Expedited immigrant visa question

[Fstop 0]

Hello everyone - let me relay my sob story; hopefully someone out there can help us. 

 

My wife (Thai) and I (US citizen) have been married for 9 years. We have 2 daughters (7 and 2). We started this process in February of 2020. Her CR-1 went to the NVC in December and they sent her application to the US embassy in Bangkok on 17 December. Her application has been approved by the NVC; we are just waiting for an interview to be scheduled. 

 

I am currently living in the US with our eldest daughter, and my wife is currently living in Thailand with our youngest daughter. I left Thailand back in June as my employer cut everyone's salaries by 25%. I have now found a job here and we are just waiting for an interview to be scheduled so that we can be reunited. We never thought for a moment that it would take so long for an interview to be scheduled.

 

Last month, I contacted my congressman in hopes of applying for an expedited visa. We have a lot of evidence - doctor's note, a letter from my daughter's teacher and letters from family. It has now been over a month since we sent in this request (via the congressman's office) and we have heard nothing.

 

Last night I called the US embassy in Bangkok and the person I spoke to said that immigrant visa applicants are ineligible for expedited visas after the application has reached the embassy. The only thing we can do is wait for an interview to be scheduled. I find it difficult to believe this and have reached out to our lawyer and our congressman, as I have never heard of this insane rule. 

 

Any help or advice would be most appreciated, as we are desperate to be reunited. 

[SalishSea 16,851]

22 minutes ago, Fstop said:

Hello everyone - let me relay my sob story; hopefully someone out there can help us. 

 

My wife (Thai) and I (US citizen) have been married for 9 years. We have 2 daughters (7 and 2). We started this process in February of 2020. Her CR-1 went to the NVC in December and they sent her application to the US embassy in Bangkok on 17 December. Her application has been approved by the NVC; we are just waiting for an interview to be scheduled. 

 

I am currently living in the US with our eldest daughter, and my wife is currently living in Thailand with our youngest daughter. I left Thailand back in June as my employer cut everyone's salaries by 25%. I have now found a job here and we are just waiting for an interview to be scheduled so that we can be reunited. We never thought for a moment that it would take so long for an interview to be scheduled.

 

Last month, I contacted my congressman in hopes of applying for an expedited visa. We have a lot of evidence - doctor's note, a letter from my daughter's teacher and letters from family. It has now been over a month since we sent in this request (via the congressman's office) and we have heard nothing.

 

Last night I called the US embassy in Bangkok and the person I spoke to said that immigrant visa applicants are ineligible for expedited visas after the application has reached the embassy. The only thing we can do is wait for an interview to be scheduled. I find it difficult to believe this and have reached out to our lawyer and our congressman, as I have never heard of this insane rule. 

 

Any help or advice would be most appreciated, as we are desperate to be reunited. 

Embassies/consulates have discretion about the conditions under which cases are expedited, just like they have that type of discretion for many other things (accepting transfers, accepting DCF).

 

No lawyer or congressperson can force them to change internal policy, unfortunately.

[JKLSemicolon 329]

28 minutes ago, Fstop said:

Hello everyone - let me relay my sob story; hopefully someone out there can help us. 

 

My wife (Thai) and I (US citizen) have been married for 9 years. We have 2 daughters (7 and 2). We started this process in February of 2020. Her CR-1 went to the NVC in December and they sent her application to the US embassy in Bangkok on 17 December. Her application has been approved by the NVC; we are just waiting for an interview to be scheduled. 

 

I am currently living in the US with our eldest daughter, and my wife is currently living in Thailand with our youngest daughter. I left Thailand back in June as my employer cut everyone's salaries by 25%. I have now found a job here and we are just waiting for an interview to be scheduled so that we can be reunited. We never thought for a moment that it would take so long for an interview to be scheduled.

 

Last month, I contacted my congressman in hopes of applying for an expedited visa. We have a lot of evidence - doctor's note, a letter from my daughter's teacher and letters from family. It has now been over a month since we sent in this request (via the congressman's office) and we have heard nothing.

 

Last night I called the US embassy in Bangkok and the person I spoke to said that immigrant visa applicants are ineligible for expedited visas after the application has reached the embassy. The only thing we can do is wait for an interview to be scheduled. I find it difficult to believe this and have reached out to our lawyer and our congressman, as I have never heard of this insane rule. 

 

Any help or advice would be most appreciated, as we are desperate to be reunited. 

 

I'm confused by the part in bold above. My understanding is that cases are only sent from NVC to the Embassy/Consulate once an interview has been scheduled.

 

Based on that, I am guessing that your case was marked as Documentarily Qualified on December 17, 2020. Please confirm if that is correct? Otherwise, please specify how you know that the case is in Bangkok. Did you ask the person you spoke to on the phone whether your case was actually there?

 

If the case is still at NVC, then you would need to send in an expedite request directly to them. Here are the instructions directly from the Department of State (note that others have had expedite requests approved without it being a life-or-death medical emergency):

 

Quote

If a visa is available for your relative’s category, and their case involves a life or death medical emergency, processing of your case may be expedited. To request a review for expedite, please submit a scanned letter (or statement) to NVCExpedite@state.gov from a physician (or medical facility). The letter must include the physician’s (or medical facility’s) contact information, and declare a life or death medical emergency exists.

Please make sure to include your case or receipt number on the subject line along with at least one of the of the following:

• Petitioner’s name and date of birth
• Beneficiary’s name and date of birth
• Invoice ID number

 

I'm not sure what happens if the request was sent through your congressman's office, but if you did not receive a confirmation directly from NVC about the request being received then you may need to send it again using the above instructions.

 

And if your case is indeed in Bangkok then you shouldn't have much longer to wait.

 

 

Edited April 5, 2021 by JKLSemicolon

[Fstop 0]

Yes - sorry her case is currently "AT NVC" - the NVC has sent the expedited request to Bangkok and they have been waiting for a reply for over a month now.

[JKLSemicolon 329]

51 minutes ago, Fstop said:

Yes - sorry her case is currently "AT NVC" - the NVC has sent the expedited request to Bangkok and they have been waiting for a reply for over a month now.

Okay, that makes more sense.

 

In that case what the person from the Embassy told you over the phone (that the case can't be expedited once it is at the Embassy) doesn't apply to your situation right now.

 

You could try emailing the Immigrant Visa Unit, including your case number, explaining that your case is at NVC and that a request for expedited processing was forwarded from NVC to the Embassy but you have not heard a response and would like to verify whether it was received. The contact email is here: https://th.usembassy.gov/visas/family-immigration/

 

Don't be surprised if you get a terse reply, as that often seems the case when sending IV inquiries. And be mentally prepared for the expedite request to be denied, as I am sure there are a lot of similar requests coming in due to the interview backlog and they can't all be granted.

[pushbrk 12,221]

This is one of those cases where use of correct terminology is critical.  NVC has not approved any application.  You are Documentarily Qualified and in the queue for an interview.  You made a request for expedite properly through NVC.  You are waiting for a response.  Unfortunately, your dissatisfaction with the response time is nothing anybody is likely to be able to fix for you.  Ultimately the answer will depend on how a person judges the validity of your reason for requesting the expedite.  We cannot comment on THAT, because you haven't given us the reason(s).