' is one of the main concerns when compiling the packet. I would assume then that it is at the consulate stage when that 'relationship' evidence is really analyzed. As we've seen though, many consulates do not accept new evidence when you go for your interview. So would you agree it's still best to overload your original packet with evidence, which they are forced to look at? well it never hurts. I doubt you need it for Australia. Also sending all this with the petition does not FORCE anyone to look at anything but they cannot dent they never saw anything later when USCIS reviews their denial. It is one of those things that if you need it, you are already in heap big problems. It is a recovery tool more than anything, seems like. Maybe it helps with some consulates up front. I just do not see Australia or any of the "1st world" low fraud consulates being that way and have never heard of such a thing. Check the consulate reviews.	Gary and Alla	Male	Ukraine	2009-09-30 19:00:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	QUOTE (George&Hazel @ Oct 1 2009, 03:35 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Is there any way this post can be stickied? I think you mean "pinned" - so it will appear at the top. I don't know the process - ask a moderator. I agree with you.	thongd4me	Male	Thailand	2009-10-01 03:59:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	QUOTE (yahya54 @ Sep 30 2009, 11:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> how about i-360(vawa) they take for ever to approve i see poeple get approve in 6 month and other have to wiat 2 years We did not discuss VAWA or I-601s either. He did mention in passing he thought VAWA was a law with good intent that had been overly abused. As I recall at that point a couple of hot Russian women (our wives) came along and asked us to dance, to which I can report he is as terrible at that as I am.	Gary and Alla	Male	Ukraine	2009-10-01 18:44:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	QUOTE (k.loveh @ Oct 1 2009, 09:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You're awesome Gary! I can't wait till the the formal interview! Thank you for this, and God Bless You and Alla! I plan to call him Saturday and see how he wants to proceed. At this point I have so many good questions for him (Why didn't I think of all of these? ) Anyway it looks as though the best thing will be to prepare a list of the questions and email them to him. None of them seem out of line or something he couldn't answer. I hope. In fact, it could be helpful to USCIS to clarify some of these things.	Gary and Alla	Male	Ukraine	2009-10-01 21:05:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	QUOTE (Gary and Alla @ Oct 1 2009, 09:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> it could be helpful to USCIS to clarify some of these things. Si, man; just think of how much aggregate "hands on the files" time could be saved by the troops on the processing floor if some of the uncertainties are cleared up. General note to future posters: There is no need to requote the entire original post when you respond, please.	TBoneTX	Male	Ecuador	2009-10-01 22:55:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	QUOTE (TBoneTX @ Oct 1 2009, 11:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (Gary and Alla @ Oct 1 2009, 09:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> it could be helpful to USCIS to clarify some of these things. Si, man; just think of how much aggregate "hands on the files" time could be saved by the troops on the processing floor if some of the uncertainties are cleared up. General note to future posters: There is no need to requote the entire original post when you respond, please. Amen. If you go to the top right corner of post #1 in this thread you will see the word OPTIONS. Under that you have Display Modes and Outline is under that. Double-click Outline. The Outline shows the skeleton of how the posts in the thread are linked. You will see the first post at the top and can open any post below it by double-clicking, instead of having to laboriously scroll down through page after page of space-consuming graphics. Many have (myself included) complimented Gary on a "great post" but what he has done is to present a thread of posts which will hopefully bring important VJ questions before the top guy at the Vermont Service Center, free of fraud/special interests yet profitable for both sides.	thongd4me	Male	Thailand	2009-10-02 00:40:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	Hello All I gave a list of questions to the USCIS director tonight and he promises me to answer all he can. Thanks for all the input as I would never have thought of all these myself. We didn't tie up to much time on questions tonight but I did ask two that have been burning a hole in my brain. G325a TWO copies is plenty. The reason the form was changed is that USCIS has been throwing away all but two copies for some years. The OMB had printed, in his words "A gazillion" of the old form and they just dealt with it. He said there is no harm in sending four copies if it makes you feel better. Religious Divorces Religious divorces are not generally acceptable to the USCIS or the US consulates. If you obtained a foreign "religious divorce" it should be registered or filed with civil authorities in that country to be recognized here. I hope to hear soon from him on the other questions and I will post them as soon as he responds. He seems as interested in making this go smoothly for all concerned as we are. Moderators...I did not know whether to post this separately or add it to the pinned topic above, I trust your judgement.	Gary and Alla	Male	Ukraine	2009-10-05 18:19:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	Additional related information merged with the earlier, pinned thread of same	Kathryn41	Female	Canada	2009-10-05 19:24:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	QUOTE (LOLAs @ Oct 5 2009, 07:47 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Here are my questions: Is it really necessary to write a letter to accompany one's petition when re-applying (fresh application) for an initially approved but canceled case (cancellation requested by petitioner upon detecting document error or any other reason)? Is pre-loading documents necessary, beneficial or not? QUOTE (Gary and Alla @ Oct 5 2009, 06:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hello All I gave a list of questions to the USCIS director tonight and he promises me to answer all he can. Thanks for all the input as I would never have thought of all these myself. We didn't tie up to much time on questions tonight but I did ask two that have been burning a hole in my brain. G325a TWO copies is plenty. The reason the form was changed is that USCIS has been throwing away all but two copies for some years. The OMB had printed, in his words "A gazillion" of the old form and they just dealt with it. He said there is no harm in sending four copies if it makes you feel better. Religious Divorces Religious divorces are not generally acceptable to the USCIS or the US consulates. If you obtained a foreign "religious divorce" it should be registered or filed with civil authorities in that country to be recognized here. I hope to hear soon from him on the other questions and I will post them as soon as he responds. He seems as interested in making this go smoothly for all concerned as we are. Moderators...I did not know whether to post this separately or add it to the pinned topic above, I trust your judgement. Frontloading or preloadig was discussed in the top of this thread. It is not necessary for the USCIS. It can be adviseable for some consulates. Check the regional sub-forums for advice on the consulate you will use or the consulate reviews. If it is the second petition within 2 years you have applied for, then YES you need to write a letter describing the circumstances and request a waiver of IMBRA limitations.	Gary and Alla	Male	Ukraine	2009-10-05 19:30:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	That's really interesting about the TWO copies of the G-325A. Never would have guessed. Perhaps the VSC employees are wallpapering their bathrooms with the spare ones. Save a tree, si man. Dude, this is all fascinating stuff that will go far in quenching the thirst for knowledge, si man. Muchas gracias. It's imaginable that the VSC Director may even learn things from our questions that can improve service, or, more likely, lead to clarifications on the USCIS website. For everyone's sake, I sure hope that he comes up with a list of "#######" consulates for us, grrr man.	TBoneTX	Male	Ecuador	2009-10-05 21:03:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	QUOTE (TBoneTX @ Oct 5 2009, 10:03 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> That's really interesting about the TWO copies of the G-325A. Never would have guessed. Perhaps the VSC employees are wallpapering their bathrooms with the spare ones. Save a tree, si man. Dude, this is all fascinating stuff that will go far in quenching the thirst for knowledge, si man. Muchas gracias. It's imaginable that the VSC Director may even learn things from our questions that can improve service, or, more likely, lead to clarifications on the USCIS website. For everyone's sake, I sure hope that he comes up with a list of "#######" consulates for us, grrr man. I have been relating to him our frustrations also, FWIW. I did report that the VSC seems to be going wild approving K-1s and he said that is their current "project" to get caught up. Maybe it will help. Doesn't sound like much help in the future for the customer service line and he seems as frustrate dwith that as we are. And they have recently been asked what they would need in the way of resources (costs) to handle an amnesty program. Seems like the felers are out there but he doesn't expect any changes for a while, he says not before the next election. LOL But that is just an opinion. I asked how that will affect K-1s. he isn't sure. If they allocate more people or dedicate people to amnesty it may not affect it at all. I also asked if he could establish some equilibrium. It seems like they rush from one type of visa to another and that right now "almost all" the adjudicators are doing k-1s. People were aiting 5 months and now they are approving in 30 days, can we get a steady 90 days or something? 60 days? He said it is their goal to do that but things happen out of their control and ...oh well. Anyway, I await his other answers, lots of good stuff to come, I am sure. Hopefully I will just be able to scan in or cut and paste his whole response here and save me lots of typing.	Gary and Alla	Male	Ukraine	2009-10-05 21:22:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	Folks, again: Please avoid copying the entire original post in your own reply!	TBoneTX	Male	Ecuador	2009-10-09 16:08:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	QUOTE (TBoneTX @ Oct 9 2009, 05:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Folks, again: Please avoid copying the entire original post in your own reply! Yes, I agree. I can get annoying in some threads, really.	Gary and Alla	Male	Ukraine	2009-10-09 16:12:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	QUOTE (Stephen + Elisha @ Oct 12 2009, 07:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (Gary and Alla @ Oct 5 2009, 07:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hello All I gave a list of questions to the USCIS director tonight and he promises me to answer all he can. Thanks for all the input as I would never have thought of all these myself. We didn't tie up to much time on questions tonight but I did ask two that have been burning a hole in my brain. G325a TWO copies is plenty. The reason the form was changed is that USCIS has been throwing away all but two copies for some years. The OMB had printed, in his words "A gazillion" of the old form and they just dealt with it. He said there is no harm in sending four copies if it makes you feel better. Religious Divorces Religious divorces are not generally acceptable to the USCIS or the US consulates. If you obtained a foreign "religious divorce" it should be registered or filed with civil authorities in that country to be recognized here. I hope to hear soon from him on the other questions and I will post them as soon as he responds. He seems as interested in making this go smoothly for all concerned as we are. Moderators...I did not know whether to post this separately or add it to the pinned topic above, I trust your judgement. Thanks for the update, Gary. Just a follow-up: by two copies of the G-325A do you mean one each for petitioner and beneficiary? My bad. Yes. Two copies for EACH person. Consider it a two part form.	Gary and Alla	Male	Ukraine	2009-10-12 19:32:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	Here are some partial answers to my list of questions. I also posted these in the K-1 forum but will add them here for posterity. As he indicates, there is more to come. He speaks refreshingly frank. Yes, he knows I will post this. Q. Some people have adopted a practice called "front loading" of petitions for certain difficult consulates or consulates in countries with elaborate traditions of engagement ceremonies, Viet Nam and Thailand for example. It is well known this is not needed for USCIS for the petition and it is also well known that all this gets forwarded to the consulate where they cannot "refuse" to consider it as evidence of relationship. Some consulates have a habit of refusing to look at evidence and then denying the visa for "lack of evidence". Does adding additional documents to a petition slow the petition approval process? No, it does not slow anything at USCIS. We are now getting into the realm of DOS. CIS tends to treat the engagement ceremonies with a grain of salt. Give us some decorations and you and I can be engaged. They are sort of like Chinese notorial birth certificates. They go into an office and give some bongo bucks and say, yeah I was born in this town or province on such and such day and those people over there are my parents. If the money is good, the certificate is written and notarized. The best thing to do is provide the evidence as stipulated in the I-129F instructions. A good way of proving the 2 year meeting rule is to have a picture taken that is easily identifiable as to date taken. Holding today's newspaper with the date and headline visible is good. Vietnam, China and India (Indian sub-continent) is rife with fraud so those consulates are a bit more difficult to work with. Q. What percentage, would you say, of USCIS work is reviewing returned petitions (returned from consulates with no visa issued)? We really don't get a lot of returned 129Fs. There is a time limitation placed on them so it really isn't conducive to having a second look taken. Best thing to do with a denied 129F is to either re-file taking into account the outcome of the last interview. The consular officer will normally explain the deficiencies and what needs to be done to overcome them. The other options are go back and marry or (not to sound cruel) find a new fiance. Once again, the main area of denial is the countries and areas mentioned above. There are other things the consulate looks at - marriage customs in the country and social strata. Q. The Department of State seems to have a similar call center to USCIS (maybe it is the same one!) Where no one can seem to get a relevent answer, particularly regarding the NVC. I know this is not your area of responsibility but... Is there a number people can call and get a knowledgeable human to speak to? Would this regard actions at consulates as well as NVC? A particular person or department? Hate to say it but the public is at the whim of some idiot contractor. I don't think some of them walk upright. Best thing is to read the instructions and follow them to the letter. If they give some attorney lots of blank checks he is going to do just that, read the instructions. The web group you are with is another great source of knowledge and sturdy shoulders. I am reviewing an application for a supervisory position at work so I will get back to that and will try to finish this tomorrow or Friday. if any of this babble leaves you scratching your head and saying "what the hell is he trying to tell me" just pick up the phone and we can try the fallback plan Edited by Gary and Alla, 14 October 2009 - 04:49 PM.	Gary and Alla	Male	Ukraine	2009-10-14 16:48:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	QUOTE (Steakfinger @ Oct 14 2009, 08:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I'd love to know if they, (VSC) still have a ton of adjudicators working the K-1s trying to get caught up or if they've shifted back to other projects. Getting an NOA2 in 30 days would absolutely make my day. Actually, it's coming up on 30 days in another week, so we'll see. As of Monday evening, yes. I do not know how long that will last. "Until they get caught up" I was told.	Gary and Alla	Male	Ukraine	2009-10-15 04:56:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	I continue my back and forth with the VSC director and thought this question would be of particular interest. He has responded to all my questions now and I will post them in appropriate areas and also in the pinned topic above. I am very grateful for his frank and direct answers and hope it helps VJ members to file better petitions and understand the process better. Q. Some people have asked if you could outline the procedure for adjudicating a petition. A brief step by step. This one could get a bit long so we'll try for the Cliff Notes version: When a petition arrives, they look for the two things that constitute a filed petition (signed and paid for). It is then data entered and placed into a receipt file. A receipt is sent to the petitioner when there are enough petitions to be processed. At this point, the names of the petitioner and beneficiary are scraped and run through a data base (same one you hear them bandy about on CSI and other cop shows) where we are looking for issues of criminality or immigration violations. If nothing untoward comes up it goes to "the shelf" to await it's turn. When an adjudicator asks for work the first petition in is the first one out. The first thing the adjudicator does is go through the file looking for other names or name variations to run through the data base. That takes 12 to 24 hours for the results to get back. If there is a problem (real or perceived) it goes to my area where the problem has to be resolved. Once the problem is resolved satisfactorily it goes back to the adjudicator. (my note...this explains some of the touches VJ members see) Most of them are fairly quick and if the required information was submitted it zips on through to approval. For an 129F or I-130 where the beneficiary is outside the US it gets bundled and sent to the National Visa Center where some more checks are made and if all is fine it waits for the next diplomatic pouch to the embassy. From then it is a DOS thing and we don't see it again until the I-485 is filed.	Gary and Alla	Male	Ukraine	2009-10-16 18:14:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	Sorry Everyone While cutting and pasting his email to me I left out this paragraph which goes with his answer about petitions above... "We run into problems when the USC petitioner has a criminal record. Depending on the record he/she may fall into the Adam Walsh or IMBRA realm and that can get sticky. I would strongly recommend that you tell anyone who may have a criminal history to bypass go and proceed directly to an AILA certified laywer."	Gary and Alla	Male	Ukraine	2009-10-16 18:53:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	This may be more appropriate for the AOS forum, but since that is where you will end up and this topic has been pinned, I will add it here. Q 6. Though K visas are exempt from another medical exam if they have had one within one year, sometimes an intending immigrant arrives and does not have all their necessary vaccines. USCIS requires that they have the vaccines completed and the form I-693 signed off on by a civil surgeon. MANY civil surgeons will not sign off on the form without doing a full medical exam and charging many hundreds of dollars for this. $600 to $1000 is not unusual. It seems downright abusive to me. I always encourage people in this process to get whatever vaccines they need BEFORE arriving here. A. Is there any other procedure to avoid this? B. Can USCIS do anything to take control of what physicians can charge for this or forcing unnecessary and expensive medical exams on people? Lena and Anya were both missing a shot or two when they got here. We just went to the county public health folks and made arrangements for them to get the shots and annotate a US shot record that the shots were given and they were then up to date. Some of these civil surgeons know that they have a license to steal and take advantage of it. The shots do not have to be administered by a civil surgeon. A county or state public health department should do. Q 8. K-2 visas. Unfortunately our website as good as it is, has little information about K-2, K-4 and even CR-2 visas. I often give advice in this area just because I am one who has been through both the K-2 and K-2 Follow to Join process. (Which, by the way the local office in St. Albans was very helpful with) I think everyone understands the qualifying factors for each and I know they are different regarding when relationships were established, etc. But the question often arises about the age-out at 21. I have read of three federal court cases where K-2s were granted AOS that they had filed before they turned 21 but had turned 21 during the processing of the I-485. So, the courts ruled in their favor, for various reasons, but USCIS obviously argued the cases meaning they did not believe the persons were entitled to adjust status from a K-2. I often see the question... A. Does the child of a K or CR beneficiary have to FILE the AOS before age 21 or be APPROVED for AOS before age 21? B. Is there anything someone in this situation can do to assist USCIS in handling their AOS process? This one is constantly being argued before one court or another. Congress passed the CSPA a while ago. Depending on who and how it is interpreted you will get different answers regarding "age out". I would most strongly recommend that the I-485 be filed prior to junior turning 21. Once again, wishy washy answer but we are talking about lawyers and gommint. (<---- direct quote)	Gary and Alla	Male	Ukraine	2009-10-16 19:03:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures	K-1 petition information	QUOTE (TomZ @ Nov 2 2009, 05:36 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Thanks. I just joined, and was pleasantly surprised by all the useful information. It's a great site, check out the rest of the forums. There is a very active Russia/Ukraine/Belarus sub-forum down below.	Gary and Alla	Male	Ukraine	2009-11-02 19:30:00