Renee Bua

18 minutes ago, jackanddeona said:

By posting you are asking for input. You don't agree with the answers you are getting so you are throwing a fit. Good luck in your attempt. I hope it's not a massive waste of time and money for you but I expect it will be.

Most of you are here just to throw stones. That's what you look like. You have been ignored. Mods, I've already made my decision about what I'm going to do with my case so you can close this thread if you'd like. There 's nothing but stone throwing and lecturing.

3 minutes ago, jackanddeona said:

The clear reason is the suspension of regular services due to covid 19. The email doesn't state you are stopped because of the eo. It says that any exemption to the covid 19 suspension must also fall outside of the eo and the posts it for reference. 

 

To me you are the one minimizing the situation everyone is in not the other way around. You seem to think that you deserve an expedite when thousands of other people are not getting them. You tried and I applaud your efforts. You are correct in thinking that you should take responsibility for pushing your case a long as no one else will. That being said if you are posting expecting people to agree that it's wrong or comfort you that your expedite was not approved then you don't seem to have a handle on what exactly is happening to everyone right now.

Nope, some of you are giving me input I didn't ask for. I asked none of you what my rights are about immigration. I am still pursuing this and do encourage others to do what you will for YOUR case. I can't believe how negative some of these posters are being.

1 hour ago, Kmomo2 said:

We also tried to have an expedited interview at the Nairobi consulate and this is the message we received. There was no mention of the PP Executive order.

 

"Please note that All consular appointments, including immigrant visas, are cancelled because of the Government of Kenya's suspension of public gatherings. When services resume, updated guidance about appointment scheduling will be given. You may monitor the same at www.travel.state.gov. No additional information about scheduling is available at this time"

 

Stay safe and healthy.

kind regards....

 

Wow. So they give a different random reason each times it seems. I think my lawyer was right when he said it's just a way of blowing us off (although I do see sort of difference with yours... you require an in-person interview which requires a "gathering"). From my lawyer:
 

There are two things going on at the same time. One of them is the immigration ban to protect workers and the other is the consulates being closed for all visa processing (except emergencies) due to the pandemic. When the President announced the immigration ban, I was puzzled as it was nearly superfluous since the consulates were already closed for visa processing anyway. If the consulate told you they can’t issue the visa due to the immigration ban, then yes, that’s a mistake. But they would have trouble issuing the visa now anyway (even though he has already done his interview) since the consulates are operating on severely reduced staff.

He has given me advice on the next steps for my case but we first have to be given a clear reason for the denial. They listed two things for my email reply (one of them incorrect) which therefore wasn't a clear reason. Don't let people minimize your concerns for your case.

2 minutes ago, JFH said:

I looked at the Frankfurt embassy website. It says that die to reduced staffing the immigrant visa unit is handling “emergency cases” only. What constitutes an emergency is largely irrelevant anyway as you are not going through the Frankfurt embassy anyway but I would assume that this relates to spouses of military personnel who have been given orders to move, people whose period of authorized stay in Germany is about to expire and have to leave and are waiting for their immigrant visa to be issued and possibly humanitarian cases where  the family member in the US is close to death and waiting for normal services to resume at the embassy might be too late. 
 

I don’t think a regular CR-1 case would be an emergency. Your situation is heartbreaking but by no means unique. There are spouses, parents, children, fiancés, siblings all over the world waiting for embassies to re-open so that they can proceed with their interviews and receive their visas to be reunited. 

I spoke to a woman in Germany who received her expedite because she has a financial hardship. My advice is for people to be proactive about your case if you do have an emergency. Do not let these people blow you off. If I see some movement I will post my results on my timeline for those interested. I am contacting my senator. This is YOUR case.

8 minutes ago, Luckycuds said:

You are more than welcome to email them again and contact your local congressman. Not all emergent requests are truly emergent/meet the guidelines and dealing with a WORLD pandemic definitely slows things down, which should be obviously understandable. Immigration is not a right but a privilege 

I already know that I am more than welcome, but thanks for your reply. I have every right to inquire about my case.. We gave them our money and paid for this process and  these people are public /civil servants to us... I have a right through the law. 

8 minutes ago, JFH said:

It depends on the embassy and whether they are open or not. That has nothing to do with misunderstanding the executive order on immigration. Embassies will reopen when the situation in the various countries reaches the point where it is considered safe to do so. Not before. 

I spoke with an attorney who advised me to email them again for clarification. The thing is, we have paid all this money for this process, and we don't deserve this quick canned response. What do we pay these people for!? He said if they blow me off again, I DO need to contact a congressman or senator.

Thanks

8 minutes ago, Luckycuds said:

What do you mean you tried to get an "emergency visa stamping" I never heard of such a thing. What countries have you seen CR1 visas being issued at this time? It sounds more like you got denied because "routine consular operations are currently suspended because of the COVID- 19 crisis. Therefore, we are unable to process the case at this time. " 

They put out a notice of what countries issue spousal visas every month. I DO see cases out there getting approved (visas are being issued) when they ask for an emergency expedite at the consulate. CR-1 spousal visas have even been issued in Germany and some of the hardest hit countries with covid-19. I will look for the link.

It seems some nations DO NOT consider spouses of US citizens exempt from the presidential proclamation. Should I involve a lawyer or a senator for our case? (I am seeing CR-1 spousal visas being issued in other nations, but it seems our nation misunderstands the ex. order). We tried to get an emergency visa stamping for my husband (CR-1 spousal), and we got denied and they cited the executive order about jobs. Can someone please explain this because I thought spouses of US citizens are exempt. Is our consulate misinterpreting the executive order?

Thank you for your email.

Please note that routine consular operations are currently suspended because of the COVID- 19 crisis. Therefore, we are unable to process the case at this time. More information regarding exceptions is provided on the link below in line with the presidential proclamation.

In the future when consular operations resume, we will review the case. You may monitor the same at www.travel.state.gov.

See also the announcement below:

24 April, 2020

On April 22, President Trump signed a proclamation suspending entry into the United States of certain immigrants who present risk to the U.S. labor market during the economic recovery following the COVID-19 outbreak. The proclamation is effective at 11:59 p.m. EDT on April 23 and expires in 60 days, unless continued by the President. U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and those holding valid immigrant visas on the effective date of the Proclamation, are not subject to the proclamation. No valid visas will be revoked under this Proclamation. 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 for applicants who are not subject to this presidential proclamation. The full text of the presidential proclamation is available on the White House website at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/proclamation-suspending-entry-immigrants-present-risk-u-s-labor-market-economic-recovery-following-covid-19-outbreak/.

Please stay safe and healthy!

Good day.

10 hours ago, Jon & Ygritte said:

I don't know the answer to your question of whether the embassy only considers the US citizen's emergency or if the beneficiary having an emergency situation qualifies for expedite. We listed both in our request for expedite but our main emphasis was on the US petitioner's situation.

 

From reading on VJ it seems embassies around the world are handling the situation somewhat differently. I read a poster stating they had gotten expedite approved at NVC but still were referred by the embassy to wait until the embassies open. We've been told from our embassy that as soon as we have all our interview documents in order, they will schedule an emergency interview for us. And here you are telling us your spouse already has been approved but they are sending you his passport without the stamp. I don't know if asking for an expedite would be helpful to you or not. I guess I might also be a little cautious of telling the embassy your husband is having panic attacks. Does he have a history of this or is it new due to the Covid situation?

 

More experienced VJ posters may want to chime in. Good luck. Hope this situation resolves for everyone soon.

Thanks for your input. I don’t think we will try it then.

On 5/13/2020 at 11:15 AM, Jon & Ygritte said:

We were DQ on March 16th. Our case was stuck at NVC. Yesterday we emailed the embassy in my country with a formal request for our case to be expedited. At noon they replied that they were going to request our case to be sent from NVC and get back to us when they had our case. Later in the day NVC emailed that our request for expedite had been approved, that our case was now in transit on its way to the embassy and that the embassy would get in touch with us and give us an emergency interview appointment. So quick!

 

Our reasons for expedite were that the petitioner is living alone and is in a risk group for covid19, so he needs support for his health and well-being. Also, we provided a document which proves I'm living in a multi/generational family and therefore also at higher risk if I stay in my country.

 

After being stuck in Nebraska for a year and approaching 2 years since we sent in the petition, we are finally on the last stretch!

 

Don't wait for the embassies to open if you have a reason to ask for your case to be expedited!

To follow up with your advice... my husband is the beneficiary and has been having panic attacks due to covid. We are both alone in all of this.. he lives alone in Kenya and I live alone in America. I have been depressed and he has been to the hospital due to his panic attacks which includes vomiting. He has been prescribed medicine but has had two of them today. 

My question is, is this an “emergency” enough to ask for expedite? I’m just wondering if they consider only the US citizen’s emergency or can the beneficiary have the emergency in order for it to expedite. 

Also, he has already been through the interview and is approved, but does not have the visa in hand yet since the consulate closed due to covid. They sent his visa back to him in the mail without the stamp and told him to send it back when they open.

If they add additional categories to the ban, what categories do you all think will be added?

Thanks for your replies.

So who here is approved but waiting to receive the actual visa, and not knowing when you'll get it due to the closures of the consulates? (We were supposed to receive ours visa DHL, but there is so much uncertainty.) Just wondering how many people are in the same boat, have you contacted your embassy for an update, etc.

We tried to call our embassy and they say "they have limited staff", and can't give us any other answers.
We were so close, and then this happened.  (Very frustrated.)

Husband had his interview at Nairobi embassy and was approved just before the notice that embassies are closing. We now have no idea when we will receive his visa through DHL (this is their method of sending it to Kenyans). I am also in Kenya and had hoped we could go home together but I have been forced to leave him here due to the alert that all US citizens should return home immediately.

We waited 90 days.

An update:

We have received our new interview date and it’s March 12, so the turnaround was pretty good.

So far anyone with an interview date this month (2020) on the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th of March  did NOT get to have their interview. (I suspect this will go on even further day by day, but not sure.) The Nairobi embassy facebook page says that there is an outage. Day by day, they are canceling interviews scheduled for that day. Am starting this thread to make available for anyone who is apart of this experience and if you could share your updates if any (what was your original interview date and if you ever get a reply about your rescheduled interview date, can you alert us here?)

My beneficiary's interview date (CR-1 spousal visa):
March 4, 2019 (we received an email that our interview is cancelled and they will get back with us with a new interview date)

Reason posted on the Nairobi embassy facebook page:

"Technicians are working around the clock to repair damaged consular systems to ensure all visa, passport, and American citizen services can be processed fully without further inconvenience and delays for our customers."

I have been waiting going on 3 months. Got DQ on 11/29/2019. Am anxious.