Is there anyone still in the original black hole?

[tparrent]

I sure hope not

[Mick]

I hope not as well. Jeez, it was a long enough wait as it was.

[Eric&Yuhui]

Nobody I think.

Now some I-129F 2002 blackholers are in the AOS 2003 blackhole....

Same pit.. Different times...But wayyyy less stressful.... The babe is here !!!

Life's good. Ain't it kids ?

[AZwolfman]

the real physicall "Green Card" received this week. Yea!!

[Mick]

the real physicall "Green Card" received this week.  Yea!!

A Big Congrats Wolfman!!! You guys sure made fast work out of that little process.

[AZwolfman]

My wife is so proud of that card. She has been taking it out and just staring at it these past few days - possibly in disbelief that the process is finally at end and the U.S. finally considers her a resident. One of the last to crawl out of the Black Hole and one of the first to hold the green card. . . almost makes me believe in the system again

 

For those who think they are hung up in the system, I want to emphasize that we were one of the earliest interviewed and one of the last to receive the visa. At times we wondered if we would ever be together again. If your love and committment for each other is strong, the BCIS will eventually sort things out and you will be together. Just communicate with each other daily, and visit if possible.

[keelec]

For those who think they are hung up in the system, I want to emphasize that we were one of the earliest interviewed and one of the last to receive the visa.

AZwolfman,

 

I thought the practice was to give the visa immediately after the interview. Occasionally I have seen reports of delays between the two.

 

What happened?

 

----- Clifford -----

[Mick]

Don pretty much explained what happened but I will try to add a few personal details. As he mentioned, GZ stopped issuing visas at the interview, even if the interview was successful, on August 1, 2002. Instead, successful interviewees were issued a white slip of paper stating that they would be notified when they could return and pick up the visa. We had our interview on August 20, 2002. Li got the white slip. I went back to the Consulate the next day to make inquiries as to what was going on. I was told that new security clearances were now mandated and, as a result, there would be a "slight delay" in issuing the visa. I asked what a slight delay might mean. They told me no more than thirty days.

 

Har..dee...har har har!

 

Mind you we had already been waiting eleven months, just for the interview.

 

Well, thirty days stretched into months. Many of us on Candle were affected and came to be known as The Black Hole Gang. Accurate information was impossible to come by. Most of us kept being put off by various agencies including GZ, DOS, and Consular Affairs. In fact, it was out of this quagmire that Candle for Love was born. GZ kept doing interviews, kept issuing the white slips, and built up a backlog you wouldn't believe.

 

There were several screw ups in processing and then we all went through a time where our cases were supposedly "resubmitted" for the additional background checks. In our case, we were resubmitted on November 16 and again on January 13. This was particularly a time of confusion because we couldn't get straight answers from anyone. The months continued to drag on.

 

On February 10, 2003, Owen and I managed to secure a meeting with RA, then Chief of the IV Unit at GZ. This meeting was agreed to after a barrage of emails and faxes from Candle members, asking that he meet with us. We had an informative and productive two hour meeting with him but left unsure as to what would be done to clear out the Black Hole cases. Time continued to march slowly on.

 

In our case, we finally received notification to pick up our visa on March 3 and we made the trip to GZ to actually pick it up on March 10, ten days shy of seven months post interview.

 

If they haven't been deleted, I would suggest that you go back into the bowels of the Candle board and read some of the posts that were made during the period from December 2002 through April of this year. I think you will find it interesting reading indeed and perhaps can gain some insight into just how screwed up this process can get.

 

The bonds of friendship formed during those tortuous days remain treasures to me. It was a nasty time to say the least but most of us have endured. Such reading may also give some insight into who some of us old timers are and what we went through.

[AZwolfman]

Clifford,

Don and Mick have pretty well summed up what happened. Our interview was 08/08/02, and we even had a flight already booked, which we changed several times at expense. At her interview, she was told there would be a 2 to 4 week delay due to new security mandates because of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

 

From November to February, almost no visas were issued. We finally received ours in March of 2003. I suggest you read some of the old posts on this forum (Nov 2002 to Feb 2003). You may find them quite informative, and may learn just how much those of us on Candle went through to get our loved ones home - and just how screwed up our government was. The system still seems to run into snags occaisionally, but nothing like in the Black Hole Days of '02. Hopefully we will never experience anything like that again.

 

Before this website was created in November 2002, about all we had to turn to for information and support was the old G7 site (wonder if it is still there?) which censored just about anything I would post.

[tonado]

Nobody I think.

Now some I-129F 2002 blackholers are in the AOS 2003 blackhole....

Same pit.. Different times...But wayyyy less stressful.... The babe is here !!!

Life's good. Ain't it kids ?

How true! Even if she has the green card, it is not over until she passes the citizen exam. I believe the USA government can deport someone with a green card.

[Eric&Yuhui]

Nobody I think.

Now some I-129F 2002 blackholers are in the AOS 2003 blackhole....

Same pit.. Different times...But wayyyy less stressful.... The babe is here !!!  

Life's good. Ain't it kids ?

How true! Even if she has the green card, it is not over until she passes the citizen exam. I believe the USA government can deport someone with a green card.

The only thing you have to keep in mind with a green card ( I used to have one ! ) , is that although it grants PERMANENT residence, it doesn't give you the "right" to leave the U.S and come back whenever you feel like it.

All green card holders have to apply for a re-entry permit if they leave the U.S for more than 12 months. Few people know that, but that's the fact.

You don't want to be bothered by say SFO POE if you visited your mom for 1 yr 1/2 . Green card could be revoked then if you don't have a really good reason for the lengthy absence.

So be warned.

Other than that, yer safe

[keelec]

Thank you all for your heartfelt letters.

 

I do remember reading somewhere about a year ago that the USA had stopped issuing visas, but perhaps I didn't realize the full impact of the news….. Actually, I hadn't really believed that they had cut of the visas "cold-turkey".

 

It is hard to imagine the pain that one would feel from believing that the process was over, only to discover another wait for an indeterminate amount of time, with the only thing known for sure is that nobody was being issued visas.

 

Perhaps we are still seeing a tremendous fallout from the backlog of applications.

 

I can't imagine an embassy trying to clean up a mess of stopping doing interviews for 6 months when their regular load of paperwork and interviews is enough to bury them.

 

The not having any timeline is what is still hurting many of us.

 

I get the impression that the timing has shifted somewhat on the processing of the visa applications. Thus, the applications seem to take longer to process in the USA than they have in the past. 8 months just to leave the USA might be considered a "quick" application. Thus, it is very difficult to finish the paperwork in Russia/China before a year passes, and perhaps somewhat over a year.

 

I am now certain that I will be waiting well over a year BEFORE our interview date. I keep thinking that it has to be coming soon, but as the months creep by….. Winter becomes spring, and patiently we wait….. Birthdays pass, and patiently we wait…. Spring becomes summer, and the patience begins to wear thin, but we wait…… Summer becomes fall all semblance of patience is gone, but we wait….. Fall becomes winter, and we wait…… As Winter will break and spring will soon come, I am dreading repeating the waiting process.

 

Why?

 

It certainly doesn't have anything to do with terrorism or violence....... I am 100% certain that my Fiancee isn't a terrorist.

 

----- Clifford ------