Longest wait for interview?

[bobm]

Hello,

I am new to your site. It appears that my fiance and I have been waiting a ridiculously long time for our interview.

 

We returned our Packet 3 in August of 2002 and can get NOTHING from them except that they are still waiting for an answer.

 

5 days ago my fiance was able to get through to the consulate by phone and was asked why she didn't come to her interview. She said that she hadn't received anything. So I faxed, federal expressed, and emailed a request for a new date.

 

But upon a follow up call AND a call from me, we were BOTH told that there had been no interview scheduled and that they had not received the clearance back from the states yet.

 

I really can not believe this.

 

ANYONE HAVE ANY IDEAS WHO TO SPEAK TO???????

 

Bob

[tonado]

I agree with you. Your wait for the interview is longer than the black hole people waiting for visas. Try contacting a CA officer.

[JoeLiyan]

This is a ridiculously long wait - sounds as if the ball(s) got dropped many times over, especially since they said you had the interview, then didn't have one scheduled - argh! That Consulate is something else...

 

Likewise suggest MAJOR follow-up with "powers that be" (names not mentioned here) that they stay on top of this communication breakdown properly.

 

Others can advise you as to the "players" to speak with/fax/email. My prayers are with you for a speedy resolution.

[AZwolfman]

bobm,

Check out the Links and Resources, and the Contact List section. Use the pull-down menu at lower right of this page.

[owenkrout]

Unfortunately you missed the best opportunity. If you had asked for the interview to be rescheduled at the time they asked why you had not appeared, then they would have had to take some action.

 

The American citizen petitioner needs to follow up on this aggressively. They will just blow the beneficiary off, I am afraid. You need to get through to a Consular officer (American personnel) at GZ and insist that they reschedule the interview. Don't let them off the hook, be very insistent that they take care of the problem.

 

If they claim that they can't do that then insist to know why. There is no excuse for a case to have taken this long. You may have to really badger them, but this is a case where it is legitimate to do so.

[Guest agl88]

I believe that GZ set up the interview for you but you never receive the notice. Also, you need to check with DOS about the name check status.

 

I think that your name check is still pending. But GZ could set up the interview last year when the name check was not finished. (that is not the case right now).

 

You need to ask congressman and senator to make the inquiry of your case. explain your situation. You need to email GZ and CA.

[AngryTexan]

Bobm,

Sorry to tell you this, but you will soon learn that NOTHING coming out of GZ can be trusted, or believed. Nothing. At the risk of boring so many other CFL members who have heard it all before, let me briefly summarize my recent experiences with those incompetents to give you a better idea of what you and some of the other newbies are facing.

On 3-2-03, after having received no response to nearly two months' worth of faxes, e-mails, phone messages, and Federal Express deliveries, I called Linda Donahue's office. She is the Chief of the Consular Section at GZ. I spoke with her assistant, Jane Forman, who told me that GZ had not received my fiancee's clearance, and she had no idea why DOS-CA was telling me that it had been sent. On 03-03-03, DOS-CA sent me an e-mail telling me that the clearance had, in fact, been sent, and that they had no idea why GZ was telling me otherwise. The following morning, I received an e-mail from the dreaded GZ Info Team, telling me that the EMS had been sent, and that my fiancee should be receiving it any day. Two days later, she did receive the EMS, and we picked up her visa in GZ on 3-10.

Three days after we picked up her visa (!!!), I received another e-mail from Ms. Donahue's office, finally responding to an inquiry that I had sent 6 weeks earlier, informing me that the clearance had not been sent, and counselling me to be patient (after having waited nearly 16 MONTHS since filing I129F!!!!!). Nearly two weeks later, after we had already returned to Houston together, I received letters on the same day from my Senator and U.S. Representative, forwarding to me copies of e-mails that they had received from Ms. Donahue's office the day before, telling them that GZ had still not received my fiancee's clearance, and that we simply neede to be patient.

Veterans of this board can cite numerous other examples of GZ giving out patently false and inaccurate information. And while many may disagree with my advice, I strongly urge you to document everything you are told by GZ with a follow-up fax, e-mail, and hard-copy letter sent by Federal Express, and to get your Senators and Representative involved if at all possible. Also, feel free to contact me if you would like for me to verify the above account of my dealings with GZ for anyone who might be able to help you.

[Mick]

This is yet another example of the difficulty many have experienced in getting reliable information out of GZ. Like the others above, I would encourage you to press hard for answers. In a case like yours, you have waited much too long for the interview. You may really have to make a pest out of yourself but given the circumstances, I think that being a pest is justified. I would echo the sentiments expressed by the Texan in this thread, document every interaction you have with GZ, whether positive or negative. Push them to give you answers. I would also echo what Owen said about demanding to speak with a Consular Officer. The folks who are answer the phone lines are farther down the food chain and often don't understand the process fully.

 

One item I want to mention here seems pertinent. It has to do with the phone call where they asked you why you did not show up for the interview. Then later they told you the interview had never been scheduled. I have one possible explanation for this. Back in February, Owen Krout and myself visited the Consulate in GZ and met with Richard Adams, head of the Immigrant Visa Unit. We spent two hours with him and he was quite forthcoming regarding the problems with the visa delays. One item he mentioned during our conversation was the fact that on the GZ computer screen, all unresolved cases are coded "failed to appear". In other words, even if my case has yet to have an interview, it is coded in their system as "failed to appear". Lets say for example that I have an interview date of May 1st. Prior to that time, my case will appear as if I missed the interview.

 

Now don't ask me why they do it this way. I have no clue as it makes little sense to me. Mr. Adams explained that it was simpler to do it this way and that he would periodically have his staff go through the cases coded "failed to appear" and locate unresolved cases that way.

 

I know it sounds weird but that is the reality of the situation. Wish it wasn't that way but that's the way it is.

 

Now it could be that the person who answered your phone call was either a new staff member or one who didn't understand the coding. Thus they asked you why you didn't show up for the interview. The next call may have been answered by someone who understood that all cases are coded "failed to appear", even if an interview has not been scheduled. The other possibility is that your interview was in fact scheduled but Packet 4 was lost in the mail and never reached you.

 

In any event, you need to push for answers. This is even more vital now as GZ is beginning to cut back on their staffing due to the SARS issues.

 

Owen, if you read this you might want to verify or add to what I said about the "failed to appear" issue. If my memory serves me right, this was what Adams told us.

[bobm]

To all,

 

Thanks much for all the input! In 12 hours you have been more help than I could have hoped for.

 

A quick update. This morning spoke to CA and was told that GZ HAD ACTUALLY sent in my papers back in Sept. (I am stunned) and that the case is still pending (the woman seemed stunned). She had no idea and was kicking it upstairs to her boss and asking me to call back in 2-3 weeks if they had not called me back.

 

bob

[Eric&Yuhui]

She had no idea and was kicking it upstairs to her boss and asking me to call back in 2-3 weeks if they had not called me back.

 

bob

I would give them a week, top.

[AZwolfman]

Good! Now you have rattled their cages, and have gotten their attention. I agree with Eric - give them no more than a week, then keep after them.

[owenkrout]

Mick is right about the "failed to appear" coding for any unresolved cases. The reasoning Mr. Adams gave was that the staff would see that and investigate to see why the case was still unresolved.

[Eric&Yuhui]

Mick is right about the "failed to appear" coding for any unresolved cases.  The reasoning Mr. Adams gave was that the staff would see that and investigate to see why the case was still unresolved.

That's to assume they do systematically.

We know better..