wazzujoel

3 minutes ago, Boiler said:

I have been trying to think of comparable cases for K1 etc and the only ones that came to mind were national service and that did not meet the requirements

 

I know this is not true but theoretically this program is for people needing to flee so you are putting a case together where everybody is sort of in the same situation

 

So what would I do, the safest option is to focus on leaving asap, I would think there are a few places that would allow this, should be easy to find out and pick one

I agree with you. I understand everyone in Cuba can make a humanitarian claim to flee the country and get away from this oppressive regime. And this law specifically targets anyone associated with medical facilities which isn't everyone, but I agree it is probably a large percentage. Maybe as high as 10% of the total population might be restricted by this law. I hope the regime comes to their senses and doesn't activate it, because doing so would kill all medical education in their country. You'll see an overnight mass drop out of medical school with no one ever considering this sort of education in Cuba again.   

Right now I am focused on getting her out asap. Finding direct flights between Havana and a country she can go to visa free is not easy. I have a few leads but nothing yet. so many flights want to go through places like Panama or Miami, which kills the option for her because they wont issue her transit visas. As an American it's super easy to get to almost any country I want to. I can buy tickets tonight and leave tomorrow and be almost anywhere I want to. When you are a Cuban national your options are severely limited and it's difficult to find these airlines that are an option. 

8 hours ago, Timona said:

Have her go to Mexico..

 

I just met a friend who tevales periodically between Cuba and Mexico. He's Cuban-Mexican. He's un Cuba as we speak. He left Mexico this past Friday. 

It's very difficult to get visa's in most country's. Trying to get her a visa for Mexico would likely take many bribes and months and months of processing. The best bet right now is Trinidad and Tobago, or Guyana as both don't require Visa's. One issue I am having with these two places is to get to Guyana I need to somehow secure a transit visa through panama which is looking like it could be quite difficult and maybe impossible. According to flight tracker I found an airline with direct flights 3 times a week between HAV and POS, however using their website I can't locate any fares and I can't get anyone on the phone from reservations because I think they dont work on the weekend. It sure is difficult trying to make travel arrangements for a Cuban who can only travel to a couple countries Visa free. Technically there are 31 countries she could travel too, but of those 31 realistically there is only 3-4 that she could take because all the rest would require impossible to get transit Visa's. 

7 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

but it has been this way since 2015 /Reuters did a story on it

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-usa-migrants-healthcare/cuba-reinstates-limits-on-doctors-leaving-the-country-idUSKBN0TK58B20151201

 

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba on Tuesday re-imposed limits on doctors leaving the country, saying its universal and free healthcare services have been “seriously affected” by the flight of vital medical specialists.

This is different from that law and it's new. It is not public knowledge yet, and it is not in place. Under the new law ALL people that work in the medical field will be banned from leaving Cuba. This includes all doctors, all dentist, all nurses, all technicians, all specialist, and anyone who works in and around medical facilities such as hospital janitors, food workers, people answering phones, security guards. If your paycheck comes because of work associated to a medical facility then you will be added to this list and banned from leaving the country. I am adding a link below so you can see rumors of this list. My fiancée's mom knows a lawyer with close ties in the regime, and this lawyer confirmed that this law is real, that it isn't active yet, and doesn't know when (or if) it will be enforced. His advise was for her to immediately leave the country before she no longer can. Additionally she got confirmation from someone of importance in the dental organization (I don't want to state their position as it would be easy to track down who they are), that yes this law is real, and that they didn't know when it was going to be enacted. He advised her to immediately flee the country before she no longer can leave. She "quit" being a dentist around January 3rd-5th. I don't remember the exact date. Because she quit a few days into January, she was still in the system for some work pay for January which is paid any day now in February (This money is basically nothing... Normally it's roughly 30 USD for the month, but she expects this Feb pay will be less than a dollar for her). Anyways, It's not until March that her name will be removed from the financial system and then MAYBE she wouldn't be included on this list. Quite honestly I think March will be too late. 

https://www.cibercuba.com/noticias/2023-01-30-u191143-e191143-s27061-gobierno-cubano-impedira-salida-especialistas-medicos?fbclid=IwAR0wcG189pYMxR8XoFKMPl0VuSvCpgqhG4yvu6KVsvf9x2EqLWjDX5tmUX4 

I feel I am in a desperate situation. I have three daughters (8,16,17) that I am going to leave and go live abroad with my fiancée if I can find SOME place where we can live.  I have exhausted just about every avenue I can. My application for parole submitted on January 6th (The first day) sits untouched. I have called USCIS multiple times and have been told my application is marked Urgent for a Tier 2 agent to contact me. They have not contacted me yet. I have sent urgent emails to my congressman urging his help. I am not complaining about unfair processing times, which I could be because they are certainly not processing in order... I am concerned about a real threat that could destroy what I have been working towards for over the last 2 years by a criminal regime that has brought nothing but hardships to the people in Cuba. 

Thanks for all the help. I just finished my letter to the congressman and sent it to him and his director of special projects. This director of special projects has been pretty responsive to me in the past so hopefully these two will help me get some movement with USCIS. Yes, I am going to go try and get some sleep now. Deep breaths. try not to let this stress me too much. Even if this law comes down and she is "prevented" from leaving the country, I am sure there will then be new "alternate" paths that will open up to get her out. I've already been waiting 30 days for my i-134a approval... Perhaps the approval is coming soon before the law hits and I can quickly get her out. 

Thanks again for all these tips. I will be jotting down everything said here and trying every route. It's best to work all angles at the same time, and maybe one of them ends up saving us a lot of heartache and trouble later on. Thanks again TboneTX.

2 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

That may be your opportunity.  Find out who the chief financial officer (and the chief data guy) are at her former place of employment, and con$ider what influence$ or inducement$ might prompt her early removal from Payroll.  (Dumb keyboard of mine with cat hair jamming a key here... will try to fix...)

Message received, and yes, it's something we will be working towards. You're right that finding the right contact who is in a po$ition to help could resolve that issue... but sometimes finding those people and making those contact$ are easier said then done. Thanks again... This is something we are perusing. 

1 minute ago, TBoneTX said:

Thoughts:

 

1.  Can she resign from her job and state that she's giving up dentistry?

 

2.  Have you involved your Congressman's office yet?  See if their "release waiver" (permission to handle your case) is online; if so, fill it out in advance.  Next, phone the Washington, DC office and ask for the immigration liaison.  Have the release waiver ready to fax or e-mail.

 

Let us know.

Awesome great tips! 

1. Yes she resigned from her job in January, hasn't worked since then, but technically her last pay was in Feb, so she believes she wont be removed from the payroll system until March 4th or something. Because of this if the law happens before March 4th then it will catch her, and there is no way that we know of to get her out of the system now. Maybe this law doesn't happen before then but it's causing me a lot of anxiety. The director of dentistry in Havana told her this law is coming and he wasn't sure if it will catch her or not. Additionally her mom knows a lawyer and the lawyer had some contacts and told them that the law is real, it's finished, but they haven't implemented it yet because they are still considering the ramifications of it. Long story short - It's real, it might prevent her from ever coming to the US, or maybe she will escape it. For me it's causing massive stress and anxiety. We've already been in this K1 process planning a life together for the last 2 years and waiting in K1 process for 16 months.... It's scary that all we have built might be torn away from us by this stupid regime. 

I have been in contact with my congressman's office, and I have already signed the release waiver. I have been so busy trying to get USCIS to help though I haven't asked him for help. I will send a email tonight. Thank you! 

5 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

For planning, see here:

https://visaguide.world/visa-free-countries/cuban-passport/

WOw! another awesome link! thank you a lot! 

1 minute ago, TBoneTX said:

If you're able to evacuate her in a hurry, have her do everything she can to bring along her important "life" documents -- birth certificate, divorce certificates if applicable, immunization records, university transcripts, et al. -- especially any that would be difficult/expensive/impossible to obtain from afar.  Multiple copies would be optimal.

Thank you for the tips. I am doing the best I can right now to try and find airfare that might work... It's harder than it seems. I will call a travel agent in the morning. If we forget things, I can always return to retrieve it. It's only she that wont be able to return to cuba for a long time. Maybe not even ever with the cuban law coming. 

9 minutes ago, Lemonslice said:

To put this in perspective, most immigrants in active war zones do not get expedited treatment of their application.  

I sincerely hope your fiancée will be able to leave Cuba.  Otherwise, have you looked in how feasible it is for you to relocate there? 

I am not allowed to immigrate to cuba, nor would I ever consider it. The regime has destroyed that country. I never had any problem waiting my fair turn in line knowing that my fiancée would eventually be able to be reunited with me, however I am in the situation where when USCIS finally decides approved on my very obvious application, the Cuban government will no longer allow her to leave. She will have papers from the USA saying she can leave, then their Customs officers will not allow her to leave because the government has barred it. 

Not everyone in Cuba will be subject to this law. It only targets people working in the medical field. If we had expediated immigration for people living in a warzone, and there was a known list of people that are actively being searched for to be murdered, those people on that list should have some priority. Everyone in cuba who has a sponsor will have their chance to leave... Unless you are in the medical field and then the criminal cuban regime will prevent that. Knowing what I know... Any Cuban working in the medical field should instantly be moved to the front for immediate (like hours) sort of processing. 

6 minutes ago, Timona said:

Unfortunately, I don't see your case getting immediate attention. 

😞 I am looking for direct flights out of the country to one of the few places she can go. If I can get her out, then the law to keep her there can't affect her. Never thought I would be considering leaving my kids to live abroad with my fiancée, but this is the sort of situations uscis is forcing on people. tearing families apart because what do they care. 

I submitted an i-134a case on January 6th. My background - No criminal record, hold a Masters degree in Engineering, working for prestigious fortune 500 company, no debt, own my own home. My application should take 5 minutes for a USCIS approval.

My beneficiary - Cuban dentist, fluent in English, no criminal record, and she is my fiancée.  We applied for K1 on Oct 18th 2021, and have yet to receive NOA2. K1 no longer matters. 

There are been several news outlets that are reporting that Cuba has law that is in the process of being passed. This law will prevent all medical personal from leaving the country. This includes Dentist, Doctors, Nurses, technicians, and anyone working at the hospitals or medical places. I have called USCIS for the last 3 days trying to get some sort of urgency. Every agent I have spoken too has been very sympathetic and has done everything within their power to get some help. I was placed in a queue to speak to a Tier 2 agent and my spot in line was marked URGENT. It's now been 72 hours and I have not received a call. My application(s) still sit there with no movement. 

I don't know what to do. I am fearful that my fiancée is going to be locked in this country. Please! does anyone know any ways of getting immediate action from USCIS. This is super time sensitive and this could be happening any day now. Please help. I am desperate. 

5 minutes ago, Ngillet said:

It’s so frustrating. So many approvals before and after our app date. At least with k1 we can get an idea of where they are on processing. This parole process is totally dark. 

I agree there is more visibility on K1, however that's probably even more frustrating because I see people getting approved who applied 14 months ago, where my case has been sitting for 15+ months and feels like they will never touch it. My NOA1 date was Oct 18 2021, and it's difficult watching all these November 2021 filers getting approved. 

18 minutes ago, GoodHelper said:

Don’t hate anyone pal, I do believe it’s an algorithm approving cases. If it hasn’t been approved, maybe something if off and needs manual processing…which case requires a human being to actually go look while there are millions other pending cases…just my thought process

I just meant that as a figure of speech. I am right there with you on not really hating anyone in particular.... But this immigration process is beyond frustrating. 

1 minute ago, GoodHelper said:

Funny thing is I applied the 10th for 3 people (mother and 2 kids)….the next day, 2 people got confirmation notice but not one of the kids….I’m not sure when she’ll get confirmation notice because she’s a minor

Ugh. I hate USCIS. What is so complicated about them processing cases in a first come first served process? My case is SUPER simple. It should take someone at USCIS about 5 minutes tops to look at my straight forward application and give it the thumbs up. I wonder if I should file multiple applications for my beneficiary and maybe one of them will get processed.  

Thank you! I had a good vision of what I was going for so purposely shot the video at certain times to get the correct lighting. I got a little lucky on the transitions in that a lot of the clips lined up fairly well, although I did watch a few videos on how to shoot videos that will have transition techniques. I am certainly not a professional, so appreciate the compliment 😁

If you're interested, here's a short video I made last October when I visited my fiancée for the weekend. First time making something like this, and I am pretty happy with how it turned out. All original video shot on my iphone. 

Nice photo! Yes, I do enjoy the charm of Cuba, but I am just a little tired of traveling so much, and the options for vacationing elsewhere is pretty limited. I took my fiancée to Trinidad and Tobago last June because it's Visa free option available for Cubans. It was her first time leaving the country... Wish there were other easy options. But hopefully this process ends soon. 

PS - I am tired of visiting Cuba. I've been there 12+ times in the last year and a half, and the country is a mess. It's exhausting trying to get there and get around, as well as quite expensive. I've spent probably a good 20k USD just on travel and visa related expenses.... Would be nice to be reunited with my partner and travel with her to more interesting places instead. 

23 hours ago, Chris&Ale said:

Anyone see any progress on their I-134a case(s) today? I applied for my Cuban brother-in-law early morning of the 7th but nothing yet. Meanwhile, a friend of his who submitted on Sunday, the 8th has been approved and is already here in the US. How the heck is USCIS prioritizing these applications? Time to call and complain to my congressman.

I applied for 134a on the 6th at around 4:30 PM.

What I am about to say might not be true... But What I understood is that they are generally going in order. However if a person submits one application on say the 6th at 10am, and then submits a second application on the 8th, and then a third application on the 9th.... Then when the first one gets its turn then it pulls in all the subsequent applications since they are all tied to the same person. This is a way of cutting down their workload. If this isn't true then I hate uscis. I probably hate them even if it is true. My cases are super straight forward and if someone there gave me like 5 minutes of their time my fiancée would have been approved months and months ago. Yet here I am just waiting to be reunited with my family, while these people at the USCIS are a disorganized mess. Super frustrating. 

From another thread though, I read that this sponsorship is complete unenforceable by the US government. So if you Sponsor someone, they arrive and then attempt to get say medical insurance from the marketplace (which they do qualify for), the premiums they would pay would be based on how much money they intend to make in the next year. If this amount is below some minimum threshold then this insurance would be heavily subsidized and possibly even free. Additionally I would assume they could qualify for programs like SNAP (food stamps) and other programs. In general - Although you are agreeing to financially support this beneficiary for a period of two years, the reality of the situation is that the government has no means to make sure the sponsor does make good on that financial sponsorship.  

NOTE - I have only filed parole for my future wife. When she comes to the US on either Parole or on K1, I intend to support her financially and she wont be on any government assistance programs just like I am not on any government assistance programs.  What I wrote in the first paragraph is not applicable in my situation and I only wrote it as to what I understand of the program. If I am incorrect, I would very much appreciate someone correcting my information. 

tagging @Boiler as I think they will have an opinion here or information here.

18 minutes ago, K-9 Visa said:

Are you talking about question 23? I didn't fill that out until I reviewed my application and saw that it wasn't filled in.

No I am talking about question 18 of part 3 which I assumed is what you were taking about also? no? 

9 minutes ago, K-9 Visa said:

That took four days. My suggestions:

 

1. I talked to an appraiser, he said to upload your county tax assessment instead of paying $650 and waiting two weeks for a home appraisal. He said that your tax assessment is a legal document providing a value for your home. In addition, upload the county assessor's page showing a picture of your house with your name listed as owner, in addition to the deed. My deed is hard to read, a bad photocopy of a lot of legal stuff. The county assessor's page looks nice.

2. In addition to your tax return (I uploaded ten forms!) go to the Social Security website. You'll see a nice document with a table showing your lifetime earnings by year. This gives a better picture of your income than a single year's tax return, especially for a business owner in a pandemic year.

3. The "Bank official's statement" will waste an hour of your branch manager's time if the bank doesn't have this as a pre-programmed letter. If you have multiple accounts and transfers funds between accounts the letter signed by the bank official will mean nothing. (Confusing account transfers and income is how Enron got in trouble.)

4. Question 18 stumped me, and it's not explained in the instructions. It asks what percent of your income will you spend on the beneficiary. I'll pay my mortgage and she'll live in my house. I'll put her on my health insurance and pay the bill each month. We'll go to the supermarket and I'll pay at the checkout. I put down 100% of my income will go to support my beautiful fiancee.

 

I feel like you are over analyzing things a little, but I don't know your financial situation or the background of your case. I wish you luck on your i-134a application. 

My situation was fairly straight forward. My salary alone is sufficient to show the ability to support. So I just grabbed my employment letter, last years tax transcript, last two paycheck stubs, bank letter (my credit union made that letter for me in like 5 minutes), passport photo, and for added measure I uploaded one of my brokerage accounts which I am sure wasn't necessary. I don't like complicating applications. Short, simple, to the point and hopefully they don't give me an RFE. If they do it's fine. 

I believe Question 18 is really just asking what is your total income and the total number of dependents you have. The interesting thing is the online application did not fill in any names on my application which I thought was wrong, because it should have at least put me there I thought. I am hoping USCIS just looks at the total income and number of dependents and understands that income number is my income (proved by my salary or tax transcripts) and then makes sure I qualify. If I did that wrong, that sucks. The application wasn't clear. 

4 minutes ago, K-9 Visa said:

When did you file for your K-1 visa?

Around Oct 10th 2021, and received NOA1 Oct 18th 2021. Have not received NOA2 yet. i-134a parole will probably be faster for us. We are continuing down both paths and will go the route of whatever one is approved first. 

12 minutes ago, Romelus21 said:

Wow you have been waiting for NOA 2 since Oct 18 2021?? Or did you mean Oct 18 2022? I have been waiting for my NOA2 since Oct 18 2022. I hope it doesn't take another year if that is the case. My fiance is Haitian but has Ecuadorian residency card so we cannot file for I134A.

My NOA1 date is Oct 18 2021, tomorrow we have been waiting 15 months. We still haven't received NOA2. I have basically given up on i-129f, and now have more faith in i-134a. 

USCIS is so disorganized and is doing a horrible job. I wish I could have a sit down with Biden and convince him to fire all management and allow me to fix their problems. Their management is incompetent and I feel confident that I could completely change their whole process and cut processing time down to 3-6 months or maybe even much lower.  

2 hours ago, Chris&Ale said:

Hi, first of all, congrats on getting the 134a in for your fiance so quickly! It took my spouse and I almost a year for the fiance visa to get through the system and then we both had to fly down to Guyana for the 10 minute interview (at a cost of around $4,000 in travel expenses).

 

May I ask you, how can one find that Whatsapp group that discusses the I-134a? We have a pending app for my brother-in-law in Cuba. Also, may I ask, for the one section where it asks for dates when you want your beneficiary to be here, did you put an end date or just click the No End Date checkbox? There seems to be confusion amongst a lot of folks on how to mark the end date vs. the checkbox. Thanks, man and good luck to you and your fiance! 

We have been waiting for NOA2 on a i-129f application since Oct 18 2021, and I have almost lost all hope of that happening now. The whatsapp group for i-134a for cubans (and it's only in Spanish) is invite only; DM me and I can give you my fiancée's whatsapp information and she can invite you to the group. For the dates I listed "March 1st" to "no end date" checckbox. I have heard people saying that you should put a 2 year range, however that seems silly because USCIS knows if a Cuban comes on this legal parole they wont need to leave due to the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966 that allows for permanent residency after 1 year. I figure if they ask why she is planning on staying with no end date she will just tell the truth that she has a fiancé and we intend to marry while she is here. 

Thank you, and good luck on your parole application for your brother in law. Congrats on successfully making it through i-129f. 

I am not an expert on self-employment immigration cases, however with this process you still need to submit your tax transcripts. Even if you are self-employed you are still filing taxes on the money you earn from being self-employed. Is this income you generate below the poverty line for sponsoring? Personally, I subscribe to the KISS philosophy of life (Keep It Simple Stupid), and try not to make my applications unnecessarily complicated if they don't need to be. 

On 1/14/2023 at 2:08 PM, Lady Rain said:

I filed on the 8th but got my case # on 01/09/. The group is i134a Parole 

Thanks!