Help interpreting denial letter from embassy [merged threads]

[ColoradoSteve 29]

Everyone,

 

I had a second K1 interview with my fiancee at the embassy in Nicaragua. The interview was nearly 3 weeks ago, and we have heard nothing. My fiancee and I both thought the interview went well. The man conducting the interview was very polite and friendly. He interviewed my fiancee (the beneficiary) for more than an hour, asking her many simple but varied questions about me, my family, how we met, and about our visits together.

 

Next he questioned me for only about 10 or 15 minutes, cross checking a subset of the answers he received from my fiancee. He told us that we would be contacted with further instructions within 2 weeks, and that my fiancee would need to redo the medical exams, because her original exams would expire in about a week (they are only valid for 6 months) and they wouldn't be able to complete the visa before then. He said she would need to get the new exams, and send the results along with her passport to the embassy through the cargo-trans office. I asked if she could arrive in time to spend Christmas with me in Colorado, and he said yes.

 

But the visa wasn't approved (or denied) at the interview, because they still had to verify the additional documents they had requested from my fiancee (literal birth certificate, divorce certificate, several old expired IDs). They told us we would be receiving instructions within 2 weeks, but we have heard nothing. Nearly 3 weeks have passed.

 

How long do they have to approve or deny a visa after a second (split) interview? What should I do next if I don't get a response? I already sent an email 2 days ago.

 

I started the paperwork for the K1 visa about 15 or 16 months ago. I met my fiancee 3 years ago, visited 6 times before the first interview, and have been engaged nearly 2 years. It is becoming unbearable being apart for so long.

 

Thanks everyone for all the past advice.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

[SalishSea 16,764]

Is that considered a Stokes interview?   I thought that was only for spousal.   What was the reason given for the second interview?

[ColoradoSteve 29]

1 minute ago, Jorgedig said:

Is that considered a Stokes interview?   I thought that was only for spousal.   What was the reason given for the second interview?

People on this forum told me I was going to have a Stokes interview. But Stokes interviews are used to check the validity of marriages. So I think the proper term for what we experienced was a "split interview". That is what the embassy called it.

 

The reason for the additional scrutiny was there were a few problems at the first interview with documentation for my fiancee. Her name was misspelled on a document (she had to get this corrected). But the main problem was that she had been married 12 years earlier, but never disclosed this. Actually, the marriage was not valid, because it was never registered with the central registry in Managua. She had attempted to get a divorce certificate many years ago, but failed, because there was no record of the marriage. She had a "clean" certificate of singleness that said she had never been married. The central registry told her she was single.

 

Unfortunately, she had used the married name to obtain a passport many years earlier (which had been lost, stolen, and replaced several times with new passports with her non-married name). She had forgotten about obtaining her first passport when she was "married" 12 years earlier. The embassy had records of the previous passport with the married name, but there was no mention of the marriage, hence the problem.

 

The embassy said that she needed to provide more documentation to prove she was who she said she was. She was required to fix the documents with spelling errors, and to obtain a literal birth certificate, a divorce certificate, and provide old expired IDs with her current unmarried name. She found an old expired cedula, drivers license, and some other old ID.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

[Ryan H 3,790]

Moved from Process & Procedures to Progress Reports.

[geowrian 22,335]

Stokes interviews apply to a fiance/fiancee as well as a spouse.

Being interviewed separately and for over an hour total is uncommon. Regardless of what they called it (split versus Stokes), it's essentially the same as a Stokes interview. That doesn't mean anything about the result....just the process they went through.

 

Hopefully she can get the previous marriage and name issues resolved soon.

 

1 hour ago, ColoradoSteve said:

How long do they have to approve or deny a visa after a second (split) interview? What should I do next if I don't get a response? I already sent an email 2 days ago.

There is no fixed timeline. It could be days. It could be years. Most likely it will be somewhere in the weeks to months range, but nothing is guaranteed. Much of it depends on how long it takes to process and verify the documents.

[ColoradoSteve 29]

Everyone,

 

My K1 visa has been in process in the embassy in Nicaragua for about 19 months. We attended 2 interviews at the embassy, the last of which was November 6th of 2018. Our case has been in the black hole of administrative processing this entire time. We have had no signs of action out of the embassy for an entire year, other than their useless replies to the three inquiries from my Senators office.

 

I finally received an email from the embassy after exactly one year of absolutely no activity. The letter was in spanish, so I had a bit of difficulty translating it. I am uncertain of the implications of the letter and what is happening. So I am posting the contents below, and asking for any insight as to what is happening. In short, the letter is requesting additional documentation, as well as a new DS-160 new medical exams, and says we need to schedule ANOTHER appointment. The letter also says our petition has been denied. It says we need to schedule another appointment for not submitting complete documentation. This is confusing to me, because we did submit absolutely everything they asked for 18 months ago, and all of the additional items they requested in our second interview one year ago.

 

It appears to me that we are starting over from where we were 18 months ago, and in fact they have assigned a completely different case number which is in the email. It seems that it is impossible to ever complete the process, because the embassy waits until all of the documents, evidence and medical exams have long since expired, before doing anything. Then they request we submit everything again. Here is the english translation of the letter I received, please provide opinions on what is happening. Do they actually intend to complete our case, or is this just another ploy to further delay everything?

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

This office informs you that your petition has been denied under Section 221 (g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of the United States of America. To continue with your process we require you to provide additional documentation. If you do not submit the requested documents within one year, your request will be canceled.

       SEND DOCUMENTS THROUGH
OF CARGOTRANS
SCHEDULE APPOINTMENT

Before sending your documentation through CargoTrans, go to www.ustraveldocs.com/ni to create a profile and register. You can also register and obtain information by calling the Call Center, from Nicaragua at 7877-7600 and from the United States at
(703) 745-5479.
For not presenting complete documentation, you must schedule a new appointment by contacting the Call Center, at 7877-7600 from Nic. and at (703) 745-5479 from the United States. Similarly schedule your appointment online through: www.ustraveldocs.com/ni.

New medical exams
Record of local police (district)
re-submit form DS-160
Present recent evidence of relationship (NoV / 18 - NOV / 19)

[TBoneTX 43,038]

Most recent post above has been moved from K-1 Process forum to K-1 Case Progress subforum.  Similar-themed threads have been merged.

------------------

Respondents should read the OP's previous content for context.

------------------

The consulate still doubts the validity of your relationship and has given you yet another 221g.  This is not an outright refusal of the visa.  If you wish to keep pursuing this relationship, provide what they ask for.

Edited November 6, 2019 by TBoneTX

[ColoradoSteve 29]

TBoneTx,

 

I learned from informed sources outside this forum, that medical exams expire after 6 months. The DS-160 is only valid for one year. Police reports are also only valid for a limited time, and my fiancees are now more than 18 months old. Because the embassy sat on our case for so long, virtually everything we previously submitted has expired. There is no expiration date on the relationship evidence. However, everything we had previously submitted is now more than a year old. The embassy has nothing recent from the past 12 months.

 

I just noticed that new email from the embassy came from the "managuaIV" email address, not the "managuaFPU" address that was used for everything when we were under AP. Perhaps this suggests that our case is out of the FPU and back into the normal main stream of visa processing within the embassy.

[geowrian 22,335]

On 11/8/2019 at 3:30 AM, ColoradoSteve said:

I learned from informed sources outside this forum, that medical exams expire after 6 months. The DS-160 is only valid for one year. Police reports are also only valid for a limited time, and my fiancees are now more than 18 months old. Because the embassy sat on our case for so long, virtually everything we previously submitted has expired. There is no expiration date on the relationship evidence. However, everything we had previously submitted is now more than a year old. The embassy has nothing recent from the past 12 months.

 

I just noticed that new email from the embassy came from the "managuaIV" email address, not the "managuaFPU" address that was used for everything when we were under AP. Perhaps this suggests that our case is out of the FPU and back into the normal main stream of visa processing within the embassy.

Correct. The documents have since expired so they are requesting new ones. No guarantees, but it is a sign that they are ready to move forward at least. The new relaitonship evidence is to assist in determining that the relationship is still ongoing and valid (you could have broken up since last evidence was provided).

 

On 11/6/2019 at 3:16 AM, ColoradoSteve said:

The letter also says our petition has been denied.

Either that is a typo or you mistranslated "visa". A petition cannot be denied under INA 221(g). That only applies to visas.

The visa can be denied under INA 221(g) based upon believing the petition is invalid (e.g. not a bona fide relationship is one cause), with the petition being returned to USCIS to expire. But that doesn't appear to be the case here since they are asking for new documents. My money is on a mistranslation or mistake on the word "petition".

 

Edit: Note that the visa being refused under INA 221(g) is not a big issue. It's a "soft" refusal in that it basically means they don't have the information yet to determine eligibility. In this case, they need at least those documents first.

Edited November 9, 2019 by geowrian

[Pitaya 2,576]

Agree with TBoneTX and geowrian.

 

It does sound like you had the experience of a Stokes interview, and apparently successfully passed from the indications that you gave. This would include the receipt of an email from the IV Unit at the Managua embassy. Provide the new documents as requested/required and go from there.

 

Good luck on your ongoing immigration journey.