What now?? Two days until the interview and no documents ...

[dimovska 0]

I don't even know where to start ... Forgive me in advance for rambling.

My fiance and I received our NOA2 on August 9th and were ecstatic that "the hard part is over" -- how wrong we were.

NVC reported forwarding our case to the Embassy in Macedonia on 8/20. We tried calling the embassy several times in the following week to see if they received it, but it proved fruitless -- every person my fiance spoke to on the phone needed to transfer the call to someone else who knew more about it, and eventually he was transferred to a line that just kept ringing, and ringing, and ringing ... So we decided to just wait for him to receive the package in the mail.

On 9/4, after over two weeks of waiting for this package, I gave in and sent an e-mail to the embassy to check on the status of our case. Amazingly they replied within twelve hours to tell us that they had mailed out the information package and appointment letter on 8/31, and that our interview was scheduled for 8:00 AM on 9/20. We freaked out -- only sixteen days to gather all the documents we needed, and we still didn't even have the package with the list yet!

After another week of waiting for the package, I e-mailed the embassy again on 9/11, sharing with them how worried we were that only nine days remained until the interview, and asked what our next step should be. The embassy again replied the next day, instructing my fiance to come in on that Thursday 9/13 at 11:30 AM to pick up the package in person. My fiance realized how many important documents he was still missing -- police and court statements, a birth certificate, vaccination records -- documents that generally take weeks to put in a request and receive!! Luckily Macedonia is the kind of country where, if you have enough money, you can do whatever you want. Some money exchanged hands under the counter and now my fiance has all of his documents ready for his interview in less than two days.

The only problem now is the documents he needs from me. On 9/10, I put in the mail all of the documents listed under the VisaJourney K1 Guide. I paid $45 for USPS's Express Mail service which guaranteed international delivery within 3-5 days, which meant that Goran would have the documents by that Friday, 9/15. What a joke! It is Tuesday 9/18 now and USPS has no idea where the documents are. The online tracking lists the last action as having left New York on 9/11, and after that point "Macedonia hasn't sent any tracking information back to USPS". My fiance went to the post office in his city and they have no idea where the package is, either, because "they don't use computers in his post office". The inquiry that the USPS customer service agent put in for the documents will take up to EIGHT DAYS to process -- by which time the interview will be WAY over.

This morning I scanned the photocopies of all the documents I mailed to him, so that he can print them out before the interview on Thursday. They will not have original signatures. Will this be a problem for the interviewer -- will we be rejected over a serious lack of professionalism on the part of the Embassy and the United States Postal Service? Will we have to start this whole stupid process over again?

Thanks in advance for your advice ...

[X Factor 1,110]

You did the correct thing. He can tell the CO that the original documents are on their way. That would be o.k and he will just have to come back to hand over the document. At least he will get the interview out of the way and you will know if he passed the interview.

[Henry&Rebecca 39]

This morning I scanned the photocopies of all the documents I mailed to him, so that he can print them out before the interview on Thursday. They will not have original signatures. Will this be a problem for the interviewer -- will we be rejected over a serious lack of professionalism on the part of the Embassy and the United States Postal Service? Will we have to start this whole stupid process over again?

Thanks in advance for your advice ...

First and foremost, I'm sorry everything seems to be going badly for you. It sucks and I hope your luck with turn soon.

OK so, I only quoted the above portion of your post because that's where you need the help it seems. If I understand correctly, the only thing you need to send your fiancee for the interview is the I-134 and its supporting documents. Now, reading the I-134 instructions PDF which I downloaded from the USCIS website, it clearly states "Submit in duplicate" before listing the I-134 supporting documents that are needed. I actually wanted to make a post on the boards asking what this statement meant, if they meant submit 2 originals, or if it meant submit a copy of the original. I THINK that it means the latter, that they want copies of original documents. So if that's the case, your scanned copies of your supporting documents should not be an issue at all.

SO, your only issue then would be that the I-134 itself needs to be an original and have an original signature on it... and well... as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures, so the way I see it you have a choice:

1) Your fiance goes to the interview with the non-original signature I-134, and face the very likely possibility that he doesn't pass the interview (though not necessarily get denied. Your fiance would probably be instructed to come back when he has the original document)

2) Email the filled out I-134 to your fiance and have him sign in your signature for you (this is the desperate measures I spoke of). It's kinda sorta technically forging a signature I guess, but IMO if you're fully aware of it being done and it's being done with your consent, then who cares where the ink in the signature came from.

So yeah. There you have it. Best of luck to you.

Edited September 18, 2012 by Henry&Rebecca

[C-ma'am 684]

They might put you on AP until you can gather the missing documents and give them back to the embassy to complete the process. It shouldn't be a HUGE issue.

Edited September 18, 2012 by Celeste & C

[kimbaljl 10]

I know this is a very old post, but I'm wondering what happened in your situation. My fiance and I are in the exact same situation with his interview tomorrow. He won't have the original signatures unless the package comes today (which I'm praying it will). What happened in your situation? Your timeline stopped right at the crucial part.

[TBoneTX 43,058]

The OP hasn't logged onto VJ for over a year, so it's doubtful that you'll get an answer. Chances are, the beneficiary will be issued a 221g pending receipt of the required information. This kind of 221g is typically easy to fulfill.

(Moderator hat on)

*** Thread moved from K-1 Process forum to the Embassy/Consulate forum -- topic involves that phase. ***

Edited December 10, 2013 by TBoneTX