WonTanNara

I'm so sorry WanTaNara, I pray that things speed up for you soon. My heart breaks for you.

Hugs, hugs, and more hugs to you.

Thanks Stevi, I appreciate the hugs very much. At the very least I will see ma koumi (my honey) in another six weeks. I can't wait to smooch him like a crazy woman.

i just called DOS,

his name was james very helpful...

told me its stil under AP.. then i asked him about the last update, he said what do you mean last update? then i said i heard about a followup being done within last 30 days, and he said oh ok hold on and thencame back a min later. and this is what he said!!

basically if you have been in AP for 120 days or longer then either DOS or EMBASSY will put in a follow up. as mine was done in september he said.. i said who did that yall or embassy he said it could be either embassy in chennai or us. and since it was done in septemebr ( did not give me date) he said another follow up would be done in january then. but embassy can request at any time since mine was requested before the 120 day mark....

so keeping fingers crossed.. julia we both are in the same timeline for AP..

i asked him so basically we can hear something anytime now, he said ya.... BUT i am starting to put things together now.. after all my talks and answers, AND CHRIS TOLD ME THAT IF A FOLLOWUP WAS DONE WITHIN 30 DAYS (SOMETHING LIKE THAT) THEN AP CAN BE DONE WITHIN ANOTHER 30 DAYS... FOLLOW? PPS? I KNOW IT CAN BE CONFUSIN BUT I THINK IF SOMEONE REQUESTS A FOLLOWUP ON OUR CASES IT CAN BE A GOOD THING.. ACCORDING TO CHRIS HE SAID "IT CAN BE DONE" MEANINIG I THINK ap CAN BE OVER!!

INSHALLAH LETS SEE HOPE BEFORE THE HOLIDAYS INSHALLAH THIS WILL BE THE BEST GIFT TO US EVER....

I know the Dakar embassy is doing regular checks on the status of our case. That is a good thing, it means it's not forgotten sitting in pile somewhere. The reality is that our AP could be finished tomorrow or it could take another month or it could take another 4 months. Nobody knows but God.

I just called DOS again. Spoke with Chris.

Him: "It just shows that the case is still undergoing administrative processing."

Me: "Can you tell me what stage of processing it is currently in?"

Him: "All I can see is that the case is still in administrative processing."

Me: "I am kind of confused...the embassy wrote my senator and told him that they cannot issue the visa until they receive word from DOS. Why is that?"

Him: "I can't tell you how long it is going to take. All I can see is that it is in administrative processing."

Me: "Okay, but my question is why did the embassy official inform my senator that they are waiting for word from DOS in order to proceed with processing the visa?"

Him: "I don't know."

Me: "The last time I called I was told that the case was last updated on August 27th. Have there been any updates since then?"

Him: "Yes, that was done in the last 30 days."

Me: "Okay, well that's all. Thank you."

Him: "Okay. Good luck."

Why can't they give you an ounce of information? Ridiculous!

It's a matter of "national security" don't ya know. Hmph. I've been told by the people at the 202 number, the consulate in Dakar, and also my senator's office that they can't see any updates or progress of the security checks. The embassy said they can see either complete or incomplete and that these "updates" are our inquiries, etc.

Hang in there Julia, it'll come. Did you ask your Senator to do an inquiry with the DOS? You should do that, it won't hurt.

We met 12/13/2007. I came home and filed for K1 and went over for the interview on 4/29/08. No visits in between. Approved and waiting for security clearance from Washington.

You guys I know this sucks and paying again and going through it again but you know we have to do what is necessary to get the visas. I know the TB is valid in the US for one year too, I did not know about it only being valid for 3 months. It may depend on the country because it is valid for 1 year on Bangladesh - or it could depend on the consulate.

Whatever the fact is, this process is a long and hard one for many but no matter what we say or do, we have to adhere to the individual consulates' rules and that is the only way to successfully get the visas.

I hope all of you don't have to wait so long have to redo the medical but for those of you who do, I hope it goes well, and that your SOs are healthy and sound. On the upside, take it as a much cheaper check up, one that may have taken a lot more money to do here. It is always a good idea to get your SOs fully checked before coming here too, just to know they are healthy and to save money compared to here.

Hang in there guys, the process will end soon in sucess and like all of the other genuine cases, your visas will be issued.

God bless,

Tam

You always see the silver lining.

I'm so sad today. When we were put on AP back in April I could not imagine that my fiance would not be here for this conference. Now, it's here and he's not. Next week there will be over a dozen W. African artists here in Burlington, VT but the one I really want to be here is stuck in Senegal waiting. Six months of AP in the grand scheme of life is a relatively short period of time, but it feels damn long right now! Waah!

Hi everyone, so it looks like I'll be buying a ticket in the next couple weeks to go see my fiance again. We're hoping he has his visa so we can return to his home in Guinea for a visit but if he does not, he wants to stay in Senegal. The last couple times I've gone we've stayed in N'Gor and I don't want to stay there again for a month. He's heard of a place called Sali Portual to the north of Dakar that is supposed to be really nice. Anyone heard of it, good or bad?

The embassy in Ankara, Turkey just posted this notice on their administrative processing clearance site:

IMPORTANT REMINDER REGARDING MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS

Medical examinations classified as "Class B (TB)" are valid for 3 months from the date the doctor signed the report. All other medical examinations classified as "No apparent decease or defect" are valid for 6 months after the doctor’s signature date. If your case is subject to further administrative processing, your medical report may expire during the process. In that case, you are required to renew your examination and submit an updated medical report to our office when you come here to receive your immigrant visa.

Ugh, that stinks.

I asked the Dakar embassy the same question and they told me that my fiance's medical exam was valid for one year. I hope he doesn't have to do it again, it's not cheap!

I think your authorized period of stay is the date on your I-94, not your EAD. And one thing I have learned in dealing with immigration issues is even if USCIS makes a mistake, it's still your problem. When you entered the US, you were admitted by Customs and Border Patrol. You were interviewed by USCIS, who said the CBP made a mistake telling you to apply for a green card. Bottom line is you suffer the consequences of their mistakes. I hope that all goes well at your interview, but I will be very surprised if a waiver is not required. A consult with one of the above lawyers should remove all doubt.

You're so right Spooky. Wouldn't it be nice if they could be held accountable?

This has made me very curious about the EAD and I'd love to know for sure... let us know how it goes Jen. When is your interview?

You have yourself to blame.

Save the judgement, stick to the facts.

That wasn't a judgement--it was a fact. He admitted in the original post that he attempted to use a false passport.

If you stick to the facts, you wouldn't have given him false hopes in your previous post regarding a hardship waiver. Save the speculation, stick to the facts.

Yup, I made a mistake. Separate issue and for that I apologize to the OP.

Isn't this place suppose to be supportive? Saying "you have yourself to blame" is a pretty crappy thing to say to somebody. You never know what a person might do out of desperation. We don't always make the best choices when faced with dire circumstances and there's no reason to make another human being feel worse than they already do.

That's right. My ex WAS NOT a US Citizen. I'm pretty sure that he is not US Citizen even now. I'll tell you what happened. At the begining he applied to get a refugee status because of religion persecution. At the US Embassy in Moscow Russia the officer didn't give him status of refugee. My ex got status I wrote before. And because at that time I was his wife we came to US by the same status. I just want to know if my EAD will be a prove that I was in the country legaly? On the EAD card says that the person indentified is authorizes to work in the US for the validity of this card. I left the US two days before it was expired. How do you think will I have problems at the interview?

Regarding your parole status, I am inclined to think that you were admitted on parole status without an expiration date, rather than it "automatically extending by itself" as you said the officers told you. Nothing in our gov't extends automatically by itself. Also my understanding is that your EAD is your authorization to work in the US, and therefore be here in the US legally. You left before it expired. Based on the information I have, I still believe you were not out of status.

A consultation with an attorney would be your absolute safest bet, but if you can't afford it then you can't afford it. Try to relax and go to the interview with a positive outlook. You're not trying to hide anything and that is in your best interest. Everything will unfold as it should. Best of luck!

You have yourself to blame.

Save the judgement, stick to the facts.

From what you've written it sounds like you entered the USA legally and then left before you were "out of status," so I believe you therefore you should not have any problems obtaining your K3. A waiver is for somebody who has applied for and been denied a visa. Based on what you've written here, as long as you can prove a bonefide marriage I think you'll be fine. Good luck.

WonTanNara, thank you for you good answer! I still have hope for good.

I hope so too. Based on what you wrote, I was assuming (correctly) that your ex-husband was NOT in fact a US citizen.

Sometimes things happen in strange ways for unknown reasons.

Yup, the universe works in mysterious ways...

Website

"Some visa applications require additional administrative processing, which requires some additional time. Most administrative processing is resolved within 60 days of application."

Hahahaha!

Forgive my cynicism.

Any other company in the US we could sue for misrepresentation and false advertising. But no....... not the DOS. Hmph. Makes me want to say very bad words.

Hey I counted AP in baby years too lol. At 9 months I was like ok I could have given birth to a little one already! It was painful and funny at the same time

Don't worry WanTanNara, your fiance will get this visa soon, maybe before December. If not, have wonderful trip too and hopefully you can come back with him!

I thought you might be counting in baby years too. Hee hee... Thanks Tam, Insh-Allah we will both be reunited soon (and everyone else, too). xoxoxoxo

From what you've written it sounds like you entered the USA legally and then left before you were "out of status," so I believe you therefore you should not have any problems obtaining your K3. A waiver is for somebody who has applied for and been denied a visa. Based on what you've written here, as long as you can prove a bonefide marriage I think you'll be fine. Good luck.

I got this from the Dakar embassy today:

Your fiance’s case is still pending in our eligibility review unit. I regret the delay, and the delay is not unique to your case. Some cases in the Eligibility Review Unit can take many months, and a few have been processing for a year or more.

I wish I had better news.

We will contact you as soon as we are ready to move forward.

Regards,

MG

Consular Dakar

Hey well at least they were sympathetic enough to wish they had better news. Now we are officially into our seventh month of AP.

Insh-Allah please let us be reunited soon. I could have carried our first child to term in the time we've been waiting (as could many of us)...

Hi Leedah,

You do in fact need the magical card to schedule an appointment in Dakar. Your SO can get one in Gambia at Full Time Trading, Kairaba Ave. (Opposite Cedar Club Shopping Mall), Pipeline, Banjul.

Here is the link to the list of vendors. Interview card vendors

Regarding the medical, your SO will have to have it completed by one of the approved doctors in Dakar. They will seal the results in an envelope that he will need to present at his interview. Here is the list of panel physicians. Panel physicians. I recommend Hassan Bahsoun, he speaks English, French, and Wolof and was very pleasant.

Typically there is a one month delay to get an appointment. I think the embassy has been really busy the last few weeks because they have been unresponsive to my inquiries about our case (stuck in AP). That is unusual.

I guess if your SO ends up doing his interview in Gambia it will be different, I don't have any experience with that scenario.

Bonne chance!

Yeah, I've heard the same thing too. I don't think it's a total waste of time however...

My thoughts on calling DOS

BBBBBBBBBBBWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHHA

That is funny!

ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY THREE DAYS and still waiting waiting waiting....

Me too... today is our six month "anniversary" of waiting for security clearance. Crappy anniversary to us.

Julia, your senator has a DOS liason. I suggest that you now draw attention to your case in Washington by asking your senator to do an inquiry with the DOS. You'll get the same response, we're sorry, blah blah blah.... but then you can ask your senator to inquire once per month on your behalf. I believe this may be slightly more productive than calling the DOS because, according to my senator's office, the DOS liason can inform us when the checks are complete. Maybe the people who answer the phones at DOS can see a change in AP status... I'm calling DOS, I'm contacting the embassy every month, and I'm also asking my senator to inquire every month.

I think the length of time that it will take isn't specific to any embassy, for us it's all about how many checks need to be done. All the processing is being done in Washington at this point. If your fiance gets a hit on 5 different databases or lists, it'll take longer than somebody who only gets a hit on 2. My fiance must have gotten hits on every database there is, six months to clear his name is ridiculous.

I hope this is over soon. I am one crabby lady.

thanks wontantara

i hope we all have a AP to Complete news soon. inshAllah...

Insh-Allah...

Thanks, I like your " Love like rain....." thoughts. And I definitely agree with everything having a reason, even though we may not understand it at the time we go through something..........but in hind sight it becomes clearer.

I think so too. My fiance said to me last night "Jen, take courage. People who take visas easy have other big problems and they fight beaucoup. You and me take time to understand each other good." I love his English, it's so simple but really to the point. It's true, if he had been here in April it would have been too soon and too easy and we would not have had the time to figure out there really important stuff (like how I need to deal with that firey Guinean temper hahaha).

Now, I know we'll never take each other for granted!

at DOS she told me if you want first hand information call the Embassy itself and I think she is right

See my earlier post in this thread. She is right. Phoning DOS for information is a nearly complete waste of time, except that most of the agents are a bit more congenial and sympathetic than anyone at USCIS. You must call your embassy -- and, if you are a U.S. citizen, insist on speaking with an American.

Most embassies these days won't even take calls regarding pending cases. I know Dakar does not, they insist that you send an email. And, if your case is pending security clearance from Washington, then the embassy can't tell you diddly squat. Or they won't. Whatever the difference. I've asked them several times if they can see any progress on our security checks and they tell me "we're sorry, it's out of our hands and we're only privy to see a status of complete or not complete."

AP is just a big freakin' secretive black hole especially if it's for security checks. In my opinion the best thing you can do is have your senator do inquiries on your behalf. As I said earlier, their DOS liason is privy to a little bit more information, in other words they can tell you if the checks are complete. The AP status on our cases will eventually change. When that happens, you can start riding the embassy if they sit on it too long.

Example: Nita called one day and voila, the status on her husband's case had changed from AP to passport requested. Luckily the embassy did not sit on her case and that very day her husband got the call and now has his visa. In Tammy's case, the first round of security checks were sent to the embassy, but they sat on her case until the checks expired and they had to do it again. At that point in time she wasn't aware she could call Washington to check on the status of her case and therefore never knew the first round had been completed.

I don't think calling the DOS is a complete waste of time, just don't expect to get any more information from the DOS until that AP status changes.