dangime

My fiancee and I put in a K1 visa January 2020. Life marches on, still waiting at NVC. We've already submitted a ds160 and my address and phone number is out of date after all these months. My fiance wants to resubmit the ds160, I'm afraid that'll cause more issues. I want to use the inquiry form to update my information. Who is right in this case? Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the good news. Our filing date was late January so maybe we're close too! 

Honestly rooting for the current energy and supply chain disruptions to move forward into at least a short term economic collapse so governments around the world are forced to be more pragmatic about their covid / travel policies or have starving citizens overrun their respective capitals. Seems governments around the world think they are above the laws of nature and only a swift kick in the teeth will remind them they aren't. 

For those quoting my thread, I haven't been shown anything substantial that cases are getting sent back to USCIS to die if you "win" a WoM. If you have documented cases like that, please post them. 

I have heard negative things in regards to the state arguing that 1-2 years isn't an unreasonable delay...and just putting you back in line. I mean I guess there are some odd family visas from terrorist infested countries where the agencies involved drag their heels for years, but it doesn't make it "reasonable" when in most cases what we're talking about is obvious K1s from the Philippines. My case is still in limbo, no updates for over two months. 

Personally, I find the whole situation of abandoning your post as a government official over the cerveza sickness worthy of being mocked. If you disagree that's fine. I've worked full time with the public since the outbreak, so no reason the government can't either. These are unique days, and nature abhors a vacuum. 

30 minutes ago, Commish10 said:

Did you join the Ramirez vs Blinkin suit?

Nope. Case 1:21-cv-00252-RBW

DC

No new filings for two months but seeing the above I don't see how it goes my way.

Sorry to hear this. I'm probably not far behind you in having a similar order sent down on a K1 WoM. My lawyer suggested we withdraw it awhile back while offering nothing in return, having gone from "we never lose these cases" to "we're going to lose this case". 

The central point they need to attack is if the state department withdrawing everyone when the vast majority of the world kept on working, just wearing masks or taking other precautions is really what needs to be done. I've worked with the public everyday through this mess, and needless to say if I had work from 2 years ago I hadn't finished yet, I wouldn't still be employed. Getting the government to admit it screwed up and exaggerated COVID is probably not possible for obvious political reasons.  

3 minutes ago, Coco8 said:

Does anyone know if there are online statistics on the cases submitted? 

You can look up a few things on pacer, but it's just individual cases.

Just now, Loren Y said:

Does the voluntary withdrawal come with a refund?

I made him that offer. 

7 minutes ago, Deagle said:

Maybe what your lawyer is saying is the other source.

It confirms the part about potentially losing K1 mandamus cases, but not the lack of renewals in general part. I'll email the embassy and see if they say anything. 

This is shocking news if true that Biden's plan to clear the backlog is to just cancel all the K-1 visas and not renew them! Any other sources confirming or denying this would be appreciated. 

2 minutes ago, Boiler said:

The I-129F petition is valid for four months from the date of approval by USCIS. A consular officer can extend the validity of the petition if it expires before visa processing is completed. Seems can is the important bit here.

 

NVC is in New Hampshire so perhaps that is what they were talking about.

 

Filing a K1 WoM seems a bit of a waste of time from what I can gather, another reason to go the marriage route.

Oh yes, I was aware of this. Sounds like a great way to anger tens of thousands of people who did nothing wrong, but okay. 

If I had a time machine I'd take your advice on the marriage route. At the time it was requiring 10 business days, so 14 regular days, and didn't have that kind of time off. 

12 minutes ago, Boiler said:

I understand they are letting K1's expire rather than auto re validating them so that could be why.

 

I forget  where NVC is but normally you would file in that Federal court.

Haven't heard anything related to this? What do you mean? The 1 year without contact at the NVC? The 2 years since meeting? What would "expire"?

It was filed in the District of Columbia, so Washington DC. 

10 minutes ago, Lucky Cat said:

The venue does matter for some federal cases. I am no expert, but  I think the attorney is correct.  You just might trigger a decision you don't want if you force their hand by the WOM. 

I mean, I get how venue can mean something if you're literally in the wrong jurisdiction, but that's not the case. 

We've literally gone from "I've never lost a case like this." to "Voluntarily withdraw" with no explanation why, so naturally I'm suspicious. 

Hello all, 

Brief outline of my K-1 petition.

NOA1 - Jan 2020

NOA2 -  Sept 2020

Stuck at NVC Since

Filed Mandamus Lawsuit Jan 2021

So, yesterday in a classic bad news drop move, Friday evening around 5pm one of my lawyers assistants emailed me suggesting we withdraw our mandamus lawsuit, saying a couple of other similar cases have lost, and they want to withdraw and refile in another jurisdiction. 

My initial response was changing venues wouldn't change the case law, and it smelled like a delaying tactic, to just keep me in a holding pattern for another 6 months, which by then the backlog is being reduced. 

I responded with the need was to challenge the core issue, which is has the state departments actions in the face of COVID-19 been reasonable? If we compare them to other industries, who managed with social distancing, masks, and remote work, are the state department's actions reasonable? 

I don't see how changing venues is going to help me, other than to play pure politics with it and see if a red state will rule along these lines, but this is my own idea, and my lawyer won't explain it to me, at least not on the weekend. 

Any opinions either way? I told my lawyer he gets paid to fight, win or lose, but not to run. Am I the @sshole? 

4 hours ago, nykolos said:

Has your case been received by the consulate?  You should update your timeline.

I don't know. We haven't received anything official since the NOA2 letter. I managed to get the NVC case number by calling them directly with one of the phone numbers provided here. No welcome letter, email or other notice from the NVC. It just says "AT NVC" if I check online. 

9/29 was our NOA2. Put in DS 160, still no response from NVC.

We've had the DS-160 in since Nov 2, and I was only able to get the case numbers from the NVC by directly calling them at the numbers listed here. (Thanks!) In that time I haven't gotten any kind of recognition from the NVC. We've paid the fee for the interview. Others say the embassy is not processing visas, but there are flights going in and out of the Philippines. I'm just sort of dreading that I've forgotten something since I'm not getting any feedback about the situation from official sources. 

Preliminary Injunction

Basically it's not a complete case yet. The bar for preliminary injunctions is pretty high, since it's not a full case.  To have any success at that level is an embarrassment for the agencies involved, but probably does nothing official to move things around. They need to come up with a new excuse for their actions is about all this amounts to. Of course the case can continue, and the whole thing may point to things changing behind the scenes since us peasants are getting restless. 

From a historical perspective, our response to covid 19 has been rather puzzling. We've had past flu outbreaks in the 50s and 60s that when you adjust for the size of the population that were as bad or worse than coronavirus and there were no lockdowns with accompanying mass unemployment, Davos billionaires acting like Bond villains promising a reset for society,  or trillions of dollars in freshly printed money being handed to cronies and special interest groups across all the major nations. The fact that we're getting a seasonal spike seems to confirm this is something you can use off the shelf vitamin D and C supplements to combat, along with the number of hospitalizations that align with Vitamin D deficiency, yet we've got no official government suggestion to take such basic supplements. The average age of a fatality is around 80 years old, and actually exceeds the life expectancy most places., and when it violates this trend it's usually because there's something else going wrong with the person complicating things generally. 

Of course, I'm just a bitter 30 something with a history degree waiting for my fiancée's visa to get stamped that has undoubtedly been extended by the lockdowns. The facts stand and I think it puts to question the motivation those pulling the levers in government.  

Nothing from NVC yet. 

Good Day to All,

I am attempting to interpret this following chart and just want to confirm my suspicions. 

We have a NOA2 date of 9/28, so I suspect we'll get a notice shortly of arrival for the NVC. Does the graph attached mean we have another 3 month or so wait until the embassy visit stage is possible?

My fiancée is a school teacher in the Philippines and is asking when she should give notice for a leave of absence for the embassy visit, and when she should give notice to resign. Based on this, I suspect the answer is, not yet?