... in response to stupid Ins, posted by snowwego on Jun 28, 2002You ought to be happy that is wasn't Navy Criminal Investigative Service(NCIS) that handles your initial paperwork. It's the agency that does it for us overseas Navy personnel who are marrying a foreign national. I am engaged to marry a Ukrainian woman and sent my papers through them on 21 November and at the end of April was told that they were still sitting in the office and had not been touched. I was told that the person who handles foreign marriages had been transferred to another department following 9/11 and not replaced. When I found out, I had the local office here in Iceland contact the main office and bring this to the attention of people higher up the chain of command. My Admiral here heard my personal plea for help and also got involved with some pressure. Well, the papers were given some attention and sent to the State Department with a request to "Expedite" them. That was about 11 days ago and I hope to hear something within the next month.
We in the military overseas should have an even shorter process that all of you doing your work through the INS service centers because we do not have to do the interview in Warsaw. It's only a two step process from the NCIS headquarters to the State Department for approval, then we can move our prospective wives to our overseas home base. Unfortunately the bureacracy of the first part of the process had made this a 6 to 10 month ordeal. I was very close to getting my Congressman involved and may still do this if I don't hear anything in the next month.
I know the wait is difficult no matter how long it takes, but us military personnel who must move every couple of years cannot afford a long process because it screws up our military careers and our transfer process. I know it sounds from my words that I am a bit angry...but rightfully so. Oh well, I will continue to pay my taxes and serve with dignity and pride.
