Long time no see...

[Cali vet]

A friend who married here in Cali about a month ago, just before the new "file in US" requirement went to Bogota and was told "everything's in order, you can come back in November for the visa". Another friend is planning to marry here end of August. Wonder what the time frame will be under the new regulation.

[cancunhound]

... in response to Long time no see..., posted by Cali vet on Jul 23, 2003

[This message has been edited by cancunhound]

Somehow they've got to figure a way to allocate funds for more consular employees to handle this mess, we're starting to piss alot of people off, not just US citizens & their fiancees/wives.

If it only takes 1 month to process a tourist visa in Chile as opposed to 5 months in Colombia, at a minimum they should relocate employees from Chile to Colombia to level the playing field (of course that'll never happen because it makes good sense - this is the government afterall).

Maybe as the travel industry begins to wave their clout something may happen:

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=ourWorldNews&storyID=3150703

Since alot of this backup is due to concern of those applicants that plan to overstay their visa, here's an idea - require those applicants to receive a surgically implanted transmitter upon arrival in the US.

[Gary Bala]

... in response to Long time no see..., posted by Cali vet on Jul 23, 2003

With the end of DCF for visiting U.S. citizens in Colombia,
your question concerning the time frames for the new
procedure has been increasingly asked.

Understandably, married couples want to be together
as soon as possible. The K-3 spousal visa is now the
available option to maximize speed and efficiency in bringing
this about. (While the K-3 visa has been available in other
Latin countries for some time, it had no applicablity to Colombia
since the Consulate in Bogota up to now had always accepted DCF.)

The K-3 visa is a non-immigrant two year visa. It allows
mutiple entries to the U.S., thus no additional travel permission
is required. However, it does not allow work permission,
and thus work authorization must be secured. Furthermore,
the K-3 visa must be "adjusted" to legal residency, the
so-called "green card", and thus further immigration
petition work will be necessary.

The K-3 visa is conditioned on first properly filing
the I-130 petition with the appropriate BCIS Service Center,
and securing the receipt notice. As a "receipted" I-130
petitioner, the gentleman submits the K-3 visa petition request to the
the BCIS National Benefits Center (formerly the Missouri
Service Center). After approval, the case moves on the
the National Visa Center in Portsmouth, NH, and then the
Consulate in Bogota for final processing and visa issuance.

Current time frames (as of 07/03) for most cases in most parts of the country:
1. BCIS Service Center I-130 receipt notice - about 2 to 3 weeks
2. National Benefits Center decision - about 45 to 60 days
3. National Visa Center processing - about 2 to 3 weeks
4. US Consulate processing - about 4 to 5 weeks
Total time about 3 to 4 months in most cases.
Keep in mind that every case is a little different, that some
security and background checks take longer, and that
processing time frames constantly keep shifting.

Those who want more detail can visit my website,
and click "Check Petition Status", scroll to the bottom
for current processing time reports for all the BCIS Service
Centers, and timeframes for both the K-3 and for that matter the K-1 visa.
Type my name into any major search engine to reach my website.

Good luck to all of you Gentlemen,
Gary Bala

[wizard]

... in response to Long time no see..., posted by Cali vet on Jul 23, 2003

A friend of mine moved his wedding from July to June to try and beat the deadline for the DCF... He got married in Bogota and went to the embassy to file the DCF on June 25th... They told him that so many people were trying to get in under the wire that they were flooded with requests... They told him his interview would be in December!!!

[lswote]

... in response to Long time no see..., posted by Cali vet on Jul 23, 2003

So your friend did direct consular filing while it was still available but was told the visa wouldn't be available until November?  Was he given any reason?

Are they still doing direct consular filing but with longer approval periods?  I thought they stopped the DCF on June 27th and the only option now was the K-3 visa.

[littlebhuddha]

... in response to Re: Long time no see..., posted by lswote on Jul 23, 2003

They are only doing DCF for residents of Colombia.