Six months, we hired a lawyer

[Whanlin 42]

@moreadore

 

You have the funds for the lawyer and your case is one of the craziest ones I have ever heard of so I would of hired one to. I'm hoping for the best for you guys. I seriously think its some sort of mix up

[moreadore 95]

On 5/13/2019 at 6:30 PM, Going through said:

First I've ever  heard of lawyers talking to embassy lawyers, as well.  Lawyers have been known to say lots of things though when retaining clients.

Is it really that perplexing though? In any other situation where a lawyer is involved do they not talk to the other party's lawyer? Representatives speak to the representatives. I mean here's a piece of the job description for the paralegal on the UK embassy website right now. I couldn't provide the whole thing because the size limit is so low.

[Going through 5,668]

Lawyer inferring she would have some sort of direct line of communication with embassy lawyers seems confusing, and doesn't sound common.   Anything is possible of course.

Hopefully she can assist you---Best of luck.

[IknBarbie 10]

...

Edited May 16, 2019 by IknBarbie

[Wuozopo 4,285]

4 hours ago, moreadore said:

Is it really that perplexing though? In any other situation where a lawyer is involved do they not talk to the other party's lawyer? Representatives speak to the representatives. I mean here's a piece of the job description for the paralegal on the UK embassy website right now. I couldn't provide the whole thing because the size limit is so low.

That paralegal job is not for the visa group in the Department of State. It's for the Department of Justice, Criminal Division. 

[moreadore 95]

3 hours ago, IknBarbie said:

...

Thank you. I saw what you said through the email notification. Everyone jumps and attacks at any mention of AP and acts like they're experts and we're just supposed to shut up and take it. This place is toxic as hell and honestly I wonder why I even bother it's a broken record copy pasting the same thing when my case is clearly not the day after an interview whining about the ceac status.

[Going through 5,668]

People in this thread jumped and attacked you?  Where?

 

I said lawyers talking directly to embassy lawyers is uncommon but I also wished you the best of luck---if you took that as "toxic" then I really don't know what else to say.

[IknBarbie 10]

We must be strong and believe one day all this will be over..5 months in AP already and we are still waiting

 

God help us all 

[moreadore 95]

7 minutes ago, Going through said:

People in this thread jumped and attacked you?  Where?

 

I said lawyers talking directly to embassy lawyers is uncommon but I also wished you the best of luck---if you took that as "toxic" then I really don't know what else to say.

It's on any thread about extended ap. Everyone parrots the same lines like it's any help without ever taking the time to learn each case before they jump in with their own preconceived opinions. I quickly called Amanda's case as going to resolve quickly as I took the time to talk to her in private and follow her threads and she was in AP for maybe 5 or 6 weeks? Everybody else just "it's a black hole etc etc"

[Going through 5,668]

19 minutes ago, moreadore said:

It's on any thread about extended ap. Everyone parrots the same lines like it's any help without ever taking the time to learn each case before they jump in with their own preconceived opinions. I quickly called Amanda's case as going to resolve quickly as I took the time to talk to her in private and follow her threads and she was in AP for maybe 5 or 6 weeks? Everybody else just "it's a black hole etc etc"

I gotcha.

 

I think coming from the UK, it's less time (on average) in AP than say, a MENA country.  Some people do over-generalize on things, that I can agree with you on.  Most answers around VJ are coming from members with years of immigration experience through their own process, advocating/assisting others, etc. (a few are actually lawyers, or some even employed by consulates, or have other government jobs closely tied to immigration) and usually have a very good handle on what's consistent process-wise.  I think people say it's a black hole because there's really no accurate way to predict how long AP will take...like you saw yourself, Amanda was in AP or 5-6 weeks.  Some members have reported being in AP for a year plus.

 

Calling the entire forum toxic as hell seems unfair though, is all I'm saying.  Most (I hope!) are here to help, not bring everyone down.

Edited May 16, 2019 by Going through

[Newuser4453454 79]

I think the main outlayer in your situation is obviously that at some point (erroneously or not) someone told you that your visa was issued. That person , whoever it was, should be held accountable for that response and should be made to explain to you why they responded in that way.  Even if they were to just tell you sorry, we made a mistake. Our lines got crossed. We were looking at the wrong case number. Anything. You just want, and frankly, deserve a response and some accountability on that specific response that you received. 

 

As far as the general AP? 6 months isn't the abnormal part. People have been in AP that long before. But, when you take into account the above, one begins to question why no updates are made past that one that was erroneous or incorrect. It makes one believe something is honestly wrong, and I don't blame you for feeling the need to get to the bottom of it. I hope your lawyer can get to the bottom of it and get you some response. The whole of your situation is not normal, even if the length of time for AP is not unheard of in and of itself. 

[yuna628 9,528]

OP: Everyone here has attempted to offer help and advise as best they can. You have felt the need to utilize a lawyer (again, have you contacted the ombudsman and what was the result?) and so now you must rely upon them to serve your best interests. You are paying for this, so I sincerely hope they are - however as some have cautioned, and rightly so, the concept or ability for them as a lawyer could possibly speak to a so-called lawyer at the embassy is something many would find hard to believe. We are not saying that you are lying or wrong for believing them, but I think some are encouraging caution in trusting such a claim outright. We have seen too many times before individuals get burned. Does the lawyer intend to file a WoM?

 

There is nothing that someone can do to escape AP. There's reasons why a person is placed there for months, or even years. There is little recourse for a person, and the lawyer surely knows this. It's another aspect of the immigration system that has little sense. For an individual that has no obvious signs or reasons as to why - there are other reasons, such as the foreign spouse not being honest about something (and I am NOT claiming this is the case), or a flag on a matching name. Wrong name matches happen all the time, it's the reason why people get put on no-fly lists by mistake, and there is little recourse to escape that either. The other possibility in your case could be a potential clerical error either at the embassy or somewhere else along the way. I don't think it's frequent to happen in London, but this is certainly a good possibility. And even in this, I'm not sure what the lawyer could do. The government makes stuff like this difficult, intentionally. They have made it harder for representatives to assist citizens in investigating too.

[Mike E 11,723]

Given conventional wisdom on VJ is that lawyers are useless, I will be following this. 

 

I wish I could offer any words of wisdom to help you OP.  I think hiring the lawyer beats waiting around indefinitely.  

 

This is yet another data point on why it can be a bad idea to get married  and go for CR-1 versus waiting and going for a K-1. 

[yuna628 9,528]

38 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Given conventional wisdom on VJ is that lawyers are useless, I will be following this. 

 

I wish I could offer any words of wisdom to help you OP.  I think hiring the lawyer beats waiting around indefinitely.  

 

This is yet another data point on why it can be a bad idea to get married  and go for CR-1 versus waiting and going for a K-1. 

I don't see anything in the OP's history that would have changed anything regardless of which visa they picked. The same result may still have happened.

 

Lawyers are certainly useful in complex cases, cases involving potential criminality, waivers, and perhaps WoM and such - but it should be an honest one. Not one that makes claims that are a little far-fetched.

[Mike E 11,723]

40 minutes ago, yuna628 said:

I don't see anything in the OP's history that would have changed anything regardless of which visa they picked. The same result may still have happened.

Agreed. 

 

Hence the decision to go for the K-1 instead of CR-1 was the correct decision.