ForeverHopeful

I filed for a WoW after 20 months of AP. State Department dragged it out as long as they could. They will do the same for you. First they will ask the judge for an extension to answer. When the judge responds and gives them a new date to respond by, the State Dept will wait until the last day to ask the judge to dismiss. It will be back and forth. The responses will be filed on the last day possible to drag it out as long as they can. Took 10 months before the judge said enough and ruled in our favor. 

34 minutes ago, ra0010 said:

Have you considered changing attorney? I mean, If it’s not moving I would consider a more “aggressive “ approach.

I haven't but I will consider it. Our attorney won the mandamus suit, got us back in the embassy for a 2nd interview, and the embassy has sent the case to Washington for a waiver. I don't know what another attorney could do that our current one hasn't. 

17 minutes ago, ra0010 said:

This might not be a DIY case anymore. If I were you, I’d seek an attorney. I think Jim Hacking might be able to help.

Thanks. I have had an attorney engaged throughout this process. 

13 minutes ago, Cathi said:

I agree with the others. If you're married the chance of approval will be better.

The issue isn't the legitimacy of our relationship. Our obstacles have been the travel ban and the terrorist activity charge. Switching to a spousal visa will do nothing to overcome the INA 212(a)(3)(B) finding and will in fact set us back 15 months or more. And then we will still have to fight the terrorist activity charge after the interview. I appreciate the effort to help but this isn't the path forward. 

4 minutes ago, milimelo said:

Do the Utah online marriage, visit again so it can be valid for immigration and file for spousal visa. 

A spousal visa will not over come the INA 212(a)(3)(B). Yes, we want to get married but we also want to be able to live together. 

My fiancé and I are a same sex couple. I'm a US citizen. He is an Iranian living in Iran. We're two men who fell in love, got engaged, and are waiting to get married in the US where it is safe and legal for gay couples to marry. I filed for a K1 visa the first week of January 2017. Trump took office and started a series of travel bans that blocked us. The K1 interview was in August 2017. The case was put in Administrative Processing. We were told it would be two weeks to four months for an answer. Months passed. The supreme court upheld the ban. I reached out to Senator Duckworth of IL for help in June of 2018. Her office took 4 months to respond. When they did finally engage and reach out to the embassy, the response from the embassy was non committal. Months continued to pass. Senator Duckworth's office was inconsistent in their support, often ignoring emails and phone calls for months at a time. We finally hired an attorney and filed a writ of mandamus in April 2019. That same month Trump declared the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terrorist organization. The IRGC is a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces. For reference, Iran requires mandatory military service for young men coming of age. It's not voluntary and you have no say in which branch of the military you get assigned. It's completely random. My fiancé was conscripted (forced) into the IRGC for his mandatory military service. That was 15 years ago. He served the minimum time and got out. He received no weapons training. He saw no combat. He never left his state or country. The Department of State dragged the mandamus suit out for 10 months. The judge finally ordered the embassy to adjudicate our visa petition in February 2020. Within approximately one business day, the embassy refused the visa based on Presidential Proclamation 9645 and INA 212(a)(3)(B). They offered no waiver. We suspected the 212 was because of his forced military service in IRGC. My partner is not a terrorist. He has never been nor will he ever be a terrorist. Our attorney wrote a really good legal brief detailing why he qualifies for an exemption under the law and sent it to the embassy. The embassy invited him for a second interview to discuss his military service in detail under oath. The interview occurred the first week of July 2021. It went very well but at the conclusion they handed back his passport and said the decision whether to give him the visa was not theirs to make. Only Washington could make that decision. We were devastated. After multiple emails to the embassy from the parking lot, multiple conversations with the embassy's receptionist, and waiting an additional 2 hours in 110+ degree heat, we gave up and headed back to the hotel. From the hotel, I reached out to Senator Duckworth's office again for assistance and summarized everything. They reached out to the State Department and the embassy. The embassy responded that they had submitted everything to their partners in Washington immediately after the 2nd interview. State never responded. That was 90 days ago. I am now back in the US. My fiancé is back in Iran. We are waiting with no idea how long it will take for an answer or what that answer will be. It's going on 5 years since we applied for the K1 visa. Five years. Days have turned into weeks, which have turned into months, which have turned into years of waiting. I can't begin to explain the pain we are in. This has impacted both his and my mental and physical health. I have reached out to Senator Duckworth's office four times this week and have received no response. Three emails and one voice mail. Complete silence. I emailed The White House and the President immediately after the 2nd interview back in July. I've received nothing except a generic auto reply. This week I have started emailing The White House daily. No response. It doesn't need to be this difficult. It shouldn't be this difficult. I need this to matter to someone in power. I need to know that we matter. My fiancé is not safe in Iran. Being gay in Iran is punishable by death. The US government knows this. This is not a hard call to make. 

My fiance and I are caught in this. It's completely unfair. If the embassy had adjudicated our petition in the 20 months leading up to April 2019, we wouldn't be in this trap. There is an ongoing mandamus suit asking a federal judge to review. 

https://thinkimmigration.org/blog/2021/05/06/iranians-forced-into-military-service-face-immigration-blockade/

"In April 2019, the United States government designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) aka Sepah or Pasdaran, a terrorist organization.  Designating a group as a terrorist organization carries serious immigration repercussions for members of the group, including grounds for inadmissibility that are nearly impossible to overcome.  IRGC is, in fact, a branch of the Iranian armed forces that operates independent of the regular army.  The designation as a terrorist organization is retroactive, which means  any person who has ever served under the IRGC banner, even prior to 2019, is now subject to the terrorist bar and ineligible for any U.S. visas.

This has created an arbitrary and capricious retroactive trap for certain Iranian men, who have and remain subject to a 2-year mandatory military service.  They may complete their duty under any of the branches of regular military (Artesh) or under IRGC/Sepah.  Unfortunately, draftees don’t have a choice in where they get to perform this mandated military service.  They are literally lined up, given numbers that are randomly drawn, and then are told where to report for duty based on a lottery as their number is called.  Now, those that have served in the IRGC or will do so will lose their ability to enter the U.S.

Regardless of the intent of the terrorist designation, the results have been devastating for ordinary Iranians who don’t have a choice in how their country is governed.  For example, if a draftee is assigned to IRGC, failure to report for duty will be cause for imprisonment in harsh Iranian prisons, and may even carry a death sentence.  The retroactivity nature of the designation means that  young men  forced to serve their 2-year mandatory service in IRGC in say 1996, are now ineligible for a U.S. visa in 2021.

The dragnet set up by the IRGC terror ban is overbroad and consequently ineffective.  Since 2019, thousands of families have been affected by the designation and because there are no waivers, the visa denials are final. The U.S. government doesn’t care what the reasons were, or your particular situation, they just deny, deny, deny.  The blanket designation requires this nondiscretionary result.

The injustice is real and ripe for challenge.  We just filed suit in federal court, asking the court to carve out an exception so every case can be decided on its own merits.  If a visa applicant willingly served and/or rose up in the IRGC ranks, the intent of the designation is clear and the person should be denied a U.S. visa.  However, if service was forced and was inconsequential, the applicant deserves a fair shot at a U.S. visa.  Blanket denials based on assumptions are wrong and un-American."

Hi, we are still in Administrative Processing. It's been 8 months since the interview. The case was updated on Dec 31, 2017 and again in March 2018. 

1 hour ago, letitgo said:

Any updates here please? Did you guys get visa yet?

Hi, this week is the 4 month mark since the interview. The case is still in administrative processing. No word from the embassy or the state department. 

Not sure if this has already been shared so forgive me if it has. I found this announcement on the State Department website summarizing the ban that went in to effect. There is a question in the Frequently Asked Question section regarding cases currently in administrative processing when the ban takes effect. Interestingly, it doesn't say that the case will automatically be denied. But it also doesn't say it won't. 

"I recently had my immigrant visa interview at a U.S. embassy or consulate overseas, but my case is still being considered.  What will happen now?

If your visa application was refused under Section 221(g) pending updated supporting documents or administrative processing, you should proceed to submit your documentation.  After receiving any required missing documentation or completion of any administrative processing, the U.S. embassy or consulate where you were interviewed will contact you with more information."

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/important-announcement.html

7 hours ago, No-Where-Man said:

The government did NOT take your money. The government took the money to get someone to look at your K1 petition at USCIS then also for the person who processed your papers at the NVC and then at the embassy and gave you an interview. . These persons that look at your papers and processed it at the various levels are getting paid to do this work and this is where your money went. The decision/outcome at the end of the process is merely dependent on circumstances of each case and not the money you paid. 

 

The USCIS, the NVC, and the US Embassy are all parts of the US government. The people working there are employees of the US government. The fact remains that I paid money to the US government with the expectation that it was technically possible to get approved (not guaranteed, but possible). With the latest ban it is practically impossible to get approved for a visa for someone from Iran. Money paid, process started, rules changed, success impossible. Not fair emotionally or financially. 

This on again off again travel ban is both heartbreaking and financially unfair. I started the K-1 process before Trump became president. Iran was not a blocked country. I paid a filing fee to the USCIS to apply for a petition and paid an interview fee to the US Embassy in Abu Dhabi for an interview for my fiance. We are in administrative processing. And now it is nearly (if not completely) impossible to get a K-1 visa because the law has changed mid process. How is this fair? The government took my money and then changed the rules. What if anything will the courts do for those of us in this situation? It's maddening. I feel cheated. And worse... I am heartbroken. I hope the ACLU is victorious and gets this order over turned once and for all. 

22 hours ago, jaybeltisroy said:

When you send an email through contact us, you will only get an auto response from them. I guess they are still doing a background check on your fiance. It may take s months before they give a decision.

It has been 24 hours and I haven't received an auto reply after my submission. As for calling the call center, all they can say is the case is in administrative processing. At least with the Contact Us form there is an option to ask about the status of administrative processing. The question is do they ever respond? 

It's been 80 days since my fiance's K1 interview in Abu Dhabi. The case is in Administrative Processing. I just sent an inquiry using the Contact Us page of the US Embassy, Abu Dhabi website. I've used the page before when we were waiting for an interview and never got a response. Has anyone used the page and received a reply? Thanks!

11 hours ago, jaybeltisroy said:

Well that was my initial thinking when you said that your fiance got 221g. That being said, it normally takes months for them to review the document that they asked from your fiance before they can make a decision. Did they handed over back his passport?

Yes, they gave him back his passport. However,  for an Iranian this doesn't mean much because the consulate has to return the passport in order for the Iranian to be able to leave UAE and return to Iran and wait.  As for the 221g, there was nothing checked about needing additional information. Meaning, nothing was missing. I believe it is because he is Iranian that the case was put in administrative processing. 

7 hours ago, jaybeltisroy said:

Yes that is normal. Emirates Post will put a sticker at the back of each passport (same as mine and everyone who got approved). That is to show that Emirates Post is responsible for handing over any documents coming from the Embassy of US in Abu Dhabi.

 

 

I am sorry if your case has been in administrative processing for 60 days now. You said your fiance was given a paper right? Did you submit the documents needed asked by the embassy?  

 

 

The 221g he received just stated the case was in administrative processing. There was no request for additional information (nothing else was checked on the form). But later that day he received an email asking him to submit the DS-5535 via email which he did the same day. The sticker was put on the passport by the consulate officer who interviewed him.

Just heard from my fiance that the officer who interviewed him back in August put an EMPOST sticker on the back of his passport before handing it back to him along with a 221g stating the case was being put in administrative processing. EMPOST is the Emirates Post Office. He was told the sticker would allow him to send his passport to the embassy if he was approved. Is this just normal procedure, or something hopeful? We've been in administrative processing for over 60 days and are grasping at straws. Does everyone from Iran get this sticker put on his passport after an interview at Abu Dhabi? 

The ACLU is working on our behalf to challenge this new order like it has with the first two. I made a tax-deductible gift to them today which is being matched dollar-for-dollar. Here is the specific link for the ACLU 2017 Matching Gift Fund.

https://action.aclu.org/secure/make-tax-deductible-gift-aclu-foundation?s_src=FNNC170001C00&ms=web_left_nav

The dollar-for-dollar match is only good until Sept 30th. I don't work for the ACLU but they are fighting for us and our right to bring the ones we love into the US. Please support them if you can. You're helping yourself by helping them. 

Thank you everyone for the replies. Yes, my fiance is a man. No, he does not have a technical background. But he did have mandatory service in the Iranian army. 

Kiumars, we never received a letter, email, or phone call from the Abu Dhabi consulate. My fiance submitted the DS-160 online and we waited. We waited 3 months. The petition was about to expire so we emailed the consulate and we had the attorney email. We never received a response. Finally, my fiance tried calling the consulate directly and was able to talk to someone who said all we needed to do was go online and pay the interview fee. Once we paid the fee (which we did within 10 minutes), he had an interview scheduled for the following week. It was all so very frustrating because everything on the site said to wait for a letter that never came. In hindsight, if we had just gone to the site and proceeded as if we had received a letter, he would have had the interview months ago. If you haven't already, go online, create an account, and submit the DS-160. Then proceed as if you have received a letter, pay the fee, and schedule the interview. Once paid, you'll have a receipt that can then be used as proof that you have an interview so you can get the medical exam done. But only proceed if you've already done everything else: translations, police certificates, gathered relationship evidence, tax transcripts, etc. 

It's been over a month since my Iranian fiance's interview in Abu Dhabi. The case is in Administrative Processing. The wait is killing me. The hardest part is I don't know if we are waiting for a yes or a no. Or how long we're going to be waiting. We were told 3 to 4 months but I don't know. If its yes, great! If it's no, how do you recover from that? 

My Iranian fiance was told to expect 3 to 4 months of administrative processing at the conclusion of the interview in Abu Dhabi. The interview was this month (Aug 2017). A 221g was provided with nothing but Administrative Processing checked on the form. Within an hour or two after the interview the embassy sent an email requesting additional information about all social media accounts, phone numbers, and email addresses used in the past 5 years. The names and birthdates of all siblings were requested as well. Any one else receive a request like this? 
Also, were you told to expect a response in 3 to 4 months at the end of the interview? Is this realistic? I see in the forums that other Iranians have been waiting 300+ days to clear AP. 

Thanks!