K-1 Visa Approved, Interview "On Hold"

[Ninja Joe 1]

We received our first notice of action with the news that our K-1 Visa application was approved and were ecstatic. About a week later, instead of receiving NOA2 saying the National Visa Center had transferred our case to the foreign embassy in Managua, Nicaragua, I got an email saying our application was put on hold because that embassy had "temporarily suspended routine visa operations." There have been violent protests in that country and many people have been killed, thus the U.S. embassy has evacuated a lot of personnel and suspended normal operations.

 

So I emailed the embassy in San Jose, Costa Rica since it's the next closest one and I've heard of people transferring their cases to another embassy in cases like these. I got a response from the Costa Rican embassy and they said that yes, they can give my fiancee the interview but "she must prove that she legally resides or is physically present in the consular district during the visa process."

 

My fiancee lives in Nicaragua, which is next to Costa Rica, but she has an America tourist Visa which she can use to enter Costa Rica legally.

 

My question is, if I send them a scan of her American tourist Visa, will that be enough proof that she can do the interview in their country by entering legally? She also has family in Costa Rica, so she would stay with them during the process. If not, is there any other way I can seek to have our case sent to another embassy? From the news I've read, the Nicaraguan embassy will be down for months or longer, so we're trying to avoid unnecessary delays.

 

Thanks for your advice.

[TNJ17 1,329]

Ok, first of all, your visa wasn’t approved. Your petition to apply for a visa was approved. 

Second of all you, don’t get NOA2 from NVC. NOA2 comes from USCIS. And NOA2 is the petition approval which you claim you already have.

Your first course of action is to check with the current embassy and see how long their shutdown is gonna be. If it’s only a matter of a few days to a couple of weeks (and it usually is), it might be worth sticking around as transferring to another embassy takes a long time and it doesn’t always get approved. Also, it is my understanding that you must be either a citizen of that country or a permanent resident to interview there. If she enters on a tourist visa, that will grant her tourist status and tourists can’t really interview for visas while visiting a country. At least not for the most part, and the countries that do allow this will only make things worse in the end. Double and triple check the requirements of whatever embassy you want to transfer. You don’t want to make things take even longer when it doesn’t work your way. 

[Ninja Joe 1]

Sound advice. We'll wait it out. Although I did ask the Nicaraguan embassy how long it would be until they resumed normal operations and they had no definitive answer. They've been working with a minimal crew since May 14, 2018, so it's been months already and it could be many months more.

 

When they resume normal operations, will I need to contact the NVC or will they automatically send our case to them and let me know?

 

Thanks for you help.

[TBoneTX 45,498]

Country-specific thread is moved from the K-1 Process forum to the Mexico/Latin/South America regional forum, where at least one other thread on the Managua situation can be found.

[JPWJ 19]

http://todaynicaragua.com/us-approves-return-of-non-emergency-personnel-to-nicaragua/

 

If I were you I would just wait it out, that is what I am going to do.