The ausssiewench post about shortcuts was super dooper and I can actually understand it...

My commiserations to her that her brain works like mine or vice versa


I am a bit apprehensive of using the full thing with bar codes etc as we have nobody in the states we can easily ask to do any of it......

I will certainly try and get the DS 3032 (name that agent form ) done by email which should save at least 10 days mail time each way and perhaps a few days preparation time at NVC too...

Question, if I wait for the I-230 and do it the slow way, what is the time cost >>>


A: from the time they say it is being sent on the answer line , to actual dispatch day - I guess at a week ?

B: mail time to UK - how long is their snail mail ? I guess at 10 days ?

I guess A+B + 10 days for royal mail to send back to new hampshire from UK is the total time and if I deduct time from relative sending in the form from somewhere in the US to new Hampshire (1 day fast mail) then that is the total saving for the James' short cut on the I-230....

are the guesses for A and B realistic ?

thanks alan

The only thing you would be waiting for with the DS230 packet is going to be the bar code cover sheet. What I did was make a photocopy of the AOS cover sheet before sending it.. dowloaded the bar code cover sheet from the shortcut you referenced and deleted the bar code and the case number and printed that off. Then I cut the bar code cover sheet from the AOS and overlayed it on to the DS230 coversheet and photocopied that.. to have a final DS230 barcode cover sheet.. with that I sent of the DS230 packet before it arrived.. by the way, I still have not received my offical DS230 packet from the NVC yet and I'm in the USA.

good luck

ok so its 10 days since your 230 was generated and you are in the US and you haven't got it yet - so it will be at least 15 days to arrive in the UK (from generation time) and possibly a week or two more than that...

I know James' shortcuts were supposed to work with a friend/relative/spouse in the US mailing the form, but it looks as though directly sending it from the UK (once generation is confirmed) , is still going to save weeks..

ok question --- if you send your 'own' 230, will you be able to call them and confirm it has been received - if you use a courier then you will know it has arrived, but how do you know it's acceptable ? is the only was to wait for an rfe if you mess up the bar code etc or can you ask about it's progress/acceptability once it is received ?

This lot is a worrier's dream come true !

thanks alan

I sent all the documents the two fees for AOS and Immigrant Visa fees and the actual forms by overnight delivery so I was able to track when they were delivered. The NVC telephone number also provides updated messages as well once your documents have been loaded into their system.. but normally takes 4-5 days after it is delivered to the NVC before it's been loaded into their system and acknowledged on the phone system. You should also be able to talk directly to an operator if needs be...

You've got a long way to go before you get to NVC.. probably about 3 months I reckon.. don't worry yourslef too much right now...

What are these James' shortcuts and where can I find them?
Thank you very much

yes sounds good - think i will practice with some with bar codes using last years ref numbers then do it for real in 3 months or so - 3 month to NOA2 on an IR1 would be very nice ...yes I will definitely do it - I thought at first sight that the short cuts were meant for people with a US based spouse/helper but I can see it will help me a lot too as the time from generation to actual dispatch plus mailing to the UK may be say 20 days -ish ......

Looks like the longest bit is the wait to interview in London which is taking ages - I got an interview in about 10 days when I did KI as i got my medical etc early - (I was a worrier/optimizer back then) but they have stopped that now...

Although I want to enter on November 5th to get an unconditional green card, I want to cut the time to visa down so i can ship my stuff and sell my house etc and I don't want to do that until I get my mits on the visa

ok thanks for the info - the time from generation to actual receipt of the 230 is an interesting statistic

alan

Look here, in the NVC forum.

james shortcuts

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=117

Henia,

James' shortcuts are for people applying for CR1/IR1 visas only. If you are applying for anything other than that.. it will not apply to you. You can find James' shortcuts pinned at the top of the NVC discussion forum.

Alan,

The stat on the generation to delivery doesn't really mean much in my opionion, since the documents could be generated.. but take a while for the folks at NVC to physically mail it out to you.. if they are backloged it could be several days before they put it in the mail, and they send it regular mail.. so that could also add significant delays also

For my IV Bill, it was generated on January 1st, but didn't mail out until January 18th, and I didn't receive it until the 22nd. Not that I could have generated it myself, but it definitely reinforced me wanting to use all of the shortcuts

Thank you very much Girl 37. Ooops after posting that, I scrolled down to see it in related topics. Reading now... seems to have alo of useful info... Thanks again

yes I will use them...I just have to check that cover sheets/forms etc haven't changed 3 month from now - but thanks to VJ people I will be able to do that.... I could end up chopping 20 days+ off the 230 and a similar chunk off the 3032 ...

Aussiewench reckons the beneficiary (visa applicant) part is the most laborious so might let the Affidavit of support part go the long way round and let them meet together on the same date ! (jeez what an optimist)

Nobody has come on here saying that the short cuts messed up their application and threw them back weeks - on the contrary, lots and lots of people have used them and report no problem..

so yes i am convinced..

alan

Look at my signature. I got the DS-230 generated by the NVC in what appears to be record time according to all other posts. I reckon from the get go, using the shortcuts saved me at least 2-3 weeks time. I say that thinking if I had to wait the normal 2-3 weeks for the DS-230 my savings would have been even greater. I was gone over the holidays, in Bogota, so lost a little time there in returning my I-864. They are quite simple to use. Just pay attention to every detail. Good luck.

Doug