koblitzcam

I explained in my original post that the uscis customer service representative said we needed a notarized certified translation. I don't think the person who wants to travel can do that. Wouldn't really make sense because it's in people's own best interest to lie to get approval to leave right? Kind of like a notary can not notarize their own papers.

My wife's father had a heart attack on Saturday. We are waiting for adjustment of status and she hasn't been approved to travel yet. I called uscis today (Tuesday) since it was a 3 day weekend (of course it happened on the first day of 3) to schedule an emergency advanced parole meeting. They haven't called back, but I think the customer service rep said we needed a translated notarized document proving the medical urgency.

I need to know what exactly they will want to see. She's got over 10 pages of medical documentation, but at $50 a page that will get quite expensive. We want to make sure we have the necessary evidence too.

Also does it need to be notarized? Or can we pay an online service and get a certified copy emailed to me? I'm worried by the time we can get the paperwork it could be too late for her to see her father.

On 11/3/2021 at 1:04 AM, MCOBAQ said:

Well, we tried to schedule the interview tonight but aside from a couple of time slots open in the next week or two (a little too soon for us), there was not a single slot available after Nov 16th - all the way through 2022. Not sure what’s going on, but my fiancé is going to call the embassy tomorrow. 

Still no reply to my email asking for the instructions either. 
We’ve submitted our DS-160 at least. 
 

Yeah we emailed for the packet AFTER we scheduled the interview. Good luck sorry to hear that people are having trouble scheduling their interviews.

1 hour ago, Nat_Bogota said:

Ah okay so the K1 is trickier than spousal since much of the k1s are still being done by envelope where the IRs (spousal and family) was fully digital. There was no paperwork from the doctor, they gave us nothing to enter the us with besides the visa in passport, etc. 

 

 

To clarify *they sent it via email*

1 minute ago, amarilloslick said:

Thanks, what email did you use to write the Embassy requesting the instruction packet? That is what we will do.

It's the email on the official website of the Colombian embassy. My fiance is actually the one who sent it, so I don't have it saved. I think she sent it in Spanish and English because she wasn't sure what language to use.

1 minute ago, koblitzcam said:

I just want to make this clear. We DID NOT WAIT for the packet of instructions. We scheduled the interview as soon as ceac said ready, then emailed the embassy asking for the packet of instructions. They quickly responded to the email with the packet of instructions.

 

I know there is a lot of controversy over this, just wanted to speak first hand how we did ours. We are applying for a k1 fiance visa for Colombia and our interview is this Friday!

To clarify we scheduled the interview for 1 month after we got the ready status, more because I was traveling to visit her then anyway, but also to give enough time just in case.

On 10/30/2021 at 6:44 PM, amarilloslick said:

About how long does it take BGT to send instructions after a case is sent to them from the NVC? Thanks

I just want to make this clear. We DID NOT WAIT for the packet of instructions. We scheduled the interview as soon as ceac said ready, then emailed the embassy asking for the packet of instructions. They quickly responded to the email with the packet of instructions.

I know there is a lot of controversy over this, just wanted to speak first hand how we did ours. We are applying for a k1 fiance visa for Colombia and our interview is this Friday!

Within a few days of our case status showing ready we scheduled our interview, then emailed them asking for the packet of instructions and the embassy sent it. You DO NOT NEED to wait for another update. The generic message under your case status that says to wait is just that, a generic message. It applies to most embassies around the world, but not Colombia.

3 hours ago, Luis Gutierrez said:

I'm on the same boat. You will have to wait for the US Embassy to respond with the packet of instructions. Please see note below:

 

K Visa Applicants: Please be advised that you must wait for the Packet of Instructions from the Embassy prior to scheduling your appointment. Although your case could appear Ready when you are checking the status in this platform, if you are applying for a K1 (fiancée visa) you need to wait for instructions from the Embassy to continue with the process. As soon as we receive the file from NVC, the Immigrant Visas Unit will send you notification that your case is ready for an interview and include instructions on the next steps. If you schedule an interview without authorization from the Embassy, your appointment will be canceled as we will not be ready to receive you.

For more information, please visit TRAVEL.STATE.GOV.

The problem though is this is the generic message, and it seems other people are certain that Bogota is handling this differently. The official Instagram from Bogota embassy said if your case status is ready that you can schedule the interview.

1 hour ago, Seemoreglass83 said:

If your status says ready, you can 100% schedule your interview. The embassy itself announced this a few times. The nvc doesnt know what the individual embassies are doing. There have been instances where Nvc tells people that Bogota isn't processing visas which is just flat out untrue. I'm pretty sure they send the instructions to the beneficiary but from peoples experiences, a lot of times the instructions dont arrive until a few days before your interview so if you're waiting for your instructions before you schedule your interview, you'll be waiting a long time. So just to reiterate, if your status says ready, fill out the ds160 and schedule your interview. Once you have your interview date, schedule your medical

Ok, but when we looked at the link to schedule the interview it asked us if we received the packet of instructions. Are we meant to lie and say we received it then?

31 minutes ago, Nat_Bogota said:

We never received a packet. After email we scheduled online the fingerprints and pickup site. Then called the doctors and organized. You have to do it yourself it seems

I meant to quote you on my last message. I hope you see this.

The email with the letter that reads:

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 Bogota, Colombia. 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.

Is the email that you're talking about?

Still unsure if we can schedule our interview after ceac status is "ready." The embassy and other people on social media seem to say you can schedule it once your case is ready.

Ceac and travel.state.gov seem to say very clearly you need to wait for the packet of instructions.

Does anyone know? Also can anyone share how long from "ready" status and the email you get saying they're sending your application to then actually receiving the instructions? They send it via email I believe, but does it go to petitioner or beneficiary?

Unfortunately we still aren't sure. Even the government gives unclear instructions. They posted on their Instagram that if you check ceac and it says ready that you can schedule it. But when you check the status in the information underneath it's very clearly saying you have to wait for the packet of instructions.

We just got an email from the NVC that they were sending our application to the Colombian embassy. We checked the ceac status and it said in transit. Yesterday it changed to ready. What can we do now? Can we schedule the interview without our packet of instructions? We just want to make this go as smooth and quickly as possible.

THANK YOU!

Did she actually have a choice? Most people don't have access to the single dose vaccines

I don't believe I said anything about travel restrictions. If anything I meant restrictions to see the doctor. The government has made a new rule which it seems like the doctors are misinterpreting and they will not schedule an appointment unless you are fully vaccinated for covid starting in October.

Another update for my personal situation:

Her sister is a doctor and did a bit of networking to allow us to find a Johnson and Johnson vaccine that she has an appointment for this Saturday. We got very lucky to have this "in".

I feel bad we are taking away a vaccine from a village, but at the same time I feel like our situation is a little more time sensitive. Also I'd like to put a big portion of the blame on the government and doctors that are refusing to see people without the vaccine.

It would just be to reassess the situation and do more research at what our best option is as far as which vaccine is the most readily available I guess. I'm just freaking out because I have no idea what will get her here the fastest.

Me and my fiancé are pretty worried right now. She is from Colombia and the doctors won't see you for your pre interview medical appointment unless you're fully vaccinated. We are worried about the availability of vaccines in Colombia. She hasn't received her first dose of any vaccine, but we're worried if she gets the first one that the second dose will not be available when it comes time to get it, of whatever vaccine might be available now.

She has an appointment tomorrow and I've suggested to her unless the doctor can reassure her that there is plenty of supply for a second dose to just cancel it. I'm worried that we could be locking ourselves into, for example, Pfizer. Then possibly there will be plenty of Moderna vaccines in the future and no Pfizer availability in Colombia.

They weren't able to tell her over the phone which vaccine they have right now to give her tomorrow. If we have the choice we would prefer a single shot one so this isn't a concern, but does anyone know what the vaccine availability is in Colombia? Also considering flying her somewhere for the second dose when she can get it, whether that is in Colombia or somewhere else in South America.

There's just a lot going through my head right now and I'd appreciate any insight.

Are they literally ignoring this from the CDC website? I just can't believe how badly the embassy and doctors are failing at every step of the way. I wish for all of us there was something to do about this.

Please if anyone knows if in some cities the Johnson and Johnson, or any other forms that have a single shot, or plenty of availability so the second dose won't be a problem I'm willing to fly my fiancé somewhere so she won't have any problem getting fully vaccinated.

• Not routinely available
  If no COVID-19 vaccine is routinely available in the state where the Civil Surgeon practices, the “Not routinely available” reason should be documented.  If vaccine is available to the applicant but due to limited supply, it would cause significant delay for the applicant to receive their vaccination, then this situation would also be considered “Not routinely available.”

22 minutes ago, waiting1234 said:

Let me know if you are able to find it. We have had no luck finding anything except AstraZeneca which we refuse to take.

Where have you been looking for the vaccine? Right now we are looking around Cartagena and Mangenue. We just scheduled the appointment for tomorrow and they weren't able to tell us over the phone which vaccine she can get. She actually has to go into the appointment to find out what they're giving her tomorrow.

So if I understand correctly, it would be a mistake to take a dose that we don't know will be available when she will be eligible to take it? I'm kind of thinking if we can't be reassured the second dose will be available of the same type, that it could actually be putting us at risk of waiting for supply.

This is just crazy that literally every step of the way there are more problems.

5 hours ago, Seemoreglass83 said:

Facebook and whatsapp groups. It looks like mostly cases from December through February with just a few March so I would think you guys should expect to have your case sent in october

That's what I had gathered based on your first post, but I was just wondering why we hadn't seen any reflection on that when we look up the timeline search on VJ. The most recent NOA2 is from October 2020 that has an interview date, which is a 5 month difference from what you're saying. I am assuming that there was a huge surge of cases that were sent to the embassy, and they haven't scheduled their interview and updated their timeline, if the information you saw was correct.

Thank you for the update though because we would have thought we were 4-5 months out from our case even getting sent to the embassy.

Is there anything we need to make sure is done right now? We will be getting her second round of vaccines soon, but anything else that we can be proactive about?

6 hours ago, Seemoreglass83 said:

Congrats! Yup, looks like they sent a bunch of cases today up to noa2s of march. So check your cases folks looks like they are finally working through the backlog 

Where did you get this information? Me and my fiance's Noa2 was March so this is very good news for us, but I'm thinking we may have missed it for this month because our case is the same status on CEAC. I also don't see anyone's information on the timeline search on VJ that had a Noa2 from March 2021.

On 5/19/2021 at 6:08 PM, Mike and Nicole said:

Again what we are talking about are immigrant visas. If you have not seen this in your groups, and according to your profile you are k1 then tht is why you havnt seen it. K1 visas are not considered immigrant visas. They are non immigrant

"Among immigrant visa applications, we will prioritize emergency cases and then Immediate Relative family members of U.S. citizens (IR-1, IR-2, CR-1, CR-2, IR-5) including intercountry adoptions (IH-3, IR-3), fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens (K-1, K-2), and certain Special Immigrant Visa applications according to the Department of State’s priority order."

Directly from the official website for the embassy in Bogota. I think they technically classify K1 as a non-immigrant, but treat it very similar to immigrant visas since it almost certainly leads to immigration of the beneficiary. Some of their own language indicates they treat them as immigrant visas too.

I wish they could give us rough estimates how long the queue is because all of us have been waiting so long. Good luck everyone.

6 hours ago, Bri&Alejandro said:

Hello! 
 

My fiancé and I have our interview next week in Bogota. The embassy provided us a document with the medical exam instructions a couple of weeks ago. 
 

The embassy requires that the medical exam and lab (X-ray and blood work) be done at specific locations in Bogota. My fiancé had the labs and medical exam within 24 hours of each other this week. The medical exam is valid for 6 months but can be done about a week before the interview. 
 

The embassy will schedule the biometrics appointment and that is also done in a specific office in Bogota. Ours was scheduled for the day prior to our interview but I have seen others scheduled a few days prior, so maybe it just depends on availability. 
 

Your fiancé should be able to do it all in one trip  good luck!

Thanks, this was just the details specifically about Bogota I was hoping for. This is looking like 1 or 2 flights instead of what I was concerned about!