Howdy all, I got back from Russia (second time) last Thursday. Great time all around. This is our story as of February. As you can see, IMBRA does not (at least, it should not) apply to us. Before anyone asks, no I do not have a criminal record and I have never been married.

NOA1: March 26

NOA2: March 29

after that, silence... no mail, no phone call, no email... until May 16, when Diana received her packet from the Embassy, telling her that her interview was scheduled for June 29. And there was much rejoicing.

But then on Tuesday (um, seven days later) she got a phone call from the Embassy from a woman who told her that her interview had been cancelled because of administrative delays, telling her nothing else, except that I should call the embassy, which I did at the rate of $1.75 per minute. She told me that there had been an error in approving petitions and that because of this everything approved after March 6 had been returned to the NVC. I pestered her with lots of questions but that was all she said, except for giving me the USCIS number (800-375-5283) and suggesting I call them.

I called the USCIS number that afternoon and spoke to someone who had absolutely no idea what I was talking about. He gave me the State Department number (202-663-1225) and suggested I call them.

I called the State Department this morning and spoke to a woman who had actually heard of the IMBRA (she referred to it as the Marriage Broker Act). She didn't know more than that though and gave me another State Department number (800-375-5283). She said I would have to fill out additional paperwork and that I would find out what I needed to do by calling that number.

Sooooo I called that number and I spoke to someone who also didn't know much (can someone answer this: have all cases been sent back to the NVC or just some of them?) This person said that cases are being reviewed on a case by case basis, I'll be notified by mail, there is no timeframe for any of this, and if I wanted to know more I should call the USCIS (800-375-5283) where everyone knows nothing.





Needless to say.... I'm not happy



Can anyone guess when her new interview date might be? Or read tea leaves? Anything?

I'm so sorry to hear of your situation. I can't imagine how you must feel after thinking you were almost at the home stretch, and then having your interview date cancelled.

I'm just so thankful that we are past the K-1 stage and IMBRA doesn't affect us.

Good luck to you.

Sorry to hear that tuekros. The new rumor is that it's adding three to six months on to the interview date. I read that somewhere, maybe the K-1 forum. Don't remember exactly where. It wasn't a long, long, time, but another inconvenience.

Good luck with your case, and hope to hear some good news soon!

Is there any way she can enter this country and live with me while this mess is being untangled?

Just thought I'd ask...

unfotrunately not....

once filed for K-1 you have to go through to enter the us...
all you can do is to fly to russia and stay there as often and as long as resources of time and money allow you. all the best,

obender

I hate to mention this: your posted NOA1 date is a date that falls AFTER 3/5/06.
3/6/06 is the beginning of the IMBRA, the date upon which the law took affect.
The topics posted lately including the link in a post I make in the general K-1 which links to the DOS NVC site has the official DOS/NVC statement of 1100 petitions being sent forward in error to embassies worldwide and they are being returned.
There are probably even people who are before the cutoff date that are going to be indirectly affected not to mention those who get pushed back in the queue while the 1100 get redone ... whatever the redo is.

For our elected officials:

ELECT NEW PUBLIC SERVANTS!
Why are WE their servants!!??

Absence makes the heart grow fonder?

Maybe that's the new saying for the USCIS!

Having filed an I-129F petition does not mean you have a K1 in your passport. Thus you can apply for a tourist B2 visa. It would be an uphill battle trying to convince the US consul you will return to Russia and the I129F doesn't help. But in theory you could get a job in the US and get a work visa. I know it is all not practical, but you asked if there is a way.

Unbelievable and unforgivable.

This reminds me of Hurricane Katrina. Not the frightful consequences of the hurricane itself of course, but the incompetence and stupidity of our government.

I'll take our government any day over what I saw in Russia.

I wouldn't jump the guns and try to figure out how long this stuff will take to clean up.... I haven't seen any official statements anywhere with any idea of how much time it'll take.... I'm doing my best to be patient as well.

After thinking further about IMBRA, it seems to me it is possible that the USCIS could make some distinctions between the current K-1 and K-3 visa applicants, given the fact that K-3 applicants are already married. Probably, there is will be no distinctions made, but it is possible.

It also seems that there is no current information regarding how the USCIS is planning on satisfying the IMBRA requirements. I wrote my congressman and senators yesterday, thinking that IF enough of us (applicants) were to do this, then the political pressure could actually help force some answers to our questions about what’s going on regarding IMBRA (?).

Hi sorry to hear this. I’m in the same situation. My interview was cancelled too.
And it happened to everyone from VSC who had there noa1 on March 6 or after. You could send a letter to your congressmen, but guess it won’t help, coz I think the people at DHS doesn’t know what to do, they waiting for further instructions from Washington.
Also, I found infopass from another forum.. We could try to use it (links below)
http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/publicaffair...assFS020304.pdf
https://infopass.uscis.gov/info_en.php
I know it’s frustrating but we have to try being patient, we should hope and believe that everything will be ok. We are going to meet our loved ones very soon and we never leave them again…
And let me know please if you’ll have news.
N&T

Whooops in my haste and quoting from (a very poor) memory I made an error (my timeline should be correct though):

NOA1 "Received Date": 24 March 2006
NOA1 "Notice Date": 27 March 2006

NOA2 "Receipt Date": 27 March 2006
NOA2 "Notice Date": 11 April 2006

Not that it matters...



Hey you know I'm going to be FedExing Senators Schumer and Clinton and Representative Rangel on Monday. Does anyone know the official name of this piece of excrement? House Bill blah blah and so forth or whatever...



Should I waste my time calling the USCIS again? Should I call the Vermont Service Center?

Does the NVC even HAVE a phone number? or a website?



There was one thing that was a little bit funny. I was calling the State Department the other day (Diana had said to me, "say hi to Condoleeza Rice") and just after I placed my call the movie "The Hunt for Red October" started on TV! So Soviet military music was playing in the background while I was on hold with the State Department...

Sorry for ranting and raving; I just finished reading the "Lets collect some information about IMBRA effects" thread. Only 416 replies.

I learned from this thread that

calling the USCIS is a waste of time because I will just speak to some dweeb who will read me the same canned answers off of a teleprompter,

calling the Vermont service center is impossible because they do not have a public phone number,

and calling the NVC is a waste of time because they really have nothing to do with this insanity.

NVC
603-334-0700

NVC DOS web site
http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/ty...types_1309.html

Don't know if this will help.

Wasn't the whole purpose of this act to regulate those who used an International Marriage Broker? And so that women who went through an international agency wouldn't be "placed" with men who were violent or abusive? If I remember correctly, this whole clusterf#@k was snuck in as part of the DOJ bill for the protection of women's rights.

Two quick questions, and maybe you guys can add them to your senator send-offs;

1. Who among us that's getting screwed over by IMBRA actually used an IMB?

2. Where are these women that are being "protected?" Because the women on here seem more than willing to forego their "protection" under IMBRA to be with their men in a timely fashion.


I was lucky enough to not get screwed-over by IMBRA, but I can't help feeling, like everything else the government does for our "protection," that it's going to end up screwing me even harder down the line.

[/quote]
Who among us that's getting screwed over by IMBRA actually used an IMB?
[/quote]

Slim,

Good idea! Maybe someone will start a thread in the "General Polls" forum to find out how many people actually used an international marriage agency. I would be interested to know the answer. If I were to guess, I would say that there are not many.

I'll go start one now!

And who's protecting all the American women from marrying American men?!?!?!?!? So... The U. S. of A. is more worried about foreign nationals than it's own citizens!?!?!?!?!?

And what about all the illegal aliens they want to give amnesty to? What about all of us doing everything correctly, legally, and by the book?!!?!?!?

ARGH!!!!!!!

Oh I think they are trying to discourage a few from marrying us to protect them so they can stay there where they probably have 10 times the chances of marrying someone who will beat the sh*t out of them or kill them.

Funny, but true. Yet another reason why the rest of the world loves us. We're doing something about a problem but aren't doing squat to address the underlying issues. (Like the reason why these girls want to leave Russia/CIS in the first place. Reasons like they get the sh*t beat out of them already.)

A few days ago Diana and I were talking about our pal, Michael Chertoff.

She said that it sounds like a Russian name and that Chert- means "devil."

That could explain a lot....