US stops issuing visas to Hondurans

[geeciejay]

My future wife is from Honduras and I have already submitted the fiance visa packet and received the notice of action 797 c letter. US stops issuing visas to Hondurans indefinitely because they let third world nationals obtain passports used for travel to the USA. Does thise mean I am screwed?

[utopiacowboy]

The Hondurans themselves are Third World nationals. Was this something you read? Or did you get it in an offical notice?

[Ray]

News Story

Interesting! I saw the news story on CNN but they don’t give many specifics. The Web site for the U.S. embassy in Tegucigalpa seems to be down, so who knows what the policy is in actuality. You could call the embassy and see if you and your fiancée will be affected.

I guess you could be screwed, but I tend to think this is only temporary. It sounds like one of those diplomatic maneuvers to prod another government into cracking down on local fraud. These things don’t usually last very long.

They may only be suspending processing of non-immigrant visas (visitor, business, student, etc). Fiancées are processed as immigrants and require specific background checks, so the chance of security risks and fraudulent documents is reduced.

When did you file your K-1 petition? Did you have to comply with the new IMBRA requirements?

Keep us posted and good luck…

[NW Jim]

Looks like Ray hit it on the head:

U.S. says to resume visas to Hondurans next week

Fri Jun 23, 2006 9:45pm ET168

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (Reuters) - The United States will renew travel visa applications for Hondurans on Monday after suspending them over what it called lax documentation rules in the Central American nation, the U.S. Embassy said on Friday.

The embassy in Honduras ceased issuing the visas last week, saying third-country nationals had been able to obtain local passports in Honduras used for travel to the United States.

U.S. officials said they were concerned about the ease with which people were able to obtain Honduran birth and marriage certificates, identity cards and passports.

The embassy said it would renew the visa process after the Honduran government agreed to tighten up official identification and documentation programs and clean up corruption in which applicants can bribe bureaucrats for documents.

The United States is working with Honduras "to reduce the threat to our national security as well as that of Hondurans," the embassy said.

[geeciejay]

I filed May and did not have to comply with IMBRA requirements.
Thanks Ray & NW Jim for the infomation. I did not see that news report must have missed it but thought it was one of those diplomatic maneuvers. Their website was down not sure why?

[Ray]

Jay, if you filed in May then you must comply with IMBRA. All fiancée petitions filed since Mar 6th have been placed on hold. You should be receiving an RFE by mail requesting more information. Read here:

http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/publicaffairs/statements/IMBRA_061306PN.pdf

Also, Jamie posted a story about this here on Jun 13th.

Ray

[geeciejay]

I have not yet received the RFE but I did find out where here in SD County how and where to obtain my spotless criminal record. Thanks Ray