Jan. Interview (??) - Chennai/NVC mail screw-up

Santhu, Thanx and

maybe we can ask our lawyer(s) to contact NVC and check what the deal with Delhi and Mumbai is. Depending on the answer, maybe our lawyers can request Chennai to consider the cases based on the electronic information.

As I said, all this is a long shot. Based on some of the other posts, it seems that if Chennai waits for papers to be decontaminated then we are talking much beyond February. IMHO, we should follow all the leads we can.
 
Also NVC said...

they could only resend information electronically, in case Chennai asks for anything again. I am not sure if the lady was talking too casual, not catching the gravity of the situation. But I also assume they are well trained and can not act like a grocery store cash counter person.
 
Santhu - NVC cannot send documents again even if they want to

as they have already sent all originals in packets that are stuck in SA32
 
state dept e-mail

e-mail address is as follows:

usvisa@state.gov

ALso, the NVC can only resend the electronic info. Madras has to make a decision to accept it. Otherwise, they have to accept copies or we may have to reconstruct our files, meaning we may have to re-file. This was according to a lawyer I visited yesterday.
 
Chennai should already have elecronic copy of our papers

I don\'t know when exactly this mess will be cleared. It may be cleared relatively fast for some us, some of us will have to wait a little longer hoping decontamination folks will pick up our packet next and there is a chance that some papers may never be recovered.

We can request Chennai to accept electronic copy of our papers and proceed with the process instead of waiting for the originals. Least we can do is send Chennai an e-mail explaining the impasse we are in and request them to consider electronic copy from NVC. I\'m not saying this will work, but worth making an attempt.

The more mails chennai receives with similar requests the better
 
No Title

Guys,
Have you tried to talk to someone higher in the consulate than the front desk folks who answer the telephone? I do not know how you can get to the higher ups in the consulate but I think it is worth trying/doing because like some one suggested earlier in the thread that this might be a cover up by the chennai mail room folks who misplaced the papers during the mentioned time!

Besides even if the above statement is preposterous you still might benefit by talking to a consular officer or higher up because they might have more leeway in handling this unique situation Vs. the IV section telephone folks who may have no choice but to go by the letter of procedures laid out by the consulate. May be AC140 may be one way out, may be forwarding of your 140 approval (courtesy copy) with the information stating that it is forwarded to NVC along with the P3 from NVC may be the way out.

I am just trying to see what else might work here.
 
I agree with Acehart....

If a lawyer tries to talk to someone higher up in Chennai, it has a higher probability of working. We can ask the lawyer to talk to some one higher up than the IV desk person and see if they are willing to proceed with the electronic information that they already have. If we find out for sure that Mumbai and Delhi accept electronic information, the request will have more weight. Another avenue to pursue would also be AC140.

What does the forum think?????
 
I have already sent an e-mail addressed to

Consular General Chennai (standard e-mail address). I hope seeing who it is addressed to those operators will forward a copy to Consular General. As per manbird and gc_hopeful\'s suggestion we should also talk to our lawyers and have them talk to someone in Chennai (I seriously doubt if it will work with my lawyer becasue his first question is going to be what\'s Chennai consulate\'s phone number). I\'ll try my lawyer first thing tomorrow morning. Guys you also send an e-mail addressed to consular general Chennai. There is no harm if we try from our side and also let lawyers talk to higher authority in Chennai
 
**IMP** found this on this web site at a different posting

NOTICE REGARDING 10/25/01 QUARANTINED APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED
 FOR

REVALIDATION TO THE VISA OFFICE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE
   by Kathleen Campbell Walker, chair AILA VO State Department
                        Liaison Committee

I am sorry to report that we have fallout from the anthrax
      dilemma in the revalidation process of the Visa Office.
      Earlier last month, we had contacted the Diplomatic
      Liaison Division of the Department of State to discuss if
      they would accept copies of I-94s due to increased
      inspections around the country. Bill Bent, the chief of
      the division, worked with us to allow this practice. At
      the time, we also discussed that some deliveries of
      applications from the St. Louis lock box facility had been
      delayed in the Visa Office mailroom due to the anthrax
      scare.

After the anthrax scare when the Visa Office re-opened its
      mailrooms, the Visa Office believed that all deliveries
      had been made. It soon became apparent, however, that some
      300 applications in 5 boxes were not located. This
      awareness by the Visa Office occurred last Friday. Since
      it takes about three days for the St. Louis facility to
      intake the applications, it appears that the cases
      involved were probably sent to St. Louis on Oct. 17, 18,
      or 19. The applications were then processed in St. Louis
      around Oct. 22 and 23.

On October 25, everything in the Visa Office\'s mail rooms
      was sequestered for decontamination. There is no evidence
      that such decontamination is necessary, but the procedure
      is required. Mr. Bent has emphasized to the appropriate
      State Department officials the importance of these
      applications, but the response is not encouraging. The
      boxes are not accessible until they are decontaminated.

Applicants can consult the state Web site for
      announcements about this issue (www.state.gov). They will
      be advised to call the Public Inquiries line at (202)
      663-3211 to check if their case is among those cases
      impacted by this situation.

Mr. Bent will write and has already written letters for
      applicants to take to their consulates to get new
      passports in case they have immediate travel needs. He
      will not consider issuing the visa as well unless the
      applicant can demonstrate a genuine emergency (sickness or
      death of a family member, for example). Otherwise,
      applicants will have to get their visas overseas, if they
      cannot wait for the boxes to be decontaminated. The
      requests for passport letters should be made through the
      Public Inquiries Line at the number reflected earlier in
      this notice.

Mr. Bent\'s staff is already working overtime on
      revalidation cases and will do so again this weekend to
      try to deal with the backlog. In addition, extra help
      should arrive soon. Mr. Bent will notify us if he receives
      any word on the release of these boxes after
      decontamination.

It is important for the membership to note that best
      efforts are being used to try to deal with situation, and
      that Mr. Bent became aware that passports and applications
      were not received in the Visa Office last Friday. We also
      realize that this news is a terrible inconvenience to
      those wishing to travel over the holidays.
 
Refer previous post

We should pursue with our lawyer to follow up on CP cases too, as it looks like AILA (Kathleen Campbell Walker) is in a better situation to get authentic news)
 
AC 140

I sent following mail to chennai and their reply.

Me: I learned my CP interview initially scheduled for 24thJan2002 and had been canceled because of not yet recieved original I-140 documents from NVC. I would like to submit attorney certified I-140 documents with orginal I-140 approval notice and NVC case number If you accept to schedule interview date. Please clarify me. I greatly appreciate your time and am very thankfull to you.

Chennai: Please go through the website for AC 140 petition.

Reply to Chennai: I have gone through your website and didn\'t find any information regarding AC-140. Please give me more info.

Latest Chennai Reply : YOu have to check for details in the website.
 
No Title

Looks like my case is also involved in this shit.
I sent a detailed email yesterday, and get a one liner
"Appt likely to be in March".

Earlier they were saying i might get a Feb.
I think i will try to ask for some one higher up
on Jan 1 night. Did anyone try it before??
 
I agree with gabbar and acehart ..

We all need to send emails to Chennai and try to talk to a higher authority. We should try to drive 2 important points across in our conversations viz.

1. We have spoken to state department authorities who say that the decontamination of mails could take 3 or more months and there is no guarantee that all mails will be considered safe.
2. We have spoken to NVC who say that they cannot resend the papers as they do not have the originals with them. They can at best resend the electronic version.

Given this stance what are our options. Also I have read at some site that they plan to eliminate the paper version alltogether some time soon and go to an all electronic version. If that is true then we should try to convince Chennai to accept the same for us.
I will send a mail detailing the whole scenarion and address it to the consulate general as acehart did. Guys please do the same. We need to keep reminding Chennai every day, both by phone and email, about us.
 
raju

The replies are very discouraging, all this means is that the person responding to your e-mails is either not understanding the fix we are in or just doesnt care.

Unless we are able to reach some-one higher up who can look at this mess objectively we cannot get a clear direction.
 
No Title

Can anyone give a draft of this letter/email.
Is it better to write individually or a combined one.
Also it is my hunch that many more are affected by this
than in our list.
 
One liner from Chennai

From the communication below we can deduce that either it has not reached consulate general or they want to wait till they receive the papers. Anyway, the more the number of similar requests go to chennai the better. I\'m still trying to take my lawyer\'s opinion on this

REPLY
We will not be able to issue the Visa unless we have the petition
physically
here.
 

Customer Service Unit
American Consulate General
220, Anna Salai
Chennai 600006
Ph-91-44-8112060/2000
website:www.madras.sphynx.com

MY MESSAGE

Dear Consular General,

My case papers (MDR200176XXXX) sent by NVC on 10/15 were not received
by Chennai consulate. NVC had put a trace on my case upon my request and informed me this morning that my papers were delivered by Fed-Ex,
tracking number 422XXXX88912.

After talking to Fed-Ex with the tracking number given by NVC, I was
informed that my papers were delivered to Immigration Visa Unit,
Department of State, Sterling VA 20166 on 10/17 at 10:26 AM.

After talking to the mailroom facility at Sterling VA, I learnt that
the mailroom facility was closed from 10/24 to 11/11 because of Anthrax attack and now they have moved to a new building. I was also informed that papers received by the Sterling VA mailroom facility are still in the old building waiting to be decontaminated and there is no information about when it is likely to happen.

Considering the above factors I would greatly appreciate if you can
accept the papers sent by NVC electronically and arrange for my immigrant visa interview as there is no information about when the decontamination of the mailroom is likely to be completed.

Regards,
 
It is a typical attitude and arrogance.

Yesterday I called Chennai and I was so disappointed to hear the lady\'s answers. No use talking all this. But one thing is sure. If we could talk to some one at higher, it may help. I do not think they understand how much delay it might take for all these mails to be decontaminated. I also talked to sterling mail facility. I got the same earlier reply. They are not in a position to answer anything at least until one month. They recently started decontamination process which might take couple of months. They also recalled some diplomatic pouches on 22nd Oct which may take even longer time. The interesting thing will be, what NVC would do after 3 months.
 
Count me in.. called chennai

Acehart and Others,
 My papers were sent by NVC on 15th OCtober. I called chennai yesterday and asked them whether my p3 has been received and they said that I will have to check back in January.
2)I asked them whether they have received the other pkt from NVC and the reply was, I should not worry abt it and that is something that Chennai, US govt???? and NVC will take care of...The lady I talked to seemed totally oblivious to all the pandemonium. It seems to me that we are in a soup. Nevertheless, I hope that things will be cleared before April.

Count me in
NV sent pkt : OCt 15
I sent P3 Dec 6th (Lawyer\'s delay syndrome)
 
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