diamondeve21

My husband had an interview on July 11th for a missing Singapore police certificate. We submitted it on Aug 21st and our case has been in AP since then. At first, they said it was not recieved. I guess they finally viewed it after a month and it was finally posted. Since then, our case has been in AP. I really don't know what is causing the hold up either. My only guess is due to my husband's criminal background. He commited a misdemeanor when he was 18. He got into a street fight and was sentenced to probation w/no jail time. Also, he has a relatively common name so I am assuming its taking a while to do a background search. USCs have SSN... so a common name should not be an issue. Hopefully the next issue is not that they drag this out and then say you need another chinese police certificate (they expire after a year). Is he of Asian descent? Oh no... the issue is he is Chinese and his name in China is fairly common. He doesn't have a SSN yet. I'm the USC.

Thanks! I really hope so. I even contacted Eunice (Marc Ellis's assistant) and she said 6 month is a long time for AP. It is outside of the normal time frame.

My husband had an interview on July 11th for a missing Singapore police certificate. We submitted it on Aug 21st and our case has been in AP since then. At first, they said it was not recieved. I guess they finally viewed it after a month and it was finally posted. Since then, our case has been in AP. I really don't know what is causing the hold up either. My only guess is due to my husband's criminal background. He commited a misdemeanor when he was 18. He got into a street fight and was sentenced to probation w/no jail time. Also, he has a relatively common name so I am assuming its taking a while to do a background search.

I tried that. They told the senator the same thing. I tried every possible way you can think of.. but not much luck...

Tried that too! Didn't receive much more information....

Unfortunately, I found out about this after I got here... Since I still have till the end of the day, I thought I think I will just make one more trip up there to see if I can get lucky and run into an officer.

Just out of curiosity, anyone still waiting for their visa to arrive? - We still are... waiting for AP to be over after the blue slip on July 12th.

Hi, Has anyone appeared at the Guangzhou US Consulate in person and inquired about your spouse's immigration case? If so, how did u do so? I made an appointment for American Citizen Services but when I got there, the Chinese officer at the window turned me away in less than a minute. They said they only do passport services which are totally separate from the immigration unit. I asked to see an immigration officer but they said there is no such thing and I would have to send all inquiries by email. I read it on VJ that sometimes, American Citizens are able to obtain some useful information when they appear in person at the Consulate. I would appreciate it if someone can tell me where should I go and who should I speak with. We been waiting for this AP for 6 month. Thank you very much!

This won't help you at this late date, but for anyone else - check the Visa reciprocity tables for information about any needed certificates from a particular country - http://travel.state.gov/visa/fees/fees_3272.html The page for Singapore discusses this information http://travel.state.gov/visa/fees/fees_5455.html?cid=9732 Yea... But what threw me off was that I contacted Guangzhou embassy in December and received an email saying the statue of declaration would be sufficient!!! I knew they wanted the COC but since the embassy said the statue of declaration was acceptable, I thought it was fine¡­ I even read some of other posts on Visa Journey and some embassies (ex. Manila) were fine with the statue of declaration. If I knew this would have been a problem, I would have solved it before the interview¡­

HI, just read your post. Hope your husband already received visa!! Got blue for missing papers... But I think we will figure things out. Thanks!

Sorry for the late reply.. Thanks!

That changes everything for my opinion on the case... and I am generally alone on this. So just do your best. Good luck. Thanks David! The interview was short but there was problems with the paper work.

Hi, Yes! Beachey is right! I did post on visa journey and did not do an update here. So what happened was my husband received a blue slip for not having the correct Singapore police certificate (certificate of clearance aka COC). The reason we did not have this is because Singapore stopped issuing COC to none Singapore citizens in October of 2010. Instead, they offer a statue of declaration for none Singapore citizens. At that time, I did contact the Guangzhou embassy and they replied via email saying the statue of declaration would be acceptable. So my husband obtained that, we turned it into the NVC and the NVC was fine with it. When it came to the interview, apparently Guangzhou now has a new regulation and the VO said he absolutely needs the COC. Therefore, he received a blue slip. I then contacted the NVC and spoke to a supervisor. He directed me to the Visa Services Center in Washington DC and I spoke to a supervisor regarding this issue. In the meantime, I contacted the Singapore embassy in China as well as the US embassy in Singapore. They both said the COC would be acceptable!!! So it¡¯s fine with everywhere else except Guangzhou! So a few days later, the Visa Services Center in DC got back to me and told me that the Singapore police does issue a COC for none Singapore citizens if we do an appeal. So I contacted the Singapore police and after a couple of days emailing them (they refused at first), we finally received some information on how to do the appeal and that they would only issue the COC if we received an OFFICIAL LETTER from the requesting agency saying the Statue of Declaration is UNACEPTABLE! I then contacted Guangzhou embassy and it took them two and a half weeks to send out that letter. My husband just received the letter from Guangzhou two days ago so he will be submitting the application as well as the appeal to the Singapore police soon. However, Singapore police requires a set of finger prints from China police so he had to go get those done. After he got those done, I scanned fingerprints and e-mailed Singapore police and they said the finger prints were acceptable BUT, it needs to be translated to English. So tomorrow, he will look for a translator and have them translate the finger print set. I¡¯m not sure how are they doing to do this because it is just a piece of paper with boxes that has his finger prints in it and its labeled ¡°left hand, right hand.¡± So this is where we are at now¡­. As far as the time frame goes, Singapore will require 3 weeks to process the appeal and the application. They will mail the COC directly to Guangzhou so I am assuming that will take another 3-4 weeks for Guangzhou to process that? So we are looking at September visa¡­ Aye, what a headache!

Thanks for the reply guys! Sorry I am laggy on my status...I will let everyone know what is going on!

Hi, I have a quick question. You mentioned that you needed to pay some fees? I was wondering what additional fees are there? Are you talking about the visa fee? If I already paid the visa fee and the security fee with the I130, do we need to pay anymore fees inside the embassy?

Hi Everyone, I have a quick question. If I already paid the visa fee and the security fee with the I130, do we need to pay anymore fees inside the embassy? Thanks, Anna

Co-sponsors are a regular occurrence, especially among DCF's - they DO NOT agree to support the intending immigrant under ANY circumstances. They agree that the US Government MAY sue to recover any means tested benefits provided the intending immigrant. Why would you talk like this? Wait... I don't understand... What do you mean?

I am Chinses and so is he. We actually went to elementary school together so we have a long relationships history. However, I am worried about the sponseringship aspect becuase I am a full time student earning a doctare degree and I do not work. I do have some savings though... My co-sponser is a really good friend and he makes barely enough above the poverty guidline. Would this be a problem? Not to add to your worries, but you may want to really make sure your sponsorship numbers are enough. Also, they may be suspicious about a friend providing sponsorship and essentially swearing under perjury that they will support your husband if he leaves you...? However if they do have issues I think you have a chance to go back and try to get more solid sponsorship. The student financial issue is a regular problem... Yea.. this is what worries me too! My co-sponsor does make enough but only 1K above the poverty line. For the past three years, he made 7-8K above the poverty line but its just this year that his salary was low. He was out of job for a couple of month which is why he is cutting close. But for next year, his estimated income will be more than enough again... Do you think this would be a problem? I really cannot find anyone else as a co-sponsor. I also have approximately 20K worth of savings in the bank so I don't know if they would also consider this.

Everyone gets worried as interview day approaches, because as Tsap always says, it isn't about preparation, or process, it is just luck. While I think he might be a bit jaded, I'd agree at least it is fate, and no amount of worrying will change anything at this point. The only thing that might cause you trouble is the finances, and that is pretty easy to solve with a richer co-sponsor. Relax as best you can, in the end all will be good. Thanks for the comfort! Co-sponsorship is where I had the most trouble. I really have no one else. My mom does not work and my aunts and uncles for sure will not sponsor him. If we get stuck on this, I really don't know what to do... I have about 20K worth of savings in the bank but it is not enough to fulfill their requirements. I did still report them and I am hoping that they would take it into consideration.

Right now, my best advice is to step away from the computer, relax and try to focus on something else. You have been married close to two years. Do you trust your husband? Heck, he did a great job getting the documentation from UPS. So relax, chances are you will be fine. From what you have written about your relationship, there is nothing that doesn't seem bona-fide. At this point, the decision is largely out of your hands. Hope for the best and if that doesn't happen you work together as a couple to fix whatever issue Guangzhou brings up. But most of all, take a deep breath. I suspect your husband is as nervous about this as you are. What can you do to make sure your husband is at his best for the interview? Focus on that. Yea... I am just hoping for the best! We still have a lot of preparation to do and he will be dropping off his documents in less than 10 hrs... We have a lot of bona-fide evidence but I just hope they are not nitpicking on other things...

I have a question... So if they pick which documents to take, should I have my husband take apart the package that the lawyers prepared?

I filed as single 2009 because I did not support him and we were married in late 2009. For 2010, I did not file taxes. I am currently a full time student persuing a doctorate degree so I do not work. For my cosponser, he makes just 1000 above the poverty line and I have a feeling that this might be a problem. What do you think?

First, you may be fine with the evidence submitted so relax, you can't go back in the past and change what you submitted with the I-130. What I think you should do is make sure your husban d has all the info well organized so he can quickly access it to address any questions the VO might have. So what you need to do is think about what might lead the VO to believe that your relationship is not bona-fide. How much time have you been together? Have that info ready to show to the VO. Also make sure your pictures are well organized so that you can show the timeline and story of your relationship. That might be enough. I am going to make a guess that you are orginally from China? This probalby helps. If not, how good is your husband's English? Is the VO going to question how you communicate? How does your husband answer. Would a stranger find your relationship unusual? Any Red flags? Are you older than your husband (especially more than a year or two)? Does he already have other relatives in the US, especially if you have a work/personal relationship with them. And chances are, if you don't have enough evidence you may get a blue slip where you then need to submit the evidence you could have submitted with the I-130. A direct white slip would be unusual unless your case has significant red flags. I am pretty worried that we didn't frontload the I130. did not frontload the I130. All the evidence that the VO have are just the ones that was sent in with I130, which is not a lot. I was under the impression that we were allowed to drop off relationship evidence during the document drop off day but I guess not. I really hope the VO will look at the 4lbs of evidence that my husband is bringing now. I heard that most of the VO already made their decision prior the interview and I hope he does not have a denial in mind. So lets say he did have a denial in mind, do you think the evidence that we are bringing in now can influence his decision? I am so worried right now.

I am Chinses and so is he. We actually went to elementary school together so we have a long relationships history. However, I am worried about the sponseringship aspect becuase I am a full time student earning a doctare degree and I do not work. I do have some savings though... My co-sponser is a really good friend and he makes barely enough above the poverty guidline. Would this be a problem?

IMO, this is irrelevant to the case. IMO, The top five issues for your case would be: 1. How you meet 2. How many trips and face time you have in person 3. The marital/child/age situation on both sides 4. Is he a CCP member? 5. What city is he from? Your past filing is past. Don't concern yourself with that. Look ahead. I will write an EOR letter which will address everything. We are actually elementary classmates and we had a brief relationship when we were 15. We kept in touch all these years and remained best friends since then. He is not a CCP member and this is both of our first marriage. We are the same age and we are from the same city. I think we look pretty good there. Although we have a lot of communication records, I am just worried that the embassy do not have much evidence right now.