MOSCOWRUSEMBASSY

On September 20th 2018, my fiancee, with whom I have a child(who has US citizenship and a US passport), had her interview for K-1 visa and K-2 for her daughter(from  previous marriage) at the US Embassy in MOSCOW. I was present for the interview, and She was given verbal approval for her visa at the end of the interview. The consular officer took the passports. We were told to wait 1-2 weeks and then we would receive the passports with visas in the mail. Within 24 hours we received an email from the embassy that we needed to submit form DS-5535, which we did four days later. After learning what the purpose of DS-5535 is (potential threat to US national security?!), I am baffled as to why such scrutiny should be applied to my fiance, a 28 year old make-up artist from a small town in Russia, with no questionable social media history, and certainly no links to any groups that might be deemed dangerous. 5 months later our case is still in Administrative Processing. We were approved every step of the way in the visa process, met every burden of proof regarding finances and the legitimacy of our relationship, and our medical examinations had no irregularities.

On December 21,2018, the Embassy returned the passports, ostensibly so that we could "travel' over the holidays, but they did not include instruction as to how to resend them.  In the past several months, our lawyer has made half a dozen inquiries to the embassy, most of which went unanswered. I live in TEXAS. I have contacted my state Senator, who made a generic information request, never informing us of the results. However, I was able to later learn that he was simply told that the case is in AP. I then contacted my local Congressman, who also made an inquiry on our behalf. He received a more detailed note from the Embassy, but the information was essentially the same, that the case was in AP. My attorney has indicated that the Embassy is just "sitting" on our case and that they are not doing any real "processing." He now suggested that I appear at the Congressman's office, with photos and a description of our case and the hardships caused by the unwarranted delays in adjudication, and to try to get a Congressional staffer to persuade the Congressman to take a personal interest in our case and to make a more personalized inquiry. I am desperate to get a resolution in our case and be reunited with my family. 

Does anyone else have any experience with the MOSCOW (or other) embassy, or know why they might refuse to issue a judgement on such a case? Does anyone know why DS-5535 is being applied so arbitrarily? I have tried to describe our case in as much detail as possible. I would be grateful for any advice or recommendations on how we could proceed. Thanks very much for your attention.

11 minutes ago, abrahamlayman said:

On September 20th 2018, my fiancee, with whom I have a child(who has US citizenship and a US passport), had her interview for K-1 visa and K-2 for her daughter(from  previous marriage) at the US Embassy in MOSCOW. I was present for the interview, and She was given verbal approval for her visa at the end of the interview. The consular officer took the passports. We were told to wait 1-2 weeks and then we would receive the passports with visas in the mail. Within 24 hours we received an email from the embassy that we needed to submit form DS-5535, which we did four days later. After learning what the purpose of DS-5535 is (potential threat to US national security?!), I am baffled as to why such scrutiny should be applied to my fiance, a 28 year old make-up artist from a small town in Russia, with no questionable social media history, and certainly no links to any groups that might be deemed dangerous. 5 months later our case is still in Administrative Processing. We were approved every step of the way in the visa process, met every burden of proof regarding finances and the legitimacy of our relationship, and our medical examinations had no irregularities.

 

On December 21,2018, the Embassy returned the passports, ostensibly so that we could "travel' over the holidays, but they did not include instruction as to how to resend them.  In the past several months, our lawyer has made half a dozen inquiries to the embassy, most of which went unanswered. I live in TEXAS. I have contacted my state Senator, who made a generic information request, never informing us of the results. However, I was able to later learn that he was simply told that the case is in AP. I then contacted my local Congressman, who also made an inquiry on our behalf. He received a more detailed note from the Embassy, but the information was essentially the same, that the case was in AP. My attorney has indicated that the Embassy is just "sitting" on our case and that they are not doing any real "processing." He now suggested that I appear at the Congressman's office, with photos and a description of our case and the hardships caused by the unwarranted delays in adjudication, and to try to get a Congressional staffer to persuade the Congressman to take a personal interest in our case and to make a more personalized inquiry. I am desperate to get a resolution in our case and be reunited with my family. 

 

Does anyone else have any experience with the MOSCOW (or other) embassy, or know why they might refuse to issue a judgement on such a case? Does anyone know why DS-5535 is being applied so arbitrarily? I have tried to describe our case in as much detail as possible. I would be grateful for any advice or recommendations on how we could proceed. Thanks very much for your attention.

On September 20th 2018, my fiancee, with whom I have a child(who has US citizenship and a US passport), had her interview for K-1 visa and K-2 for her daughter(from  previous marriage) at the US Embassy in MOSCOW. I was present for the interview, and She was given verbal approval for her visa at the end of the interview. The consular officer took the passports. We were told to wait 1-2 weeks and then we would receive the passports with visas in the mail. Within 24 hours we received an email from the embassy that we needed to submit form DS-5535, which we did four days later. 5 months later our case is still in Administrative Processing. We were approved every step of the way in the visa process, met every burden of proof regarding finances and the legitimacy of our relationship, and our medical examination had no irregularities.On December 21,2018, the Embassy returned the passports, ostensibly so that we could "travel' over the holidays, but they did not include instruction as to how to resend them to the Embassy.  Our lawyer has made half a dozen inquiries to the embassy, most of which went unanswered. I live in TEXAS. I have contacted my state Senator, who made a generic information request, never informing us of the results. However, I was able to later learn that he was simply told that the case is in AP. I then contacted my local Congressman, who also made an inquiry on our behalf. He received a more detailed note from the Embassy, but the information was essentially the same, that the case was in AP. My attorney has now suggested that I appear at the Congressman's office, with photos and a description of our case and the hardships caused by the unwarranted delays in adjudication, and to try to get a Congressional staffer to persuade the Congressman to take a personal interest in our case and to make a more personalized inquiry. 

My Russian fiancee and I (I am an American citizen) had an interview at the US Embassy in Moscow in September of 2018, in order to receive a K1 visa and K2 visa for her daughter. The consular officer verbally approved our case and told us to expect the visa within 2 weeks. The very next day we received a request to submit form DS 5535. After learning the purpose of DS 5535, I was utterly  confused as to why we would be asked to provide this information in the first place. My fiancee does make up and hair in a fairly small town in Russia, and there is nothing in her personal life or in her social media history that would suggest that she should be a concern to US national security whatsoever.  Nonetheless, We submitted everything through our lawyer within four days.

Over four months later we have had no change in our status. The case is shown as being in Administrative Processing, and we cannot get any information whatsoever. I have contacted my state Senator and Congressman and so far neither have been able to find out anything. My fiancee and I have a son who was born last April in Russia. We applied for and received and American passport for him. We gave this information to the consular officer at the interview.

We do not know what else to do. My attorney has made several inquiries with the embassy, some of which have not even received a response. We are desperate to have our family reunited. Do you have any suggestions or recommendations? Thanks very much for your advice.