bob.sansmal

We just got approved, and the VISA packet should be ready to be picked up from a DHL location this next Wednesday :-D Still don't see a good reason for it taking this long, but the best thing I can do is to accept what I cannot change, and be patient.

So Medical exam done on Tuesday, interview was today, and had to be postponed until this next Tuesday because the consulate hasn't gotten the results form the medical tests yet. So it looks like another week in a foreign country for my fiancee. I know others have had and are having worse, but all this BS really sucks, even more so when it's unnecessary. Wish I were there with her.

I find the inability to take electronic payments really puzzling - even the DMV can take credit cards, yet a regional service consulate that must have lots of people regularly coming in from other countries, many of whom must be facing this issue, and nothing is done to make this any easier.

I'm sure there must be a reason for this policy - and I wonder what it is.

The difficulty with getting the fee paid seems to be (almost) solved (not counting those chickens yet) by finally finding someone known to someone in Kenya. I've been bugging the heck out of the consulate and the website call center trying to come up with a resolution - and they've both been very understanding, polite, but not really much help.

Hey there, how's the process going for you?

Before we can schedule the interview, however, we must first pay the $240 fee. Herein lies the problem. This fee can only be paid using one of two methods: by cell phone (no clue as to how this works, and I doubt we could do it from abroad) or IN PERSON WITH CASH at an Kenya Post Office Bank branch. Believe it or not, there is no branch in Herndon, Virginia, nor on the island of Mauritius.

After some mis-communication with our lawyer, we finally have all the paperwork completed and ready, and we're trying to schedule an appointment for her interview. And here we are a bit stuck.

Because the embassy in Mauritius does not do K1 Fiancee Visa interviews, we must go to the embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.

Next they wanted her boarding passes from our trip where we first met in person. Honestly, WHO keeps boarding passes??? So we had to send them an affidavit from her that she didn't keep hers.

They accepted that and on June 28 we got approved.

So, it's been a little busy here of late. So I'll be updating my timeline in a few minutes.

Back at the end of April (I know, I should have updated) I got word from the service center in Vermont that they needed more documentation. My divorce decree from 1997 - it wasn't official enough just being signed by the judge, they wanted the one signed by the clerk of court

No news. No status change. Hoping to get something next month, but USCIS is so opaque. I find it curious that they have 4 status indicators - but really only 1 for the long period of time that the application is under review. Not much useful detail.