Sent October 2007 - STILL WAITING!!!!!!

[Selin08]

I don't understand at all. I am soooo extremely frustrated that I just want to drown in my own tears. I sent out my application October 2007. Received date is October 9th, 2007. They just updated processing times and it is on November 26th 2007. They completely skipped my application. Nothing has changed with its status online. It has not been touched since February. I am a US citizen who filed for my spouse in Turkey. WHAT IS GOING ON!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Please tell me what I can do.

I am sending a letter to Vermont Service Center and I am calling them tomorrow however, I feel like they dont do anything about it regardless. EVERYTHING REMAINS THE SAME!!!!!!

-Selin

[indianium]

Yes, you are right; it is frustrating and futile to call them.
K-3 suppose to be fast as compare to I-130 (counselor processing) but people who applying K-1 visa are in good hand. This indicates that US do not care about family and unite them ASAP. They just have LIFE ACT on piece of paper. In reality, it doesn’t exist otherwise just look the processing time frame for K-1 and K-3 dated 15-Sept-2008 of Vermont Service Center, there is no difference. Sometimes people like us keep thinking why we have family to cry.

[ankur82]

yea it's happend to me same i apply aug 2007 got approval on april 2008 then then i have to wait till 90 and then they NVC said they lost it so july 2008 i apply again and now it's in bombay
mine is K1 visa
go talk to congress man they help me out so i am sure u get some answer

ankur82

[Ustare]

I feel your pain

The frustration I've experience with my fiancee's K-1 visa has been incredible. Everything was tracking well at first. I actually filed mine when I was still serving in Afghanistan last January. It made it from Kandahar Airbase all the way to the California Service Center no problems. Reciept date 1/20/08, Notice of Approval 6/8/-8. The problems started when when CIS sent the approved petition to NVC. Somewhere between the two agencies our petition was lost, misplaced etc. It evaporated into thin air essentially.

NVC told me I needed to wait 90 days before they would take any action. On day 91, I called them and was told the same thing they told me from day 1 thru day 90; "we have not yet received your petition from CIS". Duh. Anyhow, NVC told me to call CIS because NVC didn't have it. Soooo I called CIS. They said "we've approved your petition and sent it to NVC". Basically I had two bureacracies pointing fingers at each other. I really felt like I was pretty much alone and no one really gave a damm about my case.

Finally, on one of my many phone calls to CIS, I was told to make an appointment at a local CIS office and discuss my case in person. After initially losing my cool in front of the first agent(who told me "gee your case has been approved and sent to NVC already") I was threatened to be escorted out by the security guards, I asked to speak to the lead agent there at the time and she took pity on me and explained what steps they could take to retrieve my lost files. On that same day, I call the main customer service CIS number 800-375-5283 and got them rolling on the problem as well.

To make a long story short, I returned to the same local CIS office two weeks later. True to their word, they retrieved my file(from some remote central file location), actually recreated it from photocopies. While I was there, the agent called NVC explaining my situation and then overnighted the petition to NVC via DHL. He was actually apologetic of the whole situation.

Trust me I was really getting at my wits end and didn't know what to do next. However, while I'm still not out of the woods yet, at least I know my file actually exist again and was sent to NVC.

So, if I could be so bold as to point out a couple of tips based upon my experience thus far

1) CIS - Call, call, call and then call again. I figured out early on that you need to get one level beyond the customer service representatives who answer the phone. The customer service people basically read off of a script and don't seem too responsive to your pleas at times. Ask to talk with a supervisor who happens to be a real live CIS agent. If you haven't heard a peep from CIS yet, explain the situation to the agent and ask that your case be expedited now, since its beyond the normal processing window. Hopefully you kept copies of all the documents you submitted, just on the off-chance you need to re-submit. Discussing this with the agent can save you time and money.

2) If you visit a local CIS office to discuss your case. Keep your cool because they will haul your butt out fast if you lose it.

3) Once CIS does finally process it(and approves it hopefully) and forwards to NVC, start calling NVC (603-334-0700) to check the status. One NVC supervisor told me they can process a K-1 visa and have it out the door in as little as a week. You can also call Dept of State visa services (202-663-1225). They can see when NVC has received your petition and should be able to tell when it was sent overseas to the embassy. One interesting note about DOS, I had explained my missing petition to their agent. I was told that IF after six months(from CIS approval date) my petition had not surfaced, then DOS would allow my fiancee to process her visa at the embassy based upon our approval notice and I would expect, copies of the documents we supplied originally. Thankfully, we didn't have to go there, but it was nice to know we conceivably were covered.

I know its a real pain in the butt. Hang in there and good luck.