Marti

Your trials with the embassy and having to get a senator involved are very similar to what my husband and I faced.

That embassy is a mess and in need of a "house cleaning"

You're right about that woman. I filed a formal complaint against her and the embassy as a whole. I spent 2 months emailing and calling. Not one email or phone call was returned. It was not until the senators office pushed that we got results.

On Monday my husband picked up his visa.. and just about 10 minutes ago he left Tunisia headed for his first stop over before he is finally home. He will be here tomorrow night at 6pm.

I am happy to hear your story had a happy ending. i have been following it.

Congratulations!

Thank you I still feel like I am shock.

I don't think I'll feel completely relieved until he is here..but I think having the visa in hand will be a nice start

I think it depends on your Senator and how responsive their staff is.

It took about a week for each of the Senators offices that I contacted to initiate a congressional inquiry..and then was advised it could take 4-6 weeks to get a response.

I emailed and faxed twice a week updating them on my case status and the lack of results I was getting because I wanted to stay fresh in their minds until I got a result.

Good luck

So, I am going to try not to be paranoid and think that means my husband and I were FINALLY approved!

It's been a long hard fight..lots of letter writing..filing formal complaints and getting a senator involved..but I think it has finally paid off..unless issued can mean anything other than approved.

It seems almost hard to believe at this point.

I've been pretty quiet the last couple of weeks.. I was so focused on getting a result asap.

I hope you all are doing well and I wish you the best. Thank you all so much for your kind words and encouragement when things got tough.

So, my husband went back to the embassy with the items I mentioned yesterday and they took his phone number and kept his passport.. Is it a good sign they kept the passport?

Dwheels-

The letter the CO gave my husband states : insufficient evidence of financial support; must provide 2014 tax returns for both sponsors

I am sending my husband back to the embassy with screen shots from the IRS website clearly showing that our joint sponsor was not required to file taxes.. another signed statement from the sponsor stating such... and also copies of the social security benefits summary for 2014 to show that our sponsor was within the income guidelines for 2014..also another copy of my tax return and w2's

What do you think? Do we stand a chance with this? Am I wasting our time? My next step will be to contact the senators and congress person again.

Ah, Ok.. I wasn't aware that it was embassy specific. I thought there was a set of guidelines all embassies used when determining if someone meets the requirements. I am not sure how they view income. I did not see it mentioned often in the consulate reviews

Unfortunately, No I do not have another sponsor.

I am confused why her not filing taxes for 2014 would be an issue if she is not required to by law,

I posted about this in the October interview thread but I am posting it here as well so more will see..

My husband had our interview today and we ran into a problem

My mom is our joint sponsor and she is on ssdi so it is my understanding she was not required to file taxes in 2014. In our AOS we included a signed statement stating that..my husband is saying they are requesting her 2014 taxes and also telling him she did not make enough in 2014 to sponsor him...but we showed bank statements and a copy of the benefit letter from the social security administration showing she will make more than enough this year..a little over 25k..which is well enough above the 2 person household poverty guidelines..I am not sure what more proof they need or want.. I thought that even if you did not make enough the previous year..if you could show the current years income was sufficient that was enough..any advice on what to do now?

Hi guys,

So it's not good news. They are requesting more proof. I am confused and not sure how to proceed.

My mom is our joint sponsor and she is on ssdi so she was not required to file taxes in 2014. In our AOS we included a signed statement stating that..my husband is saying they are requesting her 2014 taxes and also telling him she did not make enough in 2014 to sponsor him...which is true..but we showed bank statements and a copy of the benefit letter from the social security administration showing she will make more than enough this year..I am not sure what more proof they need or want.. I thought that even if you did not make enough the previous year..if you could show the current years income was sufficient that was enough..any advice on what to do now?

Thank you all so much .. it means a lot

I really love the sense of community on this site.

Hi everyone,

So in a few short hours Majed will have his interview..Hope (inshallah) I can share some good news.

Would appreciate all of the dua/prayers that you can give for us.

These last few hours have me so anxious..but it "feels" different than last time..I hope that's a good sign. Majed says he is ready and not worried.

VISA APPROVED!!!

It was a fast process, we had all the documents that they told us to bring and we don't had any problem. On the interview, the consul asked me about when we married and how whe met, and some simplu questions that we don't had any doubt to make a fast answer.

Thanks a lot to all ofyou for helping me with the questions that i had all this time that take the entire process!!

Yay!!! Congratulations!!

Mahbrook! Thank you for sharing your story.

15 hours in Chicago..that's crazy..I am also curious about what/why this happened. I am happy that in the end it all worked out for you both.

Best wishes!

Hi everyone,

I have a question. As you know our 2nd anniversary passed on September 2nd. I noticed on the email the embassy sent my husband it still shows our preference category as CR-1. Should I email them about this now.. or should I just have my husband bring it up at the interview?

I am thinking to email them..but I am nervous it will delay things again.

TIA

Our visa category is different and I don't recall seeing a limit to the number of photos that could be submitted - but I think showing a few of you together enjoying time together would be fine ( I agree that you may not want to submit photos of you kissing) as well as a couple showing you with friends and family so they can see that other people are aware of your relationship.

Marti, can you please share how you filed a complaint with the Inspector General against the US Embassy, much appreciate it

Absolutely! Sorry I am so late in responding..it was a busy busy day at work. ( I am not sure if the links will work..so I will be specific so you can find the links if they do not work in this post)

I wasn't sure where to begin.. So I googled "how to file a formal complaint against US embassy" and I found this link: http://usa-faq.civicagency.org/answers/9702

I then sent an email detailing my experience ( I was very polite but also took great care in explaining the situation and how much it upset me) to OIGHotline@state.gov

I emailed them around 10am Wednesday morning. I had my first response from them by 2:45pm

Hope this helps!

Thank you all for the congratulations and well wishes.. You're an amazing group of people.

Dwheels - a special thank you .. Thank you for all that you do.. You're an extraordinary person..so helpful..so kind..and it's much appreciated.. what you do is amazing.. almost like a form of charity.. I think you are very blessed and have a big beautiful heart.

Guys, guess what!?! After 3 weeks of waiting we finally were rescheduled. The new interview is scheduled for September 17th !!

I feel like I fought so hard for this. Since my husband was turned away on August 20th I have not stopped emailing and calling trying to get this matter resolved. Twice a week I was emailing the senators and the congressman that had agreed to look into our case.. Tuesday night I emailed President Obama ( I knew it was a long shot..but I am stubborn and do not give up easily).. and then Wednesday I filed a formal complaint (my emails and phone calls were being completely ignored by the embassy) with the Office of the Inspector General against the US embassy in Tunisia..who replied they were going to forward my complaint to the Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA), Executive Office...for what they called "action".. This morning I checking my email..disappointment..nothing..but then I checked my husband's email and someone from the embassy had finally emailed him with our new appointment date and time..such relief! I am not sure what finally got the ball rolling but thank God it's rolling!

The odd thing is.. My husbands email is not listed in any of our paperwork to the USCIS or NVC..I've just been including it in my emails to the Senators, Congressman, and then the Office of the Inspector General .. so they could contact him directly if needed.. So, I am pretty sure it was all of the "noise" that I made that finally got results..I hope it does not make them grumpy when they interview my husband...

Sorry this is so long.. but I hope sharing this will help others.

Thank you all for being there during this journey. Your well wishes and support mean so much..and I wish you all the best...and congrats to all those who got their interviews scheduled!! loved reading all of the positive posts today..and to those still waiting..hang in there..you are all in my thoughts and prayers for speedy conclusions with positive results.

Hello everyone.

I was so sad to see what happened to those that had interviews scheduled and then cancelled. I know firsthand how frustrating this is. I am sorry you all are going through this. My husband and I are still waiting to be rescheduled after being turned away from the embassy in Tunisia on our original interview date of August 20th... it's hard I know.. I told my husband I am so tired of people telling me to be "patient".. so I will not say that to any of you. I just wish you all the best and a speedy conclusion.

Wow, I had a lot to catch up on. I took a break for one day and there were 11 pages already.

As of Tuesday our case has updated to "ready" but still no word from the embassy as to when the appointment has been rescheduled for.. So I emailed them tonight. I hope they will actually respond to this email..and inshallah the date will be soon.

Today is our 2 year anniversary..kind of bittersweet.

Sending you all lots of positive thoughts and well wishes.. Thanks for helping to keep me sane during the process

I've found getting answers..or even speaking with a real person at the embassy in Tunisia is impossible. Have you followed up with the senators office? My issue is only a couple of weeks old but I have not stopped..faxing..emailing..and calling anyone that I think will listen.

Wish I could offer better advice .. or better words of comfort.. but hang in there.

Hi everyone, Hope you all are having a good weekend. Just a quick update for those that may be interested ..

Still no news from the NVC or the embassy in Tunisia in regards to rescheduling our interview.. Our case is still showing "in transit" on the ceac website.

I have been in contact with both senators from my state and my congressman. Both of my senators have contacted the NVC and are trying to help us resolve this matter.

The waiting is so hard. Our 2nd anniversary is Wednesday. We thought we were going to be spending it together this year. I guess it will make next year even more special and at least we will not have to worry about having conditions removed once we do have our interview and get the "yes".

I am happy for those of you that got your September interviews scheduled after such a long month of wondering in waiting.

Yay! so happy to see so many scheduled for September interviews after such a long wait to hear news for so many of you this month. Best of luck to you all.

No news for my husband and I yet. Our case is still lost somewhere in the abyss and we're waiting for the case to be found and rescheduled. I hope it's soon. To have been so close and have it taken away is like torture.

Congratulations to all those who have been scheduled for September! I am very happy for you all

I hope that I will get good news soon. So far, we are still waiting for the interview to be rescheduled. I have heard nothing from the embassy.. Last night I spent 2 hours on the phone with the NVC who claims they will contact the embassy directly to locate our case and reschedule the interview...

I've also been in touch with both senators office for my state. I pray something will happen soon.

I don't understand how our case is just not found and everyone I talk to just brushes me off about it..it's so frustrating and so disheartening..

No news today for us as far as rescheduling the interview goes..

I did hear back from my senators office and they have agreed to look into the matter for me (after faxing them a consent form ..so that information could be released to the office ) and see what can be done. I hope it helps to get things moving back in the right direction

Hoping we all get some good news next week.

Hang in there everyone!

My wife's immigrant visa interview today was successful! Visa to be picked up in a week. Glory be to God. I pray for good news very soon for those still to receive interview appointment dates. Cheers!!

Congratulations!!