I found this in another forum. I think it belongs here.
QUOTE(Rick/Clara @ Sep 9 2007, 03:41 AM)
I need help.
A little over one month ago, I stood in line in the Embassy in Bogota Colombia, so happily waiting to get the 4 visa's I was sure we were going to get. One for my wife Clara, and 3 her daughters, Natalia 6, Luisa 14, and Veronica 19, all of course under the magic age of 21 so they could attach as K2's to my then fiance's K1. I had the plane tickets in hand to take my new family (Wife and her 3 daughters) to the USA. BTW, I have 3 children too. We were going to be the Brady Bunch!
Why would they not give us the Visa's? I had met every qualification, filled out the paperwork perfectly, hired good attorney's to check it all over, and best of all, it was already approved here in the USA at the CSC. I had not lied, she had not lied. I had plenty of proof of the relationship and good support, everything was going perfectly. Clara was brilliant in her abilities to get all the necessary documents together on her end, God Love her, she was amazing, it was going to be the happiest day of our lives!
We were at the final window, and we were so excited, they had already treated us like we were dirt, believing Clara was a liar with almost everything she said, but what the heck, that part was over now, and I had read enough on this site so I was expecting that, and who cares, we get the Visa's and we are out of there....Right?
Then,
The lady, (BTW, I never saw a man in any of the windows, all women.) started talking to Clara in Spanish, within seconds I saw her face turn so sad. The lady had said “I am sorry, I have good news and bad news, the good news is we are going to give you three Visa's, unfortunately the bad news is, we cannot give you Veronica's Visa, as she is too old, she is over the age of 18.” I told the lady, she was wrong, the age for a K2 Visa is under 21, she said “Yes but your case is different, you needed to have been married to your fiance and have already established a stepchild relationship prior to Veronica turning 18 years old” I said “What?” She said “Yes you would have to prove that you were married and have established a stepchild relationship prior to Veronica's 18th birthday”
I started to get angry but remained calm, I said “We are not applying for a K4 Visa? You mean to tell me that there are other cases where the people filed for a K1 Fiance Visa, but they were already married?” I knew she did not know what she was talking about, because obviously, your not going to file for a K1 if you are already married. I argued with her for about 15 minutes, she would not give in still sticking to her ridiculous and actually impossible position that we had to have already been married before filing for the K1 Visa.
Clara and I were destroyed, we were both sobbing so hard with everybody looking at us wondering what had happened. I now see why these consulate's work behind thick securtity glass, because I wanted to strangle this lady who had destroyed our life, and did it with such ease. Then, we had to go and tell Veronica she was not going with us to the US, all of us were crying. We had already made plans for Veronica to work at the University near our home as a Teaching assistant in the Spanish department, and finish her education in the meantime.
Later, when we went back to pick up the Visa's I argued further with the same lady, and showed her the actual laws given to us by our attorney's back home, (<sy@myimmigrationlawyer.net>) who have been great BTW, these laws proved our position but the lady did not care.
We immediately purchased some furniture for Veronica so she could set up a temporary apartment in Bogota, as I don't know how long this is going to take to get her here. I spoke with Senator Feingold's office and they have started a congressional inquiry on this matter, about 3 weeks ago, Veronica went back to the embassy for another interview, as the embassy had left the case still open as it is today, and we were sure they were going to give her the Visa then, but they denied her again. This time she handed them the paper work, we had received from our attorney's after they had investigated this further, and part of that paper work was an memorandum from the director's to the consulate's which stated that they are NOT to apply the stepdaughter rules to the K1 visa process, and that all children under the age of 21 that are unmarried, and living with the K1 are eligible for the Visa. This still did not change the consulate's decision, but they were boxed into a corner because they could no longer argue there position given the information in front of them, so when Veronica asked why they were denying her the Visa? They said, “Ah, ah , um, ah, there are new laws that went into effect last month, and so we cannot give you the Visa” She said show me the laws, and they did not.
I spoke with many attorney's here and none of them are aware of new laws!
Today, when Clara called the embassy, for our weekly call between 2 and 4 pm on Wednesday's, the lady told Clara an amazing thing, she said “Listen, your case is still open here, but remember, they can do what they want, if they decide not to give Veronica the Visa then she does not get the Visa, they don't have to have a reason, they can do what they want, and there is nothing you can do about it.”
This is where the case sits now, they have so far, denied the Visa to my stepdaughter because they felt like it and for no other reason. BTW law also says they are required to give us a letter stating the reason (s) for denial. We have received nothing.
I need help!!! What can we do?
Rick
QUOTE(Bill y Bella @ Sep 9 2007, 10:51 AM)
You need to contact your US congressman or Senator immediately. They will be able to help you.
I am going to make a copy of your post and put it in the Colombia
forum. Start reading at the end of the forum. There are people there such as OskaryAndrea that have done battle with the Bogota embassy and won. Read her posts and contact her!
Unless there is something else going on with Veronica that you have not told us, I think you can overcome this problem quickly with some assistance from your congressman or senator.
Good luck to you.
Submit the paperwork as is, with a cover sheet stating that you sent the package prior to the 30th.
On the off chance I can help anyone while I am there, please let me know. I would be glad to pick up a document or something if it will get someone out of a jam or avoid a 12 hour bus ride. I realize this is not very likely, but I thought I would make the offer just in case.