aehall10

I'm not sure Altair17, but that's not what happened here. This guy was hired to help find a co-sponsor.

I spent the afternoon searching for information, but I couldn't find anything to suggest it is unlawful for one person to receive a fee in order to help another person find a co-sponsor.

Maybe he'll find a "Good Samaritan" volunteer.

If finding a co-sponsor (for a fee) is unlawful, then the guy who hired him to do it probably has some legal problems too.

I'm not an expert, of course; just voicing an amateur-forum-commenter opinion.

Good suggestion. I saw some small print of the Embassy's web-site that said something to the effect of: "These packages will be mailed to you, but in case they're not mailed to you, print out the forms on this web site and follow the instructions." That was my "green light" to do what you did Bluebook14.

Candidly, I think he's fine legally. He's expensive and his language skills are horrible, but that's not against the law.

• He didn't claim to be an attorney or offer any type of legal representation. http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=bpc&group=06001-07000&file=6125-6133
• Google his phone number and it returns to Fair Price Immigration Service at

  3327 San Gabriel Blvd. #D, Rosemead, California.

  91770, which is a valid street address. This strip of commercial area is full of businesses like this.

• All he has promised to do is provide a co-sponsor, with no limitation on how long it might take him. He might still be working on it 3 years from now.

• Co-sponsorship is legal and fairly common. There is no law that bars someone from helping you to find a co-sponsor. http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/immigrate/immigrant-process/documents/support/i-864-frequently-asked-questions.html

• This "contract" says, "I will find you a co-sponsor for $2800. If things don't work out, we will solve problems through negotiation."

• He's certainly not committing a crime and I don't think you'd even win a small-claims award unless you first tried and failed to "solve problems through negotiation."

• I don't see any evidence of fraud or deception on his part, unless you know something more than what you've told us.
• I recommend you start trying to "solve problems through negotiation."

Things tend to move right along.

My fiance is in Thailand, and their web site is slightly different than the one you will be relying on, but you should be able to figure out your "next steps" here:

http://manila.usembassy.gov/wwwh3023/procedures-lay-out2.html

and

http://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-offices/philippines-manila-field-office

Thank you Shams. I'm glad it helped.

Check out my post, just prior to yours. I found communication between the government and me was very poor, but the process sped along anyway and everything has worked out well.

I thought my experience might be helpful to people who are waiting, waiting, waiting patiently for news from the National Visa Center. In brief:

1. I received I-797 (Notice of Action, Approval Notice) on May 5th. The notice said our file was being sent from Laguna Niguel, California to the National Visa Center located at 32 Rochester Ave., Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The notice also said we would be sent a notice from the NVC when our file was forwarded to the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok. The notice said we should wait at least 30 days before seeking any additional information. Thereafter, we could email "NVCINQUIRY@state.gov" for a status update

2. We waited patiently but I never received any additional information from the NVC, so I sent an email on to NVCINQUIRY@state.gov on June 13th -- which went unanswered. I sent another email to the same email address on June 18th and (again) received no reply.

3. On June 22nd, I researched NVC's web-site. I should have done this earlier. Contrary to the information contained in I-797, the web-site says the NVC will not reply by email. They provide a phone number for inquires.

4. I tried calling all day on the 22nd, but lines were always busy. There is an auto-hangup feature that prevents you from staying on the line. You must re-dial each time.
5. It then occurred to me that New Hampshire is 3-hours ahead of California and I was calling in the middle of their day, so I woke up at 5am (California time) on June 23rd so my call would be landing there at 8 am New Hampshire time. It worked; I got through.

6. The lady who I spoke to at the NVC was very helpful. She told me our file had been sent from NVC in New Hampshire to Bangkok on June 2nd. She gave me the Embassy's case number, etc.
7. That was very surprising news, but happy news.

8. We had still not received a phone call or email from the embassy, so I emailed them via USTravelDocs. They replied within a couple hours and told us our case file had been created. We were instructed to pay a fee and submit DS-160, which we did.

10. Thereafter, we just started following the directions printed on their web site and began preparing "Package #3."
11. The embassy letter came a couple days later.

12. Ultimately, we never did receive a "Package #3" or "Package #4." We simply located the packages on the embassy's web site, printed those forms and followed those instructions.

I don't know if the communication failures were on the government's end, my end or both. I live in a busy apartment complex and the mail is sometimes misdirected.

My "take-away" lesson from the experience would be this: Communicate proactively. I was too passive. Even though the process moved along at a fairly good clip, I was unaware of it for a long period of time.