nearlythere

Why do you have to wait to work? As long as you've applied for the EAD you can start work now. Check Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification:

If employees are authorized to work, but are unable to present the required document(s) within three business days, they must present a receipt for the application of the document(s) within three business days and the actual document(s)within ninety (90) days.

My wife's working for a Fortune 100 company and they had no problem hiring her with only the EAD application receipt.

Surely you need your EAD in your hand rather than having just applied for it?

Hi,

Well after the Embassy called yesterday, they called again and gave me an interview date for today....so I went and I now have the Visa....Wow I can't believe it. From bitter dissapointment on Monday to a brilliant result today...unreal.

The Enbassy staff were very nice, professional. I was in there for 2 hours in all.

There were four people there for Fiance/Spouse type visas. There were a few othere people there but they seemd to be for different type visas. We were called individually to the counter, the lady asked for each individual item of paperwork. She arranged the paperwork in a file and told me to take a seat while a consulate reviewed the paperwork. That took about 40-50 mins. I was then called to the counter by the consulate. I was asked how I met my Fiance, how long we knew each other, if I had work lined up. Was asked about how long some of my trips were to the states. All very straightforward stuff. They took fingerprints and you say an "I do" with the right hand raised when asked that the information furnished is accurate etc etc....Then the consulate said all the paperwork looks fine, asked me to take a seat and said my visa will be ready in a little while. I had the visa in my hand and was walking out the door 2 hours after I entered the building!!

Thanks to everyone here for their support and help.

Best Wishes to everyone else, let us know how you go

The Embassy called this morning and gave me a new interview date for June 29th!! That is the best possible result from a bad situation.

I asked the lady if the cancellation/changes were due to the law passed in January and petitions received before March 6th did not have to comply with the new law...she said "yes".

I hope there are no more cancellations and will not be holding out much hope until I have the visa in hand.

Best of luck to everyone in the same predicament.

the vjer that had her interview tomorrow was just told the interview will be in a few weeks(they caled yesterday & cancelled it). My opininion-the embassy screwed up & since people have called-maybe realize their mistake. In our case-we should NOT have had our case sent back so I will ring them again. You may get your interview sooner than you think

I really hope so...let us know how you get on.

Fair enough, I hope thats the case...thanks for the info

2 month wait for NOA1 is standard enough, especially from Nebraska. We met with a lawyer before starting the process and he told us it could be a 6-12 week wait for NOA1. The 2 month wait also tallied with the Service Centre Processing Times on this web page...https://egov.immigration.gov/cris/jsps/Processtimes.jsp?SeviceCenter=Nebraska...I watched this page every day, we got our NOA1 a few days before the page covered our submission date. Why do you think there is something amiss with these dates...what's on your mind? Is it because my receipt date and notice dates bridge march 6th?

Reading between the lines from what I've read and the information from the Embassy, I'd say the following is going on....the embassy has put a halt to their processing on foot of a request from the Service Centres and sent all pending petitions back to the states. The good folks in the Visa processing centres can then pick out the petitions that the IMBRA is applicable to and return the un-affected ones (that would be their job/remit and not that of the Embassy, hence the Enbassy has to send them all back regardless).

The lady kept telling me she "thinks" I will get an interview in the next couple of weeks. This was her answer to anything I asked in relation the IMBRA and March 6th. From this I take it that the Embassy has an understanding of how the IMBRA law should be applied but because it's not in their remit to make this decision they have to wait until the Service Centre has returned the unaffected petitions.

I will contact the NVC to try get more info, thanks for the number. It looks like a painful wait and see for us all.

It's the old Mushroom Conspiracy...keep 'em in the dark and feed 'em #######.

At least you got a response-it does appear from your noa dates that you would be affected by IMBRA. Our case on the other hand-should not be. I called & they told me to ring them back on Thurs(guess I will be getting up at 4:30 am). I also called USCIS(as I was told to do by NVC) the woman told me that IMBRA does NOT have anything to do with fiance visas-can you imagine?? I said "it specifically deals with K-1 visas" she was clueless. Very scary

she then told me if our petition was sent back in error-I would have to write a letter to VSC

I am going to call the embassy back on Thursday & see what happens. Our case shouldn't have been sent back for IMBRA & if it was I will make sure it is sent back(I will call all day everyday). I just think everyone should stay on top of their cases & make sure that even more mistakes aren't made. Good luck everyone!

I think I quoted my NOA1 date incorrectly...it's the "receipt date" that is relevant??? In our case it's Jan 11th 2006. March 13th was the date the NOA1 was issued. I tried updating that "My Timeline" link but hadn't much success. Will try it again.

Best of luck, let us know how thursday goes.

Here's a bit more detail.....was tight for time earlier....

I called the Dublin Embassy this morning. I told them my understanding was that my petition was approved, I asked is this still the case given the interview was cancelled??...The lady asked me my name and then I was put on hold, when the lady came back she said..."i think you will have an interview in the next week or two"

I asked was the interview cancelled because of the IMBRA law....the lady said "yes".

I asked them will they write me a letter with the new interview date and the lady said they would call me.

So that's the only factual information I received.....read between the lines and draw your own conclusions.

I called the Dublin Embassy this morning. They said my interview was cancelled because of the IMBRA law. They also said they "think I will have an interview in the next week or two" and that they will contact me by phone to orgainse same.

So that's the only factual information I received.....read between the lines and draw your own conclusions.

IMBRA.....(http://usaimmigrationattorney.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=2)

The new law is called the "International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005". It requires all U.S. gentlemen who petition for a fiancee or spousal visa to provide more personal background information to Immigration Service and the State Department than ever before. It creates more restrictions in the process such as the number of fiancee or spousal petitions one can file, and how quickly a gentleman can file some visa petitions.

=========================

This doesn't seem to apply in my case...I'm male and my American Fiance is female??

NOA1 received - March 13th

NOA2 received - March 31st

Then this is due to IMBRA. The law requires petitioners to provide information regarding their "possible criminal background". It affects any petition filed after March 6.

The big problem is that USCIS has not yet created a form for petitioners to use to provide this information. As a result, we are all in a holding pattern until they actually create a form, make it available, and provide information.

So sorry this has happened to you. But read through some of the threads - you are NOT alone.

Thanks for the info but our petition went in at the beginning of Jan? Also, I thought they did a criminal background check anyway?

Good to know we're not alone.

NOA1 received - March 13th

NOA2 received - March 31st

Hi Kitkat1,

I don't think there is anything special about my timeline....petition submitted begining of Jan 2006. All relevant NOAs and packages received.....I've done the medicals, all paperwork gathered and appointment letter received from Embassy.

Excuse my ignorance but what's IMBRA?

Hi,

I was supposed to have my visa interview tomorrow but got a call from the embassy(Dublin, Ireland) to tell me my appointment was cancelled until further notice. The lady said there was further processing that needed to be done (some new rules or directive I think) and the petition needed to be sent back to the states. I was told all visas in my category had to be sent back and I was told that a timelline was not know for this "further processing".

I will contact them again tomorrow and try get more information but I was fairly stunned when they called me to tell me this so I didn't get any more information than that.

Anyone else heard of this particular scenario or similiar scenarios in the past?

Yours in limbo....nearlythere.