newenglander

I'm starting this thread due to having hijacked a happy thread about getting an interview and it has been kindly suggested that I start my own thread so that I can get this all out in the open and people will be better able to help me.

To make a long story short --

I am the US citizen, he is the Brit. We filed back in February with the help of an American lawyer due to it being a difficult case requiring a co-sponsor. (The lawyer is doing this for us cheap because she is just starting out.)

Okay. The first problem was getting his police report. Only a few months previous to our filing a different form had been used for the police report -- we knew that from the internet. What he did NOT know is that the police don't handle this process anymore. You used to get the forms from the police so he logically went to the police and asked for the NEW FORMS.

They gave him forms and took his money. After he returned the forms to the police, we waited and waited -- he called, he went there, he asked over and over and they just kept saying that it took time, that they were checking their computer, and to wait some more.

At some point I went online and ASKED on an immigration forum and was told that the police no longer handle police reports AT ALL! Of course, he went to them, informed them of their mistake, asked for his money back, located the correct forms, paid and sent them in.

That mess set us back several months.

He got his medical and was sent back to his local doctor due to seemingly high blood pressure. His local doctor found his blood pressure to be normal, it was high only from the stress of the long trip to London and the medical exam. So there was another delay there, but not that long. His doctors sent the new information.

Another delay -- we are both in our 60's and he isn't a whiz on the computer so the part that had to be done online was actually done by our lawyer who then sent it HDL to him for him to sign and send in.

Also, at one point, previously, something was lost in the mail over there -- can't remember what but that caused another delay.

Fast forward---------------finally, on Sept. 9th he sent in the checklist signature required, since something previously had been lost. He thought this way would be foolproof.

It WAS received and for several weeks he actually had phone access to a real person. It was a nice man in the embassy who saw what a mess this process has been for us and he had the packet on HIS DESK and told Pete that it was FINE. COMPLETE. INTERVIEW COMING ANYTIME.

He told Pete to wait for a COURIER who would deliver the interview date, they were going to be doing it by courier now, he said. He also said that the interview times had been cut down to 1/2 hour instead of one hour.

In the meantime, Pete's car was broken into and they stole his cell/mobile phone so Pete gave this man his NEW PHONE NUMBER.

We've been waiting ever since. He can no longer get through to that man, he only gets the help service who gave him a code to email them. That was yesterday and they also said that they had no record of what he sent in. (Thursday)

(Our lawyer sent an email last week but got the message that it was deleted without being read. She's heard nothing since.)

So yesterday, Pete called ME with the code and I emailed them. He had gone to his local post office and they found the record of the date of delivery and who signed for it so I included THAT info in my email to them.

I also gave them his new cell/mobile phone number even though he had given it to that man who he was speaking to all the time. My email was polite, not angry -- I provided the information and asked for an interview date as soon as possible because we have been waiting so long.

That's it. As of now I'm waiting for a reply to my email and Pete has already downloaded the forms in case he's asked to send them again.

ian-mstm

Filed what, exactly? You don't ever say.

Ian

newenglander

Feb. 14th was our original filing date with the Vermont service center. I don't remember the number on each document that was filed but our lawyer sent everything in on that day. It included the affidavit of support, divorce certificates, birth certificates, signed affidavits that we intended to get married. This original packet only stayed here in the US for about two weeks before arriving in the UK.

meauxna

You still aren't helping us out here.
If February was the first time you filed any paperwork, your stuff has not been in the UK all this time.

Noorah101

Are you going for a fiance visa or a spouse immigrant visa? Must be a fiance visa, since you had to include statements of intent...right?

clarissageo

Looking back on the other thread, its the Fiance visa the OP is applying for.

We filed at the end of December 2007, (for the CR1 & CR2) and our first point of call was the I130's to USCIS Vermont, then they passed the approved I130 to the National Visa Center - only when they requested the original documents, I864 etc was everything sent to them. I'm confused as to why all the originals and the I864 were sent with the original application to Vermont? are things different for the Fiance visa or could it possibly have been this that has caused the confusion?

Noorah101

For the fiance visa, no originals should be sent with the I-129F petition to the US service center. Also, the I-864 isnt' used, but the I-134 is, and it's only presented at the visa interview, it is not sent in ahead of time anywhere...not with the I-129F, and not to NVC. Not that I am aware of, anyway.

Rene

clarissageo

oops - getting my form numbers mixed up - I read affidavit of support and immediatly thought I864 - sorry for the confusion

newenglander

Yes, it's the K-1. What you mention above has not been part of the problem. Our lawyer sent everything that was necessary to Vermont where it flew right though the NVC and on to the UK in a matter of a few weeks. I don't want to get bogged down in the early details because that's not the issue here. This is the way our US lawyer did it and it was fine.

The problems-----------

After delays due to Pete thinking that the police still handled the police report (and the police thought so too--that wasted a few months), and a little delay after the medical due to possible high blood pressure (which his doctor resolved by writing a letter confirming that his blood pressure was normal, this was late August by now), and a one week delay because our US lawyer filled in the computer part of the form he was to send in (since he is not up to speed on computers) --she sent it DHL to Pete.

Pete's checklist was received at the US Embassy in London on Sept. 12th and was signed for. Pete spoke several times with an embassy employee who actually does the interviews and had the documents right in front of him. This man told Pete that all was well, just wait for an interview date.

The man Pete spoke to was trying to get Pete set for an interview so that he would be here in the US for Thanksgiving in late November. Now Pete can no longer get through to this person, he has rung the embassy and got a code number and the same helpline person who gave him the code number said there is no record of him.

Helpline people possibly don't have all the information so we're hoping that's the case here. Hoping that his materials ARE located by someone. I'm waiting for an email reply and in the meantime Pete has downloaded his paperwork and is all set should they ask him to resubmit.

I hope this sheds enough light on our situation.

newenglander

For the fiance visa, no originals should be sent with the I-129F petition to the US service center. Also, the I-864 isnt' used, but the I-134 is, and it's only presented at the visa interview, it is not sent in ahead of time anywhere...not with the I-129F, and not to NVC. Not that I am aware of, anyway

Thank you, Rene.

August 2007 was the main time period that we were involved with these forms so I've forgotten the form numbers too. After that I became highly involved with finding a co-sponsor and getting all of HER forms. It was a long, complicated project with lots of different numbers.

Pete returned around Christmas and we worked with the lawyer some more and she sent the petition in for us in February. I remember she said something about one form usually getting sent in later but that it really didn't make any difference -- maybe it was the co-sponsor materials, I could look it all up but it doesn't matter in this case. Maybe the document gathering and photocopying was for Pete to take back to England with him so that he'd have it. At any rate, the man in the embassy told Pete back in September that everything was there and all was in order, just wait for the interview date.

meauxna

I think your lawyer is the best person to follow up on this now. Put a little pressure on them to reach the Consulate on your behalf.

newenglander

I think your lawyer is the best person to follow up on this now. Put a little pressure on them to reach the Consulate on your behalf.

Thanks, but she won't do it! She emailed them and got the "deleted without being read" reply and got mad, called them a nasty word, and says there is no way to contact them.

She's only a beginning lawyer, that's why she isn't charging us very much but we're on our own with contacting the embassy. I have been intending to forward my embassy email to her so that she can see that THERE IS A WAY.

clarissageo

No matter what she is charging you, you are still paying for a service - if she is meant to be handling your case from start to end then she should be doing this, and her not keeping her temper whilst talking to a client for whatever reason certainly isn't a professional way to conduct herself. I agree with Meauxna - she should be chasing this for you.

Its a bit worrying that her attitude towards the order in which forms should be sent in is that it is not important, I'm pretty sure the NVC / USCIS do it for a reason, and although none of us may not like it, we have to do it their way - our lives are in their hands - they say jump, we ask how high.

I thought it was the NVC that scheduled the interviews rather than the embassy for the fiance / spouse visa?

Bluegrass Lass

A this point, given that the lawyer is unsure of how to get in contact, I'd say it doesn't hurt to get their US congressional representative involved as well.

newenglander

I've thought of getting one of our state representatives involved but the lawyer said they won't do anything for non-immigrant cases like a K-1. I've read that online somewhere too.

We've been furious at the lawyer several times over the past 8 months. This isn't her full time job but she does tend to just drop the ball.

I'll wait for a reply to my email to the embassy. If something can't be done through them, I think I'll call the DOS. Maybe I'll try the congressman too but from what I've been told they can't help.