They approved our petitions on October 30 (Great!), but for some reason they did not send an email to us or updated our status on my online tracking account on the USCIS website. They just sent us approval letters (official ones) for I-130 and I-129F petition, which were in my mail today (11/05/07). On the notices the date of approval is 10/30/07.

I assume that everything is in order, even though our status has not yet been updated online. Questions I have:

1. In the approval notice for 129F (K3 visa) they say that they have sent our petition to NVC. Is that really means that they sent it already, or it is just a standard wording they are using on all of their approval notices?

2. USCIS lets us to track our status online by case number. What about NVC? Can we somehow track cases online at NVC?

3. What are the next steps? Do I wait for some kind of notification from NVC? How would I know if they received my documents or not?

4. Will there are be any important documents sent to my address from now on, or can I change my address now?
(The thing here is that, I wanted to move to a different apartment (so I would spent twice less on rent), but waited because of their change of address process. I knew that change of address with USCIS would delay the process by a month - month and a half (assuming, of course, they actually change it). It could take even more time if we taking in account speed with which USCIS processes our petitions.) So, will I get any more mail from USCIS, and most important, from NVC that is important for my cases?

5. How would I know when they transfer my case abroad (in my case to USA embassy in Kiyv, Ukraine)?


Thank you for your input. I, also, hope that your answers will serve well for those who are now at the same situation as I am (e.g. waiting for case to be transfered to NVC and then abroad).

Thanks again,
Andrey and Anna

Congratulations on your approval



The approved petition can take up to 6 weeks from the approval date to get from the USCIS to the NVC This is a relatively new delay and has only been experienced since the September approvals. We are all hoping it will rectify itself and the time will decrease.



I'm not sure about this one, I think the only way to keep updated on the case while it is with the NVC is to use their automated phoneline (or talk to an NVC representative) and check the status pro-actively.



If you are persuing the K3 you will not have to send anything to the NVC. The petition will hopefully be there only 1-2 weeks and then shipped off to the embassy.



Once the petition reaches the embassy, all correspondance is with the beneficiary.



Again, I believe this is pro-actively phoning the NVC to check your cases status. Once NVC tell you that they have shipped it on, you would then pro-actively contact the consulate to see whether they have received it.

What about 130 process, will they send to me stuff (like I-864)? Or will they send any bills to me? Thanks for your replay. Hopefully, time it take to send our documents abroad won't be long.

Why they have not updated our status online? Thanks.

If you have a look at your I130 NOA2 and it mentions that the spouse is in the States, then the I130 will not continue to the NVC. It will be held by the USCIS for when your spouse arrives and begins the adjustment of status.

The I130 has quite a lot more going on at the NVC, so I would suggest you read the guides and also look for James's shortcuts on this website (it shows you how to cut the time at NVC down from about 6 months to 3 months).

Hope this is helpful



Apparently USCIS have not updated the website for many approvals sent out in the last few days. So I just believe it is a backlog in their data input. I received my NOA2 on the 30th November and still have not received an email to tell me that I am approved (but the site does say approved for my cases).

I've just been through the process and it took 40 days for my approved I-129f to make it to the NVC. You're best to wait at least 3 weeks and call the NVC once or twice a week to see if your petition made it. It's been taking forever for the petitions to be released by the USCIS. There won't be any kind of E notice sent to you by the NVC. Maybe it's because it's only there for so short a time. Mine made it there on a Monday, left for the embassy on Wednesday and I received the letter from the NVC stating it's been forwarded to the embassy on Saturday. Yes, all that in less than a week. The embassy had my physical files a week later. Right now I'm checking the state department's visa appointment website for my wife's interview date every day.
The NVC will tell you by phone when they received your case and when it was sent out but you'll have to call the embassy to find out when they received it.
The NVC's phone number is 603-334-0700, press 1 then 5. It's not a toll free number. Their hours of operation are between 7:30am and midnight eastern time. Try early in the morning or late at night otherwise it can take a while ( and a bigger phone bill ) to reach an operator.

The automated system does not give info on K3s, you will need to talk to an operator