CubaAndChill

2 minutes ago, Ben&Zian said:

Sounds relatively straight forward AP.

 

If they didn't ask for anything else, kept passport abd stuff, all can do now is wait really. AP can take a long as they need it to so can't say how long it could take, just have to try to be patient at this point while they finish their checks.

Thank you! I had a feeling it was just normal AP but he's kind of freaking out because of all the Cuban political climate questions they asked him and they didn't give him a final decision right there and then. I just told him things are really touchy between the US & Cuba and not to worry but just wanted some reassurance from the VJ experts lol.

I know there's been a lot of questions and I've tried to find someone with the same situation as me, but alas... No dice.

Fiance had his interview Monday in Buenos Aires. He's Cuban, living in BS AS. Officer asked him and spent more time on the Cuban political climate than on our relationship and then told him that the process has to continue, gave him the white paper stating he's in AP. They kept his passport and all the original documents he gave and the officer stated they'll be returned with the passport and that it'll take 2 - 4 weeks for a decision (?). I've been checking the ceac website and the case last updated date updates every day but we're still in AP.

I understand they have to do some extra checks and things, but does this look promising? I know it's usually good that they kept the passport but I'm kind of iffy and worried.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

On 1/10/2018 at 10:24 AM, Ilio&DF said:

Thank you for the info... Hope you get all done soon, I know we barely has time for all the things we have to do during this process however I will humbly ask you to keep us post whenever you get a chance,  this is so hard to follow because we are the first ones going through this process lol so later on it will be piece of cake for others but for us it will be hard lol

Hope you have a great day

 

 

Hii!

So my fiance went to the interview yesterday in Buenos Aires. He said they asked him more about the political climate in Cuba than about our relationship; such as is he communist, is he apart of the party or of the juventud etc. They asked a few questions about our relationship, where we met, how many times we've seen each other and what I like to do... Then they gave him a letter stating they put him into AP. The officer said it could take 2 - 4 weeks, but they kept his passport which is a good sign.. Just have to wait some more.

11 minutes ago, qhiramini said:

Hello all,

 

I read in an article that the Colombian government requires that Cubans on the island demonstrate that they have had $2000 in a bank account for the past 6 months in order to obtain a visa to Colombia. Can anyone please provide details on what was required, for Cubans on the island, in order to obtain a visa to visit the US Embassy in Colombia?

 

Thank you

I believe they'll also accept evidence from the beneficiary's bank showing that they have 2,000 dollars in their account.

On 1/8/2018 at 7:19 AM, Ilio&DF said:

Good Morning CubaandChill

Did you receive any update from NVC after this email that you posted above? I am trying to follow a thread about Cubans Interview in Bogota and I did not find anyone on board yet at least here in VJ website. Did you  schedule the interview already??? I also heard Cubans have to get the medical exams done in Bogota ,  omg I think Cubans have to be in Bogota more time than expected to. They also need to wait for the Visa  after the interview and I do not know if they can pick up it at the Embassy or if the can get it through DHL.  Well hope you get the interview already is time consuming to get everything done and just be waiting for them to get this interview set up to bring your love ones  here. Thank you.

Hii..

Yes, we sent all the documents to the embassy on 12/20 and I received an email today with the interview date. He has his interview 01/19. So we're starting to plan his trip to Buenos Aires and back to Mendoza. We requested his passport be delivered to DHL in Mendoza so we don't waste any more money on an extended stay in Buenos Aires.

I know from the user who had her interview in Bogota that the medical was like a 2 or 3 day process and then they had the interview that same week, or the week after. They then waited there and picked the passport up at the embassy. I think they were there for a week or 2, but I'm not 100% sure. Hopefully everyone can get through the process quickly and be with their loved ones.

8 minutes ago, AriSmith said:

But why do we need a packet when all that information is online? 

With all due respect, the embassy doesn't care that it's online.

Sometimes information that's online may be outdated or who knows but the embassy has their process and they stick to that process no matter what. If we try to skirt around their process, that's when things get really expensive and really ugly.

Trust me, I'm at almost a year of this process because one thing after another happened. It's not easy by any circumstance & I understand where y'all are coming from. Our emotions are heightened because we just want to be with our significant others ASAP. Bottom line is, we have to adhere to the embassy's process whether we like it or not.

10 minutes ago, pukka said:

You can actually find that packet online, Ari found and posted it somewhere I think, and also one of the doctors I wrote to emailed it to me, so it's in pretty good circulation. It is the same packet as Colombian applicants receive.  But I am wondering if maybe the embassy in Columbia is going to send us something special since we are transfer cases And that's why we have to wait. Was your packet different from that Argentinians get? It is interesting that you have to send so many documents directly to the embassy that one would normally just bring to the interview appointment. Or is that just standard in Argentina? I am wondering if maybe this packet they are talking about is going to be something special just for the Cuban applicants with how we should prepare and send some paperwork in advance… 

Yea the packets are always circulating around. Ours was exactly the same as any other Argentinian (or really anyone else) applying for a K1. I already knew what was needed beforehand but you can't do anything until you get that packet from the embassy. Which is Packet 3. I don't believe it'll be different than what any other Colombian, or any other beneficiary from wherever, would receive but I could be totally wrong at the least you may not have to send copies to the embassy like us.. it is kind of crazy they ask us to send copies and then bring the originals to the interview.. It's just double work for nothing, but it's necessary for us to do to get an interview date...

You can prepare some of the paperwork though, especially asking for the police certificate since it takes about a month or more to receive but you have to keep in mind the certifications expire. I would just advise not to get them too early because you might have to get them again if the us embassy in bogota takes too long to schedule people.

'@AriSmith I believe the packet their speaking of is the packet 3... Argentina sent me this packet stating what documents I need to gather and where my fiance can get his medical done since they only work with a couple clinics/doctors. You'll have to wait for Colombia to send you these instructions before you can move forward. Most likely they'll have you send copies, like Argentina is making us do, before they send you an interview date. 

It's a very frustrating process, especially for y'all. But it truly is a waiting game. We're at the government's mercy and any loopholes will just end up biting us in the ###.. unfortunately.

My heart goes out to you and hopefully they'll send you a notification soon. It took Argentina about a week from the time the case was asked to be transferred for them to send me packet 3. I also advise to go to Colombia's sub-forum on VJ and read around to get an idea of their process.

Please let me know if I can do anything to help or support.

Hi all!

My updates/milestones are in my signature. I usually update it when something changes. A had his medical last week. Everything went well. We're just waiting on his paperwork (birth/police/military/single certificates) from Cuba to be ready and then we can send copies to the embassy for them to send a date for the interview.

They said the ppwk will be ready by 12/22 so we're having his mom send photocopies to his email so he can send them off the same day to the embassy in Argentina. That way we can get ahead of things and get an interview date ASAP since they just need copies sent to them and then he can bring all the originals to the interview.

21 hours ago, pukka said:

Do you have a number between your Havana number and BGT? I have "01".

21 hours ago, amandaclaire said:

i have 02

01 & 02 is linked to the beneficiary/s. When I submitted the I-129F application I listed my fiance's son as well, even though he's not immigrating with him so my fiance had 01 after the HAV# and his son had 02. They do this in case the child is immigrating with the parent. The 01/02 etc is normal.

15 hours ago, SazKap said:

Do you mind pasting the content of the email into this thread? (with your personal details removed of course)

 

Curious to see exactly what they are communicating.

Thanks!

Sarah

Sure, no problem... I do believe that their starting to transfer the cases to Colombia as one of the other posters on the forum got a letter from NVC stating it was transferred and she was able to schedule the interview for later on in December.

Dear Sir/Madam:

The National Visa Center (NVC) received your inquiry regarding the immigrant visa petition: HAVXXXXX filed by XXXXX on behalf of XXXXX.

Due to the suspension of immigrant visa services at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, the U.S. Department of State has designated the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia to process immigrant visas for the residents of Cuba.

At this time, we are determining when we can begin scheduling Cuban applicants for interviews at Embassy Bogota. If NVC has not scheduled your case at Embassy Havana, they will schedule your visa interview at Embassy Bogota. NVC will send you, your petitioner, and your agent/attorney (if applicable) an email or letter noting the interview location, date, and time.

Please contact NVC through our website https://nvc.state.gov/ask to request an updated status.

If Your Case Has Been Sent to U.S. Embassy Havana and You Have NOT Been Interviewed:

You will be contacted with further instructions in the future.

If You Have Already Been Interviewed:

If you were already interviewed, you will be contacted by U.S. Embassy Havana with further instructions in the near future.

If USCIS has Not yet Approved your Petition(s):

Please contact USCIS at one of the contact points below to obtain your updated status.

Telephone: 1-800-375-5283

Website: www.uscis.gov

Case Number:                  HAVXXXXX

Petitioner's Name:            XXXXX

Principal Applicant's Name:   XXXXX

Preference Category:          K1

Your Priority Date:          XXXXX

Foreign State Chargeability:  CUBA

                              U. S. EMBASSY

                              CARRERA 45 NO. 24B-27

                              BOGOTA, D.C.

                              COLOMBIA

ARIA

National Visa Center

Written Inquiry Unit

FCi Federal, Support Contractor

asknvc@state.gov

IMPORTANT:

If your visa petition is currently processing at the National Visa Center, do not let more than one year pass without contacting NVC. If a period of one year passes from the last date of contact (by telephone, mail, or e-mail) with NVC, all submitted fees and documents expire. If this occurs, the fees must be paid again and documents must be resubmitted in order to continue the immigration process.

This email is Sensitive but Unclassified based on the definitions provided in 12 FAM 540.

Any information in this transmission pertaining to the issuance or refusal of visas or permits to enter the United States shall be considered confidential under Section 222(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) [8 US C. Section 1202]. Access to and use of such information must be solely for the formulation, amendment, administration, or enforcement of the immigration, nationality, and other laws of the United States under INA 222(f) and as specified in FAM guidance. If you have received such information in error, do not review, retransmit, disclose, disseminate, use, or take any action in reliance upon this information, and contact the sender as soon as possible.

24 minutes ago, hernandez21 said:

Hi,

where have you been checking your case status that you’ve seen that they added the new embassy where it’s being processed? 

Hii

I've checked the status here.. and it can be under either category, non immigrant or immigrant so try both.

https://ceac.state.gov/ceacstattracker/status.aspx

9 minutes ago, DiamondEyes490 said:

By the way, please let us know what the Colombian embassy says. I looked up the requirements for visitor visas, and my one concern is that the applicant has to have bank statements that show what is a balance of roughly ~$1,200 for 3 months. My husband doesn't have a bank account, so I'm hoping I can just give my information and sign something saying I'm financially responsible, but it's really not clear.

I don't believe that those requirements will be looked at because that's just for a visitor visa. In these cases, yes they need visitor visas but their immigrating to the US. From what I've read all they need is the interview letter from the US embassy in Bogota to get their visa.

I'm sure once Ari's fiance gets out of the Colombian Embassy she'll be able to correct me if I'm incorrect lol

On 11/20/2017 at 3:40 PM, Luisa_eris said:

I haven’t began my process yet, I’m going to send our fiancé petition in January. It’s so unfair that this is happening to all of you. I’ll be going through the same, hoping that I can choose an embassy instead of it being automatically transferred to Colombia. It’s a huge inconvenience, and so discouraging, to have to pay even more money and not being sure of what decision they’re going to take. Does anyone know what does the Cuban resident need to obtain a visa to travel to Colombia ?

They will need to apply for the visa and then take the interview letter from Bogota and to the Colombian Embassy in Cuba to try to get a visa.

On 11/16/2017 at 11:02 PM, pukka said:

Thanks for this. Do you think it will be easier/faster to transfer to another country? I called Bogota and they don't have our application, NVC has no info for me at all, and there's not BGT after the HAV number (thanks for this tip). My fiancé did his medical mid-September and so mid-March is our deadline to not lose that $400...plus I have financial, professional, and all sorts of worries all hinging on this!
BTW all, Embassy of Havana updated its FAQ today on the immigrant visa cases, mostly what we know already, but still helpful if you are hungry for info. Looks like the NVC sends us a letter with the new appointment info.
Just our of curiosity, what was your next steps before the interview in Argentina? Was there anything new, or anything you had to do over? Congrats on the transfer, that's a relief I am sure.

Hmm.. I'm not sure if it'll be faster/easier to transfer to another country since Cubans will still need a visa to travel. Maybe to another country that they don't need a visa. When transferring it to Argentina it took about a week, maybe less, to get a response back that it was accepted and transferred to Buenos Aires. I did see another poster on the forum that has a fiance in Cuba which just got her updated letter stating Bogota received their petition, so it should be really soon that the rest get transferred too.

My next steps is basically getting all the paperwork together, Copy of the confirmation from the DS 160, his police records from Cuba & Argentina, his birth and single status certificate, his baja from the military service he did, the I-134 and all of my tax docs and then him getting his medical done. We have to send a copy of everything to the Embassy in Buenos Aires and then they'll send us an email with the interview date. Once he has his interview he'll have to take all the originals.

Nothing new and nothing we had to do over as he went to Argentina for work right after we filed. The plan was always for him to go back to Cuba to finish it but then everything happened and we decided it was best for him to stay in Argentina and finish it there.

4 minutes ago, AriSmith said:

Yep, that's what my email from the NVC said. That BOGOTA has our petition.

And the NVC cannot change your case number. I've asked, begged, and pleaded SEVERAL TIMES. Trust me. 

 

That's why you have to sent them (u.s. embassy bogota) an email with your updated NVC approval letter designating BOGOTA. Otherwise, you cannot schedule your interview. 

That's awesome! I'm so happy for you and excited that Bogota is finally getting petitions from Cuba.

Oh yea, I know. NVC won't change your case number but when sending it to another embassy they'll usually add the other ebassy's initials to the end of it. For example I requested my petition be transferred from Havana to Argentina the case number stayed the same but they added BNS to the end of it.

Congratulations again on getting an interview date! I hope the rest of the process goes smoothly

On 11/24/2017 at 10:03 PM, AriSmith said:

We FINALLY scheduled our K-1 visa interview at the embassy in Bogota. You have to create an account and get your DS-160 first. https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-co/niv

 

Then after you do that, create an account on that website and schedule your interview. If it doesn't let you schedule it, email them at: asa_contactus+co+ivcasenumber@visaops.net 

And include the following in your email:

1. Subject: Case number is not ready to be programmed. 

• Full name of the applicant: 
• Applicant's date of birth: 
• Scanned copy of the appointment notification letter you received from the National Visa Center (NVC) or the Kentucky Consular Center (KCC) or letter of instructions you received from the Consular Section. 

I included my NVC approval and attached it to the email as proof. 

 

Buena suerte!

Follow our visa journey!

https://www.facebook.com/chicagomeetshavana/

 

 

Morning! Are you sure that the embassy in Bogota has received your petition?? When looking at your case status it should be updated with BGT at the end of the HAV number. You may be able to schedule an interview and everything but if they don't have your case they won't be able to process the visa.

1 hour ago, pukka said:

Any news? I have not received anything. In the CEAC case status checker, my case says "ready" as it has since August, but I see it's updated October 26. Wonder what this means? I thought perhaps this meant ready in Bogota, so I called the Bogota embassy this morning, but they don't give info on the phone.

 

 

I received an email yesterday morning from NVC stating what we already know. Basically that everything is being sent to Bogota and if we had an interview date that NVC would send me something with a new date on it, and if we didn't have an interview date yet then NVC would send me notification of next steps. It's just all up in the air right now and I don't believe they have anything set out as to how they'll process the visas.

The update in your case may just mean that they are starting to send it to Bogota, but you'll know for sure once it's there because it'll put BGT after your HAV#.. For example we were able to send our petition to Argentina since that's where my fiance is right now and when the case was updated it added BNS to the end of our HAV case number. Then they sent us the packet 3 in an email stating the transfer was successful and next steps to get the interview date.

So keep an eye out for your email. I doubt that anyone will get any information for an interview or next steps until Dec or after the first of the year. Things are so insane right now with the US and Cuba.

Hi Kirenia. I received an email this morning from NVC stating that everything was being transferred to Bogota and that if we didn't have a interview scheduled before things changed that they would notify us on next steps. I think things are still up in the air and no one has an interview date yet.

3 minutes ago, geowrian said:

Failure to renew a green card isn't actually a deportable offense. The green card is proof of legal status....her actual LPR status doesn't expire until they make a determination to do so.

 

But either way, she's fine to wait a bit. If it gets too close to the expiration of her green card, she can file for a replacement and get an I-551 stamp good for up to one year while the new card is pending.

Thank you!! She was kind of freaking out about it, but now I can reassure her we'll be fine if we wait a little bit to see what the Embassy says about her citizenship.

My mom is a permanent resident and has been for many, many years since she came to the U.S. as a child from Cuba. She recently went for her citizenship test and interview and the officer told her that they would review everything and send her a letter in 3-4 weeks, however, her permanent resident card expires in November. Should she wait until the end of Sept/beginning of Oct. to decide to renew it?

Her fear is that she doesn't renew it thinking that they'll give her citizenship but then they end up not giving her citizenship for some reason and she'll be out of status and deportable. Then her other worry is that she renews it now and then they give her citizenship and she's out of the $500+ fee. She's spoken with her lawyer, but he basically said he can't advise her on what to do because it's up to her.

Any advise from the pros on VJ?

On 7/23/2017 at 9:27 PM, theanswerisdance said:

Cuba doesn't stamp passports, and even if they stamped your Canadian one, you would never be flying into the U.S. on your Canadian passport again once you're a U.S. citizen. In other words, it's not likely that the U.S. government would find out about your travels there, but on the off-chance they did, for any reason, you'd be subject to the same fines ($250,000?) as any other American, because America only considers you American, not dual/Canadian. So, just a cautionary thing to consider...one of the many reasons I'm not so keen on getting U.S. citizenship...

Umm... Cuba DOES stamp passports. I've went a couple of times (from the US) on family visits and each time they stamped my passport and my visa...

41 minutes ago, TearsOfBabylon said:

@CubaAndChill I hope things have been normalizing a little for you, dear! Good to read your name again! Chin up... if life throws you rocks, just pick them up and build something beautiful. Your time will come! I'm sure it was for a reason! Big hug from Deutschland!

Thanks, love! I'm so happy you passed your medical and everything is going smoothly for you!! Before you know it you'll be in the U.S. with your love big hugs from Houston

2 hours ago, mytruelove18 said:

hello good to see you again, and sorry that your relationship didnt work,

i wish yu the best, i hope you are ok now.

remember that God wants the best for us, i hope you find the right person for you. dont get desperate, the right person will arrive at the moment that you arent waiting.

as you arent continue with the case you need cancel the case, i guess you need send a letter to NVC to get the case close.

Thank you. I know God does things for a reason and I'm pretty sure he was protecting me from more heartbreak or something worse. Funny thing is that he came to me at a point that I wasn't looking, so I thought that he was the one. Unfortunately, not the case and I'm kind of at the point/mood right now that I'm not entertaining anything. I've met a couple of guys and they all seem like great guys and seem like they want something real until I start catching feelings and then it's "oh, I wasn't looking for anything serious.".... uumm okay. So I'm pretty much done..

11 minutes ago, Alysia&Luis said:

Thank you!!!! We are very glad to see the "light" at the end of the tunnel!  

 

I know everything happens for a reason and I know that things will end up exactly where they are supposed to for you. 

Thank you! & I'm so excited for you!! Can't wait to see the wedding pics