majm

My wife will be traveling internationally in August. She works in corporate finance and certainly wants to avoid any potential issues with immigration status.

I contacted my Senator's office today and will update this thread if anything comes from it. Thanks to everyone here for your responses!

Hello everyone,

Thanks for taking the time to read this. My wife is from Colombia - she entered the US about 3 weeks after our 2 year wedding anniversary. POE was Atlanta and we advised immigration that she should be IR-1, not CR-1, after showing him our marriage certificate. There was no issue at POE, the immigration officer understood, crossed out CR-1 from her visa, wrote IR-1, and also wrote IR-1 on the stamp itself with her A number. This was in October 2021. In January 2022, she received a conditional green card, so we immediately filed I-90 online with scans of our marriage certificate, passport with IR-1 on the visa and stamp, etc. This led to a biometrics appointment a few weeks later. At the time of filing, the estimated processing time was 10 months. It is now 20 months.

My wife received a reminder letter in the mail yesterday saying that she needs to file to remove conditions before October 2023. The USCIS website says we are within the "normal processing time" for our I-90 and that we should not contact them about the case until January 2024 at the earliest (which would be 4 months after her conditional green card expires). When we initially filed I-90, we did not see there is another option to report a typographic error. Is this applicable for our case? I'm not sure this counts as a typographic error since the validity itself is the problem. She is very concerned that she will soon be with an expired green card. USCIS contact by phone has been useless, as has their online support (all canned responses for every inquiry). I found similar cases here on VisaJourney, but many are from years ago. Has anyone had this same issue recently? Any suggestions?

IR-1 here, spouse is from Colombia

POE: 10/10/21 (Atlanta) where we were told her SSN would arrive within 2 weeks and the Green Card within 90 days. No SSN after 2 weeks, so we went to the Social Security office (they advised they had zero info about my wife's case). Thankfully, they were able to get that sorted and we received her SSN about 2 weeks after that. Green Card was paid for on 08/30/21 (before POE). Today we received notification that the Green Card is finally being produced (01/06/22, day 85 of 90)

28 minutes ago, Natalia Malone said:

Congrats! My cased was updated to administrative processing on Tuesday so we are hoping to get news soon! We have been waiting for so long! :') I am in Bogota as well but I choose a DHL location to receive my passport because ASC is always super busy now. Thank you for your answer! 

I’m sure you’ll get the good news soon!  Cheers,

18 minutes ago, Natalia Malone said:

Hi! I will like to know how long took for your case to update the status to "issue" after your case changed from "Refused" to "administrative process"? Thank you

Hello! We went from refused to administrative processing on Monday morning, then to issued on Tuesday afternoon. It may have had “ready” in between there but we didn’t see it (we have been checking CEAC twice a day since it never notifies us of any status change). We got the email to schedule passport pickup this morning (Thursday) and the next available appointments are next week at ASC. I noticed others using DHL got theirs faster (in different cities) but my wife lives in Bogota. 

Visa finally issued today! After 6 weeks in AP and constant delays, almost 2 years from start to finish. Good luck everyone!

23 hours ago, Josm said:

I recommend to people who are close to an appointment not to do the tests with Dr. Roa, they are a complete disorder, they have few reagents for the urine test and they give preference to people who come from another country to do the complete tests . Colombians have to come back another day when they call that they have spare reagents to do the urine analysis, the two women who attend Adriana and Nubia there are super unfriendly, they treat people as if they were going to give them something for free. When the results are complete, they take too long to send them to the embassy, in my opinion they do not have enough staff to efficiently process all the people they attend and for this office they are leaving many people in 221g, the other authorized doctor Yes has everything, but when I spoke with them they explained to me that I could no longer change doctors that I had to finish the whole process with Roa.

This is excellent advice for anyone who has not yet had their medical exam. Definitely choose the other doctor if you can.

My wife's case is among many stuck in AP due to the issue with the lab from Dr. Roa. We have received ZERO information from them. The office assistants are VERY rude and unhelpful both on the phone and in person. Beware.

1 hour ago, Tacos said:

Has anyone interviewed recently and been able to go in with their beneficiary? I’m off from work, so I’ll be there, but don’t want to be doing circles out front. How difficult is the interview recently? Any mention of questions of previous visa denials?

My wife had her interview yesterday. I did not attend, but we were told I could have had I been there. The young woman who interviewed my wife was very kind and only asked her a few questions about how we met, how long we have been married, if either of us have been married before, and if we have kids together or from a past relationship. She looked at my birth certificate, my divorce certificate, our marriage certificate, my tax transcripts, W-2, paystub, her medical exam papers and not much else (we had a big folder of newer documents and photos to add to our existing file considering the petition was initially filed almost 2 years ago... a lot has happened since then, but none of it was looked at). She then said that because the lab work is stopped right now she could not approve the visa, but everything looks good. They kept her passport. The whole process lasted about 2 hours.

59 minutes ago, M&N2020 said:

If you have a medical appt, interview scheduled in the upcoming days, you can STILL go without your labs UNLESS  the EMBASSY says otherwise. If you get an interview letter in the upcoming days, you can STILL schedule your medical, interview appointments in bogota. You are not on HOLD until the embassy tells you otherwise or until you get put in AP after your visa interview.

Absolutely nowhere did I say you cannot go to a scheduled interview without lab work. In fact, I said very clearly (since clarity matters here, right?) that my wife's interview is confirmed in 2 days with only the medical exam - no lab work.

8 minutes ago, M&N2020 said:

Its not arguing. Its being clear for the ppl who are reading this and have less info. Youre saying we are all on hold is saying multiple things which are not true. Ppl are still accomplishing things in the process which include getting an interview letter, going to the medical appointment, and going to the visa interview just like your wife! Where she will then be put on hold until she can go and get her labs done. Tht is the point. Dont take away hope from the ppl who are waiting to be called for an appointment on july 15th or further out by saying we are all on hold because that means we are ALL on hold. And thts not true.

I shared this info about the lab because it might be relevant to others wanting to know what happened. My comment was addressing the immediate previous posts that had been discussing the lab problem. You jumped in and focused on my comment that "all" applicants are on hold, and while I did NOT say that, the point stands to reason if the process is stopped or slowed at the end of the line, it may be felt by everyone.

I'm not "taking away hope" from anyone. I have required plenty of it being in this process just like everyone else. Our case sat for 8 months at USCIS, then 1 year at NVC, and now our interview date is here and one week before it we are advised it will take more time ON HOLD due to an extremely uncommon lab problem related to fraudulent testing. If visas are not being approved because of the lab problem, the process is NOT working. Yes, people are still "accomplishing" things like processing at USCIS or NVC... but the medical exam, lab work, and interview are at the end of a LINEAR process. If the end of the line is stopped or slowed, you can logically reason that it will be felt in other parts of the process... including waiting for an interview to be scheduled. That's EXACTLY what happened to all of us when they stopped scheduling appointments in the first place.

3 minutes ago, M&N2020 said:

The process is still in motion until the embassy puts you in AP after your interview, or unless they starts cancelling visa interviews, stop giving out interviews until the problem with the lab is resolved. We are ALL not on hold until that point.

There's no point in arguing this with you. Good luck.

20 minutes ago, M&N2020 said:

So the process is STILL in motion for everyone EXCEPT for those who have gone to their interviews WITHOUT their labs done. If you have not received your interview letter yet then you are NOT on hold because you are not at that stage of the process yet and hopefully this issue is resolved before you get your interview letter and medical appointment. You WILL be on hold when you to your appointment and get put in AP because of the lab problem.
Specifics are key. Dont inspire desperation when ALL of us are not on hold again.

You can take what I stated however you want. The process is NOT in motion if visas are NOT being approved without lab work. If you are not scheduled for an interview, this does not directly affect you right now... but basic logic would tell most people that it may indirectly affect you if they stop scheduling appointments while the backlog of lab work is resolved. This entire process is linear. You can expect that if the end of the line is stopped or slowed, those at the beginning or in the middle will feel it one way or another.

1 minute ago, M&N2020 said:

What does we are all on hold again mean??? Did they stop giving out interview appointments? Have interviews been cancelled because of this? Have medical appointments been cancelled because of this? Have ppl still gone to interviews with out labs being done? 
what does we are all on hold again mean??? Please be clear when posting.

On hold = more waiting. That's as clear as it gets with this process. Interviews have not been canceled. My wife's interview was scheduled weeks ago and it is still confirmed for this Thursday. Yes, people are going to interviews without lab work completed, but those cases are going into "refused" status / administrative processing (AP) until the lab issue is resolved. There is no time estimate.

On 6/26/2021 at 8:33 PM, HillJor said:

I'm in a whatsapp/FB group with others in the process who have been reporting about this. What's been reported is that the embassy ended the contract with the lab and are in the process of fixing it and it will take a few weeks, but who really knows. There's going to be a lot of folks in administrative processing

For those who have not seen the latest update... someone provided a very insightful email from the embassy advising them that the lab was falsifying tuberculosis test results. Because of this, the doctors canceled their contracts with the lab. This was not the fault of the embassy or the doctors, but regardless of fault, we are all on hold again  😞

6 hours ago, Marthaeu said:

Well, those AP cases due to lack of the laboratory should only be handled differently at different times than AP cases for other reasons. I hope they keep her passport and so once they have a laboratory they give the visa.  Best of luck to your wife.!!

Thanks! Good luck to you, too!

1 hour ago, Marthaeu said:

Nothing is known yet of a new laboratory.  It really is their negligence because there are many laboratories in Bogota.  It is unfortunate many people who live outside of Bogota and because of them were in the administrative process and must make another hotel expense, tickets etc when they have the laboratory ready.  When does your wife have the interview?  hopefully next week there will be a solution.

Agreed 😔 Her interview is on Thursday morning. Medical exam was completed, but no lab work. We are preparing for the unknown of AP.

8 hours ago, Millikkl said:

We had the interview today and they put my spouse into administrative processing until the medical exam is updated. It is showing "Refused" on the status update on CEAC - which doesn't feel good! Curious to know what others experience.

Did they keep your husband's passport or return it to him? It seems like most people are reporting they are not holding on to passports while this mess gets sorted out. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing.

15 minutes ago, Millikkl said:

My husband had his medical on Monday and was also issued the "excuse" from the doctor around the lab issue. No further updates. Seems like they may give a tentative answer at the interview but applicants will still need to fly back to Bogota for lab tests before final approval...not sure though. We have the interview tomorrow, and I will be there, so I will try to update when I find out more. 

Thank you! Our interview is next week, medical exam was yesterday. The doctor wouldn't disclose much about what's going on (maybe they don't even know?) and only said no one is going for lab work until further notice. Quite frustrating considering we have all already been thru an unusually long process. Good luck tomorrow!

On 6/23/2021 at 3:32 PM, Marthaeu said:

I'm sorry your wife is in that situation.  I am waiting for the information that they give me in the office of Dr. Dennis to know which is the new laboratory.  But I hope they have a new laboratory soon because it is very unfair that they put it in the administrative process because of their error.

Thanks. That's the concern now for everyone. AP would be horrible... no timeframe, nothing you can do but wait. This is going to be yet another delay after ONE YEAR waiting at NVC for an interview to be scheduled.

My wife had Dr. Roa today for her medical exam and he said the only info they have from the Embassy is "do not send people to the lab". It's ridiculous that virtually nothing is being disclosed about something so important.

Does anyone here have any info about the medical lab issue now occurring for applicants?

4 minutes ago, Marthaeu said:

 

On the page of the Embassy of Bogota this message has just come out about the DS 260 that has expiration of 1 year. So only those that have more than one year should update it . 

Let's hope that's accurate! I know they also advised that if any information has changed, you must update it (regardless of time). My wife moved during the pandemic and required an update on the form anyway considering she has a different address.

Have you heard the latest mess about the lab in Bogota that the Embassy uses? My wife is having her medical exam right this very moment... the word is that the lab contract was canceled, so now they're trying to find a new lab for all applicants 😕 Many people on Facebook and Whatsapp are saying they are now stuck in administrative processing because of this!

49 minutes ago, Marthaeu said:

Thank you for giving me an opinion. We also download everything to update including a criminal record certificate or police certificate.  I would also like to know if the DS260 has an expiration date of one year since my husband's was completed and generated in September 2020 and his interview appointment will be on July 2021. Do you know anything about this?

The DS-260 has an expiration date. Ours shows 04/30/2022 in CEAC, but I think this may be the expiration of the form between revisions and not about what was submitted. We are planning to email ivbogota@state.gov if the form does not automatically "re-open" by Thursday (one week before my wife's interview). She is taking the confirmation page of her DS-260 completed last year to her medical exam this week.

The guidelines for Bogota from May 2021 do not explicitly say you have to update the DS-260, but many who have had appointments in the last few weeks say it is required.

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/iv-dv-supplemental/BGT-Bogota-06MAY2021.pdf

On 6/18/2021 at 6:56 PM, Marthaeu said:

Today we registred the interview appointment for my husband.  Enter the CEAC account and download the Tax transcription 2020, I wanted to update the DS260 but there I do not see it . where I can call or send email to request open the DS260?

My wife is scheduled for her interview on July 1. We have heard that the DS-260 will be re-opened a few days before the interview, but if it isn't, that we can email or call. You may want to consider updating everything in CEAC if it has been some time since you first provided those documents. I uploaded an updated I-864, W-2 from last year, tax transcript, and recent paystub (and my wife will also provide these at the interview, if needed). Someone who went thru IV in Bogota just last week mentioned their interview was less than 5 minutes because they updated everything in CEAC. Others who did not spent hours sorting paperwork.

We got our interview scheduled for July 1!

DQ: July 8, 2020

Facebook and Whatsapp groups have updates today for people with DQ even into September. Good luck everyone!

5 hours ago, EA and MK said:

I agree! It's highly unacceptable that we don't have clarity on what is going on, and when each of us will get our interviews scheduled. I noticed over 1600 B1/B2 visas were issued, but less than 90 IR-1 and over 20 CR-1 in April? What's been going on for the whole month? Those numbers are a day's worth of cases I would imagine lol... Not sure how we can get the transparency we all desire...

Those 1,600 B1/B2s likely include visa renewals, many of which do not require interviews due to waivers right now.