chl2010

Hi, I feel so sad for you after reading this. Please be strong. I have been following your case for some time because our case is very similar to yours. To be short, my wife's K-1 and CR-1 visa were both denied and the CR-1 was later reaffirmed last year. She was given a second interview in Dec. last year for the reaffirmed CR-1 and she still got a blue sheet that Guangzhou was requesting more documents. We submitted more documents and finally my wife got the IR-1 visa last month. She is with me in US now. The whole process took us 4 years. At one point, we were considering quitting but we changed our mind and decided to fight to the end. In the beginning, we didn't hire attorney at all. But after CR-1 denial, we realized we need an attorney and hired Marc Ellis. Marc Ellis did an excellent job preparing our CR-1 rebuttal and quickly USCIS re-affirmed the petition. During the rebuttal process, Marc wanted to know every detail of the failed interview and he was trying to get to the bottom of the CO's concern. He then had his assistant Eunice call my wife and had very detailed phone interview with my wife. In his rebuttal letter, he addressed the most damaging CO's concern on the first page. This way, if the UCSIS reaffirms the case, GUZ can't use the same reason that was described on the first page to deny her again. During my wife's second interview, Eunice came to our apartment (Mr. Yang's place) many times to coach my wife's interview. My wife got the blue for the second interview and Marc and Eunice helped us overcome the blue and my wife is finally with me here in US now. Please call Marc Ellis. He has a local US number that will reach him in Vietnam. PM me if you need the number. Please hang in there.

Hello all, It's sad for us to say goodbye to our friends at Candle for Love. Engaged 3 years ago and married 2 years ago, we are still permanently separated by GUZ. There was not even an explanation why both her K-1 and CR-1 were denied. We have decided to get divorced. There is just no way we can continue the marriage like this. It's a torture for us and we both have agreed to quit. She is young and I don't want her to waste her youth on this. We just don't understand why the GUZ, the Department of State of US treated us like this. At the minimum, we deserved the explanation why they denied the visa. This is the spouse visa, this is between husband and wife. This is not the visitor's visa or student's visa. They are breaking up families and they don't care because this not their family. Again, thanks for all the help from you wonderful friends. Bye. chl2010

Hello, well its been wait wait wait. nothing nothing nothing.does anyone out there have any information,or help which they could please offer us.thank you all.hope to hear something soon. Davy Not much you could do but waiting. Believe me, it will be a long wait. I understand completely your frustration. We have been waiting for 1 year 6 months just for the NOID letter from USCIS. Many other people are also in the same boat. In the mean time, you and your wife needs to find something to do to keep both of you busy. The long wait is inevitable and you will need to cope with it no matter you like it or not. I am not sure if you like to listen this, may be the long wait is a good test between you. I don't know how many couples broke up during this whole ordeal but I think it does happen. There is not really much you could do but to think and act positively about the whole situation. Hang in there. You will be together eventually.

The Congressman/Senator's involvement is not necessary completely helpless. At least in our case, the chief of the visa unit in Guangzhou wrote a letter to my Senator explaining the situation. It's not a canned message. He told my senator that I need to wait for the NOIR from USCIS and according to his observation, we should be able to have our case re-affirmmed. If not, he encouraged me to submit a new CR-1 application. This is the official letter sent by the chief of visa unit of the Guangzhou and signed by himself. The letter spelled my wife's name and my name correctly. At least, this case has raised Guangzhou's attention, and I believe they will have the record on the case for the correspondence which it should help the case for the next round.

http://www.fms.treas.gov/checkclaims/fms_form_232.pdf Specific Power of Attorney BY INDIVIDUAL FOR THE COLLECTION OF A SPECIFIED CHECK DRAWN ON THE UNITED STATES TREASURY If the link doesn't work directly, copy the link to the browser. If you have problem convincing the bank, attached is the treasury form designed specifically for the purpose. Read the instruction carefully. This is the treasury form and instruction so it's very convincing. I had problem myself and went to many banks and no one will let me do it. Once I showed the form to one bank (Bank of America), they changed their mind and I deposited the check. Of course, my poor wife had to make a trip to local consulate to have the power attorney notarized. Believe me, you will have hard time to find a bank willing to accept the check if you don't have the document. chl2010 Thanks so much for this info. I hope moderator will post this note . This is very important. US consul does power of atty ,etc... with a fee ( $40 , I think ...? ). Reg. other options ,,,, they are up to their mercy ... No guarantee ... you can spin around and around wasting time; or you may get lucky and done. I agree it is a pain in the rear . Going inside US consul is not so pleasant either ; for non US citizen , they get treated like rabbid ( I have to agree with Tsap Tsui ) by the security . Yes, this is very important information. I was running around town trying and begging all the banks and hoped one bank would accept this check and no one did. Not even one. I posted the issue on many internet forums asking for help and no one could help. All of them including so called expert said that you should just keep trying. I was so desperate and I needed to deposit the check. It's a big amount. So I googled it and found the form. The treasury has the form just for this purpose. I printed it out and brought it to the bank again and showed to the Vice President of the bank who just happened patrolling around the bank. She saw the instruction of the form and changed her mind right away. She told me to have it notarized by my wife and if there were any problem from her employees, I could call her. She then gave me the business card. I filled the form and sent to my wife to sign. Remember, we need to call the US citizen service of the local consulate to make the appointment for the wife. Tell them that this is for the notarization of the the power attorney needed in US. Guess what happened next? Very interesting. Her appointment was 2:30 p.m. She was not seen until 5:30 p.m. The consulate treated her like nobody. All other people came after her got seen before her. She ended up with the last one left in the consulate. This is so unfair. She told me that she won't do this again and I don't blame her. This is not done yet. More crazy things to follow. Finally, she mailed the check with the notarized power attorney back to me. I took the check to the bank. Guess what, they still wouldn't accept it. I almost screamed. I was talking to the bank manager. I then called my favourite VP. She told me to come to her branch. She met me in front of the lobby and brought me to the teller without waiting in line to have the check deposited. She then apologized. She asked me the name of the manager that refused the check. This is what I had been through just to deposit a stupid check. Again, the document is very important to have your check deposited. Don't talk to the regular employee of any bank. They don't have a clue about what this is about. Talk to at least the manager or even the VP. I have learned the very hard way that I will have the check deposited directly to my account for my next tax return. chl2010

http://www.fms.treas.gov/checkclaims/fms_form_232.pdf Specific Power of Attorney BY INDIVIDUAL FOR THE COLLECTION OF A SPECIFIED CHECK DRAWN ON THE UNITED STATES TREASURY If the link doesn't work directly, copy the link to the browser. If you have problem convincing the bank, attached is the treasury form designed specifically for the purpose. Read the instruction carefully. This is the treasury form and instruction so it's very convincing. I had problem myself and went to many banks and no one will let me do it. Once I showed the form to one bank (Bank of America), they changed their mind and I deposited the check. Of course, my poor wife had to make a trip to local consulate to have the power attorney notarized. Believe me, you will have hard time to find a bank willing to accept the check if you don't have the document. chl2010

USCIS recieved the paper back from our friendly US consulate at Guangzhou in May 2010. They sent a letter in response to Senator John Cornyn's inquiry saying that the case has been delayed further. They apologized to Senator and said it will be probably processed in 45 to 60 days. This is Vermont service center. Any one has similar situation over there? Thanks.

There are others here that have waited and are still waiting. It took me 4 years. No need to think time is wasting away as there are many things you two can do to learn more about each other. I thought I knew my wife well but when she got here it was like starting all over again. I am sure others will chime in and tell you the same thing I am telling you. Be patient and learn each other. You two have known each other such a short time. Good luck!!! Have been waiting for more than 2 years now. Still waiting for the famous NOIR from USCIS. Many of us are in the same boat. Hang in there.

I tried contacting Marc Ellis by email 2 times but never got a reply .Just figured he was not interested in my case. I will gather requested information when I get back to USA on the 22 of August.If I had the info here,I would take it to Guangzhou,but I do not. If there is anything else that I should address,I would like to know.Any more info on issues to address would be kindly appreciated. Thank you for all the input I got, God Bless kemlsx Hi Kemlsx, Haven't heard from you for a while. Did your wife get the visa? Hope everything went well for you. chl2010

Hi Tkgert, Your case is so similar to our case. As of today, have you heard anything from USCIS regarding the NOID? According to my conversation with the operator, after 120 days of USCIS receiving the case back from Guangzhou, you could file the official inquiry to the USCIS and this is exactly what I did. They gave me the reference number and will give me the answer in a few weeks. After 180 days of them receiving the case, the case is considered late and you could ask your senator to push them for the decision. I wonder what else we could do? Thanks. chl2010 Ok chl2010, Still not a thing rom USCIS,This morning I called there number again and received the same message, so I went back and listened to all the options again. After several times of this I heard the one I was looking to hear, now after 20 minutes of this I REALLY DONT KNOW what number I pushed but damn if I didnt actually get to talk with a real person . I explained my problem to her and she was very nice and helpful. As I told her my case was past 180 days she then took all my info and will send a letter to the service center that has my case for a request of a decision.I was given a refference number and told that I should hear something within 30 days and if not to contact them again. So now just wait again but to finally speak with someone after all this time was some progress. If you hear anything before I do please let me know,, Good Luck,,, TK Hi TK, Got the reply from USCIS after requesting the status update by talking to the operator of the service center. The letter states that the case is still in the normal processing time (Less than 6 months) and they process the case by the order they received. I am guessing that after 6 months, they will probably be really doing something if I keep pushing hard. I will get my senator involved again then. I'll keep my finger crossed. Your case is beyond 120 days, I hope they will do something meaningful. Let me know. chl2010

Hi Tkgert, Your case is so similar to our case. As of today, have you heard anything from USCIS regarding the NOID? According to my conversation with the operator, after 120 days of USCIS receiving the case back from Guangzhou, you could file the official inquiry to the USCIS and this is exactly what I did. They gave me the reference number and will give me the answer in a few weeks. After 180 days of them receiving the case, the case is considered late and you could ask your senator to push them for the decision. I wonder what else we could do? Thanks. chl2010 As of today have not heard a thing from USCIS, Website always has same info as before as the message I receive when I call them. Let me know your trick to actually speaking with someone there, What else? I really dont have a clue,, best of luck to you,,, TK Hi, You might want to try this. It might work. After sitting there for more than 4 months, my file got touched again today. You can call USCIS and there is an option that you could choose for the case that's out of the processing time. You will then be able to talk to a real person. If the case has been sitting there for 120 days or more since they received it, they will send the inquiry on your behalf. They will give you a reference number so you could follow up. As far as I know, they will definitely check into the case. As for how much they will do for the case, I am not sure. I hope this will help with the case at least they are looking into it. It won't hurt anything. I'll keep my fingers crossed. chl

Hi Tkgert, Your case is so similar to our case. As of today, have you heard anything from USCIS regarding the NOID? According to my conversation with the operator, after 120 days of USCIS receiving the case back from Guangzhou, you could file the official inquiry to the USCIS and this is exactly what I did. They gave me the reference number and will give me the answer in a few weeks. After 180 days of them receiving the case, the case is considered late and you could ask your senator to push them for the decision. I wonder what else we could do? Thanks. chl2010

Contacting the Senator or Congressman in our case didn't do much. Our CR-1 visa was denied in August 2009 last year. Our senator sent the inquiry to Guangzhou right after the denial, it still took 8 months for UCSIS received the case back from Guangzhou. USCIS received the case in May, 2010. The case currently is still in USCIS and waiting for being reviewed. Our senator again sent an inquiry to USCIS and all we got is the standard replay and nothing happened. We are talking about more than a year waiting already after the denial even with Senator's help. Just for your information. Don't get the hope too high with the Senator's help. chl2010

Hi, Here is the article I found on the internet. I hope this will make you feel better. If you follow the advice that many people mentioned in this thread, I believe your case will likely be re-affirmed unless there are serious problems mentioned in the article. It will just take longer time. The article was published by the Department of States so it's very legitimate. http://travel.state.gov/visa/laws/telegrams/telegrams_1415.html Please note the following in the article: "posts seeking revocations must show the "factual and concrete reasons for revocation." USCIS has asked us to remind consular officers that revocation requests must provide solid, factual evidence of fraud or misrepresentation, evidence that is likely to stand up in a court of law. In the case of sham marriages, for example, 9 FAM 42.43 N2.2 notes that USCIS requires at the least either documentary evidence that money changed hands between the petitioner and beneficiary or factual evidence that would convince "a reasonable person" that the marriage was entered into solely to evade immigration laws. Without such evidence, USCIS will be unlikely to obtain a petition''s revocation if a petitioner chooses to contest a notice of intent to revoke." Hang in there. Don't give up. It will just take longer time to bring your wife here. chl2010

Hi, We are in the same boat as you. The CR-1 was sent back to USCIS in May, 2010 and we are waiting for the famous NIOR (Notification of the intention to revoke). At this point, we can't do anything except waiting for the letter because it's very important to find out the exact reason why Guangzhou denied the CR-1. I live in Texas and the Senator John Cornyn has been very helpful to us. I have asked him to send an official inquiry to USCIS to find out the current status. He helped us before by sending the inquiry to Guanhzhou and the Chief of the visa unit of Guangzhou did send a official reply to him and he later fowarded to us. His inquiry to Guangzhou did help to expedite the return of the case from Guangzhou to the USCIS. We hope we'll get the NOIR soon with senator's help. After we get the NOIR, we'll have John Roth's help trying to have the case reaffirmed. Hope this information is helpful. We have many couples like you are suffering. Hang in there. chl2010

Hi JBHypno, I wish you good luck for your wife's coming second interview. I believe they will give your wife the visa this time. If you don't mind, can you tell me if you had to submit the rebuttal to have the case reaffirmed? How long you had to wait to get the NOIR from USCIS? We are still waiting for the NOIR from USCIS and it's about 4 months since they received the case back from Guangzhou. We appreciate your information. chl2010

Congratulations. I am pretty sure that your wife will get the visa this time. We are still waiting for the NOIR from USCIS for our CR-1. It's about 11 months since the CR-1 denial. I guess we can't do anything but patiently waiting. Nice to hear your good news. chl2010

Hi Kemlsx, Thanks for sharing the important information with us. A lot of information people posts on this site are good information such as getting the visa, tough interview experience but still getting the visa, etc. I don't see many postings regarding how to deal with the visa denial. Many people simply won't post or just disappear after the visa denial because they are frustrated enough and don't want to talk about it in the public forum. I have hired an attorney myself. We want to know the exact reason for the denial before we do anything new. Did you file another I-130 petition before you sent in the rebuttal to USCIS? My attorney recommends us to file another I-130 before we receive NOID because he thinks it might take very long, sometimes even years. We are patiently waiting for the letter from USCIS. It's been 9 months since my wife's CR-1 denial and we still haven't heard anything. Regards, chl2010

Hi Kemlsx, I got similar situation like you. My wife's CR-1 visa was denied on August 31, 2009. We just found out that USCIS received the returned case from Guangzhou on May, 7 2010. It took a long time for just returning the case to USCIS from Guangzhou. We hope we'll hear something from USCIS (Vermont) soon. At least we want to find out the exact reason for the denial. I have a question for you. Did USCIS request more proof from you or they just reaffirmed the petition? Since your case is so similar to ours, any information from you is greatly appreciated. Regards, chl2010