US consulate mumbai delaying your visa process?

Question

I am a U.S citizen and have filed for my husband since january 2007. Firstly National Visa Center of U.S delayed the process by saying documents were missing and now U.S consulate mumbai is delaying the process by putting visa list for dec and jan. Which means my husband's visa will come in feb. I think this is very unfair. All the paper work has been completed and even still i have to wait untill feb just because US consulate decided to bring out january visa list out in november instead of december.

I know 2 more cases where same thing has happened, Is anyone else going through the same problem? please reply so we all can gather up and seek teh appropriate legal action. The more people complain the more power we will have.

Answer 1

• Firstly, you have not mentioned in your facts whether you married this Indian man in USA or in India. Presuming you married this man in India & moved an immigrant Petition for Alien Relative, form I-130 for your spouse with the USCIS Office that serves the area where you live. Your husband should have moved for a nonimmigrant K-3 visa from India & filled all the relevant documents pertaining to his birth,marriage,medical,police report,photographs,proof of financial support etc which are required in such case along with the Form DS 156 & DS 156-K. Such K-3 visa is being processed in short period of time & a nonimmigrant visa is issued to the Indian Spouse to join his US spouse till the process of immigration petition with regard to his getting permanent resident status as your husband is processed. As far processing of the immigration petition lots of paper work, reseach regarding the actual factual position of the alien person has to take place. The document like the birth certificate of this person which once used to be simple piece of paper issued by the local municipality in India where this man was born is no more admissible piece of valid document unless this is being Apostillisied i.e. authenticated by the relevant departments of both Ministry of Home Affairs & Ministry of External Affairs in India. Same is the situation with the marriage certificate which you get from the Marriage Officer/Registrar in India. This issue of Apostillisation came in existence since August 2007 & now any application or petition which was in due process for visa before or after this provision has to be strictly followed. I don’t know whether the US Immigration people asked you this process to be carried out in these documents regarding his certificate of age & your marriage certificate or not, but I’m sure they must have or may ask you now as an objection which they put while deciding his visa application or immigration petition. Now lets come to the main issue on the basis of which you moved his immigration petition i.e. as your spouse or on the basis of your marriage to him. USA immigration department is very particular about this issue with regard to a US citizen marriage with a foreigner, specially Indian. Its not only the marriage certificate which you place on the record that satisfy them but actual VALID MARRIAGE between both of you which is the MOST important CRITERIA that has to be looked into to justify your petition or application for immigration. If such a marriage took place between both of you according to a civil marriage as applicable to Indians to a foreigner as provided under the Special Marriage Act, 1954 or under the Foreign Marriage Act, 1969, both these Acts enacted by Indian Parliament & which are legally recognized by USA government for the purpose of immigration on the basis of marriage of US citizen with an Indian, or your marriage took place according the US civil laws applicable for any US citizen with a foreigner in any of these cases the proper solemnization of marriage took place & all the relevant conditions for such marriage followed & a valid certificate is being issued by the Competent Marriage Officer/Registrar is quite sufficient proof of such marriage. The real trouble starts when US citizen marries a foreigner in this case an Indian according to the religious form of marriage. India is a multi-religious country where people follow different religion & follow marriage laws enacted for their religion. For example if your husband happens to be a Hindu by religion the Act applicable to him will be the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 for the purpose of any Hindu Marriage he goes through, but in this case if you both got married according to Hindu form of marriage then what was your religion at the time of this marriage? If you were not a Hindu as your husband then such Hindu Marriage between both of you is not only illegal but void abnito i.e. absolutely invalid. Such marriage has no legal reorganization in the eye of law in India or any where in the world. The very fact if you were, say Christian by religion at the time of marriage & did not convert to Hindu religion before this marriage was solemnized between both of you then it SHALL BE INVALID MARRIAGE as non Hindu’s i.e. Muslims, Christians, Jews, Parses are not covered under this Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, even if you did not follow any religion & had not embarrassed the Hindu religion before this Hindu marriage, your marriage still remain invalid. Proof of your conversion issued by the Hindu priest who performs this conversion or Hindu temple were it was preformed such as Arya Samaj Mandir which issues such certificate, has to be placed on records both at the time of this marriage registration either under section 8 of this Hindu Marriage Act or under the Special Marriage Act as the case may be & even along with the immigration petition moved for his spouse visa. Second important issue regarding the religious marriages is the performance of ESSENTIAL marriage ceremonies which are necessary & applicable to both the parties to such marriage. In your case if you converted or embarrassed Hindu religion, these essential Hindu marriage ceremonies will be same that are applicable to your husband. The proof of all such ceremonies are checked from the Photographs & video coverage that took place during this marriage, which the US Immigration people would like to see & check the authenticity of such marriage. The third issue with regard to any marriage which US immigration checks the after marriage documentation, starting from the Valid marriage certificate, that has to be Apostillised as discussed above, the necessary amendments with regard to marital status of both in documents such as the individual Passport where the name of the spouse has to be added along with change in the person’s own marital status mentioning ‘Married’. Another issue which the US immigration is interested is the after marriage relationship amongst the couple starting from consummation of marriage to social behavior of both in the society ,with friends & relatives to confirm that they not only got legally married but also live like married couple. In case they are living at different places till an immigration visa is issued for them to join, in such case the various communications that take place in the form of mails etc are very relevant piece of evidence to proof their genuine marital relationship. You may think that you may not be asked for these documents or papers any time by US immigration people till now then why I’m telling you all this? Reason is that if they have not asked you people till now then don’t have this impression that they may not ask these at any relevant time, till he gets a US immigration visa stamp on his passport his case is always open for scrutiny. Why all such big issue are made for giving spouse visa or resident immigration on the basis of marriage between US citizen & a foreigner specially an Indian or Asian is simple that for the last many years the Asians & specially the Indian have filled your country using this passage, entering in a contractual marriage with an US citizen, applying for resident immigration visa on this basis, getting the permanent resident visa, getting divorce from the US citizen & marrying an Indian person from India & now bringing that person to US using the same process. I have come across many people who divorced their Indian Spouse, got married to US citizen ,applied for P.R. immigration, got that, divorced the US spouse, remarried Indian spouse & brought that person to USA along with their kids. Do you think that US immigration department is sleeping & doesn’t know about this fraud being committed by Indians, Asians & other people of the world to get US citizenship or P.R. immigration? In order to stop all this big fraud now the US government has made all such laws & legal provisions to be strictly followed as I have discussed here. Let me give to reference of this US citizen who married many years back with an Indian man, got children out of the marriage after he joined her in USA & just after his death this lady came to know that their marriage was not legal & she wasn’t entitled to any of his property left behind him in India & she could not inherit it for herself or for her children. Read this >>>> http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/ind...    Hope this question of this American lady & her apathy will be sufficient for you to understand the legal implication of marriage which I have discussed here in details. I bet no American Lawyer would have given you such legal guidance with regard to your marriage with an Indian & that too free of cost, which I have given for your information. Your issue regarding delay of one year in processing the visa issue is genuine but the very fact this got delayed because you people must have missed few documents which were required but could not be filled in the proper form which is legally necessary for this purpose, at the sometime the report with regard to the genuineness of all the relevant documents filled by you have to be collected by the U.S. Embassy or Consulate from the relevant government departments from where these were issued, such takes time as in India the government departments are in a shabby condition & very slow in their working. More so the various issues which may be relevant for this case be under consideration by the US immigration department themselves too. The very fact had you people moved for K-3 visa from India if you got married here in India, your husband would be long back living with you till his immigration petition was being decided but no one guided you to move this way hence you suffer all such delay in this process.

Answer 2

No. They are not delaying MY visa process.

Answer 3

Legal action? ... Surely you jest.  Just what "rights" of yours do you think have been violated?

If your husband gets his visa in February that will represent about the average amount of time it takes for everyone.