Queeny

thanks for all your responses. Sounds like I don't need to divorce in Senegal but here in the States. I'm hoping he will cooperate and just sign the papers and send back - maybe wishful thinking on my part...

Hi VJ family,

I married him in his country a year ago. I applied for the CR1 Visa and we have been in AP for about 6 months now. There has been some misrepresentation and I now want to Divorce him. In his country women can not initiate a divorce.

My question is: Do I withdraw my affidavit of support. Then file for divorce in my state and then notify the consult of his country? What other steps would be necessary?

Any insight you have will be helpful. Thanks

just curious... and wanna compare - thx !!! <img src="http://www.visajourney.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/star_smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="star_smile.gif" />

It's been 4 1/2 months for us and we are still waiting waiting waiting. Have you contacted your congressperson and senator for help?

I think we all need to get those guys involved so they know what's going on at the embassy level. Hopefully some changes to this process will happen with enough people complaining and making inquiries.

OMG That is great!! Congratulations!! Hope u have your visa in hand very soon!

Hopefully your AP will be over soon. does anyone know what happens in Washington with AP and how long it takes?

Hey, at the London embassy no calls and no emails!! The only information I get is from the DOS or from the courier...yet some embassies, I think UAE is one, they actually have a link on their site where you can input your case number and see its status...so, I agree, all embassies should have the same level of service, after all we/our spouses have all paid the same fees!!

The embassy in Dakar will only communicate via email. They usually respond timely by the next day but the information is sparse.

Looks like immigration reform might be one of those hot topics in the upcoming election terms. Obama is talking about it...

So our petition got returned on March 11th. To this day, it still has not arrived at the NVC ?

What do we do at this point ? I am getting a bit concerend here since the petition expires on April 11th.

When our first petition was denied it left the Embassy in April and got to USCIS in May. It only stayed with NVC a few days before going to USCIS. You can call NVC and they can give you the tracking number or Diplomatic pouch number to track. Get your sentor involved... we need IMMIGRATION REFORM to help alleviate these type of issues.

I haven't been in AP that long compared to most here, but what I do find frustrating is the lack of information. Of course, there are times when they need to keep things confidential, but it would be nice to know what's happening. When I found out I was in AP almost three weeks after I'd been approved at the embassy because I hadn't yet got my passport, I called DOS and they wouldn't even confirm that I was in AP, even though I later found out from the embassy I was in mandatory AP, ie at DOS.

A timeframe would also be nice. I sincerely hope that I'm not in AP for three months, or even longer, but having a rough idea as opposed to 'any day' which could be tomorrow or in a year's time is really difficult to deal with.

Also, why don't they use their time more efficiently? After my case, and that of countless others, has been approved by both USCIS and NVC and is waiting for the interview, why don't they do the mandatory name checks then? It's dead time anyway, so why not make use of it?

I think these are the kinds of things that need to change. We should be privy to the timeframes and information they are seeking. I was told by the embassy that they could not give us any information about the AP because it was "illegal" and "confidential". After reviewing the law, the confidence is based on the parties involved and that would be me the petitioner and my husband the beneficiary. So whoes confidence are they keeping? ours? or who? Certainly when its a matter of "national security" I can understand information being withheld, but when the information being obtained is about either me or my husband we should have the right to know... Please write your sentor about this. I hear that the sentor in CA sits on a committee close to this issue.

Are you kidding me? He must not be seeking re-election!

WHAT I wonder who that is? These politician must know they work for WE THE PEOPLE and represent our interest. We must use our political POWER...

Whilst my now husband was in AP I sent out a whole slew of letters and received very few responses. Post 9/11 immigration is a pain with all the security checks and what makes it worse is that they are attacking it the wrong way. Think about it, the supposed 9/11 hijackers came on student visas not immigrant visas. Student visas are tracked by the school not the government, so get a student visa, come to the US, don't go to school and just disappear.

The "underwear bomber" was escorted past the security checkpoints and did not even have a valid passport.

Now that health care has passed Obama is promising to work on immigration reform so maybe a year or so down the road something will happen.

yes I agree it may take a year or so, but they certainly need to hear our voice loud and clear. This is particularly important when a politician is up for election or re-election...

I emailed my congressman a couple of years ago about family immigration reform. I got an email back telling me about everything that she was doing about illegal immigration... I wrote an email back to her about how she obviously didn't read my first email. I did not get another response.

I am aware that she does not read the emails...but what competent office staff she has...

I think sometimes they just don't get it and we have to keep writing, calling, etc. to get their full attention... Don't give up the fight

I'm sorry for your denial. Some things you may try: Contact NVC and ask to speak to a supervisor and discuss the situation they may have some suggestions. Contact your congressman or Senator to contact the embassy for you. Contact the chief consulate at the embassy and speak directly to him/her about your case. Contact the Ombudsmen Office at USCIS and lastly get your case notes through the freedom of information act.

good luck. WE NEED IMMIGRAITON REFORM...

AP is very mysterous, evasive, and allusive. For one thing we know it does not make since. It probably has to do with checking the authentencity of your documents - who knows. I suggest you contact your Senator and get them involved in the process and they should be able to help provide you some answers.

Hello VJ,

it's been a while since I posted but to bring you up to speed we were placed in AP on Jan 12, 2010 at our interview. As many of you know, we started out filing for a finance visa and was placed in AP. The consular sent our application back to USCIS. We were married in June 09 and refiled CR1 and had our interview Jan 12, 2010. AP again and this time it's been over 2 months.

I have mixed emotions and feeling like something has to be done about the broken immigration system. WE NEED REFORM. Not just reform to legalize immigrants currently in the US without documentation, but REFORM of the process in which U.S. citizens apply to bring loved ones to the US to live.

The U.S. Consulates abroad are out of control and seem to write the law as they go along. Laws need to change around admin processing to include the participants in the process rather than exclude us. When I initially wrote my congressmen and senator's office is was only to address my individual concerns about my petition but I'm expanding beyond just my individual concerns to REFORM as a whole.

I am writing my Senator in CA to make suggestions about REFORM. We all need to solicit the assistance of our Senators in this process. I could rant on and on but think I'll stop here for now...

What you all think?

My log in at the NVC website failed on Friday.

For a CR1 process, after paying the $400 for the IV fee, do we have to pay for a visa fee or embassy admin for the interview in Dakar, Senegal? (Beside the Med exams of course).

Teranga,

I know there is a fee, but not sure how much it is - maybe $100.00 USD. you might try emailing the embassy and asking them.

I was Born and raised in senegal. The fingerprints they take at the embassy will only pull prior records the applicant had with the embassy, for example prior visas application and if any info recorded from those apps. Your husband is right, it can't and won't show, I am 100000% positive.

Hope this helps.

yes, this is very helpful info and thanks again. We will act accordingly - that is legally. I haven't seen anyone on this site from Senegal and I'm curious to know what advice you may have for my husbby adjusting to life in the US? you can send the info via my contact if needed. thanks again for your help.

Senegal is not like the USA, this will not show from anywhere, there is no communication between the embassy and the court or record system. Do not put that on the DS230, they won't know, there is no way they can.. in the US USCIS can pull and find your record at any date and time, In africa the embassy sees only what you give them, So do not give them a reason to deny your petition.

thank you so much for this info. My hubby also said it would not show, but I wanted to make sure just in case when the embassy run his fingerprints for the visa it would show he was arrested. Sounds like you are familiar with Senegal?

Hello VJ,

I'm having a terrible time trying to pay my AOS fee bill on line. The system tells me that my payment transaction has failed because the payment system is not available and to try again later. I call NVC several times they suggest to mail payment. Wanted to know if any one has ever experienced this and what to do...

thanks for your help.

yes, this has happened before. I remember when we were at NVC that there were few days when no one was able to make a payment on-line as their system got $crewed up @ that time. same thing might be happening now again. just keep trying but do not mail it

btw, please correct ur VJ timeline

thanks for your responses. I'll update my timeline.

Hello VJ,

I'm having a terrible time trying to pay my AOS fee bill on line. The system tells me that my payment transaction has failed because the payment system is not available and to try again later. I call NVC several times they suggest to mail payment. Wanted to know if any one has ever experienced this and what to do...

thanks for your help.

Hi everyone! Thanks again for your advice. The only thing that I'm worried about is if we do not post the banns (or if we post them and i'm not there yet, or if we get married before the 15 days)-- is the US going to recognize our marriage as valid? I really don't want to screw anything up.

Has anyone had experience with this before?

Thanks!

Hi rafetnatorop,

wanted to touch basis to see how everything went with your marriage in Senegal? It went pretty smoothly for us. Now hopefully the visa process at the embassy in Dakar will go well.

Hi VJ family,

let me start by saying how grateful I am to have this site to aid in the visa journey. I have a question/concern that maybe you can help me with. My hubby was arrested back in Dec 08 in Senegal. According to him he bought some stolen parts from someone. He did not know the merchandise was stolen. He was arrested along with the person he bought the merchandise from. He was put in jail for about 10 days. According to him the Court said he should not have bought the merchandise. Also he said that the arrest is not showing on his police certificate becasue it was not a formal arrest/conviction. I'm concerned that when he is fingerprinted at his interview that this will show up. So I guess my question is

1. should this be listed on the DS230

2. what documents would he need if this does not show up on his police cert

thanks for your help

What happened with the K1? did you withdraw it from USCIS since you got married?

Yes, what did you do with the K1?

You will also want to look at this page and in particular civil documents - needed to send with the DS-230.

I withdrew the K1 a few days before I filed the I130. I just changed my VJ timeline. thanks for all your help

BTW, this page from Dept of State shows that no translations are necessary as long as docs are in English or language of the country where the application is being made:

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_3195.html

Just answering my own question...

Mark

Hey mark, this thread is very helpful. thanks for asking these questions. I called NVC to inquiry about the translation after reading the site you list. They told me that I still needed to have the documents translated even if they are in the official language of the country where my husband lives.

if you pay online, you can download a lot of the forms online that you need from http://www.uscis.gov.

i would suggest that you get acquainted with the forms that you guys will need to fill out by checking them out on the same site too. that way, you will be more than prepared when the real stuff comes in.

maybe you can have your spouse fill in the ds-230 now and send it to you and when it is required you can just put in the date and send it in (is that wrong?)

good luck!

thanks that's what i wanted to know - if I actually send the forms. I plan to try to get every thing prepared so when I get the notice I can just send the forms. I hope it's ok that I put in the date... Is the DS230 the only form that he needs to complete or are there others?

check this out btw:

http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/...s%27s_Shortcuts

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_3190.html

this is one of my paranoid threads:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...=210013&hl=

as far as i recall, he'll have to sign the ds-3032 and part i of the ds-230 but not part 2...hope that helps.

yes this is very helpful. thank you so much for this information. Yes we originally filed for K1 but go married before it was finished...

so does that mean you're filing for a k-3 or cr-1 now?

I just filed for the cr1 by sending in the I130. I'm still a little confused about the difference between the k3 and CR1. I've read on this site that the CR1 (just filing the I130 without the I-129F) may be faster or just as fast.

if you pay online, you can download a lot of the forms online that you need from http://www.uscis.gov.

i would suggest that you get acquainted with the forms that you guys will need to fill out by checking them out on the same site too. that way, you will be more than prepared when the real stuff comes in.

maybe you can have your spouse fill in the ds-230 now and send it to you and when it is required you can just put in the date and send it in (is that wrong?)

good luck!

thanks that's what i wanted to know - if I actually send the forms. I plan to try to get every thing prepared so when I get the notice I can just send the forms. I hope it's ok that I put in the date... Is the DS230 the only form that he needs to complete or are there others?

check this out btw:

http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/...s%27s_Shortcuts

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_3190.html

this is one of my paranoid threads:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...=210013&hl=

as far as i recall, he'll have to sign the ds-3032 and part i of the ds-230 but not part 2...hope that helps.

yes this is very helpful. thank you so much for this information. Yes we originally filed for K1 but go married before it was finished...

if you pay online, you can download a lot of the forms online that you need from http://www.uscis.gov.

i would suggest that you get acquainted with the forms that you guys will need to fill out by checking them out on the same site too. that way, you will be more than prepared when the real stuff comes in.

maybe you can have your spouse fill in the ds-230 now and send it to you and when it is required you can just put in the date and send it in (is that wrong?)

good luck!

thanks that's what i wanted to know - if I actually send the forms. I plan to try to get every thing prepared so when I get the notice I can just send the forms. I hope it's ok that I put in the date... Is the DS230 the only form that he needs to complete or are there others?