agbcha

Just wanted to post an update. We're still in AP, but today we got the following email from the embassy:

Dear Madam/Sir,

The document that you submitted has been received. Once they will be reviewed by a consular officer We will let you know as soon as we do so which should be in the near future.

.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Regards,

Consular Team,

US Embassy, Algiers

Hello Toufik,

I've been in AP since August 14. I just replied to your post about AP with some information that you might find helpful. I've seen cases on here where the AP was resolved quickly (within a matter of days), whereas others take weeks or months. I would say that because what they're asking for is pretty straightforward, your AP might be shorter than in some other cases. However, it also depends on the caseload at the embassy.

Best of luck.

My husband and I have been in AP since August 14, the day of our interview. We needed to submit a new police certificate and a photocopy of his previous passport. I attended the interview and was able to ask the consular officer how long it would take to issue the visa. She said it depends on the caseload at the embassy, and of course every case is different.

The US travel docs website for Algeria says that immigrant visa applicants should wait 60 to 120 days before making an inquiry on their case. My plan is to wait the 60 days, and if we're lucky the visa will be issued during that time. If not, I'm going to have my congressman check the status of our case, and if possible do an expedite. I already sent in all the authorization forms needed at my congressman's office.

Hope that helps.

Thank you for your reply!

Yes, the first thing we tried to do was go through the Greek Embassy in Algiers. Initially the accepted a written application for the police certificate with a photocopy of his passport. Then a week later they called us and said that they couldn't send our request for processing in Greece. About a month later, I asked for them to send me a written letter stating that they could not obtain a police certificate on our behalf. In the letter, the embassy offical said that we would either have to go to Greece in person or hire a Greek lawyer to get the PCC. I sent this letter to the NVC in place of the PCC.

I consulted with a Greek lawyer who said that penal records from Greece are only for Greek nationals and criminal convicts, and neither of these criteria apply to my husband. She was going to charge 1000 euros to do a power of attorney and look into it for us, even though it's highly unlikely he has a record there. So I submitted a supplementary letter that explained that hiring a lawyer or going to Greece in person was out of our means.

I've been trying to call the Greek bureau of penal records for foreigners every day -- no one has ever picked up. I emailed the Algerian embassy in Greece and I haven't received a reply.

Were you in AP while you waited for the Turkish police clearance? How long did it take for them to issue the visa after you submitted the police clearance?

Hello all,

My husband had his interview in Algiers last week, which I attended. The biggest red flag in our case is that he had previously lived undocumented in Greece and France (where we met.) We were able to provide a PCC for France, but not for Greece, despite all our efforts to obtain one.The CO seemed to have made up her mind about my husband before the interview even started. When he chose to do his interview in French, she began interrogating him about what language we speak in, not believing that I speak French. The next question was about his undocumented travels and why he hadn't provided the Greek PCC. She kept interrupting him when he tried to answer, so finally he asked if I could come explain, since I had done the paperwork. She was a bit sarcastic, saying "you didn't help your wife with the paperwork? You don't have confidence in your file?" And when I came up, she said "you apparently seem to know more about his travels than he does."

Granted, she was far nicer to me than she was to him. I talked at length about all the attempts we had made to get the PCC. She said she would have to do some research into the laws, because it would be hard to get around a required PCC. She asked me to sit down while she continued the interview -- she was less than impressed that we got married in a matter of months, and that we moved to Algeria the day after our wedding.

At the end of the interview, she gave him the letter with the 221(g) case pending action, requesting a new Algerian PCC and a copy of his prior passport with European travel. (She had flipped through every page of his new passport, looking for stamps.) I hung around to talk to her one last time. I told her that his old passport had a Turkish visa and that was it. She said that that was a good thing, and that she was just trying to think of things that would help us out. She also said that PCC's were a very basic requirement, and that people had been able to get them from Russia, Vietnam, etc. So I asked her to consider than my husband was never a legal resident of Greece, was never in court, was never convicted, was never deported, and obviously wasn't a citizen, which makes it highly unlikely that he has a record there. She seemed to hear me out.

We submitted the missing documents yesterday. She said that the timeframe for processing them would depend on the embassy's caseload. Now, I'm wondering how long we'll be in AP... a week? Six months? Longer?

I would greatly appreciate some advice.

Hello all,

My husband had his interview in Algiers last week, which I attended. The biggest red flag in our case is that he had previously lived undocumented in Greece and France (where we met.) We were able to provide a PCC for France, but not for Greece, despite all our efforts to obtain one.The CO seemed to have made up her mind about my husband before the interview even started. When he chose to do his interview in French, she began interrogating him about what language we speak in, not believing that I speak French. The next question was about his undocumented travels and why he hadn't provided the Greek PCC. She kept interrupting him when he tried to answer, so finally he asked if I could come explain, since I had done the paperwork. She was a bit sarcastic, saying "you didn't help your wife with the paperwork? You don't have confidence in your file?" And when I came up, she said "you apparently seem to know more about his travels than he does."

Granted, she was far nicer to me than she was to him. I talked at length about all the attempts we had made to get the PCC. She said she would have to do some research into the laws, because it would be hard to get around a required PCC. She asked me to sit down while she continued the interview -- she was less than impressed that we got married in a matter of months, and that we moved to Algeria the day after our wedding.

At the end of the interview, she gave him the letter with the 221(g) case pending action, requesting a new Algerian PCC and a copy of his prior passport with European travel. (She had flipped through every page of his new passport, looking for stamps.) I hung around to talk to her one last time. I told her that his old passport had a Turkish visa and that was it. She said that that was a good thing, and that she was just trying to think of things that would help us out. She also said that PCC's were a very basic requirement, and that people had been able to get them from Russia, Vietnam, etc. So I asked her to consider than my husband was never a legal resident of Greece, was never in court, was never convicted, was never deported, and obviously wasn't a citizen, which makes it highly unlikely that he has a record there. She seemed to hear me out.

We submitted the missing documents yesterday. She said that the timeframe for processing them would depend on the embassy's caseload. Now, I'm wondering how long we'll be in AP... a week? Six months? Longer?

I would greatly appreciate some advice.

Hello,

Have you considered doing a fiancé visa? I married my husband in France, so I didn't have to do the paperwork to get married in Algeria. However, I did live in Algeria with him for the better of this year, and I know from visiting the local police station that the process of getting married there is more complicated than it used to be. Best of luck.

Good luck to her, Deep!

We immigrate in about 30 hours!

Sukie

Congrats, Sukie!

Just got my interview date -- August 14!!!!

Oh God, my heart rose up into my throat when I read this. I was thinking of starting my own topic, but maybe more people will see this here. My husband is Colombian and for the IV package, according to the reciprocity page, we need his libreta militar (military records). All Colombian men at age 18 are supposed to present themselves for military service and either receive the libreta militar first class (served) or second class (obtained an exception and did not serve). Well, my husband doesn't have this because he didn't present. The whole military service thing is a corrupt money making scheme and everyone knows it, so this isn't uncommon, and it's never been a problem for him until now. And now that he's married, he's not required to serve, so he's legally off the hook in Colombia. To give you an idea of how corrupt the military there is: They issue fake documents as well as real ones, for a lesser fee. Yes, they make the fake ones and real ones in the exact same place. Wrap your head around that one.

We have been investigating what it would take for him to get this document. His parents went to the battalion in his hometown to ask what we needed to do, and basically he'd have to fly to his hometown of Barranquilla, Colombia and wait until they announce a random day where all the guys who don't have this paper can come and get it. He would also have to pay thousands of dollars, money which will go to go straight to the shopping budget of some corrupt general's mistress. In total, with the flight, we're looking at around U.S. $6000 (yes, SIX THOUSAND DOLLARS) for this one stupid piece of paper. Not to mention the months he might have to wait there, not working, us blowing through our savings while we wait and hope they will announce a random day for all the guys to come get this stupid piece of paper (they don't announce these days in advance).

Is it possible that if I call and explain the situation to NVC, they might pull our file and list the libreta militar as unavailable, like they did for agbcha and the Greek police certificate? My husband is a contractor and therefore doesn't get vacation time; he will lose his job if he has to fly from Argentina to Colombia to do this, and then there are the months it will add to our wait time. Please help. Is this the type of thing people write to their congressman about?? We don't know what to do.

I highly reccommend that you write a Letter of Explanation to include with your IV package stating that the libreta militar is unobtainable and not applicable in your husband's case. Explain his situation and the attempts that you've made to try to obtain the military record. Make sure to mention that further attempts to obtain to the record are beyond your means and ability, as your husband would lose his job as a contractor to take vacation time. Add that because he isn't living in Colombia, the price of airfare from Argentina is unaffordable. For these reasons it would cause you and your family actual hardship as opposed to the normal inconvenience or delay to get the military record from Colombia. At the end of the letter, request that they complete your case without the military record.

The NVC uses the Foreign Affairs Manual (ie the immigration bible) to determine what documentation is necessary, as does the consulate. There is a section on unobtainable documents (attached below) that will give you an idea on what happens when you can't provide a required document. The language about "actual hardship" I used above is directly from the FAM.

However, in my opinion, the NVC is likely to complete your case without the military record. If you get a checklist for it, do not panic. Request to speak to a supervisor so that the supervisor can review the explanation letter that you include in your original IV package. If that doesn't work, resend the letter as a checklist response. The NVC is just responsible for getting documents in order. Ultimately it's up to the consulate to decide if they need the military record or not. And the consulate has probably already seen many cases like your husband's, where he didn't present for military service.

Please try not to worry too much -- I spent a full calendar year worried about not being able to get the Greek PCC, and now it's not needed

87888.pdf

Hello all,

Great news -- the NVC is no longer requseting the Greek PCC that I got a checklist for. Apparently the supervisor was able to pull my file and list it as "unavailable."

Now here's where things get mysterious: very recently the Greece Country Reciprocity page showed that the PCC was available for non-Greek applicants applying from abroad. But when I looked again today, it doesn't say anything about non-Greek applicants. I even have the old version saved in an email, but I have no idea when it changed. I knew from the beginning that this process was going to be like bureaucratic Kafka hell, but this is just too weird. Disappearing requirements...

They did insist that I send court records for my husband, but that item will be very easy to take care of as he's never been in court. I'm planning on sending a letter today.

Can't wait to hear everyone's good news this week!

I'm glad you got the appropriate customer service after all! What is the email the supervisor gave you to file a formal written complaint?

If I gave that information out, it might go viral on VJ.

It was the same NVCInquiry@state.gov, but with a subject line ATTN addressed to a supervisor.

You have no reason to apologize! And kudos to you for holding a rude representative accountable for their rudeness. This process if challenging enough without attitude.

I'm glad to hear you were able to speak with someone nicer and that you're getting som progress :-)

You don't sound dramatic at all. I'm so glad that you called back and talked to someone else. It's about time someone said something. These customer service reps have been getting away with being rude to us for too long.

Soooooooooooooo happy you got Lisa she is a sweet heart and a good supervisor. This is what needs to be done with each that abuses their position, it's uncalled for under any circumstances. So happy this will help so much and I hope people will complain and e-mail for Joy and her minion. I'm sure the problem will be fixed now and I'm so happy.

No your not being dramatic we are going through so much stress as it is we don't need this on top of everything else. Now relax know you did well and this just might avoid me or someone else crying on the phone. Thank you sweet heart I know it must have not been easy for you. God bless your sweet and kind heart.

I wrote in my email that I wanted the incident to be documented so that it would never again happen to myself or anyone else -- that's for all of you! Bdrew, I want you and the September crew to go through with no problems! CanGirl, you are so right, the cs reps seem to get away with being constantly impolite and unhelpful. Soloenta you are wonderfully kind and I will be so happy to see everything work out for you.

Sweet heart just ask for supervisor they will get you one and insist this is your right and they have no right to mistreat you or anyone. This has to end and we all have to call and complain when someone is rude and nasty to us. We are stressed out as it is we don't need this.

Take a deep breath try to be calm and if it's Shelley again don't hang up just ask for a supervisor. We have your back so let's do this.

I will do just that and I'll report back on how it goes. Thank you endlessly -- I feel much better now.

Awwww sweet heart ((((((((((agbcha)))))))))) I'm so very sorry for what happened. I know how you feel I get nervous while on hold but I've been very lucky so far. We really need to call and talk to supervisors when this happens this just isn't right.

Thank you so much for you kindness, Soloenta. I'm still feeling pretty weepy but I'm back on hold to see if I can find out what's going on with my case. I'm astonished that an NVC rep spoke to me like that. I wish there were a way to talk to a supervisor about it too. Hope you stay lucky with your calls.

Congratulations to everyone who got a case complete! It's wonderful to see that NVC's moving along.

I'm on hold to see if I can find out about a checklist that's being generated for a Greek police certificate for my husband. For the past several months I've anticipated having this problem because the Greek Embassy flat out refused to help us. In my IV package provided a letter of "proof of attempts to obtain penal record" including visits, calls, and emails to the embassy, with a letter from the embassy saying they would not be able to obtain the police record for us. I contacted an attorney in Greece who said that it's not likely a police record exists/ or is obtainable in my husband's case, and she said she would charge around $1000 to help us try to obtain it, which we can't afford because we're both unemployed living in Algeria. We also can't get a plane ticket to Greece, for that reason and because I doubt that my husband would be issued a visa. In Algeria you pretty much have to have a studnet, work, or family visa to leave the country, as tourist visas are rejected across the board. I explained all this in my letter.

The NVC rep told me to resubmit my letter as a checklist response. She refused to initiate a supervisor review, saying that both my pending packages must be reviewed first. Is that true? I'm guessing I should just send the letter again asap and continue to insist on a supervisor review. What do you all think?

Shelley was so rude to me that I started bawling on the phone and had to hang up... I don't know what to do

Congratulations to everyone who got a case complete! It's wonderful to see that NVC's moving along.

I'm on hold to see if I can find out about a checklist that's being generated for a Greek police certificate for my husband. For the past several months I've anticipated having this problem because the Greek Embassy flat out refused to help us. In my IV package provided a letter of "proof of attempts to obtain penal record" including visits, calls, and emails to the embassy, with a letter from the embassy saying they would not be able to obtain the police record for us. I contacted an attorney in Greece who said that it's not likely a police record exists/ or is obtainable in my husband's case, and she said she would charge around $1000 to help us try to obtain it, which we can't afford because we're both unemployed living in Algeria. We also can't get a plane ticket to Greece, for that reason and because I doubt that my husband would be issued a visa. In Algeria you pretty much have to have a studnet, work, or family visa to leave the country, as tourist visas are rejected across the board. I explained all this in my letter.

The NVC rep told me to resubmit my letter as a checklist response. She refused to initiate a supervisor review, saying that both my pending packages must be reviewed first. Is that true? I'm guessing I should just send the letter again asap and continue to insist on a supervisor review. What do you all think?

Case Complete!!!

Congratulations!

can't really rely on their BS... When I first submitted my documents , they were received April 15th. On May 1st they had reviewed my docs and issued that stupid checklist for my husbands birth cert. Someone called and they were told that docs with the date April 1st were being reviewed... They were 2 weeks off. So the NVC just ratteled off a date ... Someone else reported April 30th at the beginining of the week..

It seems to be taking about 2 weeks + 1 or 2 days.

http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/NVC_Process

Hmmm..... because Deep just got a case complete and his last document was scanned in on 5/1.

BUT kudos to Vanessa for avoiding the "30 day" schpeel lol

Oh their timeframes are clearly inaccurate. Vanessa made some clicking and typing noises, so it leaves me to wonder what she possibly could have been looking at............

And trust me I really wish I had something more exciting to report from my call, like "your IV documents were perfect and we accepted them!"

NVC is claiming to be reviewing files from Apr 30, per my call 4 seconds ago. However Vanessa did not once say the words 30 business days, so this call went better than usual

Well if what the rep said is accurate, they'll just add it to the case file, but who knows -maybe they have annual 'extra document bonfire parties'?

Annual? They have enough to do weekly extra document bonfire parties. That must be why they're so slow to work on cases

Thank youuu for him! Living in a different country is always an adventure, and going there for the love of your life makes it even more special, it's also a good opportunity to learn about the other's culture (I made my husband eat ALL type of cheese!). And this is also a nice tale to tell your children! :-)

Haha for your OFII appointment, we thought about missing it in purpose (basically to avoid paying the 241 euros fee!) But we got scared and went anyway! ;-)

(VJ friends, sorry for my off topic posts!)

I second that, so sorry for the off topic posts! I know where you're coming from about the cheese... my husband worked as a fish vendor/chef and so I tried all kinds of fish and seafood (we met because I bought oysters from him one day at the market.) We had the best time living in France -- we were both immigrants, so everything was a discovery. He'll get to do it all over again in the US.

No one ever noticed that I didn't have the stamp in my passport from the OFII visit, not even when we applied to get married! I couldn't believe it. Gosh it's too pricey.