Police Certificate Clearance help request

[aarvee 0]

Hi all

I am a newcomer to VJ. I am the beneficiary and my wife is the petitioner for an I-130 petition that has been approved. I am still waiting for the NVC case #.

I have printouts of the awesome information under NVC filers. But my situation is quite unique and I would like to clarify the following doubts as I prepare my paperwork for the subsequent processing of my application. I am guessing that the case will come to the US Embassy at Auckland, New Zealand (from where I am applying) as my application is yet to be loaded in to the computer system at NVC as confirmed by them.

My wife is an American citizen and we have both been living together for the past four years in New Zealand. We are both employed full time here in Auckland. Before even going to the more advanced stages like AOS etc, there are a few major obstacles looming on the way which I would like to outline and get some valuable feedback from the generous members of VJ.

1) Should I wait for the interview from the US embassy at Auckland following which I get the approval to get the police clearance certificates? Or should I try going to the central police station at Auckland to get my fingerprinting done (assuming they would do it without seeing any official documentation from US embassy). How can I convince the police here to do my fingerprinting without any supporting documents?

2) I was born in India and became a naturalised Australian citizen with an Australian passport. I left India in my early twenties, studied in Australia, worked/lived in Fiji for 5 years, then migrated to Australia and lived there for 7 years and then have been living in New Zealand for the past 6 years. In this scenario, having lived for more than 12 months in each country, do I have to get police certificates from

a) India - though I am not an Indian passport holder any more

Note: The reciprocity page on the state.gov site states - Indian police certificates are not available for foreign (non-Indian) applicants applying outside India.

Do I still need a police certificate from India?

b) Though I have no connection to Fiji any more, would I need to get a police clearance certificate from that country? I have to send fingerprints and they will reply directly to the US embassy in Auckland, New Zealand. Fiji Police do not reply nor send the clearance certificate directly to the applicant.

This throws another potential problem in that some of the threads on VJ forum state that I should have a copy of the police clearance at the time of the interview. But no one can predict the lag time between NVC approving the application in its final stages and the final interview for the visa approval at the local embassy. If I do not have the police clearance certificate from all countries in the final interview or if it is expired, I will have to go through the application process all over again.

c)The same applies to Australia as in the case of Fiji with me sending them fingerprints and getting background checks done. As far as I know, I think Australia sends me the results. If that is the case, then I can order 2 copies, sending one to the NVC with my IV package and retaining the other one for the final interview.

d) I am not sure about New Zealand.

All these clearances are subject to getting the case # from NVC and the initial interview from the US Embassy. I would sincerely appreciate any valuable advice from those who have been in this situation and had their CR1 visa approved.

What would be the strategy for me to adopt in this scenario?

Appreciating your help in advance

Thanks

Aarvee