salhasl

You would be surprised how little role common sense plays in this process. 
 
In any case I just wanted to see if there was anecdotal evidence of this.
 
 

The sad truth is the actual work required to do the security review is less than 2 weeks. We have seen this dozens of times where they complete the checks in response to a court orders in WOM cases. What this tells us is that they are putting children spouses and families through so much agony just becuase they dont want to hire enough resources to handle the backlog they themselves created. The moral bankruptcy of this department stuns me.

This is not a class action so only releif will be for the named plaintiffs. 

The sad truth is the actual work required to do the security review is less than 2 weeks. We have seen this dozens of times where they complete the checks in response to a court orders in WOM cases. What this tells us is that they are putting children spouses and families through so much agony just becuase they dont want to hire enough resources to handle the backlog they themselves created. The moral bankruptcy of this department stuns me.

BTW, below is a screenshot from the document released by the govt in emami vs neilsen
 
Courtesy:  
 
 

BTW, below is a screenshot from the document released by the govt in emami vs neilsen
 
Courtesy:  
 
 

This confirms what I have been saying all along. If you dont qualify for a waiver, you will be informed on the spot. If you are put in AP, you have already qualified for Undue Hardship + National Interest. National Security is the part of the waiver that happens at the DOS that takes forever. This is why there is no need for waiver letters for spouses of USCs. Every one who is interviewing is getting put into AP, as we have seen with folks on this thread, with or without waiver letters.

This confirms what I have been saying all along. If you dont qualify for a waiver, you will be informed on the spot. If you are put in AP, you have already qualified for Undue Hardship + National Interest. National Security is the part of the waiver that happens at the DOS that takes forever. This is why there is no need for waiver letters for spouses of USCs. Every one who is interviewing is getting put into AP, as we have seen with folks on this thread, with or without waiver letters.

This confirms what I have been saying all along. If you dont qualify for a waiver, you will be informed on the spot. If you are put in AP, you have already qualified for Undue Hardship + National Interest. National Security is the part of the waiver that happens at the DOS that takes forever. This is why there is no need for waiver letters for spouses of USCs. Every one who is interviewing is getting put into AP, as we have seen with folks on this thread, with or without waiver letters.

This confirms what I have been saying all along. If you dont qualify for a waiver, you will be informed on the spot. If you are put in AP, you have already qualified for Undue Hardship + National Interest. National Security is the part of the waiver that happens at the DOS that takes forever. This is why there is no need for waiver letters for spouses of USCs. Every one who is interviewing is getting put into AP, as we have seen with folks on this thread, with or without waiver letters.

Basically the govt is saying that since they have issued 3000 waivers, and 12000 more are pending, they have implemented a waiver system in good faith. They are arguing the proclamation does not impose any timeframe on the waiver, so they can take as long as they want to, and on basis of that they are asking the judge to dismiss the case. Not sure if the judge will. Next update is july 11th for the case management conference.  God knows. 
 
I am afraid emami vs neilsen is approaching this the wrong way by claiming that the waiver process is sham. Its not. Its just unreasonably long, and the APA explicitly puts the definition of "reasonable" in the hands of the judiciary. We know that the DOS can complete the security checks within 60 days if the prioritize the case. They either need to hire more people, or automate the process. It does not take 2 years to verify someone. Vast majority of the time your file is just sitting on someones desk waiting to be picked up. Same like it takes 8 months for your I-130 - it does not take them 8 months of work, its just you are in a queue. 
 
Emami vs neilsen is also very broad. This ban has acutely impacted a very small subsection of people. Sure, its an inconvenience to not see your brother or sister or parent or visit the usa - but its a travesty if you cannot be with your spouse/kids or marry your fiance. If there was a lawsuit that focused on this small sub group I would think it would change the definition of "reasonable" in the eyes of the judiciary.
 
Finally, even within the spousal numbers, Iran gets it worst, as the number show below. At this rate, no one is getting a visa from iran in less than 1.5 years to 2 years AFTER interview.
Iran CR1 9 268 3.25% Iran IR1 10 376 2.59% Somalia CR1 29 184 13.62% Somalia IR1 78 381 16.99% Syria CR1 11 97 10.19% Syria IR1 27 121 18.24% Yemen CR1 35 147 19.23% Yemen IR1 402 1,686 19.25%  
 

Basically the govt is saying that since they have issued 3000 waivers, and 12000 more are pending, they have implemented a waiver system in good faith. They are arguing the proclamation does not impose any timeframe on the waiver, so they can take as long as they want to, and on basis of that they are asking the judge to dismiss the case. Not sure if the judge will. Next update is july 11th for the case management conference.  God knows. 
 
I am afraid emami vs neilsen is approaching this the wrong way by claiming that the waiver process is sham. Its not. Its just unreasonably long, and the APA explicitly puts the definition of "reasonable" in the hands of the judiciary. We know that the DOS can complete the security checks within 60 days if the prioritize the case. They either need to hire more people, or automate the process. It does not take 2 years to verify someone. Vast majority of the time your file is just sitting on someones desk waiting to be picked up. Same like it takes 8 months for your I-130 - it does not take them 8 months of work, its just you are in a queue. 
 
Emami vs neilsen is also very broad. This ban has acutely impacted a very small subsection of people. Sure, its an inconvenience to not see your brother or sister or parent or visit the usa - but its a travesty if you cannot be with your spouse/kids or marry your fiance. If there was a lawsuit that focused on this small sub group I would think it would change the definition of "reasonable" in the eyes of the judiciary.
 
Finally, even within the spousal numbers, Iran gets it worst, as the number show below. At this rate, no one is getting a visa from iran in less than 1.5 years to 2 years AFTER interview.
Iran CR1 9 268 3.25% Iran IR1 10 376 2.59% Somalia CR1 29 184 13.62% Somalia IR1 78 381 16.99% Syria CR1 11 97 10.19% Syria IR1 27 121 18.24% Yemen CR1 35 147 19.23% Yemen IR1 402 1,686 19.25%  
 

Ok, so you are in luck. Libya K1s are not subject to ban:
 
https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/presidentialproclamation/Combined - Report on Implementation of PP 9645 December 07 2017 to March 31 2019.pdf
 
As PP 9645’s visa restrictions are tailored not only to nationality but to visa classification (see Table 1 above), many nationals of the designated countries are not subject to visa restrictions. Tables I(a), I(b), I(e), and I(f) in the appendix detail the new visa applicants that are subject to visa restrictions, while Tables I(c), I(d), I(g), and I(h) detail those new visa applicants that were not subject to visa restrictions due to their nationality and visa classification (e.g. Iranian F visas or Libyan K visas).

P.L. 116-6, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2019, requires a report every 90 days until September 30, 2019 on the implementation of PP 9645.
 
Senator Chris Van Hollen got this added.

If anyone knows the lawyers in the case (emami vs neilsen) - can we please have them request clarification from the Department of State as to why is it taking 
The numbers for iran are absolutely dismal:
 
Country Visa Categroy Issuances Pending Percent Issued Iran CR1 7 268 2.55% Iran IR1 8 376 2.08% Somalia CR1 22 184 10.68% Somalia IR1 41 381 9.72% Syria CR1 6 97 5.83% Syria IR1 19 121 13.57% Yemen CR1 34 147 18.78% Yemen IR1 400 1,686 19.18%

Just read the case documents here: https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/23929206/Emami_v_Nielsen_et_al
 
The government is asking for more time - 3 more weeks. They say the DOS will be releasing a lot more statistics regarding waivers in the next 3 weeks. 
 
Hopefully that should shed some light.

Just read the case documents here: https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/23929206/Emami_v_Nielsen_et_al
 
The government is asking for more time - 3 more weeks. They say the DOS will be releasing a lot more statistics regarding waivers in the next 3 weeks. 
 
Hopefully that should shed some light.

Congressional officials are clueless. Being in the news is almost certain to get your visa expedited. We have seen this dozens of times before. Sad but true. If only all of us could get cnn to print a personalized story.
 
 
 

One thing that gives me hope is the time it took for Yemenis in djibouti is down from over a year to just a few days now. We always knew Yemenis in djibouti are explicitly listed in the guidance for department of state as a priority. So they are taking out that backlog first, and now that we are seeing them processed within weeks (if not days), may be they are catching up wiht the rest? Who knows.
 
Or maybe since there are multiple court cases that recently they were unable to get dismissed, maybe they are trying to solidify their position when these cases eventually get to the supreme court. 
 
Bottom line, fact remains that if the DOS decides to prioritize spouses and kids (like they do with yemenis in djibouti) It is possible for them to implement this ban in a humane way. 

One thing that gives me hope is the time it took for Yemenis in djibouti is down from over a year to just a few days now. We always knew Yemenis in djibouti are explicitly listed in the guidance for department of state as a priority. So they are taking out that backlog first, and now that we are seeing them processed within weeks (if not days), may be they are catching up wiht the rest? Who knows.
 
Or maybe since there are multiple court cases that recently they were unable to get dismissed, maybe they are trying to solidify their position when these cases eventually get to the supreme court. 
 
Bottom line, fact remains that if the DOS decides to prioritize spouses and kids (like they do with yemenis in djibouti) It is possible for them to implement this ban in a humane way. 

One thing that gives me hope is the time it took for Yemenis in djibouti is down from over a year to just a few days now. We always knew Yemenis in djibouti are explicitly listed in the guidance for department of state as a priority. So they are taking out that backlog first, and now that we are seeing them processed within weeks (if not days), may be they are catching up wiht the rest? Who knows.
 
Or maybe since there are multiple court cases that recently they were unable to get dismissed, maybe they are trying to solidify their position when these cases eventually get to the supreme court. 
 
Bottom line, fact remains that if the DOS decides to prioritize spouses and kids (like they do with yemenis in djibouti) It is possible for them to implement this ban in a humane way. 

One thing that gives me hope is the time it took for Yemenis in djibouti is down from over a year to just a few days now. We always knew Yemenis in djibouti are explicitly listed in the guidance for department of state as a priority. So they are taking out that backlog first, and now that we are seeing them processed within weeks (if not days), may be they are catching up wiht the rest? Who knows.
 
Or maybe since there are multiple court cases that recently they were unable to get dismissed, maybe they are trying to solidify their position when these cases eventually get to the supreme court. 
 
Bottom line, fact remains that if the DOS decides to prioritize spouses and kids (like they do with yemenis in djibouti) It is possible for them to implement this ban in a humane way. 

One thing that gives me hope is the time it took for Yemenis in djibouti is down from over a year to just a few days now. We always knew Yemenis in djibouti are explicitly listed in the guidance for department of state as a priority. So they are taking out that backlog first, and now that we are seeing them processed within weeks (if not days), may be they are catching up wiht the rest? Who knows.
 
Or maybe since there are multiple court cases that recently they were unable to get dismissed, maybe they are trying to solidify their position when these cases eventually get to the supreme court. 
 
Bottom line, fact remains that if the DOS decides to prioritize spouses and kids (like they do with yemenis in djibouti) It is possible for them to implement this ban in a humane way. 

Hi everyone. The march numbers are out. More of the same. Yemen numbers are good. Everyone else is horrendous. I did some number crunching on Iranian numbers. You can see that we are still at 10-30 percent for spouses of pre ban levels (I took out the DV and some other noise). I take this to mean that average AP is at least 1 year and 3 months (because otherwise we should have seen all december 2018/jan 2019 visas issued). Before you shoot the messenger, please provide logical arguments to the contrary if you can come up with them.  
 

Precisely. The part that bothers me is that everyone who claims to be fighting on our behalf - lawsuits, congressional actions, news media - no one - seems to cover this aspect of this insanity.