I-129F not approved nor denied due to drug use - next step? (Juarez Consulate)

[Andrew010101 4]

Hello,

 

My fiancee was not approved at the consulate due to marijuana use. We were given a date, one year later, that she could come back and the recommendation to do monthly drug tests. The issue is that there are no directions on how to proceed regarding going back to the consulate for an interview after the retry at the clinic. Does she go to the clinic and show 12 months of drug tests, pass the drug test there, and the clinic deals with communication with the consulate? I could only find one thing regarding this scenario where somebody said the clinic will give the beneficiary a paper to take to the window at the consulate. I'm just trying to get more information instead of winging it. I plan on calling the clinic to ask but figured I'd put a post here for others to read.

 

My attorney could not give me anymore information and thought that we were denied, should get married, and do a completely separate visa. We never got a denial and the case is still open.

[JaredAndAna 16]

Hey, I replied to you a while ago on my thread about this. We just got back from our third trip to Juarez. Hopefully I can save you one since they were not at all clear about the process after retaking the medical. You *should* be able to handle everything with a single trip back. But I can't guarantee it. Anyway, here's what we needed:

 

1. Retake medical, schedule it early with the same clinic on Monday or Wednesday.

2. Get the black sealed packet later that afternoon.

3. Early the next day (Tuesday or Thursday when the info window is open) bring a new passport photo, your fiancee's passport, an updated letter of intent to marry signed by you, a new federal police report, and an updated version of the DS-160 to the info window outside the consulate. Our lawyer suggested the only change we make to the DS-160 was the question about ever having been denied a visa - no to a yes. I strongly recommend you talk to your lawyer about how to best submit an updated DS-160.

4. Your fiancee will be given a pass inside to pay the DS-160 visa fee again (this is where we got stuck, we could not do this a second time online despite what the dude at the window told us). She can pay with a card. If it's your card, you can also go inside with her. Leave your phone at the hotel if that's your plan.

5. Go back outside to the info window again and drop off the paperwork. They will confirm the mail delivery location.

6. Wait to get an email to go pick up the results (where we are right now).

 

It was 3-3.5 hours of waiting in line for us to do the last steps and get the paperwork delivered. If we'd known what they needed we would have brought it with and not gone back to Juarez for a third time after the medical redo.

 

Hope this helps!

[JaredAndAna 16]

I can add a bit more. Your fiancee will have to talk to the psychiatrist again during her medical. She should be prepared for that. Having a history of drug tests, or a therapist's letter will help. We did the latter because the clinic/blue slip did not say my fiancee needed additional testing.

 

The clinic does directly communicate with the consulate. But if all goes well you will be asked to come back the afternoon after your fiancee's medical and they will give you a sealed package in black plastic. That's one of the things you'll need to resubmit to the consulate.

 

We went back to the consulate info window the day after and got a print out of what we needed to resubmit to continue our visa. A couple weeks later we got a similar blue slip sent to our mail location, and I sent a public inquiry to the consulate and got back the same again except they made it clear we had to come back to Juarez to complete the process (pay the fee & drop off the paperwork). Wish they'd told us that when we were there at the window!

 

You are right, your visa application is not cancelled, it's on hold for a year. The problem is that after a year certain things expire - the DS-160 fee, police report, passport photo, and your letter of intent to marry. All of those need to be resubmitted, plus your fiancee's passport so hopefully they can apply the visa. They also want you to update the DS-160 in case of changes. Again, talk to your lawyer about that.

 

The most frustrating thing about this is that calling the clinic can't help you figure out what the consulate wants you to do and if you call the consulate they will feed you the same useless information over and over or simply say they can't talk about in process visas. It sucks.

Edited April 27 by JaredAndAna

[Andrew010101 4]

13 hours ago, JaredAndAna said:

Hey, I replied to you a while ago on my thread about this. We just got back from our third trip to Juarez. Hopefully I can save you one since they were not at all clear about the process after retaking the medical. You *should* be able to handle everything with a single trip back. But I can't guarantee it. Anyway, here's what we needed:

 

1. Retake medical, schedule it early with the same clinic on Monday or Wednesday.

2. Get the black sealed packet later that afternoon.

3. Early the next day (Tuesday or Thursday when the info window is open) bring a new passport photo, your fiancee's passport, an updated letter of intent to marry signed by you, a new federal police report, and an updated version of the DS-160 to the info window outside the consulate. Our lawyer suggested the only change we make to the DS-160 was the question about ever having been denied a visa - no to a yes. I strongly recommend you talk to your lawyer about how to best submit an updated DS-160.

4. Your fiancee will be given a pass inside to pay the DS-160 visa fee again (this is where we got stuck, we could not do this a second time online despite what the dude at the window told us). She can pay with a card. If it's your card, you can also go inside with her. Leave your phone at the hotel if that's your plan.

5. Go back outside to the info window again and drop off the paperwork. They will confirm the mail delivery location.

6. Wait to get an email to go pick up the results (where we are right now).

 

It was 3-3.5 hours of waiting in line for us to do the last steps and get the paperwork delivered. If we'd known what they needed we would have brought it with and not gone back to Juarez for a third time after the medical redo.

 

Hope this helps!

Wow, thanks a lot for this response. My attorney didn’t have any information on this, nor did the clinic. 
 

How did your denial go? Was it simply

for drug addiction under this reason?: “212(a)(1)(A)(iv): any applicant that a panel physician determines to be a drug abuser or addict.” 

 

I ask because I finally got a response from the Juarez consulate through a Google Forms page (can’t even remember from where, it took me all day and 5+ phone calls to find it). I asked what our next step was and their response was literally to only go back and do the medical exam and then, “as soon as our office receives the medical exam from the clinic, the case will be reviewed and you will be notified of the officer’s decision via DHL courier at no extra cost”. So it seems like the opposite of what they had you guys do. I’m wondering if you/your fiancé was denied under the same guidelines or if it was a minor difference. 

 

Either way, we will most likely get everything ready that you had to do just in case. My fiancé will also have 12 months of drug tests so I’m hoping it goes well. Did you guys get accepted after the redo?! 

 

Thanks for the reply again and sorry if this response is formatted poorly, I’m on my phone. 

[JaredAndAna 16]

Our lawyer was the same, clueless as to this process. If I had to do it all over again I'd find lawyer in El Paso with hands on experience with the Juarez consulate. Of course going into this we had no idea we'd end up going to Juarez in the first place.

 

Our blue slip didn't sound as severe as yours, that's probably why my fiancee didn't have to do routine tests. It was 1A4 ($212(a)(1)(A)(iv)) use of a controlled substance. I guess Ana was able to state her case in a way that the psychologist didn't think she was an abuser/addict. At least that was the wording on the blue slip.

 

That Google form is exactly what I did after we got back from retaking the medical - a public inquiry to the consulate. That seems literally the only way to contact someone and it takes 10+ days to hear back.

 

What they are saying is what happened to us basically. You retake the medical and if that goes well they will send you a new blue form via the mailing location. This one will say you're ineligable for a visa because your application is incomplete. This is because of the documents and DS-160 fee that expire after a year and have to be resubmitted. My thinking is if you show up with all that stuff already it may keep you from having to take a third trip to the consulate like we just did.

 

We haven't been accepted yet but we just got back from our trip to drop off the updated paperwork a few days ago. I expect we'll know in a week or two. I'm feeling positive given what I've read others have gone through. But either way this process seems to change year to year and a lot of the info to be found online is out dated.

 

Best of luck! Let me know if you have any other questions, happy to help.

Edited April 28 by JaredAndAna

[JaredAndAna 16]

Oh and I bookmarked that google form if you need it again - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeVfgiNz1651bJFw8-3cSF2IBMIwXMZpUF3CodoSIhc6XW3SQ/viewform

[TBoneTX 46,960]

Country-specific thread is moved from the K-1 Process forum to the Mexico/Latin/South America regional forum.

[JaredAndAna 16]

Updating this thread to say we picked up Ana's K-1 visa today and will hopefully never have to go back to Juarez again!

[TBoneTX 46,960]

Oh, but Juarez is a garden spot!   

[JaredAndAna 16]

Just now, TBoneTX said:

Oh, but Juarez is a garden spot!   

 

For maximum effect I recommend watching the movie Sicario before going. But seriously, don't do that.