June 2016 I-130 filers

[cake68 6]

49 minutes ago, phillamb168 said:

It took about five hours for agent assignment to become available, so I filled it out immediately and then called to request that NVC review it with me over the phone. I was told that they couldn't do anything until we received our welcome letter via email, so I waited.

 

We had previously sent an email to asknvc@state.gov (BEFORE receiving our case number, just a week or so after we had received notice from USCIS that they had sent the case to NVC) for "Declaration of the Choice of Address and Agent for Immigrant Visa Applicant." We had received an email yesterday afternoon requesting clarification because (oops!) we had forgotten to include my (petitioner's) email address. My wife responded about an hour later to give them my email.

 

Received our welcome letters this morning at around 1:30 am EST (about two days after initial case number assignment).

 

Upon logging into CEAC after the reception of the welcome letter, I see that Choice of Address and Agent (DS-261) is marked as COMPLETED and was then able to pay the AOS fee. I filled in my US bank account details and clicked submit, and then noticed that I also had a "PAY NOW" link for my wife's DS-230 IV Fee, and tried to pay it, but it's unavailable. I called to inquire about this and was told that it wouldn't show as available until the AOS fee had processed, which usually takes about 48 hours. So I'll keep looking at that.

 

IN THE MEANTIME (and this may help some of you), I had done my due diligence in reading over the NVC's lists of supporting documents, etc for AOS and DS-260, and after reading the welcome email noticed that there is nothing in there that says you can't send your packet of photocopies over early, it just says "If you have not submitted Form DS-260 "Online Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration Application"at http://ceac.state.gov, please do so now."

 

SO I am going to go ahead and overnight all of our paperwork, with the Document Cover Sheet. That way there's no waiting time once the DS-260 is submitted, they will already have everything ready to go.

 

NEXT STEPS:
Wait for IV Fee to become available, pay it.

Wait for DS-260 to become available, fill it out. AS SOON AS it's filled out, send form DS-2001 (Notification of Applicant Readiness) to my embassy. I was able to find my particular DS-2001 (they apparently vary by consulate/country/embassy) online. I will overnight it to them, give them a few days, and then email NVCExpedite@state.gov to request an expedite. We had been told by a DoS agent at the Embassy six or so months ago that they will generally approve expedites IF we have all of our paperwork completed, hence my submission of DS-2001.

 

Further bulletins as events warrant...

this is such great information.  i am copying it to my files.

thank you!

[maolga 1]

Finally APPROVED ! It only took them 199 days! Hang in there everyone, It's closer than you think. 

 

Now I'm totally lost for the NVC Stage. For those of you that have gone through the initial steps: where do I begin? When can I start calling? Are you staying in this forum or is there another one recommended? Do I continue to check my case status in the same website as I've done so far, or is there a new website to migrate to? 

 

What a great way to start the year! 

[Dre876 41]

4 hours ago, maolga said:

Finally APPROVED ! It only took them 199 days! Hang in there everyone, It's closer than you think. 

 

Now I'm totally lost for the NVC Stage. For those of you that have gone through the initial steps: where do I begin? When can I start calling? Are you staying in this forum or is there another one recommended? Do I continue to check my case status in the same website as I've done so far, or is there a new website to migrate to? 

 

What a great way to start the year! 

Wow! Congratulations. 

[phillamb168 19]

IV Fee became available this morning, and has been paid. It looks like it takes their system two business days to process fees, so hopefully by Tuesday or Wednesday we'll have the DS-260 available. In the meantime, I sent my packet via USPS yesterday. With some luck, it will be scanned into their system at the same time as I'm filling out the DS-260.

[phillamb168 19]

4 hours ago, maolga said:

Finally APPROVED ! It only took them 199 days! Hang in there everyone, It's closer than you think. 

 

Now I'm totally lost for the NVC Stage. For those of you that have gone through the initial steps: where do I begin? When can I start calling? Are you staying in this forum or is there another one recommended? Do I continue to check my case status in the same website as I've done so far, or is there a new website to migrate to? 

 

What a great way to start the year! 

Congrats! So, first things first, send the email to asknvc@state.gov which I've detailed in this post: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/595256-i-130-may-2016-filers/?page=32#comment-8441725

 

This will get your DS-261 moving before they even have processed your case. You can use your USCIS Case number for this one.

 

It took my case about two weeks to get to NVC, but that was during the holidays. More specifically, my case was marked on the USCIS case tracker (https://egov.uscis.gov/casestatus/landing.do) as 'sent to NVC' (as opposed to 'approved') on December 28th and received on January 5th. Factoring in the fact that there was a Federal holiday in between those dates, it appears to currently take about one week from 'Sent to NVC' to 'Received by NVC.'

 

What I did, was to start calling every other day once I got my USCIS approval, and moved to calling once a day (towards the end of the day each time) once my USCIS case was updated to 'Sent to NVC.' Don't forget, I had also sent in my email for the DS-261.

 

After a week, I was told over the phone that my case had been received and had been assigned a case number and invoice number, but that I couldn't actually do anything just yet because they hadn't finished entering the details of my case. BUT, at least now I was able to log in to CEAC (https://ceac.state.gov/ceac/) and see something.

 

It took three business days from when I got my case and invoice numbers to when I was actually able to do something in CEAC, which was to fill out the DS-261 there. Yes, I had already submitted my DS-261 in 'unofficial' form via email, but it didn't hurt to go ahead and submit again.

 

It then took about a day (received 11 January) to receive my AOS invoice via email, which also contained my welcome packet with a bar-coded cover sheet and checklist. A tip: KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THE WELCOME EMAIL. Receiving it means that your AOS fee has become unlocked and you can pay it as soon as you receive the email. I didn't realize this, and so didn't check the CEAC site until the following day (the 12th). I paid the AOS fee then, and started to put together my packet. I had already gone over all of the information listed on the state.gov website so I actually had everything, including police certificates and translations, ready to go.

 

I submitted my packet, including cover letter, to the NVC yesterday, 13th January. This morning (two business days after paying my AOS fee) I received an email (AIVF FOR NEOPOST DS-1200) which basically told me that I could pay the IV fee ($325... OUCH!). I did so immediately. As I mentioned in a previous post, it looks like it takes about two business days for the system to register a payment, but given that I submitted it on a Saturday, and Monday is (another) Federal holiday, I don't expect to hear anything until Wednesday, but I'm keeping an eye out for those emails nonetheless.

 

The next email I should receive will be an email informing me that I can fill out the DS-260 online. As stated previously, I've gone over all of the documentation and have my answers ready for every part of the form. Once that's submitted, they will tell me to submit my packet (although I've already done that), and the wait begins! My congresscritter is asking about expedites, but at this rate I'm not sure we'll actually need one.

 

Oh, and SECRET SQUIRREL SECRET WEAPON: I downloaded a copy of my consulate's "Packet 3" - DS-2001 from this link:

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/pk 3 supplements/{THREE LETTER EMBASSY CODE} - {CITY NAME}.pdf (I'm not sure what your particular embassy code and city name will be, and they may not have these all available. Mine was PRS (for Paris) and Paris (for .... Paris.) So PRS - Paris.pdf - I've checked Montreal, and it exists, but London doesn't have one, for example.

 

Anyway, depending on your particular embassy, you'll have different instructions for the DS-2001 (Notification of Applicant Readiness). Mine basically requests all of the papers you had to provide photocopies of for the packet you should have sent between the IV fee and the DS-260 form, AND (this is important) your DS-260 CONFIRMATION NUMBER which, while I haven't yet filled out the DS-260 so I can't be sure, I am assuming will be like the confirmation number you get when you fill out your DS-261, which is in the format: AA###AA### (a = alpha, # = numeric). I have not sent this in yet, but will be doing so as soon as my DS-260 is submitted. I don't know if this will speed anything up or not, but think about it, the NVC part of the process is just paying some bills and making sure you have all your paperwork in order, and then they're sending it off to the Embassy. If you are reasonably certain that you have all of your paperwork in order, there is nothing in Packet 3 that says "you must wait for your approval from NVC." So we're going to do that and hope for the best.

 

[agripa 100]

31 minutes ago, phillamb168 said:

I submitted my packet, including cover letter, to the NVC yesterday, 13th January. This morning (two business days after paying my AOS fee) I received an email (AIVF FOR NEOPOST DS-1200) which basically told me that I could pay the IV fee ($325... OUCH!).

Are you saying you sent both the AOS and IV packet prior to paying the IV fee. This seems to go against the guide on VJ, which states to pay both the IV and AOS fees. In fact, I think you need the barcoded payment sheet from both payments. 

[phillamb168 19]

4 minutes ago, agripa said:

Are you saying you sent both the AOS and IV packet prior to paying the IV fee. This seems to go against the guide on VJ, which states to pay both the IV and AOS fees. In fact, I think you need the barcoded payment sheet from both payments. 

The information on VJ is quite a bit out of date. My understanding from reading the documentation on the DoS website and other sources is that the only thing you need is your barcoded cover letter / check list. They keep track of your payment through the online system.

[agripa 100]

@phillamb168 Thanks for this. So just to summarize [with time tables], the new steps are --

1. Email asknvc@state.gov as you outlined in order to get the DS-261 moving. You should do this as soon as you see a "Sent to NVC" at the UCSIS Case Status Webpage (or even earlier when it's approved??)
2. Call the NVC daily after your case approval until you can get your case number and invoice number. This will take ~2 weeks.
3. Fill out DS-261 again (OPTIONAL) as soon as it becomes available. Print out confirmation page. This happens ~2-3 days after you get you case/invoice number.
4. Receive Welcome+AOS Fee Email; Pay AOS fee. Print out confirmation page.
5. Put together AOS and IV packets and mail them out.
6. IV Fee Unlocks. Pay IV fee. Print out confirmation page.
7. DS-260 unlocks. Fill it out and print confirmation page.
8. Keep calling NVC to get scan date.
9. Keep calling to see when you're case complete and get an interview date.

Am I missing anything? Thanks again for this terrific advice.

[YoungRL 4]

@phillamb168, thank you so much for the write-up!  May I ask, are you following any particular guide that can be found here on VisaJourney?  I have found some out-of-date information/guides and I'd like to make sure I can refer to something current as I go through this.

[YoungRL 4]

I'm attempting to update my Timeline and I'm not entirely sure what date to put down for when my package was received by NVC.  I didn't call NVC at all, I just waited and received the welcome emails.  Also, do I put in the date I received the welcome emails for the "Received DS-261/AOS Bill" date?  If anyone can help that would be wonderful!

[phillamb168 19]

2 hours ago, YoungRL said:

@phillamb168, thank you so much for the write-up!  May I ask, are you following any particular guide that can be found here on VisaJourney?  I have found some out-of-date information/guides and I'd like to make sure I can refer to something current as I go through this.

A mix of guides plus google plus calling NVC and USCIS plus state.gov website info ;-)

[phillamb168 19]

4 hours ago, agripa said:

@phillamb168 Thanks for this. So just to summarize [with time tables], the new steps are --

1. Email asknvc@state.gov as you outlined in order to get the DS-261 moving. You should do this as soon as you see a "Sent to NVC" at the UCSIS Case Status Webpage (or even earlier when it's approved??)
2. Call the NVC daily after your case approval until you can get your case number and invoice number. This will take ~2 weeks.
3. Fill out DS-261 again (OPTIONAL) as soon as it becomes available. Print out confirmation page. This happens ~2-3 days after you get you case/invoice number.

I would say filling out the DS-261 is not optional, do it anyway. I'm not 100% sure that they used our email as opposed to the form I filled out, it won't hurt you to do both.

4 hours ago, agripa said:

1. Receive Welcome+AOS Fee Email; Pay AOS fee. Print out confirmation page.
2. Put together AOS and IV packets and mail them out.
3. IV Fee Unlocks. Pay IV fee. Print out confirmation page.
4. DS-260 unlocks. Fill it out and print confirmation page.
5. Keep calling NVC to get scan date.
6. Keep calling to see when you're case complete and get an interview date.

Am I missing anything? Thanks again for this terrific advice.

Nah I think that's about it... And just FYI, one person at NVC told me that sending in the AOS and IV packets wasn't necessarily a good idea, because they want you to do everything in order. But I know a thing or two about government processes and I've heard from other people that have sent in their packets as soon as they had them together... I don't think it'll affect anything in a negative way, and it has the potential to affect it in a positive way.

[MrChamploo 45]

Got accepted fellow 06- filers!

I wish you all the best of luck.

[Dre876 41]

It's been 59 days since my transfer still no news. 200 days since my PD 

[Oushady 1]

8 hours ago, Dre876 said:

It's been 59 days since my transfer still no news. 200 days since my PD 

Same here :/ hopefully soon we hear some good news!!!