Are we normal? I-797 question and more

[Cross the Pond 0]

Hello everyone! I'm having trouble finding any information about my following query. I hope someone can shed some light on what I just recieved.

Just some background: We did the whole NVC (Vermont) thing....sent to the London Embassy....Packet 3 sent...medical done...checklist sent. I can't remember exact dates of everything, but my question starts with the checklist. Ok, so we sent it back on June 3rd, recorded delivery. It was confirmed delivered a few days later, but wasn't confirmed to have been signed for until June 20th. Can anyone shed light on how that worked? We figured it was delivered to a post box first and must have not been picked up til the 20th for processing. Can anyone confirm this?

Ok, so July 6th comes and I recieve the I-797 (a supplement to I-129F...IMBRA) which contained my reciept number. Now this is really what I need the information on. Reading other people's posts it seems they've gotten their reciept number early in the process. Am I wrong? I called USCIS to get the lowdown on what this form means to me. He reassured me that it was the only thing holding up the interview. Do you guys know this to be true...that this form must be processed before an interview date? Did I recieve it at the correct time? I just wasn't expecting it.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

Jessica and Miles

[kitkat1 5]

Ok, so July 6th comes and I recieve the I-797 (a supplement to I-129F...IMBRA) which contained my reciept number. Now this is really what I need the information on. Reading other people's posts it seems they've gotten their reciept number early in the process. Am I wrong? I called USCIS to get the lowdown on what this form means to me. He reassured me that it was the only thing holding up the interview. Do you guys know this to be true...that this form must be processed before an interview date? Did I recieve it at the correct time? I just wasn't expecting it.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

Jessica and Miles

The first part of the process is a physical Notice of Action (NOA) that you would have received about two weeks after you submitted the initial petition paperwork. I-797C = Notice of Action.

I believe what you received was the RFE in order to comply with IMBRA. What does it look like? You can compare it to the scan at the top of the IMBRA thread to know for sure. It sounds like you need to fill out the RFE before they will grant you an interview date. In the grand scheme, if this is the case, you were very lucky that they didn't recall your case. So fill it out and send it back!

PLEASE POST YOUR COMPLETE TIMELINE as well.

[john_and_marlene 162]

Not enough information.

A timeline with specific date for the initial NOA1 might help answer the question.

If your application was sent to VSC after March 6, then it may have been approved and sent to the consulate and then recalled to comply with IMBRA. That's what it looks like on the surface, but hard to tell without more specific dates.

VSC was approving petitions quickly and as many as 1100 had been sent to the consulates before the decided to recall them to comply with IMBRA.

Edited July 17, 2006 by john_and_marlene

[Cross the Pond 0]

Not enough information.

A timeline with specific date for the initial NOA1 might help answer the question.

If your application was sent to VSC after March 6, then it may have been approved and sent to the consulate and then recalled to comply with IMBRA. That's what it looks like on the surface, but hard to tell without more specific dates.

VSC was approving petitions quickly and as many as 1100 had been sent to the consulates before the decided to recall them to comply with IMBRA.

Looking further into it, it seems that what you suggest about NVC approving and sending the file to the Embassy and then recalling it may be right. I don't have the exact days to fill out the timeline. I can tell you that we filed our petition towards the end of March. Recieved my NOA1 a few days after and my NOA2 a few weeks after. Next thing you know our file is with the embassy by the end of April. We send back Packet 3 in very early may. Miles had his medical and after we recieved the police certificate a month later we sent off the checklist on June 3rd.

Hopefully that will help with insight. But it seems we got very far with NO RFE's!

[kitkat1 5]

So what did you receive in the mail on July 6?

[john_and_marlene 162]

Ok, so July 6th comes and I recieve the I-797 (a supplement to I-129F...IMBRA)

So what did you receive in the mail on July 6?

The IMBRA RFE