Unable to attend Interview or change the date

[Nitas_man 3,100]

35 minutes ago, Tampatownfan said:

I hadn't considered an alternative embassy other than Iraq. That might be one our congressman might be able to broker for us given the limitations on communication. As is always the case effective communication is king and that is the thing we really want to open up.

Hope things work out for y’all

 

We’ve been in and out of the country, as it appears you have.  That green card doesn’t mean much if you don’t eventually settle down in the US.  

Edited April 18, 2021 by Nitas_man

[Tampatownfan 16]

14 minutes ago, Boiler said:

They effectively communicated to you your interview date.

 

I have a feeling you do not understand how things work. They say jump, you say how high.

Oh believe you me I fully understand how things work, I just happen to be a realist and know when things are possible and when they are not. Effective communication is a two way process and right now it is most definitely one way. I fully understand it is incumbent upon me to present myself at a specific time and place, but I do not buy in to the 'they say jump, I say how high' perspective. Like I said earlier, we all had to show a lot of patience to get through the process, especially with the COVID slow down. I am more than happy to exercise more patience while trying to identify the optimum solution to the problem.

[Tampatownfan 16]

7 minutes ago, Nitas_man said:

Hope things work out for y’all

 

We’ve been in and out of the country, as it appears you have.  That green card doesn’t mean much if you don’t eventually settle down in the US.  

Yes that was our decision point when we decided to re-apply. We have a house in Florida but obviously with no legal residency status nor social I/we are limited moving forward, especially as we get older. So getting formalised and on the IRS radar etc was something we needed to sort out. 

[aaron2020 11,651]

47 minutes ago, Tampatownfan said:

I hadn't considered an alternative embassy other than Iraq. That might be one our congressman might be able to broker for us given the limitations on communication. As is always the case effective communication is king and that is the thing we really want to open up.

Unfortunately, this is not how things work.

You can only interview at at US Embassy/Consulate in a country where you have citizenship or legal residency.  A Congressman is not going to be able to "broker" anything around this rule.  

You will either have to make arrangement with your job or try to reschedule in the UK.

[Tampatownfan 16]

Just now, aaron2020 said:

Unfortunately, this is not how things work.

You can only interview at at US Embassy/Consulate in a country where you have citizenship or legal residency.  A Congressman is not going to be able to "broker" anything around this rule.  

You will either have to make arrangement with your job or try to reschedule in the UK.

The reason I suggested him brokering a change is it does say on the Iraq US Embassy website that alternatives may be arranged. Typically, an individual needs to show an enduring link with a country to be able to change the interview location. In this case I do have such an association in that I have formal working residency in Kurdistan, so although limited by the fact the embassy is closed, there may be the potential there. I do however think I will ultimately need to split my medical and interview visits between work periods but that will require some discussion on dates to make it viable. 

[JFH 12,189]

2 hours ago, Tampatownfan said:

Yes that was our decision point when we decided to re-apply. We have a house in Florida but obviously with no legal residency status nor social I/we are limited moving forward, especially as we get older. So getting formalised and on the IRS radar etc was something we needed to sort out. 

If you went through the K-1 previously you should already have an SSN. Not that it helps the visa issue but you wrote as if you have no SSN and I just wanted to highlight that you should have (unless you didn’t apply for one back then for whatever reason). 

[Nitas_man 3,100]

2 hours ago, aaron2020 said:

Unfortunately, this is not how things work.

You can only interview at at US Embassy/Consulate in a country where you have citizenship or legal residency.  A Congressman is not going to be able to "broker" anything around this rule.  

You will either have to make arrangement with your job or try to reschedule in the UK.

It is how things work in the middle east.  
 

Many interviews from Iraq were conducted in the UAE and the embassy notes this.

[Nitas_man 3,100]

2 hours ago, Tampatownfan said:

The reason I suggested him brokering a change is it does say on the Iraq US Embassy website that alternatives may be arranged. Typically, an individual needs to show an enduring link with a country to be able to change the interview location. In this case I do have such an association in that I have formal working residency in Kurdistan, so although limited by the fact the embassy is closed, there may be the potential there. I do however think I will ultimately need to split my medical and interview visits between work periods but that will require some discussion on dates to make it viable. 

That would be correct and the UAE (at least in the past) was the alternate.  It’s a real sacrifice.....LOL

[Scandi 3,970]

Sounds like your future in the US isn't as important as your job, so my suggestion is for you to give up on that visa/greencard since it's not a priority anyway, and reapply again in the future when it is. 

[Zoeeeeeee 795]

6 hours ago, Tampatownfan said:

Oh believe you me I fully understand how things work, I just happen to be a realist and know when things are possible and when they are not. Effective communication is a two way process and right now it is most definitely one way. I fully understand it is incumbent upon me to present myself at a specific time and place, but I do not buy in to the 'they say jump, I say how high' perspective. Like I said earlier, we all had to show a lot of patience to get through the process, especially with the COVID slow down. I am more than happy to exercise more patience while trying to identify the optimum solution to the problem.

I think you're expecting something which has never been advertised. USCIS, the NVC, the embassy have never promised 'effective communication'...they're not in competition with other suppliers, they have no need to court your services. They have something you want - you have nothing they want. So if you can't make the interview they offer or can't do X, Y or Z, they don't care - it just means no visa for you. No skin off their noses. They have zero incentive or reason to compromise with you.

 

So, by all means exercise patience and look at all options - but realistically, expecting the immigration process or the customer service provided to change isn't going to help you. If you want the end prize, you, like everyone else, will have to jump through the relevant hoops. 

 

Hopefully you can get your dates/location etc lined up.  Good luck!

 

[SalishSea 16,750]

7 hours ago, Tampatownfan said:

I hadn't considered an alternative embassy other than Iraq. That might be one our congressman might be able to broker for us given the limitations on communication.

That's not how that works.  Congress doesn't get involved in "brokering" deals related to DOS consular workflows.

 

They can make inquiries into cases that go beyond published processing times, and that's about it.

[Tampatownfan 16]

14 hours ago, Scandi said:

Sounds like your future in the US isn't as important as your job, so my suggestion is for you to give up on that visa/greencard since it's not a priority anyway, and reapply again in the future when it is. 

Scandi, every step of this process is and has been taken as a couple. Ive been married to my US citizen wife for 14 years this year. Although not resident for most of that, I still spend more time in my Florida home than I do in the UK. Im sorry if you think it doesn't appear to be a priority, but living in the US has become the norm for me. I have an established life here and the acquisition of a green card is now just a formality. I recognise that to those that are going to be arriving here on their new lives and will be experiencing recent weddings and a new life, it is the most important thing in the world. I see it as an important part of our lives, but both my wife and I see my employment as an essential aspect of our ability to provide not only for ourselves but also our grandchildren, both sides of the pond. 

[Tampatownfan 16]

15 hours ago, JFH said:

If you went through the K-1 previously you should already have an SSN. Not that it helps the visa issue but you wrote as if you have no SSN and I just wanted to highlight that you should have (unless you didn’t apply for one back then for whatever reason). 

I will have a SSN, but it was 'un-linked' when we had to surrender my previous green card, so as a current non resident, it is dormant and cannot be used.

[mushroomspore 3,043]

3 hours ago, Tampatownfan said:

I will have a SSN, but it was 'un-linked' when we had to surrender my previous green card, so as a current non resident, it is dormant and cannot be used.

Nope, SSn's are issued for life. You can't use it to become employed in the US because you don't have the proper status yet but you can still use it for the purposes of taxes and general ID verification. SSN's do not become "dormant".

Edited April 19, 2021 by mushroomspore

[JFH 12,189]

9 hours ago, Tampatownfan said:

I will have a SSN, but it was 'un-linked' when we had to surrender my previous green card, so as a current non resident, it is dormant and cannot be used.

Each SSN is issued for life. It's still yours. There may be no 'activity' linked to it because you have been out of the country for a long period of time but it's still your unique number.