How long after I-130 until visa issued?

[Dan and Pat! 0]

Hello VJers,

I can't seem to find a flowchart or guide for I-130 filers, specifically USCs that want to bring over a stepchild.

I filed on November 9th and my wife flew over to Thailand to help with paperwork in December. However my house was recently robbed and I need her back here, we have to move immediately.

Does anyone know what happens after the I-130 is approved? Does it go to NVC? Do I necessarily have to have an interview if it is a minor child? I'd really appreciate it if someone could tell me what happens next.

Thanks for reading.

Dan

[Ning 619]

Hello VJers,

I can't seem to find a flowchart or guide for I-130 filers, specifically USCs that want to bring over a stepchild.

I filed on November 9th and my wife flew over to Thailand to help with paperwork in December. However my house was recently robbed and I need her back here, we have to move immediately.

Does anyone know what happens after the I-130 is approved? Does it go to NVC? Do I necessarily have to have an interview if it is a minor child? I'd really appreciate it if someone could tell me what happens next.

Thanks for reading.

Dan

It seems you are asking about the path to get the childs visa. It is exactly the same as any other person with some exceptions. Such as police report. It would help to know the childs age.

The 130 is approved by USCIS & sent to NVC just as any other petition would be. You dont say what visa you are trying to get which makes this difficult to further advise.

The first thing to do is understand what is required by the embassy to grant a visa to child. The father in this case will be required to provide a statement in both Thai & English which allows the child to leave Thailand. The embassy will provide a sample letter if asked. They do not say it must be done in both languages. Without this there is little chance of getting a visa for the child so begin with this step. Keep in mind they often times require the father to come to the embassy to verify his decision.

There will be an interview date set just as any other case. It is during that process where the letters from the resident parent will be reviewed. The medical docs wil be submitted as well. The child may not be actually interviewed depending on age. These cases are decided on the strength of the documents submitted rather than the questions at an intervew.

[Dan and Pat! 0]

Hello again Ning!

It has been awhile but you had some great advice for me when I got my wife's visa, thanks for taking the time to read my post.

The child is seven. I don't know what visa I'm trying to get him, but I think it is an IR-2 as my wife is an LPR and we have been married over 2 years. We are trying to have him move permanently to live with us.

So just to be clear, I am wondering exactly what happens after I receive NOA 2 for the I-130. Could you please tell me if this is correct? the visa will go to NVC which looks like it is running at about a 55 day processing time, and then to the consulate in Bangkok which is at least a 14 day wait.

Part of me would like my wife to stay in Thailand, because I feel we could be very close, but another part of me needs her here with me, I am having a very difficult time after the robbery.

Do you have a copy of the embassy letter that the father is required to sign? Is there a flowchart or timeline that I could look at somewhere?

I really apologize, this whole process is making my head spin. Thank you again for reading.

It seems you are asking about the path to get the childs visa. It is exactly the same as any other person with some exceptions. Such as police report. It would help to know the childs age.

The 130 is approved by USCIS & sent to NVC just as any other petition would be. You dont say what visa you are trying to get which makes this difficult to further advise.

The first thing to do is understand what is required by the embassy to grant a visa to child.

[Ning 619]

Hello again Ning!

It has been awhile but you had some great advice for me when I got my wife's visa, thanks for taking the time to read my post.

The child is seven. I don't know what visa I'm trying to get him, but I think it is an IR-2 as my wife is an LPR and we have been married over 2 years. We are trying to have him move permanently to live with us.

So just to be clear, I am wondering exactly what happens after I receive NOA 2 for the I-130. Could you please tell me if this is correct? the visa will go to NVC which looks like it is running at about a 55 day processing time, and then to the consulate in Bangkok which is at least a 14 day wait.

Part of me would like my wife to stay in Thailand, because I feel we could be very close, but another part of me needs her here with me, I am having a very difficult time after the robbery.

Do you have a copy of the embassy letter that the father is required to sign? Is there a flowchart or timeline that I could look at somewhere?

I really apologize, this whole process is making my head spin. Thank you again for reading.

Hello Dan. I am truly sorry to hear about what happened to you. This makes this a difficult time for you & your family I am sure. I hope what I have to say makes it easier to decide what the best thing to do will be for your situation.

It probably is an IR 2 that will result from the 130 petition. Its important to use the correct terms in the understanding here. You have filed a petition. That petition will be approved by USCIS then sent to NVC(National Visa Center) for further processing. What they do depends on the visa type. For yours I believe they will request fees & documents from you. Once that is done they will forward to BKK. I am not sure if they ( NVC ) set the interview date but I think so.

I understand you need some info as to timing of events because of the impact it must have on your ability to determin what to do. I am sorry to say I dont have anyway of helping you with that. Your previouse guess is about as good as it gets.

It is BKK embassy that will review the case. I am sure they will require the letter I indicated & possibly require the father to come in. This aspect should become the focal point. I am going to send you some info that should help you understand. I dont have a copy of the actual letter you ask about but it is simply a statement saying the parent will allow the child to immigrate to the USA. It is also BKK that would issue the visa if granted. As a child of 7 he wont need a police report but he will need the medical. He wont be interviewed really but they will want to see him & may ask some polite questions as they did my daughter (9).

In this circumstance I would advise you to have your wife remain in Thailand for now. She can see what it will take to ask the father about signing the letter. This can be very easy or become very difficult. She is Thai & will know exactly what I am talking about. I wouldnt want this hanging over me as I waited for the process to evolve. You need to know asap what approach to take. Doing this thru relatives or cell phones can be a disaster.

[Pocho 1]

Sorry about your situation.

You may want to contact your local congressman's office and seek assistance for your situation and may assist with the expedite and possibly bypass the NVC approval process and have your case directly processed by the embassy in BKK. The IR-2 case is just like the IR-1 and as many in VJ are taking 8-9 months.

As mentioned earlier, you will have to get the medical and the consent from the father. He will have to go to the Ampur and get a letter of consent allowing your step-child to immigrate to the U.S., which will be required at the embassy and if I remeber correctly, it doesn't have to be translated into English.

Good luck with your case.

[Karee 4,189]

Hello Dan. I am truly sorry to hear about what happened to you. This makes this a difficult time for you & your family I am sure. I hope what I have to say makes it easier to decide what the best thing to do will be for your situation.

It probably is an IR 2 that will result from the 130 petition. Its important to use the correct terms in the understanding here. You have filed a petition. That petition will be approved by USCIS then sent to NVC(National Visa Center) for further processing. What they do depends on the visa type. For yours I believe they will request fees & documents from you. Once that is done they will forward to BKK. I am not sure if they ( NVC ) set the interview date but I think so.

I understand you need some info as to timing of events because of the impact it must have on your ability to determin what to do. I am sorry to say I dont have anyway of helping you with that. Your previouse guess is about as good as it gets.

It is BKK embassy that will review the case. I am sure they will require the letter I indicated & possibly require the father to come in. This aspect should become the focal point. I am going to send you some info that should help you understand. I dont have a copy of the actual letter you ask about but it is simply a statement saying the parent will allow the child to immigrate to the USA. It is also BKK that would issue the visa if granted. As a child of 7 he wont need a police report but he will need the medical. He wont be interviewed really but they will want to see him & may ask some polite questions as they did my daughter (9).

In this circumstance I would advise you to have your wife remain in Thailand for now. She can see what it will take to ask the father about signing the letter. This can be very easy or become very difficult. She is Thai & will know exactly what I am talking about. I wouldnt want this hanging over me as I waited for the process to evolve. You need to know asap what approach to take. Doing this thru relatives or cell phones can be a disaster.

Unfortunately, NVC sets the dates for immigrant visa interviews. The consulate sets the dates for non-immigrant visas. It seems the non-immigrant visa interviews get priority and then the immigrant visas gets any slots that are left over. It took almost 3 months for my wife's interview from the case complete date at NVC, while K visas were getting interviews ~45 days after filing packet 3.

[Dan and Pat! 0]

Pocho, I will look into bypassing NVC, there is another issue here in that my wife had her green card stolen in Thailand, we have had some really bad luck.

The issue would be then that if I brought her home I don't know that she could get a replacement green card in time to get back to Thailand to pick him up. My head is spinning with all of the things that I don't know.

Sorry about your situation.

You may want to contact your local congressman's office and seek assistance for your situation and may assist with the expedite and possibly bypass the NVC approval process and have your case directly processed by the embassy in BKK. The IR-2 case is just like the IR-1 and as many in VJ are taking 8-9 months.

As mentioned earlier, you will have to get the medical and the consent from the father. He will have to go to the Ampur and get a letter of consent allowing your step-child to immigrate to the U.S., which will be required at the embassy and if I remeber correctly, it doesn't have to be translated into English.

Good luck with your case.

[Dan and Pat! 0]

Hello Karee,

Thank you for the information, at this point I just need more of an understanding of how the process works so I can do some planning. I appreciate this bit of information, I didn't know that NVC set the interview date, that helps me out quite a bit. If she comes home, more time is actually better, if she stays put obviously we need to speed things up if at all possible.

Unfortunately, NVC sets the dates for immigrant visa interviews. The consulate sets the dates for non-immigrant visas. It seems the non-immigrant visa interviews get priority and then the immigrant visas gets any slots that are left over. It took almost 3 months for my wife's interview from the case complete date at NVC, while K visas were getting interviews ~45 days after filing packet 3.

[Karee 4,189]

Pocho, I will look into bypassing NVC, there is another issue here in that my wife had her green card stolen in Thailand, we have had some really bad luck.

The issue would be then that if I brought her home I don't know that she could get a replacement green card in time to get back to Thailand to pick him up. My head is spinning with all of the things that I don't know.

Unless you can prove 6 months residency in Thailand, bypassing NVC isn't an option.

As for the stolen green card, look here:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=b3f7ab0a43b5d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=db029c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

Seems like she'll need to go to the embassy in Bangkok and get an entry permit for the U.S. and then apply for a replacement G.C. when she get's back.

[Dan and Pat! 0]

Karee,

Thanks for the information. She will be there 6 months at the end of June, but at our interview they told us not to leave the country for more than 6 months, so I think she needs to come back.

I did have one other question though, if NVC sets the interview, how much lead time do they give? Will I have enough time to send her back, get the medical done and get to the interview? I'm going to have her try and do the Amphur letter before she comes home.

Unless you can prove 6 months residency in Thailand, bypassing NVC isn't an option.

As for the stolen green card, look here:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=b3f7ab0a43b5d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=db029c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

Seems like she'll need to go to the embassy in Bangkok and get an entry permit for the U.S. and then apply for a replacement G.C. when she get's back.

[Karee 4,189]

Karee,

Thanks for the information. She will be there 6 months at the end of June, but at our interview they told us not to leave the country for more than 6 months, so I think she needs to come back.

I did have one other question though, if NVC sets the interview, how much lead time do they give? Will I have enough time to send her back, get the medical done and get to the interview? I'm going to have her try and do the Amphur letter before she comes home.

Sorry, I should have been more specific. It's about the USC living in Thailand for more than 6 months to be eligible for direct filing at the consulate. So for the child, you'll have to go the regular route. I-130 with USCIS and then the other stuff with NVC, and then the consulate.

What visa did she have to come to the U.S.? In my wife's case she came on an IR-1 visa and they put a I-551 stamp in her passport which is the equivalent of a green card. It was good for 6 months so she could travel on that with no problem.

As for the interview date, we had about 60 days notice.

Edited March 25, 2012 by Karee

[Pocho 1]

I had my congressman help with my wife's I-130 and explained the situation. The NVC receieved the initial payments but had all of the required documents they would have requested forwarded to BKK. As mentioned before and on many VJ cases, nothing seems to be set in stone with USCIS/DoS. So contact your local congressman's office.

[Dan and Pat! 0]

She came on a K-1, I was in Thailand but didn't know to do the DCF. We got Advance parole in the form a card, but that was stolen with her green card. So now I need to find the best option for replacing her ability to travel. If that means replacing the green card thats what I will do, maybe that is something that I can file right now to save time.

If we have 15 days until I-130 is finished, 50 days at NVC and then 60 days until interview, she needs to come home now, and hopefully we will be able to replace green card in time so she can travel. Worse case scenario, I go over there and get him to the interview, I keep forgetting that this is an option as well.

Just to answer your other point we have a transport letter all set up, so that is not a problem. I am in touch with the consulate over in Bangkok and they have been very friendly about getting her home.

Sorry, I should have been more specific. It's about the USC living in Thailand for more than 6 months to be eligible for direct filing at the consulate. So for the child, you'll have to go the regular route. I-130 with USCIS and then the other stuff with NVC, and then the consulate.

What visa did she have to come to the U.S.? In my wife's case she came on an IR-1 visa and they put a I-551 stamp in her passport which is the equivalent of a green card. It was good for 6 months so she could travel on that with no problem.

As for the interview date, we had about 60 days notice.

I have, and thanks. I will check in with them tomorrow before I confirm her ticket.

I had my congressman help with my wife's I-130 and explained the situation. The NVC receieved the initial payments but had all of the required documents they would have requested forwarded to BKK. As mentioned before and on many VJ cases, nothing seems to be set in stone with USCIS/DoS. So contact your local congressman's office.

[Karee 4,189]

She came on a K-1, I was in Thailand but didn't know to do the DCF. We got Advance parole in the form a card, but that was stolen with her green card. So now I need to find the best option for replacing her ability to travel. If that means replacing the green card thats what I will do, maybe that is something that I can file right now to save time.

If we have 15 days until I-130 is finished, 50 days at NVC and then 60 days until interview, she needs to come home now, and hopefully we will be able to replace green card in time so she can travel. Worse case scenario, I go over there and get him to the interview, I keep forgetting that this is an option as well.

Just to answer your other point we have a transport letter all set up, so that is not a problem. I am in touch with the consulate over in Bangkok and they have been very friendly about getting her home.

That's good news.

Yeah I lived in Thailand for 3 years. I wish I would've known about DCF. The whole process took a year for us. I think they replace the green card pretty quickly. Probably 30 days max.

[Dan and Pat! 0]

30 days right? Everything I read is telling me 2-6 months, but I swear it didn't take that long the first time we applied after our interview, it was 2 weeks for fingerprint interview and 2 for the green card to arrive

That's good news.

Yeah I lived in Thailand for 3 years. I wish I would've known about DCF. The whole process took a year for us. I think they replace the green card pretty quickly. Probably 30 days max.