This week has been an emotional roller coaster. Since our visa interview on October 29th where we were told our visa was approved pending the submission of three documents, our entire focus has been getting those documents. One document, the police report from the Dominican Republic was delayed two weeks. It was agonizing to think that we were delaying the process by not having the documents. Then holidays got in the way.

Finally, on November 13th we submitted all the documents, and as I wrote in the previous post, we were shocked to find out that we weren’t actually approved. We left the Consulate frustrated and dejected, our minds racing with possible reasons for the delay. This was especially painful because earlier that day we were actually convinced we were going to be given the visa that day and we started planning when we would leave. But as the hours passed we started to think that perhaps we were mistaken. Still, nothing prepared us for the news that the visa was still undecided.

I am blessed that I have the support of good people, many of whom I have become close to through our visa process. One of them, an immigration lawyer of Dominican descent who lives in the U.S., offered to see if she could find out what was going on with our case. She had me fill out a form giving her the authorization to inquire. She tried to fax the form to the fax number listed on the website for the Santo Domingo consulate but the fax would not go through. I tried from here with the same result. So she emailed it to them and then called the phone number the immigration officer had given me to inquire about the case. The Consulate said they would not accept inquiries over the phone.

The next day she called again, this time asking for someone’s first name and that got somewhere. They told here the full name of someone with the same first name and asked if that is who she meant. She said yes and they said that the person didn’t work there anymore but then transferred her to someone else. Then, and only then, was she able to find out that our case is under what is called “Administrative Review”. At this point the Consulate did not give details nor did they respond to the email from the day before.

The definition of an Administrative Review is as follows:

“Administrative Review” refers to a Consular Official placing the case “on hold” because the Visa Petitioner or Beneficiary FAILED TO PASS the security name check or background check, or because the Consulate or State Department or Homeland Security NEEDS TO INVESTIGATE some issue or matter in the case more closely. Cases placed into Administrative Review can ADD WEEKS OR EVEN MONTHS to processing time and final decision on visa issuance, typically in most cases AT LEAST 4 to 8 weeks additional time. Under current regulation, there is no right of appeal within State Department or Homeland Security for administrative review status. It is suggested that visa petitioners and beneficiaries keep track of the status of their case as best as possible, and secure, if possible, the reason or reasons their case has been placed into administrative review, which at least helps to relieve some anxiety during the waiting time.

It was devastating news. I have been in the Dominican Republic nearly 4 weeks and it has been a strain. One of my regular clients has cancelled her contract with me. Money is tight. I am missing so much in the States and the pressure of the holidays are encroaching. Yet I have been stubborn in wanted to stay and see this through. Four to eight weeks more was simply not possible.

We reeled with the news. Despondent, we had to face, yet again, the possibility that we may not get it. Even though we knew there was nothing in Karan’s past that would cause us to be denied, this has not been a fair process. The reality is that this process is completely subjective to the immigration officer. In our first petition, we didn’t have all our documents but instead of giving us the opportunity to submit them, we were denied and our petition marked as fraudulent. This time, our case was much stronger but we were still grilled by the ‘Fraud Protection Unit”. Then we were allowed to submit the missing documents but, at the whim of the Consulate, that still wasn’t enough.

With an Administrative Review (AR), it is initiated on the part of the Consulate but in our case, there was nothing in our file to justify this. I believe we are, in fact, victims of profiling because of the circumstances that my Indian husband is living in the Dominican Republic and now applying to live in the United States. The Consulate has mishandled this case. At no point should we have been told our case was approved and even pay for the delivery of the visa when in fact it was not approved yet. The Consulate should also not retain my husband’s passport.

Perhaps this has happened to us to draw attention to an unjust process. In researching about what an Administrative Review is, I read some heartbreaking stories of couples, who just like us, had the rug pulled out from under them. One couple had their visa approved and delivered. Then they noticed that the name was spelled wrong so they went back to the Consulate. The Consulate took the visa and then decided to initiate an AR and the visa was delayed for 6 months. Meanwhile the husband who was waiting for the visa had quit his job and bought plane tickets but then couldn’t use them.

There is much talk these days of immigration reform but I have yet to hear them mention family-based immigration, only the path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Family-based immigration is the process we are in, where a U.S. citizen petitions for a member of it’s family: husband, wife, child, parent, etc., to be allowed to immigrate to the United States. It is the easiest form of immigration to control because there is a U.S. citizen that can be held accountable, yet in many ways, this type of visa is harder to obtain than a tourist or student visa. In theory it makes sense: make it harder for someone to come and live in the United States versus just visit. The problem is that once someone visits the United States, they could easily petition for a change of status of just stay illegally. With family-based immigration you need to submit far more criteria including a residence in the United States. It seems like when it comes to immigration reform, this is the place to start.

I am all in favor of due diligence to be sure; we do not let bad people into the United States. My issue is that this diligence is hit and miss, not part of the process. Why should my husband be singled out? Who is to say he is more of a risk than anyone else? If the objective is to keep our borders safe then by all means do so but the same rules should apply to everyone. My suggestion is that when you apply, you should get fingerprinted and then all the agencies can check you out. It should be standard. Even if it cost more it would be worth it if the process could be expedited. Let’s keep families together. The pain that this process causes families is extreme. If the process was more thorough it could be quicker and more fair.

Another issue is that the database that is used to check the applicant often generates what is called “false hits”:

There are reportedly an alarming number of false hits caused by similar or identical or very similar names, or errors, inconsistencies or discrepencies in listed names in official documents. This is true especially in countries, such as the Latin countries, where there are only a few surnames and name-similarity is common, or record-keeping accuracy in official documents is dubious. Reportedly, approximately half of all names in the NCIC database are Latino, and this has resulted in a high number of false hits for individuals with common or very similar last names at Consulates in the Latin countries. Applicants presently are not allowed the opportunity to prove that they are not the same person as that on the database, nor is there a way to initiate security checking in advance of the visa application. [Source]

Clearly reform is needed. As for us, all is not lost. After spending two days with no hope, on Friday, November 16th, we got some more help. I put the word out via social media that if anyone knew a congressman to please contact them on our behalf and perhaps we could speed up the process or at least get some answers. One friend did just that and since she had worked for this particular congressman in the past, he had is aide call on our case. I am not sure what agency was called but the aide was told our petition was approved the day before. That gives us tremendous hope to be sure but until the Consulate confirms this, or better yet, until we get Karan’s passport in hand with the visa, we can not relax.

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