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jgauthi242

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Everything posted by jgauthi242

  1. jgauthi242
    Happy for you! I emailed the person at the ACLU who wrote the report on CARRP, but I've yet to hear back. Traveling for work the next several weeks, so won't have much time, but will be working on this as time permits.
  2. jgauthi242
    But, the COVID excuse makes no sense for AP. By definition, there can be no AP without an interview, and because there were extremely limited numbers of interviews during COVID, there can be no backlog of AP due to COVID. How can it be the case that they're not prioritizing other AP over these ones from Montreal? Some people here have been waiting for over a year now. Clearly, they are prioritizing other visas over these, i.e., SQ, DV, E, and F.
  3. jgauthi242
    We hired Jesse Bless at Bless Litigation (https://blesslitigation.com/). It cost just under $7k (including court fees). You can check his credentials here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesse-bless-0a5a0044/ Lawsuit was filed 21 September. Passport was requested today (5 October). Wife joined me on a work trip in Europe and is flying back early to hand deliver the passport to the consulate if they allow it; otherwise, we'll ship it. I strongly agree with Siarg that the request for passport submission is the last step before approval. Visa issuance statistics for Montreal also show large numbers of DVs approved in August. August 2022 45 DV 117 CR1+IR1 July 2022 37 DV 106 CR1+IR1 ... January 2022 1 DV 250 CR1+IR1 Looks like they've also been issuing a lot of E and F visas lately (more than DV). Believe E is work-related and F is student-related. Given that school year just started, I would imagine that F will go down a lot this month and they'll get to your case without having to sue them. (the ONLY reason I say that is because they already requested your passport back) In terms of what you should do, it's always just an opinion, but I would say: (1) have the US citizen email them on your behalf, (2) tell them you sent the passport back on X using their preferred courier, it was delivered on Y (include screenshot), and tell them to confirm that they've received your passport (even better if you can get signature confirmation from courier), (3) remind them that your police certificate is expiring on Z (i.e., a polite way to tell them to do their *!@#*$# job), and (4) ask them to confirm that they don't need anything else from you. Assume the worst, which is that they won't issue the visa by the time the police certificate expires and request another one. That way, when they fail to do their job for the Nth time, you already have the new document ready. And, if you don't end up needing it, even better.
  4. jgauthi242
    Consulate requested passport two weeks after lawsuit filed! "AP is now complete". Note that my wife had three visas in past seven years, which they had done AP on every time, usually taking around 6 weeks (very close to the 45 days mentioned by others who filed lawsuits). With regards to DV priority, even though it's third tier, you're right that it's prioritized over immediate relative when it gets close to September 30. We know there's an immediate relative backlog, yet monthly visa issuance statistics for last several months show thousands of DVs being issued. For those on the fence about whether to file lawsuits, now that September 30 is passed, you may consider waiting a little longer (e.g., end of October) to see if it's necessary. But, I still truly believe the only reason they looked at our case and approved it is because we sued them 10 days ago.
  5. jgauthi242
    They let 79,000 people in from Afghanistan without proper vetting. They then went back and started vetting everybody. They found several individuals with derogatory information: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2022-09/OIG-22-64-Sep22-Redacted.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjWtcnDvcf6AhWXi_0HHeiPD4gQFnoECBYQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1xtpRMrSPVRCPRPZ9OK_5a They then started processing large numbers of SQ visas, all of which require AP. SQ visas are the highest priority tier (i.e., higher than immediate relative). https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/visas-news-archive/immigrant-visa-prioritization.html There is a large and growing backlog of cases in AP. You can determine this by looking at these reports: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/special-immg-visa-afghans-employed-us-gov.html#quarterly Difference the numbers going into AP and coming out of it (i.e., "undergoes AP" and "visa issuance). Since January 2021, 4800 people have made it to AP stage, but only 2300 visas have been issued. The reason the only people in AP who get approved are the ones that filed WOM is because they're only processing SQ in AP because there is a large and growing backlog of SQ in AP and they are a higher priority than IR according to State's prioritization system. When you sue them, you're effectively forcing them to work on your case.
  6. jgauthi242
    That's a great idea. Which of you Canadians wants to identify individual reporters then email them on their work email addresses directly or via LinkedIn? That's the best way to get a response. Emailing the general "tip" line has never worked for me. IMO, easiest way to find reporters' names is to find articles published by those outlets and see who the author was. Would probably also be good for somebody to get in touch with the "foreign minister" too.
  7. jgauthi242
    I agree! I think we'll have more luck focusing on those aspects by reaching out to less business-centric outlets. Andrew is the only reporter who responded to my inquiries for help, but now that we have a recent article from a respected outlet to point to and many people from this thread who are willing to tell their stories, we can get other reporters to pay attention to us. Stay tuned!
  8. jgauthi242
    https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/immigrants-increasingly-sucked-into-bureaucratic-black-hole First one, let's get more!
  9. jgauthi242
    Damn, that's a wild story. And CONGRATULATIONS! What you said about DVs is really interesting and also backs up my research. My personal opinion is that we won't see any movement until September 30 on any of these cases because they're trying to finish DV (also from years prior). And, it's a big IF that any movement will occur after September 30 passes because of the next problem, which is the huge backlog of people in the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) category, which are people from Afghanistan and Iraq that assisted the US government. Basically, according to Department of State priority tiers, SIV is highest priority, followed by Immediate Relative (IR). But, they have been prioritizing DV over IR recently (started in roughly June of this year) in order to meet the mentioned September 30 deadline. If we look at the last person who went through DS-5535 that got approved in the spreadsheet, it looks like it was December-ish last year, which was coincidentally a few months after we left Afghanistan. They may have realized by then they had no way to get through the SIV backlog (it's still growing from what I can tell in the publicly available SIV reports) and then basically told the people who work on these cases at the different government agencies (FBI is the main one) not to process any AP case unless if it was for an SIV visa. Unless you sue their sorry asses. To explain further, you can end up in AP, but get out quickly. I think the reason some people get stuck in AP forever is because when the FBI runs the "name check", if your name is similar to somebody in their database, they basically throw your application in a stack that they won't look at for a very long time. I found one person at Frankfurt consulate who went into AP on July 15 and got out at the end of August. They were also asked for travel history (DS-5535). But, they originated from India and those names tend to be more unique than other countries (i.e., the name check didn't return any names that were similar).
  10. jgauthi242
    More often than not, the consulate will not respond stating they received your documents. In our experience, the consulate never responds to my wife (who the visa is for). The only time they respond is when I email them. Therefore, I would recommend that you wait two weeks, then have the US citizen reach out and ask them to confirm that they have everything they need, and to confirm that they do not need anything else. If you received any automatic responses, make sure you read the email in its entirety to check for verbiage relating to them deleting your email. Some consulates use a strange Google Form thing you need to fill out prior to sending them an email (otherwise they just delete your email and you get an automated response).
  11. jgauthi242
    At the end of August, I'd reached out to a reporter at Bloomberg who reports on immigration. He'd written me back that he'd like to write a story once he cleared a few things off his plate. He wrote me this morning asking for people who'd like to be interviewed (names off the record). If anybody here would like to tell him their stories, please let me know and I can put you in touch. My wife's visa has been stuck in AP (interview at Frankfurt) since May 2022 and we filed mandamus/APA this past Wednesday. Will keep everybody updated on how that goes! Please PM me your email address, how long you've been waiting, etc., and I'll put you in touch.
  12. jgauthi242
    Thank you for your detailed response! Can you provide successful examples of proving it's in the public interest? The FOIA I filed was basically an inquiry with regards to AP processing times, per category, per post, by month, etc.
  13. jgauthi242
    Do you say they're expensive because you've filed one? My understanding was they told you what the fee would be at the end of the process. I think many of them are processed with no fee. You are correct that some information would be redacted, but it would be very interesting nonetheless to see all the job titles, foreign state of chargeability, etc. This information could be used as the basis of a class-action lawsuit. At the very least, getting such information and showing that they're basically wasting their time looking at people who don't need to be looked at would be useful. Take my wife's case. She's had AP done on her three times in less than seven years and nothing material has changed. Same company, same projects. Hasn't traveled to any of those "bad countries" since after the first time it was done. I don't deny that AP serves a reason, but the logical thing to do when you have limited resources is focus them towards those attempting to do harm, not 6 month old babies and people in the STEM field. The simple fact that the vast majority of the people they process they let through proves that they're looking at the wrong people.
  14. jgauthi242
    It doesn't matter if you print the resume off. If you work in a field on the Technology Alert List (TAL), they will send you to AP (as well as for other reasons, and sometimes for no reason at all). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_Alert_List If you happen to work in one of those fields (or something that could be construed as being in one of those fields), I highly suggest you bring a layman's explanation of what it is you do. It's free, but don't expect a response any time soon (if ever). It's "national security".
  15. jgauthi242
    I talked to an attorney that said if you file an FOIA request, you can eventually figure out why they gave you DS-5535 and get the information they compiled. I think once everybody's visa is cleared, they should file an FOIA request, so that we can compile this information. The attorney did say in some cases it is entirely random.
  16. jgauthi242
    This is the message my Congresswoman sent me today after I sent her a detailed 1,550 word email asking for help: If it wasn't so bad/sad, it'd be funny...
  17. jgauthi242
    https://www.state.gov/telephone-directory/ Check `Key Officers` and `Organizational Directory`. According to Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM), the processing is overseen by Bureau of Consular Affairs. Within Bureau of Consular Affairs, it's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Visa Services (CA/VO) and Office of Screening, Analysis, and Coordination (CA/VO/SAC). https://fam.state.gov/search/viewer?format=html&query=security+advisory+opinion&links=SECUR,ADVISORI,OPINION&url=/FAM/01FAM/01FAM0250.html#M254_2 Contacting them is of no use. They will feign ignorance, interrogate you about where you found their number, and be extremely unfriendly. They have no interest in helping you or doing their job effectively.
  18. jgauthi242
    I'm in touch with an immigration reporter at Bloomberg. They won't be able to get started on writing a story for a while though. Through the extensive amount of research I'm done, my hypothesis is that the reason it's taking much longer than usual are because of the very large number of Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) being issued under categories SQ-1, SQ-2, and SQ-3, which are Afghan civilians that helped the US government, their spouses, and children. There was also quite a backlog of Diversity Visas (DV), which they'll be past by September 30 (when the visas become no longer valid because they have to be issued by then). The vast majority of visas under these categories end up in administrative processing, and based upon publicly available reports, the backlog is growing, not shrinking. My wife has been in AP since May 2022 (also TAL). We'll be suing the government roundabout the end of the month.
  19. jgauthi242
    They held onto her passport, but she retrieved it from the consulate a few weeks ago.
  20. jgauthi242
    Figured I'd provide another update since it's now been 4 months. No useful updates from consulate, just that processing is ongoing and that they don't need anything else. It's not clear if any cases that aren't trivial (in their opinion) that aren't in the SQ-1, SQ-2, SQ-3, and DV categories are actually being worked on right now. Just to reiterate, my wife has cleared administrative processing three times in the last six years and nothing material has changed since then (became a supervisor at work, working on slightly different project, but in same domain). Case was getting updated once a week or so up until August 8, then it stopped getting updated. The only time it gets updated is when I email them asking what the current status is, which they always respond with no useful information to.
  21. jgauthi242
    Figured I'd provide an update since it's been a month. Wife is still stuck in administrative processing. Consulate replied to Senator with boilerplate email indicating they could provide no estimate as to when it would be finished (i.e., it could last forever).
  22. jgauthi242
    @CalistaR has your visa been approved yet? My wife and I are still waiting, since May 9 when she got put into administrative processing.
  23. jgauthi242
    We check CEAC every day. Our last updated date typically gets updated two or three times a week. Ours also says July 26. Our lawyer says it doesn't really mean anything. We also emailed them over two weeks ago and they've yet to respond. Senator is reaching out on Monday since it's now been 75ish days. You can have your Senator reach out once it's past 60 days. We waited until now because we emailed them at the 60 day mark. FWIW, consular officer said they would try to finish the processing within 30 days at the interview.
  24. jgauthi242
    FYI, my wife is stuck in the same situation. Consular officer asked for CV and list of countries traveled to along with dates for last ten years. We submitted the documentation May 12, still haven't heard anything back. Hope you have better luck than us! Please keep us updated as to when you get approved.
  25. jgauthi242
    Thank you for your response. VISA Navigator seems to be something that is specific to the Frankfurt consulate. It's very difficult to even find a link to it on their website. None of the emails or papers they send out mention it either and somebody else on this forum who went through administrative processing earlier this year did not have to use it. But, now if you send an email without using this tool, they say they'll delete your email without reply (that doesn't answer the question of whether they actually got your documentation though). My wife sent an inquiry nearly two weeks ago asking them to confirm they've received the requested documents and they haven't even responded to that. Status still shows as Refused on CEAC website. We're escalating to Senator with the help of our lawyer on Monday. If we don't hear back, we'll file a Writ of Mandamus.
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