mexico city Applied and approved USCIS Mexico City and then ... nothing

[Madge 0]

Hello Community,

 

I'm a naturalized US Citizen living in Mexico City. I went to the USCIS Mexico City office in person to submit the I-130 to petition my Mexican spouse on November 18, 2016 and received an approval letter on November 22, 2016. To date, we have heard nothing from the Consular Section in Juarez.

 

So far, I have the PDF version of the approval letter, which came to my (petitioner) email address and a hard copy of the same letter that came to my physical address signed 'for' Rodolfo P Nuñez, Field Office Director. There was no NOA, there was no receipt number and the Beneficiary A number appears as A000-000-000 on the letter I have.

 

Action so far:

 

• I have been in touch with USCIS Mexico City by email. They have responded to all emails and gave me Juarez' official telephone number, 01 (656) 344-3003, and the website to lodge an inquiry.
• I have lodged an online inquiry here -  https://mx.usembassy.gov/public-inquiry-form-immigrant-visas-residents/ (It takes 20-30 days for a reply)
• I have tried , in vain, to contact the  the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez on 01 (656) 344-3003 (This leads to is a never-ending merry-go-round of recorded messages.)
• I have successfully spoken to an immigration officer in the US who was able to access my file in the system and could see my green card and naturalisation history there but no evidence of me having filed an I-130 recently. (I called the US National USCIS office on 1800-375-5283)

 

Should I be worried? USCIS Mexico City said we should hear from Juarez within 2 months (66 days have passed). We have no case number and no apparent way of tracking our case. I can see from this forum that most people are able to track their case using a receipt number. I have never received one, no I-797 nor an official NOA.

 

Should we continue to be patient? Is it time to get a lawyer?

 

Best regards,

 

Annette 

 

[Ryan H 3,790]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures to DCF Discussion.

[MXcompadre 75]

l.  Hola Annette.  Like yourself, we have never received any notification via snail mail.  Strongly recommend calling the Ciudad Juarez Consulate telephone number, selecting the 1, 3, 1, 1 sequence option to talk with an operator.  Advise them that you received your I-130 petition approval letter, and want to check as to whether your husband has been assigned a case number. I called daily until I was informed that  a case number had been assigned. Likewise inquire as to the date you were sent the letter with that information.  Once you obtain your case number you can go to  https://ceac.state.gov/ceac/ and register so you will be able to complete and submit your DS-260 electonically, and then upon approval notification schedule your husband's ASC biometric, medical and interview appointments. I hope this will help you.         

[Madge 0]

Hi Mxcompadre, Huge thanks for your reply! 

 

[Madge 0]

Hi Mxcompadre, As I said above, thank you for your reply. Thanks to you, I was able to speak to an operator just now to discuss the latest 'glitch'.

 

I'll let you know what is happening as it may be useful to others.

 

In the time that has elapsed since my original post, we have received our case number. There was a reply to the inquiry I made at  https://mx.usembassy.gov/public-inquiry-form-immigrant-visas-residents/ . That reply came within 5 days. There I was told our case number and given this information:

"He should visit the Visa Appointment and Information service website (https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-mx/iv) and follow the instructions to log in and schedule both an Applicant Service Center (ASC) appointment and a Consular interview according to his convenience and appointment availability.  On December 6, 2016, an appointment instructions letter was sent to you by regular mail."

 

So, with our case number, off we went to  https://ceac.state.gov/ceac/ where we completed and submitted the DS-260 electronically then on to the Appointment website to schedule my husband's ASC biometric, medical and interview appointments ...

 

That brings us back to today. The 'glitch' I mention above is that there are no appointments available on the calendar on the Visa Appointment and Information service website for the next 20 months, or at all. The operator at CDJ said that, effectively, there are no appointment available and they are waiting for the consular section to 'open up more appointments' on the site and to 'keep checking' the site as they could 'open up any day'. I believe there are others having the same problem at the moment. 

 

Regards,

 

Annette

[Madge 0]

Just a side note: I honestly don't believe that they are sending anything to anyone by mail presently. I have been using 'Correos de México' happily for the last 4 years and have even successfully sent packages to remote villages in Chihuahua. I think there is something fishy going on there.

Edited February 1, 2017 by Madge

[MXcompadre 75]

Felicidades Annette!!!  Having read, and continually researching the great information posted by all of the Visa Journey contributors, I am convinced one must become pro-active in dealing with the various USA bureaucratic immigration agencies. Your personal free time permitting, check the Mexico Immigrant Visa Appointment Scheduling website several times daily until newly released dates become available.  Buen suerte. 

[MXcompadre 75]

Madge wanted to share with you that our letter of 'Case Ready' dated January 5, 2017, was delivered today.  It had a postage date of January 9, 2017 being mailed from the US Consulate Ciudad Juarez auxiliary office in El Paso, TX.  Our local 'Correos de Mexico' office stamped on the back of the envelope that had received it on January 27, 2017.  Go figure...perhaps their burro from Chihuahua to Jalisco went 'a la playa' for vacaciones en-route south to warm up!   

[Madge 0]

Hi MXcompadre,

Congratulations on receiving your 'Case Ready' letter. We still haven't received ours, but anything is possible.

Still no joy on the appointment website. Checking twice a day.

Do you have an official list of docs needed for the interview in CDJ? I'm pretty sure we're ready but there is a lot of confusing information out there.

All the best,

Annette

 

[Madge 0]

P.S. I'm sure the 'burro' deserved a beach holiday.

[MXcompadre 75]

Hola Madge,

 

OK this is the official Consulate Ciudad Juarez web-link listing for what is needed/required for the interview =  http://photos.state.gov/libraries/ciudadjuarez/231771/PDFs/packetk1may.pdf [note the 2011 posted implementation date]. Likewise, this is the 'Packet 4' web-link check-list for the Consulate Ciudad Juarez [note the [which I have dated 4 Nov 2015].  

 

I'm also attaching this web-link = http://www.visapro.com/Download/Form-DSL-1083.pdf [which is dated April 1998] and indicates that NO police certificates are required for IV applicants form Mexico.  At this point in time I'm uncertain as to whether this edict is still in affect, or whether it has been rescinded.  We're going under the premise that a State of Jalisco police record certificate will be brought to the interview in the event it is requested.

 

Hope this is helpful.

 

 

[Madge 0]

Very helpful. Thanks so much! - Annette

 

 

[MXcompadre 75]

Any luck with your search for an 'available' appointment scheduling date? 

[Madge 0]

Nothing! Poor husband checking 3x a day. 

[Madge 0]

I went through my diversity visa application while living in Japan in 1999  (naturalised US citizen - Australian born) and I can't remember it being this hard.