Spoke to my Senators aide today-

[Oscar]

Really nice woman.  I told her that as of today, my wait has been 91 days.  Also told her of my conversation with the rather cynical, sarcastic INS person I spoke with about a week ago.  She said that they (the Senators office, Hatch the bulldog!) were sick and tired of the INS's inefficiency!  I told her that their phone message says that approvals should be between 70 and 100 days, but then told her the INS worker I spoke to had asked me if I really believed that!  This really made her angry (excellent!).  So she wanted my LIN number so she could personally call to find out if my petition had been assigned to an INS officer yet and see if she could push things along..

We will see what happens...  I'm still holding out for early November!
Remember, I already have a complete petition (police report, I-134 stuff, also she and her son got their physicals this past Monday)..  

Oscar

[SteveM]

... in response to Spoke to my Senators aide today-, posted by Oscar on Sep 12, 2002

Hey Oscar,

Do you remember lecturing me several months ago about how you were going to get your petition approved faster by including all of this extraneous stuff like the police report and the I-134?  Well, maybe it will help on the Embassy end, but for the INS officer, it is just more extra paper to wade through while searching for what is actually required.

Anyway, I hope your wait comes to an end soon, but I also hope that people who are just filing I-129Fs now will be encouraged to file the plain vanilla way.  If you give them what they ask for and only what they ask for, it works just fine.  Of course, if you are unfortunate enough to live in the Nebraska SC area, working just fine typically has taken 3-4 months, on average, over the past couple of years.

Take care,

Steve M.

[Jack]

... in response to Not to poke you Oscar, but there may be ..., posted by SteveM on Sep 14, 2002

Steve, I personnaly know about a dozen guys (myself being included) who shaved from two to three weeks of the process by sending the translated versions of police report and birth certificate as well as the I-134 with there completed packages to the INS.
Guys who have called the Moscow and Warsaw embassy as the packet has arrived and who requsted an interview date right then were given interview dates without the Packet III (or the check list) even having to be sent to the ladies, thus saving anywhere from two to three weeks on the actual interview date.

[SteveM]

... in response to Not to poke you Oscar, but there was a l..., posted by Jack on Sep 15, 2002

Sorry Jack and Oscar,

Since I haven't been involved in this stuff for a while, I forgot to consider the differences between Warsaw and Moscow.  My experience was with Moscow, where there is no Packet III or checklist (or I-134 for that matter).  Our interview date was assigned upon receipt of the approved petition without us having to call or submit anything else.  Interview date was six weeks after the I-129F approval date.  My understanding was that after the interview date was assigned, we could call to get it moved up.  For us the timetable worked out fine.

[Jack]

... in response to Differences between Warsaw and Moscow, posted by SteveM on Sep 16, 2002

SteveM,

 My first fiancee visa was done thru Moscow. I called the Moscow Embassy 5 days after the INS had told me my packet (I-129f) had been approved and forwarded to Moscow. Set my alarm for 1:45am in the morning, woke up, knocked the sleep out of my eyes and started calling the Embassy. Got thru fairly quickly. Identified myself and gave my receipt number, after a minute the person I was working with acknowledged she had my packet. I then asked her for he earliest possiable interview date. I could hear the rumbling of paper as she looked thru the packet. "Ok", she said, "Seems you have all your paperwork in order. We can give you an interview date for October 24th." I replied back to her that that was so far away, couldn't she move it up some as I was hoping to get her to America prior to a family reunion we were having. She was quiet for a few seconds and said, "How about October 17th", which was three weeks from then and I said thanks, we will take it.

 In addition to all the other required documents and paperwork, in my packet was the was the I-134, original and translated police reports, a copy of her birth certificate and a translated into English version birth certificate. Both police report and birth certificate translated versions were notorized.

[Oscar]

... in response to Not to poke you Oscar, but there may be ..., posted by SteveM on Sep 14, 2002

Never did I ever expect having the whole thing done to make it any faster at the Nebraska site Steve so maybe you misunderstood me..  Where it should shave off a few weeks is at the Embassy in Warsaw.  If she has all her stuff already there and doesn't need the packets etc., this is where it should help.  Should supposedly be able to call once it's there to get an interview date right over the phone..

We'll see..

[davet]

... in response to I never expected less delay at the INS, ..., posted by Oscar on Sep 14, 2002

The approval form from the INS is sent to the various embassies.  All the papers that you file with the I-129 are retained by the INS, an agency with Dept of Justice (for the time being).  The embassy (Dept of State) asks your fiancee for it's own set of papers.  So adding extraneous papers to the INS filing is of no value.  

At the embassy.  In the past, as soon as your I-129 was approved, you could open a provisional file at the Warsaw embassy and start scheduling an interview.  This is NOT possible at the Moscow embassy.  But providing police reports, med exams, etc prior to the interview is not necessary, won't expedite the situation, and you will probably have to provide them again at the interview as the submitted set will undoubtably be misplaced.

IMHO

[Oscar]

... in response to Re: I never expected less delay at the I..., posted by davet on Sep 15, 2002

.

[davet]

... in response to Sorry davet, I completely disagree with ..., posted by Oscar on Sep 15, 2002

We went through the Moscow interview in March of this year.  Just like everyone else, I tried every which way to shave time off the waiting period.  They don't work for Moscow.  Moscow won't set an interview date until they have the INS approval paper in their hot little hands -- and it has to be directly from the INS SC.  

Now, Warsaw may be considerably different.  They supposedly allow you to set up a provisional file which gets the packet material going out to the fiancee.  That may cut some time off the schedule for you Warsaw folks.  But I have serious doubts that they would start setting up interviews based on an email or fax from one of us.

The reason I mentioned the different departments that INS and the embassies were in was to emphasize that they have different objectives and jobs.  

1. Would you believe that the INS is going to send all the paperwork (police certs, regular paperwork) that you and I have submitted to the embassy?  On a practical basis, this would be an enormous amount of paper.  On a "protect your backside" basis, how would INS cover themselves during later reviews of approvals if all the paperwork and support documents have been sent to the embassy?  Do you actually believe they would photocopy everything before sending it?  Get real.

2. And even if the embassy gets the police cert, etc that you have submitted would the embassy decide to give these people an early interview date based on this extra stuff?  The clerk who sets up the interview date is qualified to review the police cert and other extra "stuff"?  Huh?

Sorry to be sarcastic but all these extra papers are clogging up an already overloaded INS.  Early this year someone wrote (quite proudly) that their I-129 submission was about 1 - 2 inches thick.  Every email, every letter, everything was submitted.  Now this INS clerk takes about 20 minutes to review your application and has to wade through 100's of pages to find the 10 or 15 required items for approval.  What a waste!

If a dozen people have indicated that it has speeded up their application, you have to ask how they are making that comparison.  Every case is different.  The interview date selection seems to be at random just like the processing time through the various INS SC.

[Oscar]

... in response to Re: Sorry davet, I completely disagree w..., posted by davet on Sep 16, 2002

Seeing that there have been many men who HAVE done it this way successfully, I would say that you are obviously missing something.. your "doubts" about them setting up interviews is unfounded because indeed they have been doing so!  When the embassy can see for themselves that eveything that is required is already there, there is no reason not to give an interview date.
Yes, I DO believe that the INS will indeed send ALL the paperwork to the embassy. I have spoken to more than a few men who have done it this way (saving a few weeks time in the process), and everything was in order for their interviews.
"100's of papers"??  Well, I don't know what you sent, but I sent everything and there were NOT 100's of papers! And these papers are not "clogging" anything up.  There is nothing to "wade through", that is why you have the whole thing indexed with tabs, so they can go directly to what they want, when they want it.
I am not speaking for Moscow, my girl is in Ukraine, going through Warsaw.  I'm also sorry to be sarcarstic, but if you haven't been through Warsaw and many other men who have done it this way successfully have been, I will be inclined to listen to them rather than yourself...

[davet]

... in response to Your info is interesting but incorrect I..., posted by Oscar on Sep 16, 2002

I guess the embassy in Warsaw states one thing on it's web site and follows whatever whim it wants for you and the many other men?

I guess I also wonder how all these papers (incl. police reports, etc) are "cabled" to the embassy for those individuals who want to speed up their application.  No, only the approval from the INS is cabled.  The rest of the papers stay at INS.

From http://www.usinfo.pl/consular/iv/fiance.htm

Fourth Step - Scheduling

The Embassy will send out Packet 4 explaining the process of obtaining medical exams and scheduling an appointment for a visa interview when we have received the following items:
It is necessary for us to have the actual petition on hand in order to conduct an adequate visa interview for most K visas. We open cases on the basis of telegraphic notification from INS of petition approval, but we do not schedule them until the actual petition arrives and the other conditions listed above have been met. On average, the first available appointment is about six weeks from the time when all the conditions listed above have been met.
· The actual approved petition from INS or telegraphic notice of approval from INS
· Clearances from the required name checks
· A signed Optional Form 169 from the beneficiary
It is necessary for us to have the actual petition on hand in order to conduct an adequate visa interview for most K visas. We open cases on the basis of telegraphic notification from INS of petition approval, but we do not schedule them until the actual petition arrives and the other conditions listed above have been met. After receiving the above-referenced information, we make every effort to schedule interviews as soon as possible. However, because of our heavy workload of fiancé/e cases, the first available appointment may be up to a few months after the above-listed conditions are met.

In cases in which the Embassy has received official telegraphic notification of petition approval from INS, but not the actual petition, and extreme hardship would result if scheduling did not occur until the actual petition is received, the Embassy will consider requests for interview scheduling on the basis of telegraphic notice of petition approval. You or your lawyer may make such a request by fax. The fax should clearly explain the basis upon which extreme hardship is claimed. The Embassy may require proof to be submitted to substantiate the claim. In cases in which the request is granted, the Embassy may also request additional information from you regarding your marital history and the history of your relationship with your fiancée. In certain cases however, we will determine at the time of the visa interview that we need all documents submitted to INS regarding the petitioner and the beneficiary in order to process the case to completion.

End of copied material from the embassy web site.

You might speed the processing by faxing or sending to the embassy your signed OF 169 rather than waiting for the embassy to send out the packet and then returning.  The rest of the paperwork needs to be presented at the time of the interview.

[Oscar]

... in response to Re: Your info is interesting but incorre..., posted by davet on Sep 16, 2002

The entire petition is sent to Warsaw by diplomatic pouch.  No interview dates are set until they have the petition in hand (as is stated at their web site) not a cable, nothing else, only in hand.  Once they have it, you call them, tell them everything is there already and in order, you get the interview date.. no need for packets going back and forth etc..

Lets just leave it there ok??  I have no idea why this is an issue with you, guys have done it this way in Warsaw and continue to do so, it's that simple.  Hardly any reason to argue with it!  That is like saying that the sun will simply NOT rise tomorrow, yet it continues to rise everyday.  Not very logical to argue with something that's working!

[Dan]

... in response to Re: Re: Your info is interesting but inc..., posted by Oscar on Sep 16, 2002

The 'long pole' in getting the interview date scheduled by Warsaw - is that they insist on receiving the FBI name check results before they will schedule the actual interview.

Depending on what changes are made to incorporate more robust  screening into the process - these delays could be even longer.

Like you - we had sent everything (and more!) to Nebraska. Unlike you, I paid for and insured that the approved petition was cabled. I pursued them to set up a provisional file (which they did) - and then the delay became the waiting for the name check.

Just a small point.

- Dan

[Oscar]

... in response to One Small - But Notable - Correction . ...., posted by Dan on Sep 16, 2002

I have considered cabling but I have heard a lot of horror stories about doing so that ended up costing further delays (like Rags example for instance)..  So I have decided to just let it go by diplomatic pouch instead..

[Dan]

... in response to Point taken Dan...., posted by Oscar on Sep 16, 2002

To discuss the virtues of cabling versus diplomatic pouch. Rather, it was simply to advise that the item that *may* end up holding up establishment of your interview date by the Embassy may be that dang FBI name check. It added about 2 weeks to our processing time.

Just FWIW

- Dan