Aaab

US Consulate in GUYANA

I made a similar post, I dont know how I missed yours. I think this is amazing and its a time to unite our voices, be kind and helpful to each other. After all we are all in the same boat. Thank you for all of this useful information, If I had seen this I wouldnt have made my post as yours covers more. you added a lot of helpful information.

US Consulate in GUYANA

Update for Taiwan-
Embassy Is Now booking normal appointments for AUG
 
Happy for you guys and I hope more consulates start opening up normal appointments as well

Update for Taiwan-
Embassy Is Now booking normal appointments for AUG
 
Happy for you guys and I hope more consulates start opening up normal appointments as well

Thank you so much for the update. We contacted the embassy in Nairobi today via phone and they told us that we would be able to schedule an appointment for our K-1 visa "soon" and that we should keep checking the website for the ability to schedule. Good luck to you too.

Update for Taiwan-
Embassy Is Now booking normal appointments for AUG
 
Happy for you guys and I hope more consulates start opening up normal appointments as well

Hello,
 
I do apologise, maybe I wasn't clear with my question however I do appreciate your responses. I had already googled this and had already read that, thanks for the link though, I do appreciate the response. I dont know if you had a little read but Step 3 on applying for Expedited interview,  says and I quote "Please note that you must schedule an appointment before you can request an expedited date" this Is not possible due to covid19 as No one can book a normal appointment at the moment so things are a little different right now. I know where to apply for this within my consulate and of course if you ask for an emergency appointment one would be prepared to provide evidence.
 
What I wanted to get out of my question here was to hopefully reach people within this website that have succeeded in this process and see if they were kind enough to share their experience here with me and get a back and forth going that could potentially help others gain some knowledge on how to apply and qualify for this. Emergency under Medical is actually more extensive than it portrays. The K1visa falls under family based and as we know it is in fact a non immigrant visa however it is also seen as an immigrant visa to a certain extent to The USCIS, NVC and the Consulates, as it is in fact headed for that. Due to this, the medical situation can be regarding the US Citizen fiancee as appose to the applicant themselves as the link suggests. The link talks only about medical reasons regarding the applicant and maybe people out there might qualify for an emergency appointment but are not fully aware. I should have worded my topic differently and that's on me...
 
Again, Thank you for your replies, for the help you provide and the guidance you give to many people on this website, including myself.
I am also ever so grateful for the information provided by google.
 
Best Regards.

I made a similar post, I dont know how I missed yours. I think this is amazing and its a time to unite our voices, be kind and helpful to each other. After all we are all in the same boat. Thank you for all of this useful information, If I had seen this I wouldnt have made my post as yours covers more. you added a lot of helpful information.

Senator Whitehouse came through! His staffers received the following information from the State Dept:
 
K1 visas are a unique type of visa – they are processed as immigrant visas but in the end they are issued as a non-immigrant visa.  Therefore, neither of the recent (April or June) Presidential Proclamations on immigration apply to K1s.  However, there are still two other issues:
 
First, the Department of State suspended routine visa services on March 20.  This action was taken for the safety and health of our applicants as well as that of our staff.  https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/suspension-of-routine-visa-services.html  At this time, we do not know when services will resume, so your constituent’s K-1 applicant will be unable to get an appointment for now.
 
Second, depending where your constituent is located, s/he may be subject to one of the Presidential Proclamations suspending entry to the United States due to the risk of transmission of the 2019 novel coronavirus (China, Iran, Schengen Area, UK, Ireland, Brazil).  Please see this website for more information:  https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/presidential-proclamation-coronavirus.html.  This page has links to the complete text of each Proclamation on the White House website.
 
The staffer did bring up making K-1s mission critical, and I see they neglected to comment on this issue, but at least we're getting through to them!

Just found this thread definitely have my Fiancé contact his people in Texas. This is a great thread and I'm happy to see a template! 

Great job getting Congressional attention!! You all are making it happen and getting results. London embassy just updated their website saying K1s are not affected by the labor market EO!

Update: I just got off the phone with my representative. She collected some more information about my case. She is supposed to call the embassy today and see what needs to be done in order to classify K1 visas as mission critical as well as requesting they give me an emergency appointment. She said that there is no guarantees but it shows that there is congressional interest in my case and could have a good outcome possibly. I encourage you guys to reach out to your representatives as well because it will really draws attention to our visa category. She even said her said that K1 visas end up getting left out a lot because they are in a category of their own and are often overlooked by both immigrant and nonimmigrant departments.

Please stay on topic guys. There are plenty of threads to debate the applicability of EOs to various visas including K1!
 
Very proud of all the activism going on! Keep posting your results and any new ideas you have on who and how to contact those those in charge!

Ok! I wrote to my Senators and Representative and got the following response (which was great of them to actually respond!): 
 
"Thanks so much for reaching out to Senator Whitehouse regarding your questions about K1 visas in light of the Administration’s recent proclamation.  Are you in need of case-specific information on the pending application?  If so, please include the beneficiary’s name and the assigned case number.  I can then use such to reach out to the Embassy/State Department on your behalf.
In addition, we can also reach out to the State Department for guidance on interpretation."
I don't need specific information on my case- I'm awaiting my NOA2 now, so what should I ask them to ask of the State Dept? Any suggestions? Our embassy (Addis Ababa) is still closed so I can't even find out from them if they're planning on still processing k-1s in light of the new proclamation.
Thanks!
Libby
 

You do realize that people don't like handling the truth right?😅

Good News for your embassy in particular. I know of more US Citizens with fiances from the Philippines that have also contacted their representatives regarding the K1 which have contacted the Embassy. I guess at least with this embassy it has worked! The U.S. Embassy in the Philippines updated their immigrant visa operations yesterday (24th of June) to mention K1 visas. As for other embassies, we have to keep at it. I know this is not the U.S embassy that is dealing with my case but I am very much happy about this update.
 
Here is the link
 
https://ph.usembassy.gov/visa-update-immigrant-visa-operations/

Good News for your embassy in particular. I know of more US Citizens with fiances from the Philippines that have also contacted their representatives regarding the K1 which have contacted the Embassy. I guess at least with this embassy it has worked! The U.S. Embassy in the Philippines updated their immigrant visa operations yesterday (24th of June) to mention K1 visas. As for other embassies, we have to keep at it. I know this is not the U.S embassy that is dealing with my case but I am very much happy about this update.
 
Here is the link
 
https://ph.usembassy.gov/visa-update-immigrant-visa-operations/

All the US embassies have their own Ambassadors and I'm sure that they all have their own way of viewing things and doing things. For Example the US Ambassador in Mexico Has given instructions to give US Citizen's Spouses priority once they reopen but the embassy in another country might not do that. They all have to abide by US Law. if they don't it would be unconstitutional, however each consular officer also has the power to use their desecration on/for certain things. I have also known the US consulate in Mexico in particular interpret certain sections in INA as they wanted when it wasn't exactly clear and only after people kept challenging it and questioning it did they amended that certain section. The thing here is that regardless if the proclamation in question is a direct ban specifically targeting certain work, school and family based visas the only exempt people/visas that are mentioned in this proclamation does not mention the K1 nor where it stands and different embassies have said different things regarding it. Having a K1 and Once married an AOS can be requested as we all know which then would allow one to seek employment. The ban is out and in effect to keep jobs safe for current American Citizens and not have a flow of new fresh immigrants taking these jobs. This is one of the reasons the K1 could possibly fall on either side if you look at it that way. If Us embassies around the world agree and/or the proclamation were to include the K1 there would be no room for error to interpret it any different. As much as some people get mad and hate the fact some people question where the K1 stands within this proclamation it is not mentioned at all under the exempt which could be interpreted differently by different people, which we have already seen. If it was crystal clear I'm sure this misunderstanding wouldn't exist.
 
Good day to you all.

I contacted my representatives in Ohio, Sherrod Brown, Rob Portman and Steve Chabot for the Moscow embassy, hopefully something comes of it. It's maddening just sitting around waiting with no end in sight. My CEAC status tracker has been unable to find my case since the beginning of June as it was in transit for too long and the system didn't know what to do with that so I can't even minorly placate myself by seeing that "In Transit" label, even though I know it still hasn't left New Hampshire.
 
It just feels nice to do something and try to claw back a scrap of agency in this process.

I just want to say I'm super proud of everyone in the thread for the information gathering, sharing and updates. I have sent my letters and we are hoping for the best. Dark times across the globe for many different aspects of life but helping each other and ourselves gives a glimmer of hope for being reunited as soon as we can.  Cheers all!

Received a personal letter from my Congresswoman this morning. Not cut and paste because it had details pertaining to my case.
 
She is going to relay my concerns to the State Department Congressional Liaison. This is something you could request in future letters to your representatives! Keep up the good work

Hello all,
 
There is a lot of mixed answers. The EO does not mention that K1 is affected however nor does it mention it is exempt as the only exemptions to this are spouses and children. Some lawyers are saying the K visas are not affected and some are saying it is; Just like some embassies.
 
The most simple solution is to gather information from the government themselves, mind you, we might still get mixed answers. If all the US Citizens take some time to write an email to either their house representative or their state senate regarding where the K visas stand, we can get a more clear answer than the speculations going around and everyone's take on the EO.
 
We are all in the same boat and we are all in this together. Lets be positive and lets make some noise. Instead of having each consulate have their own interpretation, as some already are doing so. For Ex. the London embassy saying that the K1 is affected as stated in their appt cancellation email. If we make noise regarding the K visas within the Gov we might get a clear answer and they might include us in the EO.
 
Please no negative replies.
 
 

My fiance' s parents are directly contacting a US Rep in the House of Representatives in DC that they know personally. Hopefully this all gets straightened out before my appointment on the 7th July haha.
 
Started this process in May last year and originally planned to get married last weekend. Just can't wait till its all over and we are married.

Hey guys! Did my part to contribute. I contacted both senators and all of the Democratic House Representatives in my state (6). Hopefully I’ll hear back. I also sent messages under the White House and Department of State contact us sections. Don’t know if anyone will actually see them but it’s worth a try. Also the travel state department’s twitter regularly interacts with comments and tweets @ at them. So I would try tweeting them and letting them know just how many people are affected by K1 visas not being processed and I’m sure it will at least draw attention to our situation