Filed I-130 - is there anything else that I need to do?

[wiglet 0]

Hello,

My wife is a US citizen. I am an Irish citizen. We married 6 months ago and are both living in Ireland. We have filed a form I-130 to the Chicago lockbox where it was received, and we received a notice of action at the end of November. We have not yet heard anything else. How long should we wait, and are there any other forms that we can submit in the meantime while waiting for visa approval?

Thanks for your help!

[Novembro 1,763]

You'll need to wait to receive your NOA2. I can't tell a lot from your timeline, but it should be a few months from the initial filing that you will receive notice. Welcome to the waiting game!

Good luck

[TeaCup 65]

Hi! My husband is also from the US, living here in ireland with me, Just get together any proof you might have that the relationship is bonafide, photos together with eachothers family, trips away, hotel recipts, skype calls, texts.

Also, we filed in november too, you should visit the forum http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/464182-i-130-november-filers/page-14#entry6912730

You should probably hear something by the end of April/May.

[nightingalejules 678]

Hello,

My wife is a US citizen. I am an Irish citizen. We married 6 months ago and are both living in Ireland. We have filed a form I-130 to the Chicago lockbox where it was received, and we received a notice of action at the end of November. We have not yet heard anything else. How long should we wait, and are there any other forms that we can submit in the meantime while waiting for visa approval?

Thanks for your help!

Check the thread for November 2013 I-130 filers... you'll find a wealth of information, but most of it will be a little disheartening. On the plus side, it seems to be getting significantly better.

First of all, it's important to remember that you are not getting Visa approval yet, or for a while. You are getting approval for your I-130 petition, which essentially means that you are approved to start to file for the visa.

Once you get the I-130 approval (which will probably be within a month or two from now, based on the fact that I was an October filer and we are now starting to get approved) your file moves on to NVC (the National Visa Center - part of the Department of State). They receive it, and assign you a new case number. This is the number under which you will begin to actually apply for your visa. The NVC process will take a few months, if you're prepared, and then, once the case is complete at NVC, they send it to your "local" consulate. It seems like for most Irish people, the "local" consulate is actually the one in London, not Ireland, for some reason. Not sure.

Then you go for your medical and interview, which can take another long time, depending on how busy the consulate is and how many interview slots they have available.

Presumably then, you are actually approved for your visa.

There is nothing more you can file until you are assigned a case number from NVC. But you can start filling in the affidavit(s) of support (if the petitioner is not living in the US you will need a joint sponsor, and you will need to make a list of the "good faith efforts" you are making to re-establish domicile in the US) (form i184), the beneficiary can start making a list of all the addresses they've lived at since they were 16years old, all the jobs they've had in that time, the last 5 visits (with specific dates) to the US (if applicable), get a copy of their vaccination record, and anything else they will need to fill out the DS260 which is really the visa application.

So what you need to do right now is look at the November 2013 filers thread, see if they're starting to see approvals, ask them any questions related to USCIS you may have (if you get an RFE (request for evidence) rather than an approval, for instance).

Also, start looking at the NVC filers thread. They'll start a new one in April, and the March one is pretty unwieldy now so maybe start looking at it in a couple days. In the first or second post of the thread, you will see some links from Saylin that will tell you what to start preparing to be ready to go when you get the I-130 approval.

You will also find that people get pretty grouchy if you post vague questions like the above without doing a little research first. Use the search bar at the top right corner of your screen, look for similar posts, and then ask more specific questions to clarify, rather than a really broad question, the answer to which is pretty easily searchable on the site.

That said, welcome to VJ! You've come in at the right time, because it seems like things are finally moving!

[TeaCup 65]

Check the thread for November 2013 I-130 filers... you'll find a wealth of information, but most of it will be a little disheartening. On the plus side, it seems to be getting significantly better.

First of all, it's important to remember that you are not getting Visa approval yet, or for a while. You are getting approval for your I-130 petition, which essentially means that you are approved to start to file for the visa.

Once you get the I-130 approval (which will probably be within a month or two from now, based on the fact that I was an October filer and we are now starting to get approved) your file moves on to NVC (the National Visa Center - part of the Department of State). They receive it, and assign you a new case number. This is the number under which you will begin to actually apply for your visa. The NVC process will take a few months, if you're prepared, and then, once the case is complete at NVC, they send it to your "local" consulate. It seems like for most Irish people, the "local" consulate is actually the one in London, not Ireland, for some reason. Not sure.

Then you go for your medical and interview, which can take another long time, depending on how busy the consulate is and how many interview slots they have available.

Presumably then, you are actually approved for your visa.

There is nothing more you can file until you are assigned a case number from NVC. But you can start filling in the affidavit(s) of support (if the petitioner is not living in the US you will need a joint sponsor, and you will need to make a list of the "good faith efforts" you are making to re-establish domicile in the US) (form i184), the beneficiary can start making a list of all the addresses they've lived at since they were 16years old, all the jobs they've had in that time, the last 5 visits (with specific dates) to the US (if applicable), get a copy of their vaccination record, and anything else they will need to fill out the DS260 which is really the visa application.

So what you need to do right now is look at the November 2013 filers thread, see if they're starting to see approvals, ask them any questions related to USCIS you may have (if you get an RFE (request for evidence) rather than an approval, for instance).

Also, start looking at the NVC filers thread. They'll start a new one in April, and the March one is pretty unwieldy now so maybe start looking at it in a couple days. In the first or second post of the thread, you will see some links from Saylin that will tell you what to start preparing to be ready to go when you get the I-130 approval.

You will also find that people get pretty grouchy if you post vague questions like the above without doing a little research first. Use the search bar at the top right corner of your screen, look for similar posts, and then ask more specific questions to clarify, rather than a really broad question, the answer to which is pretty easily searchable on the site.

That said, welcome to VJ! You've come in at the right time, because it seems like things are finally moving!I

I've never heard of an Irish consulate in London, I really hope not. There's is a US embassy in Dublin so I'm really hoping it will be my local as I do live in Dublin.

[Ryan H 3,812]

It seems like for most Irish people, the "local" consulate is actually the one in London, not Ireland, for some reason. Not sure.

This only applies to people who live in Northern Ireland because Northern Ireland is actually UK territory.

I've never heard of an Irish consulate in London, I really hope not. There's is a US embassy in Dublin so I'm really hoping it will be my local as I do live in Dublin.

Since you live in Dublin, you will be interviewing in Dublin.