Buffalo office vs Mexico City? We're confused!

[ariell]

Lawyer told us he would have to go thought the Lima( he's peruvian), since he had no legal status, BUT she also mentioned that usually they send the application closest to the applicant's residency(address of where he is currently living, regardless of his status) and regardless at time of the office required....and putting down his residence in the USA, could have confused them and consequently they could send the application to Buffalo, which is something we do not want as it could result as a refusal since he has no legal status in the USA. It is Buffalo that will determined if he is illegible basically to apply from the USA..

Saralune:
I don't think that is correct. First of all, if your husband's application was sent to Buffalo, they would not just refuse his application. They could very well refuse to process his application, in which case they would transfer his application to the visa office responsible for his country of citizenship. They would not simply outright refuse his case. I am 99% sure of this. Someone please correct me if I am wrong!

Also, the issue about illegal status in a 3rd country came up in a previous thread last week. I would encourage you to read it: http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/friend-getting-married-to-canadian-but-out-of-status-in-the-us-t29896.15.html
Essentially, if your husband was ever legally admitted to the US for at least one year, then it doesn't matter if he is currently out of status. He can still have his application processed through Buffalo. Rachel, this does not sound like it was the case for your husband since you mention that he had a 6 month visa that he overstayed. I honestly think that the worst that could happen with his Pr application is that his application would arrive in Buffalo, they would see that he was never legally admitted for 1 year, and they would transfer to Mexico City. But again, I'd wait for someone senior like PMM to give his opinion.

 

[saralune]

Hey Arielle,

I see that I wrote that, and that is why I said in my second post that i wonder if they would just refuse him, or redirect the application. Honestly, I have been researching this whole illegal stuff for a while, and even if I can t say for sure, I have a feeling I read about this and I have a feeling I read a story about someone being refused.. but then I have also seen cases where application where redirected.... so yeah I am sorry that wasn't clear, this said, I really believe that his application won't get processed in Buffalo...but i could be wrong..

as for being legally admitted for a year I am well aware of that, and it is not Rachel's case nor is it mine...he came in on a 6 month visitor visa, worst my husband came in with no visa, coyote style if you know what I mean...again in the second post I wrote I pointed that out to her...the reason I am insisting is that the PO and the other people have commented that it was great that it was being processed in Buffalo as it would be fast and I understand it is something desirable, but I think that on the contrary, this might just make the whole process longer as they will redirect it and it will make their processing longer then it should take then if it went to mexico city in the first place....

If she gets in touch with them now she might be able to avoid more delays as they just got it, then if they start working on it until they figure out a proof that he was admitted legally to the US for at least one year is missing and they send her out some letter asking for proof and for her to reply saying that he never was, and for them to realize that they can't process the application and so on....or somethig along those lines....

 

[rachel6992]

Alrighty, here's what the letter said:

"Effective May 1, 2003, Applications for Permanent Residenct must be processed by the visa office responsible for the applicant country of nationality, OR the country where the applicant has been lawfully admitteed for at least one year, OR in the case of an applicant who is stateless, the country of habitual residence. Therefore, the visa post identified above was selected on the basis of the information you provided.....please be aware that the visa office has the ultimate authority for the processing of this case and does have th right to transfew the file to another visa office if required."

So it looks like there's a chance that they'll forward it on to Mexico City, which is fine. It seems like Buffalo is faster, but I don't think our case is super-complicated so maybe they'll process it quickly...

Miguel's status is this: he has had a visitor visa for the last 10 years, and upon entry, they give him a permit to stay. The last time we entered the US (via Canada), it was a 6 month permit. I know I've stated this already, I just wanted to give clarification to anyone who wasn't quite sure!

If he has to interview in Mexico, do I go with him? I'm assuming they interview both of us, right?

 

[saralune]

Alrighty, here's what the letter said:

"Effective May 1, 2003, Applications for Permanent Residenct must be processed by the visa office responsible for the applicant country of nationality, OR the country where the applicant has been lawfully admitteed for at least one year, OR in the case of an applicant who is stateless, the country of habitual residence. Therefore, the visa post identified above was selected on the basis of the information you provided.....please be aware that the visa office has the ultimate authority for the processing of this case and does have th right to transfew the file to another visa office if required."

So it looks like there's a chance that they'll forward it on to Mexico City, which is fine. It seems like Buffalo is faster, but I don't think our case is super-complicated so maybe they'll process it quickly...

Miguel's status is this: he has had a visitor visa for the last 10 years, and upon entry, they give him a permit to stay. The last time we entered the US (via Canada), it was a 6 month permit. I know I've stated this already, I just wanted to give clarification to anyone who wasn't quite sure!

If he has to interview in Mexico, do I go with him? I'm assuming they interview both of us, right?

no they do not necessarily need you to be there... From what I understad most of the time they only interview the person being sponsored, but if you happen to be there I think that you could also attend. If you are not in the country the interview is done in, they could ask you to be available to them if they wanted to call you and interview you over the phone...

I think they rarely interview the sponsor.