Embassy in Nicaragua won't respond to emails or calls

[greys26 35]

We had my fiance police certificate, birth certificate and singleness paper ( those papers must be from the central registry in Managua not the local ) also they took our I-134(Affidavit of support) and my recent tax receipts. We also prepared couple of actual pictures that we took during the relationship.  The interview was relatively easy, the consular asked how did we meet? What is my job? How many times we met? And my birthplace in Turkey. All the other forms such as a letter from employer, my bank statements, W2s they did not even check those. If you have any extra question please let me know. 

[NCNic 0]

Steve,

Make sure you have everything in order before you go. My husband is still stuck there in Nicaragua and there was some confusion with the required paper work he was told to have by NVC vs what the consulate officer requested. It put us in admin processing. We have been waiting weeks to get an approval of our IR1. You can contact me directly and I'll help you as much as I can with preparing. I'm no expert but our interview was 5/15/18 and they were already cutting back staff then. Things there are bad. We have inside info that there is only 1 consular officer working on the cases now and that she is trying her best to get things completed so she can leave her post. I am not sure what will happen to these cases when/if she does leave before the cases they have left are completed. I'm working on finding this out. We are still waiting to hear about my husband's IV approval and to get his passport/visa back.

Best of luck and stay safe!

[ColoradoSteve 29]

On 6/24/2018 at 12:52 PM, NCNic said:

Steve,

Make sure you have everything in order before you go. My husband is still stuck there in Nicaragua and there was some confusion with the required paper work he was told to have by NVC vs what the consulate officer requested. It put us in admin processing. We have been waiting weeks to get an approval of our IR1. You can contact me directly and I'll help you as much as I can with preparing. I'm no expert but our interview was 5/15/18 and they were already cutting back staff then. Things there are bad. We have inside info that there is only 1 consular officer working on the cases now and that she is trying her best to get things completed so she can leave her post. I am not sure what will happen to these cases when/if she does leave before the cases they have left are completed. I'm working on finding this out. We are still waiting to hear about my husband's IV approval and to get his passport/visa back.

Best of luck and stay safe!

The interview is tomorrow morning so it is too late for me to prepare further. Just out of curiosity, what were you missing that wasn't covered in the instructions?

[NCNic 0]

Praying for your interview to go well tomorrow. My husband needed a police certificate from his city where he lived. We had one from Managua. The confusion came when we were getting the case together to send it to NVC initially. His brother was in Nicaragua getting the police record to send to us and was told he couldn’t get it in his city but had to get it from the capitol. What we didn’t know was the reason they had to do this was because my husband wasn’t there in person to get the police record himself. When we arrived in Nicaragua for his interview we had to get an updated police record (they are only good for 60 days so we had to get a new one for the interview) and got it from Managua again not knowing we needed one from the city where he lived. He would have been approved on the day if our interview had it not been for this crazy misunderstanding. 

Hes still waiting to be approved. His interview was May 15. I had to leave without him almost a mont ago. It’s been devastating to put it mildly. Hoping all goes well for you!! There’s a lot going on down there in the consulate and only 2 officers working so processing is extremely delayed. It’s a nightmare!

[10.bew.16 1]

Good luck today to you guys!

[NCNic 0]

Hi Steve! Any updates? Were you guys approved!? Praying all went well!

[TBoneTX 43,485]

Steve hasn't logged on since June 25, which is worrisome.

[ColoradoSteve 29]

Everyone,

 

Sorry I haven't responded in several weeks. I was very busy with work after returning. I survived the trip to Nicaragua without incident. Unfortunately the interview didn't go well. My fiancee had been married previously 13 years earlier. I was not aware of this fact. There were no records of this, and she was able to obtain a certificate declaring her as being single, from the central registry.

 

However, she had obtained a previous passport (which expired several years ago) with the married name in 2006. Of course, the embassy found this and it raised questions at the interview. There was also a document which had a very minor misspelling of her name (a missing letter) that the interviewer also complained about. So we were told that she needed to correct the one document, and obtain additional documents. Then she could send those to the embassy, and we would need to schedule a second interview.

 

She has spent the past 2 weeks working with several judges and lawyers, and visiting many government offices and courts. So far, she has repaired the document with the misspelled name and obtained all but one of the newly requested documents. It was an interesting problem. The lawyer who did the paperwork for the marriage was a fraud. He wasn't registered or empowered to conduct marriages, so the records were never registered with the central registry in Managua. Therefore the marriage was not valid. It was only registered with the mayors office in her home town. Then her ex husband bribed the lawyer and the local mayors office to destroy all records of the marriage.

 

They were able to find the original record for the divorce. She has been able to obtain official documents explaining the situation and has obtained a divorce certificate, even though the marriage was never valid. The interviewer also requested to see old IDs with her current "single" name, to help prove she is who she says she is. She found an old passport, a drivers license, and a cedula that should meet this requirement.

 

Now my only concern is being able to obtain a second interview, as it took 6 weeks to get the first appointment. They continue to reduce staff at the embassy there, and I don't know if they are even processing cases there now. The information on the embassy website doesn't clearly state if cases that are currently pending will still be processed there.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

[NCNic 0]

I am glad to hear you are ok but sad that this was your outcome! Please message me as I have some insight about consular issues at MNG now that may help. 

[Boiler 43,791]

So you are still going through with this.

 

Anyway she will need her marriage and divorce papers and likely a waiver for the misrepresentation.

 

She will find out about the waiver after the next interview.

[TBoneTX 43,485]

An unfair comment has been removed, along with a reply.

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Would be interested to hear how bad the lawlessness or chaos in Managua really turned out to be: better or worse than reported/expected?

[NCNic 0]

3 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

An unfair comment has been removed, along with a reply.

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Would be interested to hear how bad the lawlessness or chaos in Managua really turned out to be: better or worse than reported/expected?

I’m going to venture to say it is that bad. With the consulate being down to on essential staff and their descriptions of what is going on over there being on their websites, I truly believe it’s bad. 

When I was there in May there were outbursts and burning road barricades throughout the country. It was pretty intense to witness just that part. 

I suppose no one truly knows how bad it is unless they are right in the cities that this is happening in and thankfully my husband is not. It’s sad to see such a beautiful country struggling and lives being lost. Praying it all calms down and solutions found to maintain peace and a democracy!

Edited July 15, 2018 by NCNic

[ColoradoSteve 29]

7 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

An unfair comment has been removed, along with a reply.

-------

Would be interested to hear how bad the lawlessness or chaos in Managua really turned out to be: better or worse than reported/expected?

I avoided traveling as much as possible, but I saw a number of things when I did need to go places. Managua appeared to be largely normal, however there were signs that things had been much different in previous weeks. Many of the roads there are constructed from concrete paving blocks, rather than asphalt or poured concrete like our roads in the US. There were many areas where people had pried up the blocks and built barricades to block off the roads. During my visit, there were many heavily armed police guarding workers who were repairing the roads. The barricades had been recently torn down. Had I been there a week or two earlier, travel to the airport and embassy might have been impossible.

 

I saw one large barricade still in place, blocking the access to the mayors office in my fiancees home town. It was about 6 foot high, with gun ports near the top. I had to wait nearby in the taxi when my fiancee had to walk past the barricade to visit the mayors office. Periodically a few men with hoods covering their heads, and carrying rifles, would come out from behind the barricade for a few seconds. No idea if they were police, para-military, military, or just armed thugs. They wore plain clothes and masks.

 

Everyone seemed tense and afraid. The taxi driver warned me several times not to take photos of anything. We went to a restaurant one evening with some friends. The restaurant closed early so everyone could get home before dark. This is typical, there seems to be an unofficial curfew in place. Everyone is terrified to go out after dark. While I was there, violence was still happening in Granada and Masaya, but Managua appeared mostly "business as usual". There were busses and taxis running, and the roads were packed with heavy traffic.

 

I feel sorry for the people there. The country is impoverished. I saw huge piles of garbage everywhere, and children digging through the garbage. I managed to capture one photo of this.

 

I never felt threatened or unsafe when I was there, but I definitely felt uneasy, as did the locals. In summary, Managua seemed relatively normal, but the situation can change quickly and without warning. My fiancee was unable to make it to a court appointment last Thursday, because large demonstration marches and strikes largely paralyzed the city for two days. I was able to stay safe, in part because I had help from my fiancee and her neighbors, and an excellent and reliable taxi driver. Be careful if you must travel there. Only go out for essential business. Is definitely not the time for a site seeing tour of the country.

 

Regards,

 

ColoradoSteve

 

Steve

[TBoneTX 43,485]

We take our security for granted here in the U.S.  Incidents like those above are very isolated and front-page news.

Good that you were & Nic's husband is, safe from the malos.

Too bad that the government can't root them all out and punish them severely.

[10.bew.16 1]

9 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

We take our security for granted here in the U.S.  Incidents like those above are very isolated and front-page news.

Good that you were & Nic's husband is, safe from the malos.

Too bad that the government can't root them all out and punish them severely.

The government is the problem, not the people. The people that are pro-government/sandinistas are currently causing the chaos and are responsible for the 300+ deaths. The only armed people at the moment are those working for the government. I am currently living in Granada with my fiancé- thankfully, Granada seems to have been a bit of a safe haven in Nicaragua. However, chaos once again hit Nicaragua on Friday and all through the weekend. There has now been talk that the Sandinistas want to burn down Xalteva church this Thursday which is a Sandinista holiday. They want to do this because that church has been outspoken about its position against the government. If this happens, I'm sure all hell will break lose as the church is all the hope that this town has left (I am personally not religious but the majority of Nicaragua is).