Beckysue2006

That's amazing!!!

Congratulations!

Thanks for your support Beckysue. Did they request extra document to your husband ?

Hope delay will not be too long.

Merry Christmas to you and your family

Hey. Yes. He has convictions and needed another court document translated. Our case is really difficult but... still have hope.

I read that if the convictions don't have to do with drugs or murder it may be possible to get a visa.

He never served any prison time nor did he pay any fines. He only was removed from the Korean army as a punishment....hopefully the administrative processing passes quickly.

It began December 21st 2016 (last Wednesday when they received the final translation. Embassy was closed Friday and Monday for Christmas. So total days processing: 2 (hahaha

!! And I am still so worried about it!!)

I found this helpful thread to ease my worry slightly.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/541696-administrative-processingadministrative-review/

Thanks for your support Beckysue. Did they request extra document to your husband ?

Hope delay will not be too long.

Merry Christmas to you and your family

Hey! Hang in there. My husband is in the same boat. Administrative processing. It's an awful feeling. We share your pain!!! I hope all goes well for you. Just hang in there and try to keep yourself busy.

Hi there,

My husband and I (along with our 15 month old) went to our visa interview on December 16th.

You would definately be allowed to attend. Bring your passport with you. The front gate people are very nice and let people in quickly.

I HIGHLY recommend arriving early. There was a huge line for non citizens but You can wait in the American citizen line with him which is much faster. If you get to the front too early be prepared to wait until 15 mins before your interview time. I saw that some people had to do that. I think they let us in early because we had the baby with us. They definitely have hearts!

The person taking the papers is a woman and is slightly rude/serious but thankfully she isn't the interviewing officer.

As far as I know/have read, there are 2 immigration officers: one Korean looking one and one blonde blue eyed one. Both can speak Korean fluently.

We got the blonde guy. He was nice. Asked about 6 questions. Then it was over. If you don't go together, your fiance will be asked more questions about your relationship.

We are in "administrative processing" right now... sooo sucky. We've been waiting for a year and we thought we would know on Dec. 16th but we needed another doc translated. They have my husband's passport so....all we can do is check the website and hope...

If I were you... I would try to be there. It's nerve wracking and if he gets a blue slip requesting more documents you will be able to ask the right questions. It's better to know exactly what's up yourself than to get bits and pieces from your fiancé's memory.

Note: just to be clear, he never ever spent time in prison. The only punishment was his discharge from the military.

My husband served in the Korean army for almost 10 years.

In 2011, the military demanded to make the troops "combat ready" in response to the threats from North Korea.

My husband, as a decorated captain, pushed his troops very hard to meet this demand.

In June of 2011, there was a shooting incident in the Marine Corps. The Korean public demanded that the military undergo reform to prevent such shooting incidents (caused by bullying, etc.) Korea has required military service for all men--many do not want to be there, and most have no interest in protecting the country.

In July 2011, my husband, along with others in his position, were rounded up and prosecuted by the high military court to show the public they were attempting to stop any future issues.

Charges:

1. Special case of Illegal Violence

2. Collective threat/threat with a deadly weapon

3. Misuse of Power

The original sentence for the sum of these crimes was 2 years in prison or a 3 year suspension of execution (meaning as long as he didn't get in trouble for 3 years, he wouldn't have any prison time).

He went to appeals court to reduce the sentence to 1 year imprisonment or 2 years suspension of execution.

Fast forward to now (engaged, married, 15 month old baby~also a US citizen).

We just had our visa interview December 16th, 2016 at the US embassy in Seoul.

We had to get the original court document translated (because we only had the appeal). We submitted the document and my husband's passport on Tuesday December 20th and our case has been labeled "Administrative Processing" as of December 21st.

My question is:

If the officer wanted to deny my husband's visa, would he have done it on the spot or given some kind of hint that he would be denied??

He seemed very nice. He asked my husband if he had been in any trouble since then as a civilian (which was no) and if he had been to prison or paid a fine (no to both).

We began our visa journey December 30th 2015. We have been waiting for almost an entire year for this answer. The anticipation is crushing.

Any advice, wisdom, or success stories from applicants with criminal records would be much appreciated.

♡♡♡♡♡