HillJor

23 hours ago, LazyPerroFarm said:

Quick question....I see people mentioning a Facebook as well as Whatapp group to follow the visa journey in Colombia and was wondering if anyone could share those?  Thanks!

When you go on FB, just search "visa IR-1 y CR-1 Colombia" and the group will appear and you can request to join. 

18 hours ago, EA and MK said:

Have you been able to get a hold of someone at the bassy to provide a clear answer as to when lab exams will resume? My wife's interview is in 2.5 weeks and worrying about this lab issue not being sorted out by now...

It seems there's no clear answer. I've only ever contacted them through email which sometimes they answer and sometimes they don't. You can try emailing them here: IVBogota@state.gov. Feel free to message me if you or her want the link for the whatsapp group. 

On 6/13/2021 at 3:37 PM, d99gr81 said:

Visa finally approved in January 2021... Took a year thanks to virus... but now sits in NVC for over 6 months now waiting for US embassy in Bogota, Colombia... anyone else get their interview yet with Bogota embassy? if so when was your visa approved?

 

Thanks

 

My husband's petition was DQed (documentarily qualified) on 5/29/20. We had our interview on June 1st, 2021 for IR1 visa and are currently in administrative processing. For CR1/IR1 visas they're giving interview appointments for people DQed in September/October, but I'm not sure about K1s. 

On 6/23/2021 at 2:28 PM, majm said:

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

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

Hi all, my husband had his interview last week on 6/1 (Our DQ is 5/29/20). I went with him and we had all our documents in order, but they couldn't approve his visa because apparently he has a name that is similiar to someone involved with the peace agreement process here in Colombia. We were both super surprised and not expecting that at all. We received a 221g form with instructions to email the Peace Commission to clear his name. They sent the email to us and the embassy last Friday on 6/4 and now we're waiting. This also happened to another woman the same day as us. Has anyone else had this happen or know how long it could take before the visa is issued? 

Hi everyone, we have our interview on June 1st in Bogota. My mom is the joint sponsor. Does anyone know if the signature on the i864 affidavit of support has to be original? She signed it in the US and then sent me a scan of the document. Thank you.

Hi Everyone, I just wanted to report that we got our interview date today from the embassy in Colombia! Here's our info:

PD Aug 8, 2019

DQ May 29, 2020

Interview June 1, 2021

2 hours ago, Jazmine Un said:

Wow.... same here got Dqed 14th december 2020. I do wonder when they will get to us.... this has been a crazy ride!!

Our case has been DQed since May 29, 2020, waiting for almost a year now for an interview. If you can find Facebook groups specific to your countries, it'll give you a better idea of what's going on with that embassy. For example the embassy in Colombia is currently scheduling interviews for DQs in May/June 2020

1 hour ago, Hilde said:

So I got my interview letter! May 6

I guess the embassies do send stuff out on the 15th!

 

Called doctor to schedule interview and tried to register my appointment online but am unable to. It appears that it takes some time for the consulate to receive information sent by NVC. 

Yayyyy!! Maybe that theory was true! lol So happy for you! Let us know how it goes.

On 4/5/2021 at 4:06 AM, Hilde said:

Does anyone know how often the embassies send out interview letters? I had read somewhere here on VJ that it´s 2x a month and I was hoping to find out if it is the same for every embassy. Thanks!

I'm in a Facebook group with other folks waiting for an interview in Colombia. There's a theory that they've been sending out interview letters around the 15th of the month, but I wouldn't take that too seriously because the pandemic is still affecting things here too. 

Hi all, I want to share some good news that the Colombian Embassy posted on their website. It looks like they're finally going to resume processing immigrant visas. 

Resumption of Limited, Routine Immigrant Visa Processing
Beginning March 1, 2021, we have increased the range of immigrant visa services available and resumed limited, routine immigrant visa interviews.  Among immigrant visa applications, we will prioritize emergency cases and then Immediate Relative family members of U.S. citizens including intercountry adoptions, fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens, and certain Special Immigrant Visa applications. 

As we increase the range of our immigrant services available, we’ll be processing cases in the order that the National Visa Center determined the case to be “documentarily qualified.”  When a case becomes documentarily qualified, the National Visa Center sends an email to notify you that it is complete and pending scheduling at the Embassy, so please review your past emails from the National Visa Center to determine what date your case became documentarily qualified. You may also check your CEAC account to find this date.

1 hour ago, majm said:

So frustrating! My wife knows several people who had student visa interviews at the Embassy in the last few weeks. That seems to have been made "priority" because universities in the US were starting... and international tuition is a cash cow for them. I hope we hear something positive soon 🙁

I also requested an expedite and got the same response  I know someone who got an interview for their student visa over a month ago. It's really disheartening. 

3 hours ago, Katie & Camilo said:

Is anyone else experiencing the same frustration in terms of their embassy only doing interviews for certain categories? We are with the Bogota embassy in Colombia and about 1 month ago they finally started to resume some services, but only interview appointments for student visas. They have given no word about when other categories will open up, and they seem to only mention K1 when discussing other servies resuming. It blows my mind that student visas are considered more important/priority to FAMILY visas! It's just crazy. I think that spousal visas should also be before fiance. I mean, it's my husband for goodness sake. 

I totally hear you! We actually have almost the same timeline. It's soooo frustrating that they aren't opening when the rest of the country is basically open. I also got stuck in California and have been away from my husband since the end of February.  I don't understand the way they prioritize things. I'm really hoping they open soon. If I hear anything I will post it here. 

3 hours ago, Louis61404 said:

Has Argentina given out a visa appointment?  It seems they have just opened for passport services for US citizens - not visas.

 

However, their website definitely doesn't have the standard "all visa appointments are cancelled, we are unable to give a date of reopening at this time" blah blah blah - so that may be good news.  But I haven't seen anyone here or on Facebook report a visa interview there yet.

You are right, it could only mean certain services. I just saw on their twitter that they are doing "consular services" and when someone asked about calling the embassy, they responded saying their open. On the front page of VisaJourney I saw a couple who got their visa approved recently also. I could be totally wrong though! 

21 minutes ago, David G said:

Another month gone..

I am still hoping that the embassy in Colombia will open soon. I saw that the embassy in Argentina is open. 🤞

3 minutes ago, David G said:

Hiii! 👋🏻 We will go to the embassy in Bogotá too. 
 

But that is the thing and my frustration at this moment. This is what the US embassy in Colombia has on their website:

 

"In response to significant worldwide challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of State has temporarily suspended routine visa services at all U.S. Embassies and Consulates. Embassies and consulates have canceled all routine immigrant and nonimmigrant visa appointments as of March 20, 2020, but will continue to provide emergency and mission-critical visa services as resources and local conditions allow..."

See? Will continue. Which means that they haven’t stop providing those services. Even when all routine visa services have been suspended. 

 

And according to this update to the proclamation, posted on June 17. In the last paragraph says:

 

"Routine visas services have been suspended at U.S. posts worldwide, but as resources allow, embassies and consulates will continue to provide emergency and mission critical visa services.  Mission-critical immigrant visa categories may include applicants who may be eligible for an exception under this presidential proclamation, such as: IR/CR1..."

 

Here is the same thing about "will continue to provide..." and now they put on the list of mission-critical, the visa categories that are not affected by the proclamation. Which means that if your visa category is not affected by the executive order, it doesn’t matter if your case did not got expedited (emergency) in order to be processed during this contingency of COVID... they will process it because they haven’t stop providing those services...

 

Am I wrong?.. is my interpretation of all this mistaken?... 

 

I had to let it out and said  it ... and see if anyone else shares my point of view about it.

 

Sorry, I got excited about this subject. 🙃

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi David!

I have been interpreting everything in the same way are. It doesn't make sense that the embassy isn't open yet, when so many other things are open. We just have to be patient, even though it's so frustrating. I haven't seen my husband for 4 months because I came to California to visit and got stuck here and can't go back to Colombia. I also think they haven't opened because the embassy is in Bogota where there's the most cases. I literally check the embassy's webpage and FB page multiple times a day like a stalker haha

11 hours ago, David G said:

Hi!👋🏻
 

Have any applicant of Latin America been contacted by the embassy so far? Any signs of life?

Hello!

I'm waiting for the embassy in Bogota and haven't heard anything. I sent them a message on Facebook and they don't have a date for reopening. My case also still says it's at NVC after more than a month  

Super surprised, but we got DQed today. 

Submitted everything 5/13

Got DQed 5/29

Just have to wait for the Colombian Embassy to open up 

1 minute ago, MS&JA said:

https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-g-chapter-2
 

Marriage is not a US federal law issue, but a state law issue. For that reason, we do not have a federal marriage record depository. In fact, each US state has its own rules on marriage validity, marriage jurisdiction (for purposes of granting a divorce), and marriage ceremonies. 
 

 

But you are “legally married”. Your spouse could come to the US with a foreign marriage certificate and claim your estate, for example.
 

Generally speaking, you are married in the eyes of USCIS and the IRS if your marriage was validly performed under the laws of whatever country (or state) you were married in. 
 

You can file an amended return. We don’t throw people in jail for this. Not really a big deal. Don’t fret too much. Your spouse can get an ITIN to file online or you can otherwise submit a paper copy without an SSN. 
 

Give the IRS a call tomorrow. They’ll give you instructions. 

Hope this helps.

Thank you, I am feeling quite stupid. Luckily I haven't officially submitted my taxes to the IRS, but my 1040 form has been sent to NVC so I will try to add an additional document with the updated marriage status. I just am afraid of them denying my husband's visa because of my mistake. 

15 minutes ago, HillJor said:

Hi all, I just realized I filed my 2019 taxes as single. Did I totally screw myself over? I thought that I would be considered single in the US because I'm not legally married here. I've been living abroad for the past 3 years and got married in Colombia. My 1040 has already been submitted in the portal. Anyone had a similar experience? Thanks 

when I try to file as married it doesn't let me submit (at least online) without the SSN of my husband, but he doesn't have one.

Hi all, I just realized I filed my 2019 taxes as single. Did I totally screw myself over? I thought that I would be considered single in the US because I'm not legally married here. I've been living abroad for the past 3 years and got married in Colombia. My 1040 has already been submitted in the portal. Anyone had a similar experience? Thanks 

Does anyone know why the TSC dates for i130 approvals seem to be going back in time? Last week it said they were approving cases from the first week of August and now it's all the way back to July 22nd. Any ideas? My receive date is August 8th. So close!