s75h

I just talked to the US embassy in Manila. I gave them the information for my mother-in-law’s Visa number and they did a check and they say that it is still valid. They suggested I talk to border patrol in the United States and gave me a number to call.

6 hours ago, MaxP22 said:

You have a definitive answer you just don't want to believe it and keep asking the same question hoping to get the answer you want from someone.

No, obviously I don’t have a definitive answer. Unless someone on here is an expert or works for one of these organizations that I’m not going to trust what is being said 100%. If you don’t have anything to offer in the form I suggestions i’m just don’t post a reply. 

4 minutes ago, Boiler said:

This is I assume still true.

We did not apply for another visa because we had no definitive answer as to whether her 10-year visa was voided or not. 

17 hours ago, Family said:

Everyone on your thread has given you the answer: VISA was VOIDED due to overstay and MIL needs to apply for a new visa citing the circumstances of her failure to depart timely. 
 

If you still feel the need to “;talk it out” w somebody, pay for a professional/ expert opinion = immigration attorney. 
 

You know that the only way to test the “ cleared flag” theory of CBP you spoke to is to put her on the plane and face the enormous risk of a repeat .
You could try calling ( or in person visit)  your local CBP and plead for them to “ check” their system ..who knows…they may “ talk to you “, BUT it won’t change the law …SEE LINK 
 

 

 

 

1)  (U) An applicant who has overstayed the authorized period of admission may no longer use the visa with which they entered the United States.  To re-enter the United States, the applicant must obtain a new NIV in the country of the applicant’s nationality.  If an applicant is in possession of two valid visas, however, only the visa used by the applicant to enter the United States (i.e., the visa which is the subject of the overstay finding) is void under INA 222(g).  

https://fam.state.gov/fam/09FAM/09FAM030201.html

Everyone on here has not said that it was voided. Plus I don’t believe anyone on here knows for a fact the answer to this question whether it is voided or not. I’m on here looking for suggestions. I’ve had communications with border patrol and now homeland security And at this point I still do not have a definitive answer other than a border patrol officer saying that most likely it is flagged and not voided.

I just want to talk to somebody who can give me some answers. The border patrol guy that my friend talked to on my behalf Said the visa was probably flagged and that we could get the flag removed but the problem is how to do it. Even if someone in the know would tell me that her visa has been voided and that we have to get her a new visa… that would give us closure. 

5 hours ago, milimelo said:

Because it’s not DHS that voided her visa, CBP/State did. DHS addressed her issue, they’re not the ones who need to get a new tourist visa, that’s on your MIL. 

There must be a way to check the staus if a visa or person to see if it is valid or not. It should not be this hard to talk to someone.

2 hours ago, Chancy said:

 

Nothing in that response says that the B2 visa is still valid.  If your MIL has any I-94 entry/exit record that shows she overstayed, her B2 visa is void, since she never filed I-539.

 

Nothing in the letter states that her visa is void or talking about an overstay ban. The letter seems to indicate that they saw a problem and fixed it. To me it is not a very good letter and I don’t trust it. I sent an email back to them for clarification. 

If it is true then that is awesome news. Unfortunately Saudi Airlines refuses to do anything to help us as far as a refund or re-booking. We still have the return flight for her to go back in early January but of course if you wanna come now we would like for her to stay here for five months. 

So today we received a response from the homeland securities redress. It is rather confusing and I would like your thoughts as to what it is saying. If I understand it correctly I think it is saying that they have corrected the problem that kept my mither in kaw from coming into the USA and that if she plans another flight here she is to attach the readdress account number. What do you all think?

”

Thank you for submitting your Traveler Inquiry Form and identity documentation to the Department of Homeland Security Traveler Redress Inquiry Program (DHS TRIP). DHS’ mission is to lead the unified national effort to secure the country, including U.S. border and transportation security. We take requests for redress seriously, and we understand the inconveniences that additional inspections may cause. DHS strives to process travelers in the most efficient and professional manner possible without compromising our mission to safeguard the United States, its people and its visitors.
When DHS TRIP receives a redress inquiry, we conduct a thorough review of the matter. We consult and share information with other agencies, when appropriate, to relieve you from the burden of seeking redress on an agency-by-agency basis and to address the issue that you identified in your application. We have found that about 2% of the DHS TRIP complainants actually have some connection to the Terrorist Watchlist.
Complaints most often arise either because the traveler’s name and personal information is similar to the name and personal information of another person in systems which contain information from Federal, state, local and foreign sources or because the traveler has been delayed in travel for reasons unrelated to such data, such as by random screening.
DHS TRIP has researched and completed our review of your case. DHS TRIP can neither confirm nor deny any information about you which may be within federal watchlists or reveal any law enforcement sensitive information. However, we have made any corrections to records that our inquiries determined were necessary, including, as appropriate, notations that may assist in avoiding incidents of misidentification.
For your general information, here is how redress helps you when traveling:
1. When traveling by air to or within the United States, DHS recommends that you provide your redress control number (located at the top of this letter) when making your reservations. Providing this information will help prevent misidentifications from occurring during security checks against government records and other information. In most online reservation systems, your redress control number may be entered at the same time you enter your full name and date of birth.
2. When entering the United States from abroad, no additional action is required. Where appropriate, as a result of the redress process, DHS employs a procedure to correct the information used to process travelers at the ports of entry that reduces the chance of misidentifications occurring.

Despite these positive efforts, we cannot ensure your travel will be delay-free. The redress process does not affect other standard screening procedures in place at airports and borders. For example, an individual may be selected for additional screening in order to resolve a walk-through metal detector alarm, because of random selection, or other reasons. While this process may sometimes be stressful, we rely on the patience, cooperation, and understanding of travelers in such cases. The aim of these security measures is to safeguard the people of the United States and visitors to this Nation.”

12 hours ago, Boiler said:

So she booked Saudi all the way?

Yes, and the return flight is still active. I used points from my credit card for the round trip ticket. Now my credit card company is trying to talk with the airlines about this but no one with the aurlines answers their phone or replies to their emails. One csr said he was on hold 3 hours with no answer and he ended up having to end the call because his shift ended. At that point is when he sent an email. When I contacted my credit card company a couple days ago to let them know about the baggage arriving in New York instead of Manilla And to check on the status of their progress with the airline that is when they said they’ve had no contact back from them.

12 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

for future reference, you should never put medication in checked baggage, always keep it in hand baggage. You can never guarantee that checked baggage will arrive with you, even on a direct flight, and the risk always goes up with connecting flights, even outside of a complex situation like this one.

 

 

Yep, completely agree. She made a mistake doing that.

On 7/8/2022 at 11:53 AM, SusieQQQ said:

Was wondering that too - possibly US only received the manifest for second flight after first was underweight. I don’t remember which poster here works for airlines but maybe they can chime in. 

Yes, it was two flights. Manilla to Saudi Arabia and then was supposed to be a two hour layover until the next flight to New York. 
 

The airline (Saudi Airlines) called me today to ket me know her 2 suit cases arrived in New York today.  Si instead of sending them back to Manilla with her they messed that up. When she was stuck for those two days in Saudi they would not give her the luggage with her medicines in them. Keep in mind she left Manilla July 1st and today is July 9th. 

1 hour ago, SusieQQQ said:

Contact DHS to apply for redress.
 

https://www.dhs.gov/dhs-trip

 

 

Thank you for that information. Hopefully that will help us with our issue.

27 minutes ago, Chancy said:

 

Did your MIL file an I-539 to extend her status prior to the overstay?

 

No, wish we done that.

Does anyone know the proper contact information to talk to someone about removing a flagged visitor visa?

My mother-in-law was scheduled to fly to New York City from the Philippines a few days ago. She had a connecting flight in Saudi Arabia but when she got off the plane she was approached and told immediately that they received an email from JFK airport telling the airlines not to bring her to the United States. The airlines would not tell us what the reason was for denying her entry.  She was stuck at the airport for two days before the airlines finally put her on a flight back to the Philippines and the whole time they did not give her her luggage. Her luggage did not return with her to the Philippines. All of her medicines are in the luggage.

My best guess is that the issue stems from her last visit here two years ago. As a result of Covid shut downs in the spring of 2020 the airlines canceled her flight twice leading to her to overstay by approximately three weeks. A friend of mine talked to a border patrol contact of theirs and they also believe the issue is because of the overstay. The border patrol agent said that In a situation like ours the visa gets flagged in the system and that the flag could be removed by showing proof of the canceled flights  but I am having no luck trying to contact anybody in the United States. The agent suggested talking to the local USCIS office. I also contacted the border patrol JFK airport and they said they do not deal with issues like this and gave me another number to try. When I called that number the guy that answered had no clue what to suggest.
 

I went to the local USCIS Office but the lady I spoke with didn’t seem very knowledgeable about visitor visas. She was surprised to hear that my mother-in-law has a 10 year visitor visa. Granted, this office doesn’t issue visitor visas and was the office that issued my wife’s green card but I figured she would’ve had a basic knowledge of visitor visa’s. She suggested I contact the department of state. They do not have a number to call so  I emailed them and they replied with a link to information about immigrant visas and issues dealing with United States citizens. I emailed them a second time and I got the same response. On their website it says that the public information phone number is no longer available.

So does anybody have any suggestions on how I should proceed? It would’ve been nice if someone from the government contacted us when her visa got flagged two years ago to warn us. It also would’ve been nice if the airline would’ve stopped her from getting on the plane in the Philippines rather than stop or 12 hours later when she arrived in Saudi Arabia. 

11 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

Per the site's TOS, anyone is allowed to comment.

 

My comment was in response to you sounding entitled.  

Then you misconstrued what I said. You’re trolling. 

11 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

No one is "entitled" to a tourist visa for the US.  Visa appointments are cancelled all the time; you are not being singled out for "unfair" treatment. And I'm not sure what you mean by CSR.  There are no 'customer service representatives."  It isn't the cable company.

You’re right, at least the cable company cares about the service they are providing. The embassy does not care if someone has to go to the back of a nearly two-year-wait line.
 

You are not adding anything with your snide response. Cancelling appointments isn’t a surprise nor a problem but telling these unfortunate people to just go sign up again and wait a couple years clearly isn’t right. I never claimed an applicant is entitled to a tourist visa. However, people should be entitled to a certain level of treatment.

I emailed them and received a canned reply. 

We were able to find a slot open in March 2023 but now we are unable to reschedule again because we have used up the limit if 3 times for scheduling an interview. There isn’t even an option to see what is available anymore. I sent an email to the support address in that link to see what they say. How do we go about paying for another 3 rescheduling opportunities?

It is understandable that there is no right to a visa interview, but this is not how you treat people. It makes more sense to push back all of the scheduled interview dates rather than bumping the most current dates until the end of the line.

My wife’s sister who lives in the Philippines had a B2 interview appointment scheduled for January 14, 2022. However, we got noticed that all of the appointments for January were canceled and not to do anything until January 31, 2022. When I called to speak with a CSR I was told that there was nothing they could do to get a. Reschedule appointment date but relatively soon and that my sister-in-law would have to schedule an appointment as if she was signing up for a new appointment date. The current appointment dates available are November 2023.

This is completely ridiculous and unfair for those that have waited this long to have an interview date. The CSR that was helping me said that we could apply for an emergency interview date to expedite it but as far as I know my sister in law would not qualify because there is no emergency. I pointed this out to the CSR and asked for her name so that I could include it in a request for an expedited interview day since he was the one that was suggesting it,  She refused to give me her name and hung up on me.

Is there a way for me to speak with someone else with the embassy to express my dissatisfaction with how they are treating people. If they are going to cancel appointments that are supposed to be right now then they should make available appointment slots as soon as the interviews begin again. I don’t see how they can treat people this way.

3 hours ago, Faithfully03 said:

Any update on your MIL? So did she share the payment for the room as well? My mom’s flight is twice again cancelled by PAL 🤦🏻‍♀️

Yes, she is sharing the cost of the room with 2 other women and they order food to be delivered to them. We just found out that she tested negative so she will be going home in the morning to Bulacan. I'm assuming that the other 2 women must have tested negative too then.

Well, my mother-in-law finally made it back to Manila yesterday. She had the option of staying in a free location with the OFW’s but that option wasn’t very appealing considering she would have been in a tent in a crowded arena. She chose to pay her own way being quarenteened in a hotel room with two other women who are also waiting for the covid test results. She will be getting a free ride home but the other two live further from Manila and have to find their own transportation.

On the flight from Atlanta to Seoul she had her own row to sit or lay down in because there were very few on the flight.

Update: my mother-in-law’s flight was canceled again a couple days before May 21 and is now rescheduled for June 9th. 

Im assuming korean air is attempting to fill up as many seats as possible and could still cancel at the last minute if they dont do so. They have been booking seats for dates after the 20th for months so now that all these fights that were just canceled will help them fill more seats for after the 20th.