I-130 Approved; how long to wait to hear from Ciudad Juarez Consulate?

[jolson 0]

I-130 for my wife was approved yesterday. The email just said to wait to hear from the Consulate in Ciudad Juarez and to be patient. Would love to hear anyone else's experience and advice with this part of the process. I understand UCISC sends the packet via snail mail to the consulate and then the consulate will send a letter also via snail mail to me so I assume that I shouldn't expect anything until at least 2-3 weeks (we live in Guanajuato). Also, I seem to remember reading somewhere on the forums here about the need to call or email the Consulate to "pester" them to get the case number but I can't find that thread. Any advice from other Mexico DCF'ers would be awesome. Thanks!

[Jorge V 195]

We received Packet 3 11 days after receiving NOA2. We were approved July 6, Juarez assigned a case number on July 12, and Packet 3 was delivered to us on July 17th. Packet 3 will contain your case number. If you don't receive Packet 3 in 2-3 weeks it's probably time to start calling the embassy. It's hard to get an actual person that knows what's going on but you'll eventually get through. I believe the case you were referring to was @mexicoAmigo . He and I filed our DCF petitions around the same time, but his packet 3 letter took 4-5 weeks to arrive. He started calling and emailing the embassy and eventually got his case number through those means.

[jolson 0]

On 2/9/2018 at 4:26 PM, Jorge V said:

We received Packet 3 11 days after receiving NOA2. We were approved July 6, Juarez assigned a case number on July 12, and Packet 3 was delivered to us on July 17th. Packet 3 will contain your case number. If you don't receive Packet 3 in 2-3 weeks it's probably time to start calling the embassy. It's hard to get an actual person that knows what's going on but you'll eventually get through. I believe the case you were referring to was @mexicoAmigo . He and I filed our DCF petitions around the same time, but his packet 3 letter took 4-5 weeks to arrive. He started calling and emailing the embassy and eventually got his case number through those means.

 

Excellent, thank you Jorge!

[jolson 0]

Finally received an email from the CDJ Consulate with my wife's case number and instructions for scheduling the appointments (the good news). The bad news: the only available interview dates are in September!?! I know there might be cancellations and I'll be checking the website regularly for that, but geeeez, I had hoped DCF would be faster but it in the end it appears that the whole process will be close to a year long anyway. I guess we just had very bad luck with our timing.  

[Jorge V 195]

3 hours ago, jolson said:

Finally received an email from the CDJ Consulate with my wife's case number and instructions for scheduling the appointments (the good news). The bad news: the only available interview dates are in September!?! I know there might be cancellations and I'll be checking the website regularly for that, but geeeez, I had hoped DCF would be faster but it in the end it appears that the whole process will be close to a year long anyway. I guess we just had very bad luck with our timing.  

This is actually a quirk with the scheduling system. They don't open up all months at once. What they do is only open a single month block at a time, usually about 5 - 8 weeks before that month begins, but that is subject to change. This means that they may open May dates in the coming weeks, with June coming about a month later. The slots they open go fast, within a few days. My suggestion is to check the calendar every day, even multiple times per day if possible. Even after you get an appointment keep checking. 

[jolson 0]

On 3/9/2018 at 9:24 PM, Jorge V said:

This is actually a quirk with the scheduling system. They don't open up all months at once. What they do is only open a single month block at a time, usually about 5 - 8 weeks before that month begins, but that is subject to change. This means that they may open May dates in the coming weeks, with June coming about a month later. The slots they open go fast, within a few days. My suggestion is to check the calendar every day, even multiple times per day if possible. Even after you get an appointment keep checking. 

Thank you Jorge, but I still wonder why September is currently the only block open when it is much more than 5 - 8 weeks out. That's what makes me think every else is taken. But I really hope what you are saying is true and I'll definitely keep checking the calendar for anything that might open, hopefully in May or June like you said. Thank you!

[Jorge V 195]

18 minutes ago, jolson said:

Thank you Jorge, but I still wonder why September is currently the only block open when it is much more than 5 - 8 weeks out. That's what makes me think every else is taken. But I really hope what you are saying is true and I'll definitely keep checking the calendar for anything that might open, hopefully in May or June like you said. Thank you!

I guess anything is possible but I certainly don't think that they're booked up until September. When I first got my case number in July I was able to get a September date (later rescheduled to August). I also know of @MrHanky whose case got approved at the NVC (he was not DCF) in November and he was able to get an interview for January. I don't they they would build up a backlog that long in only 3-4 months.

 

One other thing, you mentioned that doing DCF might take as long as the NVC route, but if they are truly backed up until September and you were going the NVC route you'd still have to wait until September to get a date, meaning that the non-DCF route would've taken almost two years to complete. The slots are the calendar are the same for DCFers, NVCers, and even other types of visas. 

[RamirezUSA 2]

Hi Jorge and Jolson, I am following all DCF Mexico cases. We just received our NOA2 via e-mail and were approved, so we are waiting on some mail to arrive from Juarez (our location is Mexico City). My doubt is: What is the benefit to calling to "pester" Juarez? Am I able to schedule to appointment if I call and obtain the case number before the packet arrives?

 

Thanks, just wanted to clarify. 

[Jorge V 195]

38 minutes ago, RamirezUSA said:

Hi Jorge and Jolson, I am following all DCF Mexico cases. We just received our NOA2 via e-mail and were approved, so we are waiting on some mail to arrive from Juarez (our location is Mexico City). My doubt is: What is the benefit to calling to "pester" Juarez? Am I able to schedule to appointment if I call and obtain the case number before the packet arrives?

 

Thanks, just wanted to clarify. 

Congrats on the approval!

 

You're correct. All you really need to proceed to the next step is your case number. Packet 3 is really nothing more than a set of instructions. Having your case number will allow you to schedule your interview, and since appointments fill up fast, having it a few days earlier could potentially allow you to schedule your interview weeks or a month earlier than if you had waited.

 

That said, I did not call to get my case number. My packet 3 letter arrived after only 11 days which was good enough for me. Others have had to wait longer, though, up to 5+ weeks. I probably would have started calling after 3-4 weeks.

[RamirezUSA 2]

So, I have attempted to call Juarez several times. I have found four numbers that get me in touch with the consulate. The problem is that either a) the messaging service hangs up on me or b) someone answers but then hangs up after I ask for a case number. I wonder, what is the right way to go about calling Juarez? How did you do it @mexicoAmigo? How can I get through to someone who can help? A worthless effort?

 

Our timeline is as follows: April 3: Submit I-130 / April 10: I-130 Approval / April 12: NOA2 notification e-mail / May 4: NOA2 received via snail mail - six weeks since approval and nothing from Juarez

[zinmemini 1]

We did DCF as well.

For us, we did receive the confirmation of I-130 was received on April 05 and we waited for some time.

But after about a month and a half, we didn't receive anything from the consulate so I called them to check.

Initially, they said they couldn't find anything about my file. But they said they would look into it and told me to contact USCIS Mexico City.

And USCIS said everything was sent to the Ciudad Juarez consulate. 

 

So I sent the consulate an email regarding the situation.

And a day after that, I got a confirmation from them that it was processed and I can make an appointment.

 

So I say wait about a month and call them!