Isoversa

I think the issue is just general confusion. There's multiple new EOs in place covering different circumstances + a severe reduction in staff at the consulates. Chaos ensues.
Sometimes the wrong EOs are referenced in responses. Sometimes the same individual even gets contradictory responses from the same consulate, depending on who actually responded to an email. It's nuts.
 
The annoying part to me is why DOS leadership has not provided guidance yet. I get that takes some time to do a legal analysis and review, and there was not a rush given that visa services were suspended anyway. Maybe a month or even 2 is reasonable, but it's been too long now.
They aren't making things easier on themselves or the people..that's what gets me.

Until the consulate starts handling routine cases, nobody has standing to bring suit. They tried this already and it was shot down (I was on the call).
Once there is at least somebody who is actually impacted by the EO and brings suit, then they would look at the urgent need / harms + the likelihood of success and possibly order an injunction, pending actual merits of the case being argued.

I MADE IT!!! POE was a breeze!!! Absolutely no problems traveling from Mexico into the US with a K1 visa!! Wow I’m so relieved right now it’s insane. What an adventure! I really hope all of you can make it into the US too!! I would definitely recommend traveling to Mexico! My POE was Charlotte btw, nearly empty. It was super fast  

Regarding writing to the embassy for this reason, I don't have/hear any experience about that so I can't say for sure, but I'm inclined to say it's probably not the best idea. 

Do your parents have other relatives in the US? That might be a way to take off the focus on you. Or are they professionals that might be attending a conference of some sort? Those are the only ways I can think of that might not involve you. But as long as they might want to visit you, and as parents that's a given, you're always gonna into that risk of discovery of your secret. 

Maybe your parents mind? 
Maybe you should just go visit them rather than have them get their hopes up and potentially get rejected for reasons they don’t understand (could be quite distressing at that age when they think they have done something wrong and can’t visit their child as as a result), or if they do get the visa and come and visit you and then ...what, you’ll hide your spouse? Maybe the kinder thing is to tell them you don’t want them to travel because of their age and you go visit them alone, and you keep your secret.

There have been cases where a relative goes on an interview, only then do they learn that so and so has married/ remarried etc. If your concern is them finding out about your wife, then you wouldn't want the risk of them facing the consular officer.
It's plausible that the CO would ask something like, "who is *name drop* (name of your wife)? ". and of course they wouldn't have any idea since they didn't know you were married in the first place. Then the CO would go on and reject the visa on the basis of something along the lines of "sponsor/person they will be visiting is privy to some information, thus is deemed unwelcoming of the visitors". I'm sure there's some legal way of phrasing that but the principle applies. 
 

Does this ban affect K1 visas???
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Just kidding.

Hi All, 
 
I said I'd update you on my move to the US. So I moved on Sunday, this was pulled forward a couple of weeks as we didn't know if Trump would continue to change the Executive Order.
 
I flew from London Heathrow to Newark and then on to Denver, Colorado. At first I wasn't sure if they were going to let me fly as I had to wait for IPS (Inspection of Passport Services) to check my Visa. Note I flew on an IR1 category visa. That took half an hour, there were three people on Visa's and two of us were authorised. I learned the other person was travelling to work on a ship so his visa qualified. The check in staff are told to refer anyone who isn't already a Green Card Holder or US Citizen so don't panic. Overall, took me two hours to check in but the desk computers had also gone down!
 
At Heathrow, everything was closed! Except Boots and WH Smiths. There was only about 20 of us on the flight. The airlines were not serving alcohol either lol. Trolley's not being used, they just handed meals, drinks etc... out plus no ice was provided. I'm not fussy though! They also removed the pillows but they are gross anyway lol.
 
Landed into Newark, the Centre of Disease Controls held us onboard. We had to complete a form called the COVID-19 report, this has to be done to be let off the plane. They advise that you self isolate for 14 days, along with any household members, also if you have any symptoms to call the doctor. When you disembark, they give you a mask, if you don't have one, they will give you a medical mask when you get off the plane. The CDC take your temperature then, if it's OK, you will head to immigration.
 
At immigration, all the guards are wearing masks, they will ask you to take off your mask so they can ID you. I'm not sure if this next bit was normal but you may get seconded. This means taking into the back basically. I was sat there will 7 other British Citizens. My passport was given to the immigration officers behind the desk and I waited to be called. Make sure you leaving enough time to do this, it took me about 30 minutes then I had to get my luggage and re-check in etc.... I have 3 hours 40 min lay-over and had to wait a couple of hours after this, immigration won't care if you only had an hour layover. They asked me to confirm my husbands name, our wedding date and where we got married. I was processed and released.
 
Now, domestic flights don't seem to have many restrictions. It was a full flight from Newark to Denver. It seems the general consensus to wear your mask when you aren't eating or drinking. I popped to the bathroom to remove mine periodically as I get pretty claustrophobic in mine! I think I saw one person without a mask. Again, only non-alcoholic drinks on board! 

 
Landed in Denver, this was pretty normal, no checks for domestic flights. Denver was pretty closed as well except for the necessary shops. My husband wanted to plan a group at the airport but due to the pandemic, it was just him which is fine. 
 
I think this will be a story for our kids how mummy moved during a world crisis.

Good luck everyone! want to post this so you knew first hand what it was like if you are in a position to move.

Omg this is so helpful! Thank you so much! You have no idea how much this helped! Thanks again! 

Businesses and other offices will start reopening in the next months or so. I would be optimistic that courthouses or county offices would be able to officiate weddings by then. USCIS is still functional; only the "in-person" services are on halt, so applying for AOS is unaffected. I would advise you to watch the situation in the state you plan on getting married in, whether things are opening up (see local news etc) , then go fly by then. 

Just wanted to follow up to an earliest post I made. My fiancée arrived into the USA today post executive order. She had absolutely no problem and it seemed way easier than anyone thought it was going to be. I also spoke to a few attorneys as well and can only speak on behalf of those with a k1 visa. From what it appears as long as you have the k1 visa before the EO took effect you should be safe. Also the airlines realize if they let someone in a flight and they get deported that airline has to pay a big fine so the idea for the most part is if they make it on the plane they should be fine. By the way her checked bag ironically got stolen in a very empty airport but I will trade a bag for my fiancée any day. 

A recap of key points since it appears people are not reading some of the remarks on page 1 and some questions are being asked over and over...
If you are a current green card holder, you can enter the US fine. This does not impact ROC, naturalization, I-90s, etc. This does not impact AOS, COS, or EOS. It only impacts new visas. Any visa already issued remains valid and you can enter the US on it just as before. This does not impact any non-immigrant visas (NIVs). Signs are this means it does not impact K-1 visas. This is not 100% confirmed and won't be until DOS makes an official statement or a K-1 visa is actually issued (and doesn't meet any of the other exemptions). This is the best the community has to offer at this time. Even consulates do not have clear guidance on the EO yet. It'll take time. I'll be watching for memos and FAM updates as well. There is a clause suggesting a different EO to cover NIVs will be coming later. Nobody knows the details as it doesn't exist yet. This does not impact spouses or children (under 21) of a US citizen. Stepchildren who became so before turning 18 are treated the exact same as children for this purpose. There are exceptions for applicants who intend to work in the healthcare field. Exactly what qualifies or not is uncertain. As of this time, the CO will make the decision on if one is covered under this exemption. The ban is for 60 days but can be extended as determined necessary. As a result of the above....
This does ban individuals seeking an immigrant visa (not AOS) for:
Parents of a USC (IR-5) Spouses or children of an LPR (F2A/F2B) Sons/Daughters of a USC (age 21+, F1/F3) Siblings of a USC (F4) EB visas, except EB5 Diversity Visas (DVs) Likely others I missed (will update if somebody points it out)  
Less common occurrences...
If you hold a valid Advance Parole (AP) document, refugee travel document, etc., then this remains valid and you can enter. Adoption-related visas are exempt. Exemptions exist for relatives of an active armed forces member. Special Immigrant visas are exempt (this is for things like people who assist the military in Iraq and such - you would know if this category applies to you!) Asylum and refugee cases are exempt.

Yes you’re correct. I think that’s what I understood on the last email I got from the US embassy here in Spain. The reason why US embassies outside Europe are still processing K1s is because the EU has the travel ban imposed, and K1s are not exempted.

Good morning everyone! Fiancé successfully made it through Toronto customs this morning with his K1 visa. He says the customs officer first said they were not accepting that visa, but they were corrected by another officer and he ultimately was accepted. From there sounds like it was a smooth, normal process. I am sure he was the first visa through since the executive order took effect so there was probably some learning this morning. 

No. A fiancé is not a spouse for the purposes defined by immigration, if you're referring to that statement. 
 
If you are talking about K1 in general, it is not mentioned in the EO. As it has been pointed out, it is a Non-Immigrant visa, and most are of the opinion that currently, as the EO is written, is exempt from the ban. But time will tell, there may be additional restrictions as per Sec 6 of the EO. 

This part I disagree with. I highly doubt individual COs will get to determine if a visa class (not an individual) is subject to an EO or not. This is not a discretionary item - either a visa class is or is not subject to it.
Typically what happens is the DOS reviews the EO and implements a policy. That policy is then published in the FAM. In the interim, a memo or other guidance is issued to the consulates.
Given that routine visa services are suspended right now already, they have the time to actually review the EO and do all of the above before any CO actually has to make a decision w/o that guidance.

It has been pointed out that Sec 2 b (ii) is not particularly clear on this. While it is important not to conflate the two (Family-Based vs Employment-Based), the issue in this case would be that the EO does not clearly define it as such. It could have been worded as "on an employment-based immigrant visa" but it is not. Which is why some of us think it may include both. Further, Sec 2 b (iii) mentions "EB-4" , so there may be a reason as not to just directly call it as "EB immigration visa" on Sec b (ii) or so. But it's all speculation at this point, until the Embassies open and adjudicate cases again, we don't have an answer for now.
I do agree that K1, as an NIV, is currently not in the scope of the EO. 

$64,000 dollar question.   No one here has a clue.

That's good to know, I wasn't aware how they are processing with bans in place. Now it makes sense that Sec 3 (a) mentions that the CO would make that determination for the exemption.

The "normal" process when there is a ban like this is that all processing up through the interview is the same. The difference is the visa will be refused if you are subject to the ban.
If the ban ends afterwards and the case is still otherwise active, the visa can then be issued, assuming one is still eligible for it (including no documents are expired like the medical).
 
That said, I have no clue if or how the consulates will prioritize interviews. They may or may not schedule interviews for people who are presumably ineligible. They have not done this with the other bans in recent years, but this is something they do have the ability to do.

The exception only says "any alien seeking to enter the United States on an immigrant visa as a physician, nurse, or other healthcare professional; to perform medical research or other research intended to combat the spread of COVID-19; or to perform work essential to combating, recovering from, or otherwise alleviating the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak, as determined by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or their respective designees;  and any spouse and unmarried children under 21 years old of any such alien who are accompanying or following to join the alien;"
 
My reading is that it is not limited to a specific visa class - it applies to any immigrant visa. There is no immigrant visa specifically for physicians, nurses, or "other healthcare professional". They generally fall under EB-2 or EB-3, but those categories are not specifically restricted to medical professionals.
Could it be read as only applying to employment-based immigrant visas in those professions? I guess. But the wording of the exception as a whole looks to me like it was designed not to refer to a visa category.

Do they assign the time slot (am/pm)? We're trying to schedule cfo next week but we're only able to select the date not the session.

Thank you, for all the answers. 
Issued and visa on hand the same day! 

I spoke too early. My case status just flipped to Non-immigrant - AP. Embassy also called me, possibly will be issued tomorrow

I spoke too early. My case status just flipped to Non-immigrant - AP. Embassy also called me, possibly will be issued tomorrow