Visa Interview (where’s your DNA test?)

Wednesday was my 21-year-old stepson’s U.S. immigrant visa interview in Tegucigalpa. It was a fittingly bizarre end (not quite yet) to an already bizarre 14-month process. For perspective, this is 100x more bizarre than receiving a Honduran Tourist Visa in a Honduran passport (see here & here) and way beyond what was chronicled elsewhere per what can go wrong with paperwork pre-interview (see Visas Waiting Times – What Can Go Wrong). Though insanely long, what follows is a nearly point-by-point chronology of the interview questions and process – detailing exactly what should never happen and how idiotic the whole thing can become…

My stepson’s biological mother, my wife, already has a “Green Card” based on marriage (c2004); his application was not handled at that same time as he was then unsure if the U.S. is where he wanted to live and he was studying in a Honduran academy on partial scholarship with related prepaid tuition. My wife is not a U.S. citizen (yet), so in U.S. State Department terms, I am the “petitioner” and my stepson the “applicant”. I met both of them for the first time in late 1996. All the paperwork cleared the National Visa Center way back in 04/09, but due to Embassy backlog the interview was set for 8/09 (contrary to popular belief, the U.S. Embassy in Honduras is open almost every day of the “Coup”; this interview delay is normal in Honduras). As of the documentation provided us by the Embassy, beyond what was already sent to and accepted by the Visa Center, these are the documents my son was supposed to bring to the interview as the child of a step-parent; the paragraph in which these points are listed concludes with, “Remember, we want to work with you to help you to start your new life in the United States”:

Photos of the parent’s marriage ceremony.

Applicant birth-registration-school information.

Vaccination / growth / medical data and certificates.

Receipts of money sent the applicant by the petitioner.

Letters exchanged between the applicant and the petitioner.

Family photos, especially before the petitioner left Honduras.

Anything else you think helpful to document your relationship.

In May, notice was received that our case would be sent to the Embassy in Tegucigalpa. Later, this included a link to the Embassy information in which it was stated that in a step-relationship, the petitioner (me) must also provide an original birth certificate for himself, and also literal (long form) birth and marriage certificates for the spouse (my wife). I was informed that the paperwork will link the child to the biological parent and via marriage, ultimately, to me, but that I should provide whatever else I can that directly links me to the child, especially anything occurring before I left for the U.S. with the child’s mother. Intuitively, this made perfect sense to me, and is in line with what I have read and heard elsewhere.

In June we received a standard email, the new updated “checklist” document used by the Embassy. This is to aid the process and inform the petitioner of those documents already on file inside the Embassy and which ones they still need to bring to the final interview. The 16-item checklist was wrong per a few facts. And, the checklist indicated that we do not need to provide the literal birth and marriage documents we were just told to get. So, the Embassy is contacted directly. I inquired by telephone and email and was informed that even though my wife already provided these documents to this exact Embassy a few years ago, and that they are the basis of her U.S. marriage visa and resulting valid Green Card, I need to provide new ones again for the child interview. This seemed rather "crazy" that they are asking me to prove who my wife is when they already granted her a visa and green card. Even crazier in Honduras where getting each of these things in the capital city takes weeks if not months and costs double or triple what a new CA4 Honduran passport costs. After 3 trips across the country, nearly 30 taxi rides, 30 hours standing in line and 300 headaches later, we secure these documents. I add these to the list of items below, as the packet for my son to take to the Embassy in August – in addition to all the police, passport, medical, birth documents, etc., etc., etc., they already received from Homeland Security and the National Visa Center:

Birth, medical, and vaccination documents.

Rental receipts for our Tegus apartment, 1997-2009.

Previous health & school photo I.D. cards, some bearing fingerprints.

Receipts from the yearly rentals of Tegus Post Office Box, 1997-2009.

Receipts from 3 recent schools attended by son, paid for by us 2003-2009.

Select letters received by me and/or my son at our Tegus P.O.B. 1997-2009.

Bank ATM printouts showing weekly ATM withdrawls in Tegus, 2002-2009.

School graduation documents (which bear i.d. photos & signatures) 1999-2009.

Notarized copy of my expired passport showing time spent in Honduras 1996-2006.

Receipts with name for our electric & phone bills in the Tegus apartment 1997-2009.

Notarized letter from landlord who lives on the same property, confirming 1997-2009.

Digitaltone calling card receipts tying South Dakota to the Tegus apartment 2005-2009.

Photo album of wife, son, family, marriage, etc.; mostly of my stepson & me, 2000-2009.

Below is a detailed summary of the interview, as relayed to me by son and my sister-in-law, who was there on our behalf since we needed to be back in the States for another matter. This interview, not including delays due to i.d. photos and street protest, was nearly 2.5 hours long. Of the other 70+ interviews I have heard of first hand or attended, none were more than 40 minutes, with the average one being about 10-15 minutes. For perspective, my wife’s 2005 interview time there was 3 minutes and 18 seconds (I timed it and was there for that one; I wish I had been there for this one). Below, the consul’s questions / comments are in bold font, my stepson’s replies / question in normal text; the whole thing is so asinine it just might be worth preserving it in near-entirety:

Just before 8:00 a.m. in the Embassy; there are only 7 immigrant applicants this day

Where to do live?

…Apartamentos…near La Leona here in Tegus… in this envelope are school records that show…[several visa documents chronicle all previous addresses so this information is already on hand]

No, that isn’t necessary; how long have you lived there?

Almost 13 years; I have the rental record in this envelope…

No, I don’t need to see that; who pays for your apartment?

My stepfather, it is his apartment; I have the receipts and a letter from the landlord here…

No, that isn’t necessary; what is your occupation?

I am a student, just graduated; I am not employed yet…

Where did you go to school and who paid for it?

…and all this was paid for by my stepfather and this envelope has the receipts…

No, I don’t need to see those

[…to my sister-in-law the Consul asks, “Is he telling me the truth?” to which she responds, “yes, that is all correct”; then, fast-forward through a 20-minute barrage of inane questions (the applicant has already, at least five times, attested to the fact that I pay for everything) ranging from “who pays for your shoes” & “who pays for your school notebooks”…]

How often to you communicate with your parents?

…almost every day be telephone; I have the phone card log receipts here…

No, those aren’t necessary; do you correspond with your parents?

…email sometimes but phone mostly; the real post is slow & unreliable, but I have the POB records & receipts and…

No, I don’t need to see that; when and how did you meet your stepfather?

…at the end of 1996 when he was first in Honduras backpacking in C.A.…

How much time did he spend here?

…1 year; but since then many more times; this envelope is his expired passport with…

No, I don’t need to see it; where is your real father?

…I don’t know; I have never known him…but I am now legally an adult…

You have never had another “father”?

…yes, my grandfather, but he died last year; my stepfather is the only other father I ever knew…

Was your stepfather listed on all school paperwork?

…No, some old papers are from before I ever met him...

Whose name was used on those early papers?

…my deceased grandfather I just mentioned; I could present a death certificate…

No, that isn’t necessary; where is your real father now?

…I don’t know; I have never known; he is not part of my life; but I am not a minor now, not here in Honduras nor in the U.S. if I was to live there…; fast forward through 20 minutes of the Consul asking the same questions just listed above, but in a slightly different manner; e.g., “Where did you live when you attended this or that school?”, “Who pays for your school project materials?”, etc. Again, at the end, the Consul turns to the boy’s aunt and asks if the answers he has given are correct; she claims they are correct, and wonders aloud why the receipts and documentation wouldn’t put some questions to rest in a way she can't, though no response is given.

When was your father’s last visit to Honduras?

This year; he just returned for work in the U.S.; [They already know this via the Embassy passport/immigration database]

When were your step-father’s last three visits to Tegus

Every year; I have a photocopy of his new passport, 2008-09; [again, they already know the answer from the Embassy database]

No, I don’t need to see that; why visit only once a year?

When working he can only visit one long trip each year.

Why were his older trips so much longer than the recent ones?

He used to do contract work and took 6-12 months off between assignments; but now has a permanent State job with only one vacation; do you need to see his employment contract letter as I have that from the Financial Support packet?

No, that isn’t necessary; Why did he return recently?

His vacation was over and he needed to because he teaches a class in your summer.

When your step-father visits Honduras where does he stay?

In my apartment, well, it is his apartment really. The apartment will be kept even if I do later leave for the U.S.; it is still for our trips and the family. Do you need to see the rental receipts of landlord letter?

No, That isn’t necessary…

[...fast forward through another 20 minutes of these same above questions asked slightly differently; virtually every single question could easily be confirmed by the papers the applicant is holding, yet the Consul has no interest is seeing them – not even to verify the answers she is being given… At one point my son asks his aunt beside him if he is misunderstanding the questions, since they keep asking the same basic ones, and he is confused why they sort of seem to take his word for it and not quickly look at papers that actually prove it. She responds that he has given the factually correct answers and hasn’t misunderstood anything...]

Do you have evidence photographs with you?

…yes, here in this album there are 40 images…

You need passport photos

…but I presented the images at the first Embassy reception window when I arrived…

I know but you need 4 more; you need to visit Trejo Studio down the street

…o.k…. [no reason is given why he needs more photos than the current Embassy website and National Visa Center information dictate; nevertheless, he leaves, gets them, and returns]

Why do you want to go to the United States?

To be with my parents and further my education.

Why didn’t you leave for the U.S. when your mother left in 2005?

I was only halfway through with my Academy studies and they were prepaid and I wanted my degree to be from there…

Why did your mother and stepfather leave in 2005?

For work; there was an emergency and we had been living off my father’s savings but needed income to cover medical costs for others in my family so they went to the U.S.

Why didn’t your parents visit in 2005?

They left in the middle of the year 2005 so there was no vacation back here that year.

Why did your parents visit in 2006-2008?

Family vacation; 2008 was supposed to be a vacation but changed as my grandfather died; there was the funeral and many other things to deal with, too…

How long was your father here for that trip in 2008?

…and I think 44 days that time; [again, they already know the answer from their database]

When your stepfather visited in 2006 & 2008, where did you and he go/do?

…many places, Copan, Santa Rosa, Trujillo, etc; he has friends in those cities…

What countries has your father visited?

…many…almost everywhere in Central and South America…

If he travels again, will you go with him?

I am not sure; it would depend on schooling and money…; [...fast forward through 20 minutes of these same questions being asked in a different formats/ways; it is worth noting that such homecoming visits, frequent or otherwise, as well as other international travel, are not a condition nor requirement for an immediate relative visa, and should have no bearing on the decision...]

What will you do in the United States?

I will be a student, but I first need to study English to prepare…

Where will you live?

With my parents [The answer to this question is covered on several visa documents they already have]

Where do they live?

In South Dakota

Where in South Dakota?

The Black Hills – near Rushmore Mountain…

Where will you study?

I haven’t decided what school yet.

Will you come back to Honduras often?

I am not sure, it would depend on school and vacation and money…

What will happen to your Tegus apartment?

We will rent it; it is for when we return and my uncle & nephew live there now.

What does your uncle do?

He is a doctor at Hospital Escuela

Will your uncle go to the United States?

No. He hasn’t a visa and isn’t interested in visiting there...

What does your nephew do?

He is a kid, just 10 years old, he goes to school.

Where does he go to school?

…it is in Barrio La Leona, not far from Iglesia Delores…

Who pays for his schooling?

My stepfather and mother pay his costs.

Will he go to the United States?

No, he hasn’t a visa of any kind and his parents live here and are Honduran; [Fast forward through yet another 20 minutes of rephrased questions like this.]

Were you in the Honduran military?

No.

Why were you not in the military if you were at the … Academy?

I was a student not a solider; the aviation academy is located on the base at the airport… [they already know this; the School has connections with Palmerola Air Base, and the U.S. Ambassador assists in presiding over the yearly graduation ceremony]

Will you join the military when you get to the United States?

I don’t know…

In Honduras you were a military academy student, right?

Yes, I graduated from there.

In the U.S., will you join the military?

I am not sure; I considered it but I am not sure…

If you are asked to join, you must join – do you promise that?

Who might ask me to do that?

If the government told you to join, do you promise you would do so?

Yes, and an “oath” and paperwork follows [at no point did the Consul really explain the Selective Service System]

Do you need to see these envelopes my stepfather asked me to bring?

No, I don’t need to see those; we have copies of those items

[untrue; they have Visa Center stuff only, none of the added documents applicants are told to bring with them, the kinds of things listed on the Embassy website and in the appointment letter we received from them]

These items are different; these are Tegus items, not South Dakota items sent to the Visa Center…

No, I don’t need to see that; and…here are some documents your stepfather sent the Visa Center

The required documents are signed, the oath and digital fingerprinting follow. Then, the consul returns much of my paperwork that came to the Embassy from the National Visa Center. This is how most successful visa interviews close. As they are still finishing up the Consul General comes on the p.a. system and announces the Embassy is the target of a protest (people screaming, throwing crap at the building, etc.); everyone must leave immediately through the front entrance – which, as the only public point, is where the protest is; the new passport photos they just sent him to get are returned to him and he is told they do not need them and that he should come back to the Embassy at 1:00 p.m. He asks if the Embassy will be open then, due to the protest. The consul assures him they “probably will be open”. He asks if they are to return to collect his passport with visa and he is told “probably”. The Embassy closes and my photo album is the only documentation they ever examined, and they elected to keep this there in the Embassy where it still is, presumably. Even though the protest made them close early this “come back at 1:00” is the normal process for successful visa/passport pickup.

1:00 p.m., Protesters mostly gone and back inside the Embassy

We have a problem. Your photos.

[if there is a problem the oath and fingerprinting are not supposed to be done]

These photos in your album are mostly recent and mostly of you & your stepfather; where are all the old photos of you and your mother?

…I was told the primary photos needed were of my life with my stepfather who petitioned this visa case and that the birth and marriage literals prove who my mother is and that I am her son…but my mother and me are in many of those photos in that album I gave you.

Yes, yes,… but you need that but you must also prove you are your mother’s son all along; are there old photos of you two before you met your step-father?

Yes, there were…but the San Marcos house was destroyed in Hurricane Mitch; everything was lost pre-1998; but, we never owned a camera until my step-father gave my family one so there was never many photos anyway and we both are not seen together in most school or church photos since I am with my teacher or the priest…I have my school registration and graduation diplomas here and they include i.d. photos on them and these go all the way back to age 8…

But, with that I cannot confirm everything; your stepfather did a good job on papers but forgot the important one

…but I have these envelopes of documents he gave me for you…

I need to verify the papers, not see them; is there a DNA test in there?

What? No, that was never asked of me…

You need to initiate a DNA test for you & your mother, you have 2 weeks but after that your Visa Case expires

Do you need any of these papers I was asked to bring that show our history together? [DNA tests aren’t supposed to be required of applicants with proper identity documentation; they are for suspect cases (suspected document fraud) & refugee familiar claims (governments cannot issue the required documents or the person cannot be identified), etc.; here, the applicant has all school photos and documents and the required birth and passport documents, too]

No. DNA is the ultimate proof; it confirms all papers

[untrue, it can’t actually confirm most documents and only verifies parentage lines – not actual names tied to people; it can’t, for example, confirm a police report, I.D., passport, school & bank data, etc.; in fact, it can’t really prove who you are, it only proves who you are in relation to someone else – and doesn’t even confirm a name, etc. While DNA can prove he is the son of my wife, it cannot prove my wife is who she says she is, etc.]

Testing must be at our Embassy-approved hospital; they will tell your mother what to do in the U.S.

Do they now offer rush service there for this Visa timeline? [untrue; it can be done worldwide at any AABB-approved facility, not just the 3 Tegus hospitals approved by this Embassy].

You have 2 weeks if you start immediately

[the legal basis of this 2-week time couldn’t be confirmed; there might not be one]

It is now about 1:45 p.m. and they leave the Embassy. A DNA test – they think? Aren’t those tests supposed to be for people who could not produce biographical documentation, refugees from war-torn countries from which there wasn’t any authentic documents or where there is no functioning government, or for adoptions (the test is required to link the adopted child to the relinquishing parent)? Seems odd, they think, since Honduras has a new birth & marriage computer system installed under the recommendation/supervision of the U.S. Embassy and all Honduran documents for use inside the Embassy are supplied to petitioners on special paper that must be signed by the only person in that city office with an approved signature on file inside the U.S. Embassy, etc.; such documents are the literal issued birth & marriage docs that they never bothered to open, and we apparently didn’t need. Though it seems pointless since this test takes many weeks/months in Honduras and many other countries, the approved Tegus hospitals are contacted. They confirm that their half of the test (son only), and the later verification process will take 12-14 weeks and cost nearly $850. They return home unsure of how to proceed or if a third country could handle a test more quickly perhaps at a decent price. So, they leave a message for me on my answering machine. After the preceding 14 months of incompetence, I cannot say I expected everything to go smoothly, but never expected this.

* Nothing that happened per the Visa has anything to do with the “Coup” in Honduras…

Update #1, Wednesday night email to the Embassy: I email the Embassy asking (as politely as possible, even implying our fault not theirs) if my son made a mistake and didn’t clearly identify the documents that show our life there together for much of the last decade – the exact sort of documents the Embassy website informs you to bring to interview. Though my email ends with three questions (Do you still need to examine my documents, as they were not used the first time? What options are there for me in lieu of DNA? & Is there really a 14-day time limit in place per this petition?), the email I received doesn’t address any of these questions; the reply was issued at about the same time as a phone call and not connected to it; this is the unsigned email I received, word-for-word: “The prof of your relationship presented the time of the interview was insufficient. We need to see pictures of them before she went to the Unite States. If they do not have sufficient proof relationship, D.N.A. is your option. The proof of relationship between you and the beneficiary’s mother is ok and not longr needed it”. Part of the reply doesn’t make sense: why would I need proof of a relationship to the mother, since we are married and she already has a U.S. visa based on that fact; the one thing we did have, the new marriage literal certificate, is still in the sealed envelope from NRP and the Consul never opened it. The other part is weird: apparently, the focus now isn’t photos from before they met me pre-1997; the focus seems to be images of them before she left for Minnesota with me in pre-2005. But, this is exactly what is in the photo album they were given and still have – and is quite obvious to anyone who looked at the photos as most are 3-7 years old (young people mature quickly age 13-20 and it is obvious) and the marriage ones are from, well, the wedding that was in Honduras in 2004 – and that event is dated right on the visa paperwork before them. The follow-up email hasn’t been answered.

Update #2, Wednesday night (wait, we changed our minds – sort of): Apparently unconnected to the above email, since the caller is unfamiliar with it: While eating dinner someone from the Embassy calls our Tegus apartment. Though U.S. Immigration privacy rules forbid revealing case data to anyone outside the petitioner, applicant, and any formal legal representative identified on the paperwork, a message is left with a relative who is none of these things. Though the Embassy staffer never asks if any DNA arrangements/payments have already been made, they are informed that the Honduran DNA test will take too long (everyone in Honduras knows this, apparently everyone except people working at the U.S. Embassy). However, if they can present good photographic evidence before Friday (it is already now Wednesday night, and if anything usable exists it is 3 hours away in the rural homes of relatives who lack telephones and cars), then the petition might be approved. The caller is unclear if the deadline is this Friday or Next Friday. These photos, if they can be found, need to be delivered to the Guards at Gate 3 of the Embassy, and the woman on the telephone adds that they are not responsible for them if they are lost, not included in the Case file, or not returned. Pretty much in line with: “Remember, we want to work with you to help you to start your new life in the United States.”

Update #3, Friday 11 images of varying degree of quality and water damage are delivered to the Embassy.

Update #4, Monday Called to the Embassy for nearly 100 minutes of the same questions already answered above; this is not handled at the interview windows in the "public" area but in an office inside staff area, through three levels of security; no explanation is ever given for why this is so.

Update #5, Tuesday Following yet another hour of the same questions a visa is finally issued. No pertinent non-photographic documents were ever examined by anyone inside the Embassy.