K1 Visa was neither approved or denied

[ambrolla 4]

So, my fiance went to an interview today and the consular officer asked for 3 things that were not mentioned on the official website for documents needed for K1 visas (fiance)

1. Your publications in university or at work (what did he mean?) he mentioned something like resume, will it work? (my fiance is 25 and he just finished University in Russia)

2. Your list of classes (does it have to be official from university like with dean's signature and stuff, does anyone know?)

3. Our skype screenshots (my boyfriend gave CO photographs, facebook screenshots, my tickets and other things but the only thing missing at the time of the interview - CO asked for and said that my boyfriend has to send that to him. We literally had A LOT of evidence)

So, my question is, why didn't the embassy put the list of documents needed on the website? And will my boyfriend get approved of K1 visa or not when he'll bring all of those documents? Because CO said that he'll look and the documents missing and then decide if my boyfriend get's approved or not. And my boyfriend is a computer science major.

Thank you, in case anyone answers and good luck at your interviews!

[Penguin_ie 5,994]

***** Moving from K1 Progress Reports to Procedure for more answers *****

COs treat each case separately, so not everyone will be asked for the same thing; what is on the website tends to be the bare minimum.

1/2 on your list is odd though, and rarely asked for. You mention he is a Comp Sci major, but did your fiance (semantics is important there- fiance indicates you are about to get married, which is a requirement of the K1, boyfriend does not) also study something that could impact National Security? Say biochemistry or something related to weapons, or maybe write a paper on hacking or the NSA or some such?

[ambrolla 4]

***** Moving from K1 Progress Reports to Procedure for more answers *****

COs treat each case separately, so not everyone will be asked for the same thing; what is on the website tends to be the bare minimum.

1/2 on your list is odd though, and rarely asked for. You mention he is a Comp Sci major, but did your fiance (semantics is important there- fiance indicates you are about to get married, which is a requirement of the K1, boyfriend does not) also study something that could impact National Security? Say biochemistry or something related to weapons, or maybe write a paper on hacking or the NSA or some such?

Nope. Nothing at all. He just studied algorithms and math, nothing like biochemistry, hacking and other things like that.

[jan22 3,056]

Some aspects of computer science require additional scrutiny to ensure there is no reason to believe that a technology transfer, should it occur, would impact national security. I suspect "algorithms" might be such an area. The reason they can't list each and every document needed is because things like this arise in individual cases and are not required for most cases. The list is the minimum that every applicant has to supply, not an exhaustive list. I'm sure it will all be sorted out soon, once he submits the requested information.

[Trenz 52]

Have to agree with jan22 on this one. The fact he is a computer science major probably piqued the interest of the interviewer as that falls under TAL (Technology Alert List).

Excerpts:

"The TAL is a list created to provide guidance to consular officers when reviewing visa applications in order to prevent export of sensitive information or technology".

"Although TAL may be applied to applicants from any country, students and scholars from the DOS state sponsors of terrorism list (Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria) and the five nonproliferation export control countries (China, India, Israel, Pakistan and Russia) are the groups most impacted by TAL-related issues and delays. (Please note that the list below is non-exhaustive, and the actual TAL is classified)"

The list I have seen includes:

i. Conventional Munitions;
ii. Nuclear Technology, Physics, and Engineering;
iii. Rocket Systems and Unmanned Air Vehicle;
iv. Navigation, Avionics and Flight Control;
v. Chemical, Biotechnology and Biomedical Engineering;
vi. Remote Sensing, Imaging and Reconnaissance;
vii. Advanced Computer/Microelectronic Technology;
viii. Materials Technology;
ix. Information Security;

x. Laser and Directed Energy Systems Technology;
xi. Sensors and Sensor Technology;
xii. Marine Technology; and
xiii. Robotics Urban Planning

I can see computer science (especially studies in regards to algorithms) falling under section vii and/or ix.

[ambrolla 4]

Some aspects of computer science require additional scrutiny to ensure there is no reason to believe that a technology transfer, should it occur, would impact national security. I suspect "algorithms" might be such an area. The reason they can't list each and every document needed is because things like this arise in individual cases and are not required for most cases. The list is the minimum that every applicant has to supply, not an exhaustive list. I'm sure it will all be sorted out soon, once he submits the requested information.

Have to agree with jan22 on this one. The fact he is a computer science major probably piqued the interest of the interviewer as that falls under TAL (Technology Alert List).

Excerpts:

"The TAL is a list created to provide guidance to consular officers when reviewing visa applications in order to prevent export of sensitive information or technology".

"Although TAL may be applied to applicants from any country, students and scholars from the DOS state sponsors of terrorism list (Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria) and the five nonproliferation export control countries (China, India, Israel, Pakistan and Russia) are the groups most impacted by TAL-related issues and delays. (Please note that the list below is non-exhaustive, and the actual TAL is classified)"

The list I have seen includes:

i. Conventional Munitions;

ii. Nuclear Technology, Physics, and Engineering;

iii. Rocket Systems and Unmanned Air Vehicle;

iv. Navigation, Avionics and Flight Control;

v. Chemical, Biotechnology and Biomedical Engineering;

vi. Remote Sensing, Imaging and Reconnaissance;

vii. Advanced Computer/Microelectronic Technology;

viii. Materials Technology;

ix. Information Security;

x. Laser and Directed Energy Systems Technology;

xi. Sensors and Sensor Technology;

xii. Marine Technology; and

xiii. Robotics Urban Planning

I can see computer science (especially studies in regards to algorithms) falling under section vii and/or ix.

Thank you, guys!

We are sending the documents today, the latest - tomorrow. And its a pain in a butt to translate all of the classes from Russian to English. And his job duties. Hopefully it will not take that long, but honestly, I wasn't expecting any of that. Do any of you know, by any chance, how long would all of this take (the CO reviewing all of the documents)?

[TBoneTX 45,524]

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

[jan22 3,056]

The review is not done at the Embassy -- it's done in Washington. Usually takes a couple of weeks, but there's no guarantee of that. Hang in there!

[ambrolla 4]

The review is not done at the Embassy -- it's done in Washington. Usually takes a couple of weeks, but there's no guarantee of that. Hang in there!

Well, I've heard that. That its in DC. The thing is, they emailed us saying that it might take 2-4 weeks but I've seen that usually it takes around 60 days.. So, I'm just wondering if I am even going to make to to Florida with my soon to be husband. Lol (wanted to spend 2 weeks together in FL in August)

[TBoneTX 45,524]

It takes as long as it takes. Keep the faith.

[ambrolla 4]

I'm just curious. We've send them documents, how do we know if they received them? Should we send them another email asking them if they got those documents?

[Changoleon 7]

Hi there. Today (June 16 2015) I had my K-1 visa interview in Ankara/Turkey.

CO asked me to show him my resume and I didn't have any resume with me because I never thought it could be necessary to take it. So yeah. He asked me to send it by e-mail. and he told me that my case is in administrative processing.

Is there any updates in your case?

[ambrolla 4]

Hi there. Today (June 16 2015) I had my K-1 visa interview in Ankara/Turkey.

CO asked me to show him my resume and I didn't have any resume with me because I never thought it could be necessary to take it. So yeah. He asked me to send it by e-mail. and he told me that my case is in administrative processing.

Is there any updates in your case?

Hey!

My fiance sent them an email regarding our dcouments and they said that they've received them but it will take a minimum of 3 weeks to have an administrative processing.

[Changoleon 7]

Hope AP for all if us gets over ASAP. Can you update right here in comments in case you get something? So I can see the day your visa gets approved?

Thanks in advance and good luck

[ambrolla 4]

Hope AP for all if us gets over ASAP. Can you update right here in comments in case you get something? So I can see the day your visa gets approved?

Thanks in advance and good luck

Well, interview was on 11th and that's when he received 221g.

For some reason, my case "status" is updated daily now. I wonder why