ShibaYuri2428

11 minutes ago, Sammum said:

Madrid:

https://es.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/

Prague:

https://cz.usembassy.gov/information-on-travel-restrictions-faq/

Helsinki:

https://fi.usembassy.gov/k-1-and-immigrant-visa-processing-update-april-9-2021/

Stockholm:

https://se.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/

 

Awesome!! 

37 minutes ago, MKGHH said:

i find the part but it is written for k1 is in effect unless other exceptions apply that is redicolous

what does that mean

The Italian Consulate link is here for other people who want to see it - https://it.usembassy.gov/visas/iv/

Technically, the 4/8 exception includes an "update" to 9984.  If they're stating that "The geographic COVID-19-related P.P.s 9984...remain in effect." then the new exception to K-1s should remain in effect.  At least I feel that I can argue that. It doesn't say specifically that new updates do not remain in effect...

Note that "unless another exception applies." could be interpreted as a specific NIE to an individual. 

Looks like a mistake. I'd say email the consulate again and ask for clarification. 

19 hours ago, jd_malachi said:

Congrats!  Hoping it will not take long to process everything, like you I am just waiting for visa in hand to make travel arrangements, we decided on Dubai, do our 14 days and fly to Chicago.

Thanks! For other China K-1 people, it took less than a week to get their visas but for some reason, I've been waiting 9 days since the interview and still haven't received nor do I see they sent the visa out via EMS tracking. 

On 3/4/2021 at 9:24 AM, jd_malachi said:

My fiance had her interview on March 3, everything went good and we are just waiting for the consulate to return her passport with a brand new flashy K1 visa in it

Congrats! We passed our K-1 interview on Feb 26th after filing in the summer of 2019... Still waiting for the passport to arrive in Shanghai at Citic Bank.  US TravelDocs Website says "Passport has been received from the consular section, and is currently being processed for delivery". Hoping they can ship on Monday.  Once we get the passport, we'll buy our plane tickets. Then we plan on going to Turkey in April for 14 days before landing in LAX. 

37 minutes ago, Sherbird said:

Congratulations!! We joined round 3 and were officially added as a plaintiff. May I ask how you contacted the Guangzhou consulate after knowing the ruling of the lawsuit? Thank you😊 

I'm an original plaintiff.  I mailed the GZ consulate immediately and they told me the next day that they will resume processing for me. Then we got a call the following day asking us where to send P3. 

On 2/8/2019 at 1:09 AM, Jay Jones said:

Yes, I called the service call center for the Embassy here in the Philippines.  I live in the Philippines with my fiancé.  I made sure I kept asking the person I spoke to if I need to input the new DS 160 confirmation code in her profile and she kept telling me that it doesn't apply to K1 visa.

Were you able to have the interview without having the DS-160 code on your ustraveldocs confirmation page? 

5 hours ago, quibily said:

Is anyone having an interview in Guangzhou at the end of this month?  Looks like you can make appointments with them, again.

There are people applying for CR1 that are scheduled to have interviews this month and next.  

No news on K-1 though. 

This isn't anything new I think and I expected to get this reply.  I emailed the Guangzhou Consulate on 6/10 to ask them an update on my K-1 Visa application (last I heard in January the GZ consulate received it from NVC or USCIS). 

Their reply was: 

Thank you for your email.  As of February 3, 2020, regular visa services at the U.S Embassy in Beijing and the U.S. Consulates General in Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenyang are suspended.  Due to the ongoing situation relating to the novel coronavirus, the U.S. Embassy and Consulates have very limited staffing.   Intending applicants should note that on January 31, a Presidential Proclamation was issued that suspended entry for individuals who have been in China less than 14 days prior to their arrival in the United States.  More information about that Proclamation can be found here: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/presidential-proclamation-coronavirus.html.

Furthermore, intending applicants should note that on April 22, another Presidential Proclamation was issued that suspends the entry of certain immigrants to the United States for a period of 60 days.  More information about this Proclamation can be found here: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/Proclamation-Suspending-Entry-of-Immigrants-Who-Present-Risk-to-the-US-labor-market.html.

Once the proclamation is lifted, please contact us regarding your case via our webform: https://china.usembassy-china.org.cn/visas/immigrant-visas/contact-us/immigrant-visa-unit-question/. Updates on the status of the proclamation will be posted on our website: https://china.usembassy-china.org.cn/.

We will resume routine visa services as soon as possible, but we are unable to provide a specific date at this time. 

1 hour ago, quibily said:

If Trump's intended executive order to suspend immigration goes through, it looks like we might have to wait until well after May 15th.

I think it only applies to people who are working in the US or are relatives to existing green card holders.  

3 hours ago, givionte said:

Definitely not happening anytime soon.  They may lower the warning down a level, but consulates would still not be up and running even at that level.  It's in the US's best interest right now to hold the bans for 30 more days, much like they have in Europe.

I think even if the number of affected in China itself is very low but US has high rates, then US gov still wouldn’t resume because it would look bad politically.  It’s a safer political move to keep China locked until it’s more universally deemed safe. 

5 hours ago, OliverBa said:

It won’t. K1’s are classified as immigrant visas. Non immigrant visas being cancelled makes sense, immigrant visas, especially those ties to being a dependent of a US spouse are exempt under the presidential proclamation. While technically K1’s are not dependents yet, the presumption is that they will be. So I think we are safe in that regard. 

Good, this entire roadblock has been very disruptive and stressful.  I hope this all ends soon. 

My fiance (who is in Shanghai waiting for Guangzhou to schedule the K-1 interview) has a sister who was supposed to come to the US with her husband on a business visa as a doctor in residence for 2 years.   

Apparently her sister got a call from the US Gov that all non-immigration visas have been cancelled. 

Really hope this doesn't happen to our K-1 visas as it's taken 9 months of preparation for the  i-129f to get approved, USCIS -> NVC, NVC-> Consulate....  

I think it won't, but just saying it would really suck if I had to start the process over again.  

1 hour ago, jd_malachi said:

I had not contacted them directly myself yet so it's nice to get the inside scoop from someone who has, I expected as much to be honest.  I don't expect my case to be ready to be sent over until mid-March so my journey hasn't hit the roadblock yet.  I will just continue to pray for the people in China and hope for the best on when operations will start up again.

 

Side Note Here: 

From my attorney as I was worried that there would be a chance I'd have to start the whole i-129f process again if this takes a while, "K-1 visas are definitely considered 'regular visa services'.  The consular officer has the authority to extend the validity period of the I-129F petition if visa processing takes longer than the I-129F's validity period issued by USCIS, so this will not cause a problem." 

And am also praying for the people in China, especially Wuhan, and that this virus will be beaten down sooner rather than later. 

7 hours ago, OliverBa said:

ok so the confusing was because you originally stated that your NOA2 date was 01/17 and I was trying to figure out how yours  got shipped on the 01/21 date when mine did not. In January the ship dates were 01/07 and 01/21. If you got your case number before either of those dates it would have been shipped to Guangzhou on one of those dates. After the 01/21 date, nvc stopped shipping to Guangzhou because of the virus and evacuation. I just got off the phone with them they will be holding ALL petitions with them until they get a different directive from the embassy. Meaning until the ban is lifted and they reopen fully, no petitions are going to be shipped to Guangzhou in the near future. Yours was lucky and got shipped before the madness happened. However according to the website they have cancelled all visa appointments for the last week in February which means for those who’s petitions they do have, they won’t be receiving P3s or P4s until they reopen again, and I’m sure their will be a backlog because of all the visa splints they had to cancel for this month. And who knows how long this virus thing is going to last. I’m contemplated transferring the petition to another country since my fiancé lives in China but is a citizen of another country so since it hasn’t been and won’t be shipped to China anytime soon, they told me we have the option of sending it to his home country instead. Ugh. Good luck everyone. This sucks!!!!!!

Agree with you on all points and yes you may want to send to his home country instead since we have no idea when the bans will be lifted.  Could take a while and there are also politics involved.   Best of luck! 

8 hours ago, jd_malachi said:

 

 

Not sure if this applies to K1's or not.

 

As of February 10, 2020, regular visa services at the U.S Embassy in Beijing and the U.S. Consulates General in Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenyang are suspended.  Due to the ongoing situation relating to the novel coronavirus, the U.S. Embassy and Consulates have very limited staffing and may be unable to respond to requests regarding regular visa services

 

https://china.usembassy-china.org.cn/mission-china-regular-visa-services-temporarily-suspended/

Okay that's new information to me and obviously contradicts their last email to me.  So likely then they changed their policy shortly after one of their agents messaged that they will send me a package in a few weeks.   That's not cool.  I'll talk to my lawyer about this and see what he can dig up. 

7 hours ago, Heidi9292 said:

The most updated version is all regular visa service will be closed from Feb 10th. If you already have your NOA2, I suggest you to ask about extension just in case things are not getting back to normal in the next few months.

Thanks.  I'll talk to my lawyer about it.  

6 hours ago, OliverBa said:

Which case tracker did you use. I got my NOA2 January 10. Case number at NVC assigned a few days after that. But to my knowledge they haven’t shipped any petitions to Guangzhou yet. The shipping dates after my NVC case number assignment were January 21st and February 4th. But you’re saying you got NOA2 on January 17th and Guangzhou already has your petition? When did your case number get assigned?

Happy to explain.

I double checked and actually got my case # on 1/9 then NVC sent to Guangzhou on 1/17.   What do you mean the "The shipping dates after my NVC case number assignment were January 21st and February 4th" ?  If they ship anything, they ship your petition to Guangzhou so I think that contradicts " But to my knowledge they haven’t shipped any petitions to Guangzhou yet."  So there's something I don't get from your case...  I'll explain more my situation below. 

My timeline is: 

I-129F Sent :    2019-07-10
I-129F NOA1 :    2019-07-15
I-129F RFE(s) :    2019-10-8
RFE Reply(s) :    2019-10-17
I-129F NOA2 :    2019-12-18
Date Case #, IIN, and BIN assigned :    2020-01-09
NVC Left :    2020-01-17
Consulate Received :    2020-01-22
Packet 3 Received :   Waiting... 

I used the case tracker here - https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx#.  I looked it up again and shared my screenshot below.  

I also shared screenshots of NVC emailing me on 1/17 and the attached doc they sent me about them sending the petition to Guangzhou. 

2 hours ago, jd_malachi said:

Yeah, I was aware that the interview would be in Guangzhou and that all interviews had been cancelled.  I was able to verify that a consular officer can extend an application if it has not finished being processed before it expires.  So the question becomes how many months before the situation is stable and the consulate is back in business, which is why I am monitoring Guangdong province as well as Beijing. I would probably go crazy if we could not talk on WeChat so I can check in with her. Not sure if it is Beijing wide but I know my fiance's company has pushed back the return to work date to Feb. 17 now.

We received our NOA2 on Jan 17 and got notice via tracker website that The Guangzhou Consulate has received it before Chinese New Year.  

I was also worried that the virus would pause this process for a very long time, but at the same time the Consulate Website only notes extended leave from Feb 3- 7:  https://china.usembassy-china.org.cn/u-s-citizen-services/security-and-travel-information/

If they stopped visa services, they would send a notice on the website.  Moreover, they emailed me 2 hours ago that they are doing pre-interview processing and we'd get P3 in the next few weeks.  See the below screenshot I took just now. 

So I assume that their backlog is pretty huge now after a 2-3 week break, but will still resume service as normal.  The more they stop working, the more behind they will get scheduling interviews, etc. and no one wants that unless it really is a dire situation. 

I'm also checking Guangdong cases everyday and the wiki shows that their confirmed case #s are dropping on a daily basis, which increases the chance that Guangzhou won't stop visa services -  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_2019–20_Wuhan_coronavirus_outbreak_in_February_2020#Case_statistics

Overall, I do think things are stabilizing a bit.  We're still seeing getting thousands of new cases everyday, but it's not exponentially growing and the cases outside of Hubei are decreasing.   This week is critical as people start working this week again, so there's a chance the cases will tick up.  We'll see... 

On 2/4/2020 at 1:52 PM, Scott001 said:

Sorry I can't help but wanted to say thanks, I never noticed that link before.

Glad to be of inadvertent help! 😁

It's confusing because I think the interview date is supposed to be set after getting the P4. 

However, when I check the status of my case via the below website, it says "Your case is in transit to the Consular Section. Your interview date was provided to you by the National Visa Center".  The interview date was not provided to me by the NVC, so is this a generic message and not correct?   

https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx

9 hours ago, GoodGod said:

It's been more than three months since USCIS received our  RFE no NOA2 yet. When I contact USCIS after 60 days I was told to do service request now I am told to wait until they make decision.  We are so stressing out.  Especially seeing people get approved who applied way after us. 

Agreed, it's stressful.  I saw someone else wait 4 months before they got theirs approved.  What was your RFE on? 

I just updated my timeline as I just received an email with the following message: 

• The National Visa Center (NVC) received your fiancé (e)’s/spouse’s approved I-129F petition from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). NVC will now forward the petition to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in Guangzhou, China - Mainland. Please note that the transfer process can take several weeks. The U.S. Embassy or Consulate will contact your fiancé (e)/spouse when they are ready to process his or her petition.

Not sure when NVC was received and case # assigned, but the letter also provided the case #

Timeline So Far 

• Sent i129f to USCIS - 7/10/2019
• USCIS NOA1 - 7/15/2019
• Received RFE - 10/8/2019
• Sent RFE Reply - 10/17/2019
• USCIS Recieved RFE Reply - 10/21/2019
• Received NOA2 - 12/18/2019
• NVC to Embassy - 1/17/2020
• Embassy Received - ? 

51 minutes ago, Cilllah said:

I mentioned the statement to my partner but he’s unsure because it happened over ten years ago and he can’t remember the exact details so he’s a bit worried about it..

Mine happened over 15 years ago and I had to dig deep into my memory to recall the details as well. 

The best path is to get the court documents and review the results from there.  Then assess how and even if you want to make a notarized statement based on the explicitly known details. 

The USCIS looks at the circumstance and all underlying evidence as a whole when they make a decision, so even if it's just the court docs, that might be okay.  I will say, however, that nearly everyone in this forum who reported getting police/court record requests via RFE provided both the police and court docs and passed (if charge wasn't domestic abuse or a felony). 

I was worried that if I didn't provide the police records, mine wouldn't pass, but that wasn't the case as I think both my court doc and notarized statement fulfilled what they were looking for.