DCF - approval routed to consulate but stuck at NVC

[Mikey010 0]

Hi everybody,

I am a USC living in London, UK. My wife is in Moscow, Russia. We married in January of this year and want to move to US together ASAP. We also have a newborn daughter (registered as a USC at the Moscow embassy).

On February 17 I did DCF for my wife at London's USCIS office. The petition was approved on May 21st (they asked for proof of relationship, otherwise we would've been done in a month). So far so good.

But now it's been almost 2 months with no news. Moscow consulate did not get approved petition (I asked). London USCIS said that all approved DCF petitions where applicant resides in a different country must be routed through NVC. They said they forwarded it to NVC and they have nothing to do with the process from that point on.

The trouble is, NVC refuses to give me any update on the case because USCIS London didn't assign the case number. Furthermore they are under the impression that DCF cases never reach NVC anyway.

All of this poses a problem. The approved petition is in all likelihood is either lost or misplaced, and we can wait till we're blue in the face - nothing will happen. And there's no way to track it. And with the newborn in the mix my wife cannot visit me so I'm forced into living on the plane.

What can I do to make things move? I thought DCF is faster than filing in the US - but now I doubt the wisdom of such course of action.

Many thanks for any advise!

Mike

[Boiler 43,359]

DCF is much quicker if you are eligible, you are not.

Was your cheque cashed?

[Villanelle 4,121]

You sure created a pickle for yourself.

I read your posting twice to be sure I got all the info correct. First let me say this is a quite unusual situation so all I can do is offer you suggestions because it is quite unusual. Typically you apply for DCF in the place you are residing with your spouse. So like they said- if you jointly lived in London youd apply there and interview there and NVC is not involved at all.

Im honestly not sure of the procedure when you want or need to switch embassies for the interview; but I am sure there is a procedure. Problem is, since its not common- probably no one really knows off hand what to do- hence your application hanging in limbo somewhere!

So recommendations in no particular order-

Contact Moscow since that is where you ultimately want to be and see what they can do for you. If that means starting a new application there or they can fish it out from where ever it is so be it.

Contact the Ombudsman. There is info in the forums on how to do such. They are a neutral party that intervenes when you have an issue with USCIS/immigration and can get you assistance with your case.

Contact your local congressperson- they have staff assigned that specifically assists with immigration matters similar to the ombudsman.

I dont think you should wait any longer because like you said you can wait forever, your petition got lost in a hole to no where. You need to take action to have someone manually do something.

[Mark88 183]

The problem is you NEVER did DCF in the first place. DCF only works, if you reside in the country of filing with your spouse. This is clearly NOT the case. All what happened is, that you sent the application to a different address (the London embassy instead of the Chicago Lockbox), and it was forwared to the NVC. You would have been better off just sending directly. Sorry to say, your application is just a regular one and might take another 6-8 months until approved.

[Mikey010 0]

Mark88: I beg to disagree. I DID file DCF. There's no requirement for both petitioner and beneficiary to live in the same country (text on USCIS London's web site clearly indicates that, please see link below). Also I have a notice of I-130 approval.

-------------------------------------------------

Quote: "The original Form I-130 or I-360 will normally be transferred to the Immigrant Visa Unit at the US Consulate in the country where the beneficiary resides (unless the petitioner has specified otherwise on Form I-130). The U.S Consulate will then process the immediate relative beneficiary for an immigrant visa."

source: http://london.usembassy.gov/dhs/uscis/i130filing.html

[Mark88 183]

If it were DCF, the NVC would have never been involved. That is the whole point of leaving them (and the long wait) out of it. Otherwise it would have been just easier to send the petition directly to Moscow.

[Villanelle 4,121]

Eh- I think at this point trying to label something (is this DCF or is it not) is really not going to help anything.

The OP met the burden needed to direct file in London. They accepted him and processed him. He got his receipt and everything went A-OKAY. His problem now is- like stated before in the traditional DCF procedure it stays in house and they interview there; because he wants to be scheduled somewhere else (as the text quoted above stated) he was to fill it out with where he wanted the interview to be).

Im assuming he did. London is shrugging and saying we think we send it to NVC and Moscow gets it. NVC is saying we dont have it- dont know nothing.

So again - the options are go directly to MOSCOW and ask there for assistance, the ombuds, or congressman.

Maybe he was suppose to file in Moscow? Maybe London was suppose to send it to Moscow directly and not the NVC? I dunno. Thats why he needs help from INSIDE THE SYSTEM> Or atleast someone with some influence there. No one on VJ is really going to be able to give him any assistance besides links of who to contact inside.

Its doubtful hes going to find someone with his exact same scenario to walk him through what they did.

[Mikey010 0]

Many thanks to Damara,

I will contact Moscow consulate, London consulate again, Ombudsman, congressman, probably in that order.

Regarding location for filing DCF, regulations are quite clear: you cannot shop around, you've got to file where you lawfully reside: "U.S. citizens must establish that they lawfully reside in the Russian Federation in order to file at the Moscow office" (http://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-offices/russia-moscow-field-office).London office has similar wording.

[Darnell 8,478]

NVC does get involved on this stuff. I'll write up a longer response later, but for now - chase down London USCIS office and demand they find out the disposition/location on the casefile.

NVC is currrently taking about 7 weeks to log an approved I-130 once it hits the door. Without a 'normal' USICS receipt #, you cannot easily retrieve info about it at NVC.

[Pitaya 2,576]

~duplicate threads merged~

[Darnell 8,478]

OK I'm back.

Back at post #1, what you've described is do-able, but rare, so we not read of it much here at VJ.

The London USCIS office did the right thing,

as any casefile transfers MUST be handled by the National Visa Center (a unit of the Department of State).

Unfortunately, even coming in via Consular Packet into NVC,

it's going to take 7 to 9 weeks before the casefile is even logged in, as there's a huge backlog of casefiles at NVC.

Since the I-130 was approved at the London USCIS office, you don't have a 'regular' USCIS receipt #. Without that number, you cannot track stuff at NVC at all.

Going forward, here's what I suggest you do:

1. [London USCIS office] - show up in person, ask the current location and disposition on the approved I-130 casefile, using such phrases as:

____a. What date did it leave your mail-room?

____b. Was the A-File created or no? If yes, please give me the Alien Registration Number from the A-File.

____c. Will the casefile be forwarded on to the other IV Unit directly? Or must we handle Visa Application Process at NVC?

2. [NVC, phone calls] - assumption - you got the Alien Registration Number from London USCIS

____a. [supervisor] - give over biodata, mention Consular Packet from USCIS London, ask when it hit the door. Then ask about next routing. If they received it, logged it, and OPENED it, then a Consular casefile # will be assigned. Ask for the Consular Casefile #.

____b. [any SERCO Contractor that answers the phone] - Here's the Consular Casefile #, please tell me if I'm doing DOC intake with your office or if the casefile is being routed directly to another Consulate.

-----

I think you'll be going through doc intake and Visa Application process at NVC. Sure, your casefile type is rare, but that's what I think.

If you don't have any answers within 9 weeks of the casefile leaving USCIS London office, suggest you engage with an Immigration Liason Staffer with your Congressman's Office. I've written up some stuff on how to do this, you can find it with the advanced search tool, when logged in from a PC.

[Ul & Cr 0]

The problem is you NEVER did DCF in the first place. DCF only works, if you reside in the country of filing with your spouse. This is clearly NOT the case. All what happened is, that you sent the application to a different address (the London embassy instead of the Chicago Lockbox), and it was forwared to the NVC. You would have been better off just sending directly. Sorry to say, your application is just a regular one and might take another 6-8 months until approved.

Hi ,

Mark i disagree with your point of view,because it's a DCF case despite the fact that the spouse doesn't live in London. My wife did DCF without my presence at the USCIS Seoul field office. From what the immigration officer told her,after when they approve the I-130 petition , they will send it to the US (he didn't specify if it's at the NVC or not) from there , the case will be send directly to the US embassy in the country where the spouse currently lives. Good luck Mikey

[Mikey010 0]

Many thanks Darnell and 'Ul & Cr',

it turns out that our casefile sat at USCIS London for over a month from approval in May until I started enquiring in June. Then they woke up and FedExed it to NVC. It arrived at NVC on June 25th (they gave me the tracking #), which was 40 calendar and 29 working days ago.

I did not hear from NVC since. USCIS London did not give me any sort of A-number or case number.

I called NVC many times but they refuse to talk to me since I don't have the case number. Only once I got through to someone sensible who was able to check the status using bio. She said casefile not found yet. That was couple of weeks ago.

Now I know Darnell said 7-9 weeks to open the casefile at NVC but looking at the actual times reported at visajourney recently it takes 2-4 weeks for NVC to assign case # and contact petitioner. Am I missing something? How much longer should I wait before escalating via congressman's office?

Also, what's the best option to take here? If the file is lost or misplaced at NVC it will probably take another month to find it, even with the congressman's involvement. And from there it’s another 5-8 months before the visa is issued. On the other hand I can just give up, bring my wife to London on a British spouse visa (takes ~1 month) and restart the DCF process from scratch.

The reason I'm in a rush is that my parents who live stateside are old and very sick (my dad has cancer), and that the newborn (USC) in Moscow may have some heart issues and I don’t trust the doctors there. So by following the NVC route (and assuming I have to do document intake there) chances of my dad ever meeting his granddaughter are basically zero.

And of course flying back and forth while keeping a fulltime job in London is getting really exhausting and expensive.

Any thoughts on what I should do?

Should I wait a couple more weeks before contacting congressman’s office? Should I escalate now? Should I give up on that case and file DCF from scratch again, this time keeping the whole process local in London?

Many thanks!

Mike

[Mikey010 0]

Also, will hiring a lawyer stateside help? I'm not sure this will do anything other than creating more delays.

[Darnell 8,478]

7 to 9 weeks to open the casefile, once the casefile hits the door to nvc.

you know the 'hit the door' date,

so use some calendar math.