NVC Confused Original Marriage Certificate as Translation

[MrsAzzi 1]

I need help guys!

I just got off the phone with NVC and I was notified that I would be receiving a checklist for our marriage certificate. Here are the details: my husband is Lebanese and will be proceeding with consular processing in Lebanon, but we had a civil marriage in Cyprus. Our marriage certificate is from Cyprus. The official language in Cyprus is Greek, but all government documents are published in English.

The marriage certificate I provided NVC was the same that was provided to USCIS. USCIS had no problem with it. NVC is telling me that whoever reviewed our documents is saying that we only submitted an "English translation" and not the original native language certificate. I don't have any translations of the marriage certificate because it is only in English, which is the original, which is what was submitted.

The operator recommended that I submit a statement explaining this, but it would still take 30-45 days to review. They would not allow me to speak to a supervisor and they said they could put in a request for a supervisor to review, but that it would take up to 42 days for a supervisor to get a hold of our case. I asked if I could verbally explain this or if they could explain what I just explained and they said no it has to be submitted and then reviewed in another 30-45 day period. I also asked if my husband could just take the marriage certificate with him to the interview which is what he will be doing anyways and they said no, it has to be submitted to NVC.

Does anyone have any advice or know of anything I can do?

My heart is completely shattered!

[Kastrs 723]

I have seen this happen a handful of time, unfortunately the best path forward is to do what the operator instructed and send in the statement, and in the meantime just try calling the NVC everyday and request to speak to a supervisor. It is possible you will get lucky and they will review it over the phone.

[MrsAzzi 1]

UPDATE -

Since getting the news around 6:30 AM Central time this morning, I have called NVC probably around 20 times to get more information and possibly speak to a supervisor. I got wiser with each call and instead of going into too many details I would basically start like this "I know I'm getting a checklist for our marriage certificate, can I please speak to a supervisor?" and they would immediately transfer me. The majority of the times a supervisor was not available to answer. On one of the calls the operator offered to put in a request to have a supervisor call me back and I did that and also asked what the time frame is for a supervisor to call me back, which I was assured was unknown. I did not wait after putting that request in. I continued to hang up and call again until finally, I was able to get a supervisor on the line.

The supervisor I got was extremely helpful. I explained that the marriage certificate that was submitted is the original and there is no other marriage certificate I could submit and it is not a translation. She looked up the reciprocity schedule for Cyprus and said that she has requested the case be sent specifically to her and to allow about 2-3 days for it to arrive to her desk (not the usual "up to 42 days"). She said she would look it over as soon as it arrives and make a decision if it is acceptable or not. She verified my telephone number and said she would personally be calling me once she reviews the certificate by the end of next week.

I also offered to get a written statement on a letterhead from the municipality in Cyprus stating that the marriage certificate officially is in English and not in Greek and what I have is an original and not a translation. I asked her if I should snail mail this to NVC at the same address where I originally sent the documents and she said no. Email it directly to me. She gave the details on how to email her and I thanked her so much for her help!

Before I hung up with her I asked if she thought we would make it in time to get scheduled for June interviews next week when they start scheduling and she said it's very possible if the queue is not long enough where we would get cut off once all slots were scheduled.

Moral of the story, if you have an issue with NVC...keep calling until you get the help you need!!!

[MrsAzzi 1]

Second Update -

Our case was issued a checklist on April 21, 2016 because our marriage certificate, issued in Cyprus, was in English and was mistaken as a translation rather than the original. Knowing that this was incorrect, I tried to get a hold of a supervisor to review our case before the 30-45 day review period it takes when responding to a checklist. Thankfully, I was able to get a supervisor to request our case be sent to her. While she had to wait 2-3 days for our case to reach her desk, I got a letter from the municipality in Cyprus stating that the original marriage certificate is in English. I emailed that to the supervisor. On April 26, 2016, the supervisor called me and notified me that she received my email and has reviewed our case and our case is complete and in line to be scheduled for an interview.