Issues with NVC and constant RFE's, please help

[mika__ 50]

Hi everyone

Me and my husband hired a lawyer to file our cr-1 visa for us, and we have been stuck at NVC stage since April, thats when we paid all fees and sent everything in. We have had 4 RFE's since then with NVC most them which are the lawyers fault (uploading the wrong papers, sending in "too" much paperwork, etc). We got another RFE on Oct 4 here, the Document that was Rejected this time was one called "POLICE CERTIFICATE (1st MARRIAGE-FINAL DIVORCE DECREE)" (this rejection was for me, the beneficiary), and yet it was accepted all the other times but now all a sudden its rejected. Our lawyer said he doesnt know why it got rejected and doesnt understand the description NVC gave us for why it was rejected. Our lawyer said he is going to email NVC and ask what is going on and to give a clear answer to us so we can upload the right documents but our lawyer also said "they can email him back or not, sometimes they dont" and kind of left us in the dark as to whats going on. Our lawyer said wait 7 days for him to get a email response from NVC and its been 2 weeks and all the lawyer keeps saying is "wait". Last time our lawyer said wait 10 days on something it turned into 2 months.

 

Me and my husband are lost on what to do, we keep getting rfes from NVC mostly due to the lawyer messing up or just telling us that they "dont know" whats happening. Me and my husband have started to try and call NVC on our own for weeks now to try and figure this out on our own but its impossible to get ahold of them due to they dont have a line where you can wait on hold. 

 

I personally didnt want to hire a lawyer, my husband insisted. I keep trying to tell my husband we need to fire the lawyer but he keeps siding with them for some reason and doesnt want to, even though they have uploaded the wrong things multiple times and always give us the answer "I dont know". Its very unprofessional in my opinion and is causing us delays in my opinion

 

Should we just try to keep calling NVC on our own? do we ask for a supervisor? we arent really sure what to do
 

[DylanandLaura 46]

RFEs are common at the NVC stage. Since you have been at the NVC stage since April it may be time to consider firing the lawyer and doing the rest of the process yourselves. You can call the NVC to ask why the divorce and police certificate were rejected, yet accepted all the other times. You need to call the NVC number many times until you get through, often the holding times on the phone can be 30 mins to an hour. Once on the line ask to speak to a supervisor because of how your case has been at the NVC and the documents should not have been rejected. 

 

Again, using a lawyer is your personal preference, many of us have had visas issued without the help of a lawyer doing it ourselves. My wife and I decided to save the money because we had a straight forward case and I would never pay someone money to fill out papers for me. To each their own. 

[geowrian 22,337]

NVC issues checklists not RFEs.

Sounds like the lawyer is not doing their job in a way that is satisfactory to you. DIY is definitely an option.

[JeanneAdil 6,553]

I would suspect the lawyer sent a copy and NVC wants the original divorce degree

sometimes copies do not work at this stage

my lawyer sent a copy of my marriage certificate and NVC wanted the original (they said specifically the paper size is different in Morocco) so they wanted to correct one

 

If the lawyer didn't give you a copy of the RFE they sent to him,  demand it so you know what is going on

NVC is specific about the reasons and the request to the lawyer should say why

Problem here is not with NVC but your attorney

He shouldn't be saying he will email them,  he should be sending NVC what they need so you are not delayed any longer

Edited October 19, 2019 by JeanneAdil

[mika__ 50]

1 minute ago, geowrian said:

NVC issues checklists not RFEs.

Sounds like the lawyer is not doing their job in a way that is satisfactory to you. DIY is definitely an option.

ah I always accidently mess that up, haha thank you!

[DGF 730]

Yes, call the NVC! You may have to call 20, 30, 40 times in a row to get through to the hold queue, but if you are calling while they are open you will get through to them eventually! NVC email response times are I think 30 days right now so calling is much faster. If they've accepted the doc all other times it's possible that they made a mistake in rejecting it this time but you won't know until you talk to them. You also don't need to wait for the lawyer to upload the correct documents once you find out what the problem is, the beneficiary, petitioner, and lawyer are all allowed to upload documents. 

 

At this point your lawyer has messed around for long enough (I have nothing against lawyers, we are using one too) and it's time to start taking matters into your own hands  

[carmel34 3,639]

8 hours ago, mika__ said:

 

Should we just try to keep calling NVC on our own? do we ask for a supervisor? we arent really sure what to do

Sounds like a problem with scanning documents correctly (or incorrectly).  NVC is really picky about this.  Sometimes they reject scans that are horizontal when they should be vertical, some edges of documents are not visible, etc.  Your best way to resolve this is to fire the attorney and call NVC yourself.  It takes patience and multiple calls but eventually you'll get through to a person and they are typically very helpful in describing exactly what the problem is with the scanned documents and how you can fix the problem.  Maybe two different documents were scanned as one multiple page document and uploaded to CEAC incorrectly by your attorney's staff.  Call NVC and do what they say yourself.  That's what I would suggest and this is coming from someone who went through the NVC stage successfully a few months ago with no delays or RFEs.  Good luck!

Edited October 19, 2019 by carmel34

[Highmystic 234]

11 hours ago, mika__ said:

Hi everyone

 

Should we just try to keep calling NVC on our own? do we ask for a supervisor? we arent really sure what to do
 

Unless I am mistaken, you should feel lucky that you get the RFE's, because, I've read that recent changes in policy, they do not even have to issue an RFE at all, it's up to the person doing your paperwork.  They can just deny the whole thing and start over from scratch.  Others would know better than me if it applies to the NVC level or not.

[Ryan H 3,812]

4 minutes ago, Highmystic said:

Others would know better than me if it applies to the NVC level or not.

 

That doesn't apply at the NVC; the NVC is nothing more than a document intake facility that checks for completeness; unlike USCIS adjudicators or CO's at an Embassy or Consulate; NVC personnel have no decision making authority.

[jojotica 39]

You should log in on ceac and check the messages yourself. you can also review the documents that are rejected.

 

you should have access to that information and you will need it when you call nvc anyway so demand it from the lawyer.

 

it sounds like they may have uploaded the documents under the wrong section, maybe a police certificate where the marriage should be??

[Sailormooon 268]

Hello, I work for an Immigration attorney so if you have any questions, or need a step by step, please feel free to private message me. If you log into CEAC yourself then it should tell you why they're rejecting the documents. NVC is SUPER picky with how the documents are uploaded as another poster has said. I literally do the NVC process for numerous clients daily. Recently though CEAC are having an issue with uploading documents and the systems are down. You don't need a lawyer to upload the documents yourself as long as you have your case number and iv number. If you want me to go through it with you, please feel free to private message me! 

[mika__ 50]

14 hours ago, DGF said:

Yes, call the NVC! You may have to call 20, 30, 40 times in a row to get through to the hold queue, but if you are calling while they are open you will get through to them eventually! NVC email response times are I think 30 days right now so calling is much faster. If they've accepted the doc all other times it's possible that they made a mistake in rejecting it this time but you won't know until you talk to them. You also don't need to wait for the lawyer to upload the correct documents once you find out what the problem is, the beneficiary, petitioner, and lawyer are all allowed to upload documents. 

 

At this point your lawyer has messed around for long enough (I have nothing against lawyers, we are using one too) and it's time to start taking matters into your own hands  

Thank you so much! this was very helpful, we will continue to keep calling like you suggested

[Tybeau2 7]

I have had the same issue since May.   Documents that were previously accepted are now rejected.   The last one was also the Police report which they said was "missing" and yet it was listed as being accepted previously.   Calling the NVC does nothing....anyone that answers the phone just pays lip service to the caller and the NVC does nothing.   I've tried to get  a supervisor (they are always busy) and they NEVER return a call.  I am convinced that this is part of the current administrations efforts to curb/eliminate most immigration.