I-130 Address Question (Filing from abroad) NO DCF

[Dani&Juli_VE 1]

Hello,

I'm a born US Citizen currently living in Venezuela and I got married to a Venezuelan on April 2013. We wish to move to the United States permanently.

There no DCF (Direct Consular Filing) option here so I need to send the I-130 form directly to USCIS (Chicaco, IL).

However, I've found an issue that got me stuck and I couln't find an answer on the internet:

The I-130 form on "Information about you" and "Information about your relative" requests to enter an address for each one of us. We are currently living in a rural area near Caracas, Venezuela, and unfortunately most mail services here are not reliable at all, specially under the political circumstances this country is going through. We'd rather avoid having mail being sent from the US to our Venezuelan address. We're afraid it might get lost or delayed.

QUESTIONS:

1. Could I put my sisters Address in the US, so she could recieve and handle all correspondance?

2. If yes, do I need to include some sort of explaination letter? or it doesn't matter at all?

3. If not, could I put my office address in Caracas which is more reliable (its in the center of Caracas)?

4. What kind of mail service / company does the USCIS and NVC use to send mail abroad?

Thank you guys, if you have any suggestions please do help us! THANKS!

Daniel

Edited May 9, 2014 by dobleclickve

[li_09 40]

1. Yes

2. No

[Dani&Juli_VE 1]

Thank you!

[NikLR 13,234]

I would not use any US addresses on the forms. If you get sent to CSC (California Service Center) they may well auto-expedite your I-130 because you are both abroad. This won't happen if there is a US address on there. (Even where you intend to live can be "to be determined".) Use a reliable address to obtain any mail from USCIS, make sure your petition is filled out correctly with lots of evidence, and also include the G-1145.

[Dani&Juli_VE 1]

I would not use any US addresses on the forms. If you get sent to CSC (California Service Center) they may well auto-expedite your I-130 because you are both abroad. This won't happen if there is a US address on there. (Even where you intend to live can be "to be determined".) Use a reliable address to obtain any mail from USCIS, make sure your petition is filled out correctly with lots of evidence, and also include the G-1145.

Thank you NLR!

Well now I'm confused. One user said yes, and you say no!

My main concern is mail getting lost or heavily delayed in the venezuelan postal system, which is terrible these days.

1. What would be the exact reason not to include the US Addresses in the forms?

2. Would it be ok to put my own office address in Caracas instead of my house address in Caracas?

3. What mail service does USCIS use to send notices/packages?

Thanks!

[NikLR 13,234]

1) the reason is because 2 of the service centers will auto-expedite your case. You could see approval in 10-45 days vs 6 months+. But only two of them do it, so you kind of roll the dice since I have no idea on why the USCIS is sending petitions to all the different places or where it will end up. If there is a US address on the forms, they will consider that you're in the USA and not auto expedite.

2) Use the office address as your mailing address and your house address as your home address if possible.

3) USPS They're a government department and use government resources to send things 90% of the time.

[nightingalejules 678]

1. The previous poster suggests that there is a chance your file could be expedited at one of the 4 US offices that process i130s, if they notice that you're both overseas. It's possible, I suppose, but from what you've said, it seems way more likely that an important piece of information might get lost if you try to send things to Venezuela. It's up to you, but I would err on the side of caution, and have things sent to a more dependable address.

2. I'm sure that putting your office address in Caracas would be absolutely fine.

3. USCIS uses regular post. So your concerns are valid. The only time they use a courier is to return your wife's passport, and even then, they tend to just ship it to the depot, rather than your home. (although in some cases you can opt for home delivery, for an added cost.)

I would definitely avoid having mail go to your home address if you've had trouble in the past. Having the mail sent to your office may be better than a US address, because there may be things that your sister would have to fedex to you if she were receiving the packages, especially at the NVC stage.

Also, make sure you sign up for email notifications as soon as you have a receipt number from USCIS - the 1145 (or whatever) only sends you the first notification, then you have to go to the USCIS website, sign up for an account and opt in for email notifications.

You'll have to register your email(s) again at the NVC stage- they don't send them along...

But at least that way you'll usually get emails as well as postal mail at USCIS and you can see whether everything is getting to you at the USCIS stage. If it doesn't, that would be a good time to switch the address at NVC stage to a US address.

[pushbrk 13,633]

Thank you!

You've said thank you too soon. The I-130 does not ask for a mailing address and you do not need to receive any mail as a part of this process. When asked for your address, indicate where you live.

Make sure you include a G1145 form with an email address, so you will get an email confirmation for your filing that will include your case number. Once you have the case number, register with USCIS for email updates of your case status. Don't expect any update until the petition is approved.

During the black hole you'll be waiting through for the petition approval, learn the rest of the process including how you'll navigate the National Visa Center. Deal with NVC pro-actively by calling them and asking them to email their requests to you. They will, and you'll never need to worry about any kind of snail mail, ever.

[razspaz13 30]

question 4 what kind of mail service.......

I believe it is the us postal service, the notices I have received snail mail abroad were sent via airmail and took anywhere from 9 to 15 days to get here. I like the idea of having email notices as well as hard copy, besides the paper is so pretty LOL.

don't bank on an auto expedite and good luck with your journey!!!

[Dani&Juli_VE 1]

You've said thank you too soon. The I-130 does not ask for a mailing address and you do not need to receive any mail as a part of this process. When asked for your address, indicate where you live.

Make sure you include a G1145 form with an email address, so you will get an email confirmation for your filing that will include your case number. Once you have the case number, register with USCIS for email updates of your case status. Don't expect any update until the petition is approved.

During the black hole you'll be waiting through for the petition approval, learn the rest of the process including how you'll navigate the National Visa Center. Deal with NVC pro-actively by calling them and asking them to email their requests to you. They will, and you'll never need to worry about any kind of snail mail, ever.

Thanks pushbrk!

So as long and I keep calling and signing up for email updates, I can go through the whole proccess (USCIS and NVC) receiving email instead of waiting for "snail mail" to arrive ????

I want to stress this out: venezuelan postal service is a disaster. I'd rather avoid it at all costs. If you confirm to me that I won't need to receive mail here in Caracas, I will follow your suggestion and just indicate where I live in the I-130 form.

I'd appreciate your confirmation!!!

And thank you, thank you, thank you all for your responses!!!

We can feel the energy of the VJ family. So glad we are not alone in this!!!

[Dani&Juli_VE 1]

question 4 what kind of mail service.......

I believe it is the us postal service, the notices I have received snail mail abroad were sent via airmail and took anywhere from 9 to 15 days to get here. I like the idea of having email notices as well as hard copy, besides the paper is so pretty LOL.

don't bank on an auto expedite and good luck with your journey!!!

Oh dear!

If that's true, I hope @pushbrk is right and we can rely on email updates instead.

Edited May 13, 2014 by dobleclickve

[Dani&Juli_VE 1]

1. The previous poster suggests that there is a chance your file could be expedited at one of the 4 US offices that process i130s, if they notice that you're both overseas. It's possible, I suppose, but from what you've said, it seems way more likely that an important piece of information might get lost if you try to send things to Venezuela. It's up to you, but I would err on the side of caution, and have things sent to a more dependable address.

2. I'm sure that putting your office address in Caracas would be absolutely fine.

3. USCIS uses regular post. So your concerns are valid. The only time they use a courier is to return your wife's passport, and even then, they tend to just ship it to the depot, rather than your home. (although in some cases you can opt for home delivery, for an added cost.)

I would definitely avoid having mail go to your home address if you've had trouble in the past. Having the mail sent to your office may be better than a US address, because there may be things that your sister would have to fedex to you if she were receiving the packages, especially at the NVC stage.

Also, make sure you sign up for email notifications as soon as you have a receipt number from USCIS - the 1145 (or whatever) only sends you the first notification, then you have to go to the USCIS website, sign up for an account and opt in for email notifications.

You'll have to register your email(s) again at the NVC stage- they don't send them along...

But at least that way you'll usually get emails as well as postal mail at USCIS and you can see whether everything is getting to you at the USCIS stage. If it doesn't, that would be a good time to switch the address at NVC stage to a US address.

You're very kind! Thank you for your enlightening response!

We'll now it seems I don't actually NEED to receive mail at all, as long as I sign up for email updates (as user @pushbrk said). That way I could just indicate were we actually live (Caracas, Venezuela).

It seems like a good idea to change to a US address at the NVC stage. I'll definetly consider that if things never arrive.

Edited May 13, 2014 by dobleclickve

[elvenshadow 19]

I made the mistake of not signing up for email notifications on the USCIS site after getting NoA1 and I just did it 2 days ago. Does anyone know if they will send notifications for any RFEs or notifications that would have happened before I signed up for email notifications, after the fact? I don’t see any change in the status on the USCIS case status page but I also don’t know how fast that updates compared to how fast they send out email notifications.

[pushbrk 13,633]

The email notifications are virtually instant. If you status indicate initial review, there haven't been any RFE's. If there were RFE's the status would indicate they were awaiting a response to a request for evidence. Typically, there are no notifications between filing and approval.

[elvenshadow 19]

The email notifications are virtually instant. If you status indicate initial review, there haven't been any RFE's. If there were RFE's the status would indicate they were awaiting a response to a request for evidence. Typically, there are no notifications between filing and approval.

Ah I see. So, in the unlikely scenario where my petition was approved (NoA2) before I registered for email notifications, would they have sent an email for NoA2 soon after registering, or would the only way to know to be by checking the case status or waiting for the snail mail notice?