Did not get NVC welcome letter

[StaGor 26]

Hello dear VJ community,

 

I have two family based USCIS petitions that have been approved 02/12/2020 still have not heard from NVC.

I called both USCIS twice and NVC twice to get a sense of where my petition is.

USCIS response was consistent, and they stated that the case has been forwarded to NVC on 03/18/2020.

Well, today according to NVC timeframes, they are processing cases that have been received 03/25/2020.

So after a second call (waited 1 hr 15 min on hold) with NVC they suggested to send request to nvcresearch@state.gov for each petition, so that department of state can run internal investigation.

I have already sent such inquiry about a week ago, and have not heard any responses or even a receipt that they received my inquiry.

At this point I am going to give this another month and initiate congressional inquiry with representative in my district.

 

I wanted to ask all of you, how long did it take ya'll to get NVC welcome letter after USCIS approved your petition?

Any suggestions or recommendations? Should I even wait a month or just go ahead and request congressional inquiry right away?

Throw your best suggestions and ideas at me, this is much appreciated.

[Gonzalaz 15]

1 hour ago, StaGor said:

Hello dear VJ community,

 

I have two family based USCIS petitions that have been approved 02/12/2020 still have not heard from NVC.

I called both USCIS twice and NVC twice to get a sense of where my petition is.

USCIS response was consistent, and they stated that the case has been forwarded to NVC on 03/18/2020.

Well, today according to NVC timeframes, they are processing cases that have been received 03/25/2020.

So after a second call (waited 1 hr 15 min on hold) with NVC they suggested to send request to nvcresearch@state.gov for each petition, so that department of state can run internal investigation.

I have already sent such inquiry about a week ago, and have not heard any responses or even a receipt that they received my inquiry.

At this point I am going to give this another month and initiate congressional inquiry with representative in my district.

 

I wanted to ask all of you, how long did it take ya'll to get NVC welcome letter after USCIS approved your petition?

Any suggestions or recommendations? Should I even wait a month or just go ahead and request congressional inquiry right away?

Throw your best suggestions and ideas at me, this is much appreciated.

Hey! We are doing a CR1 visa process. We received the letter from USCIS that we were approved and that they were sending our case to the NVC in the beginning part of September. We didn't get our welcome email from the NVC until the end of October. It was about 6 weeks wait for us. I would guess it is taking even longer now. Hope that helps!! 

[MarlinCobon 51]

16 hours ago, StaGor said:

Hello dear VJ community,

 

I have two family based USCIS petitions that have been approved 02/12/2020 still have not heard from NVC.

I called both USCIS twice and NVC twice to get a sense of where my petition is.

USCIS response was consistent, and they stated that the case has been forwarded to NVC on 03/18/2020.

Well, today according to NVC timeframes, they are processing cases that have been received 03/25/2020.

So after a second call (waited 1 hr 15 min on hold) with NVC they suggested to send request to nvcresearch@state.gov for each petition, so that department of state can run internal investigation.

I have already sent such inquiry about a week ago, and have not heard any responses or even a receipt that they received my inquiry.

At this point I am going to give this another month and initiate congressional inquiry with representative in my district.

 

I wanted to ask all of you, how long did it take ya'll to get NVC welcome letter after USCIS approved your petition?

Any suggestions or recommendations? Should I even wait a month or just go ahead and request congressional inquiry right away?

Throw your best suggestions and ideas at me, this is much appreciated.

our case was approved January 6th and received by the NVC January 31st and we received the welcome letter February 27th (about 45 days). With how things are now they are sending welcome letters the next day from when you got approved because they are doing everything electronically. You should of had already received the welcome letter. Did you provide your email to them?

[StaGor 26]

Well, I got an update from nvcresearch@state.gov 6 days after I emailed them. Apparently both petitions were sent back to USCIS for correction.

I have not idea what that means. USCIS claims they do not see case in their system yet and are asking to allow 180 days just to acknowledge petition return.

We are in uncharted territories now...

 

Whenever USCIS offices are re-opened, I will probably schedule an infopass and if no help or communication from USCIS, I will probably have to hire a lawyer.

[Greenbaum 12,258]

20 hours ago, StaGor said:

Hello dear VJ community,

 

I have two family based USCIS petitions that have been approved 02/12/2020 still have not heard from NVC. I called both USCIS twice and NVC twice to get a sense of where my petition is.

USCIS response was consistent, and they stated that the case has been forwarded to NVC on 03/18/2020. Well, today according to NVC timeframes, they are processing cases that have been received 03/25/2020. So, after a second call (waited 1 hr 15 min on hold) with NVC they suggested to send request to nvcresearch@state.gov for each petition, so that department of state can run internal investigation....

I'm a little confused with your profile and timeline which both would help us answer your question. If you could complete both it would help us to help you.

 

I see naturalization that you are filing for but your question is addressed in such a way that it might well be a question about a K-1 visa, but I am not sure. Please update. Thanks.

[StaGor 26]

6 hours ago, Greenbaum said:

I'm a little confused with your profile and timeline which both would help us answer your question. If you could complete both it would help us to help you.

 

I see naturalization that you are filing for but your question is addressed in such a way that it might well be a question about a K-1 visa, but I am not sure. Please update. Thanks.

Hi Greenbaum,

 

Thanks for chiming in.

I am already a citizen, filed relative petitions for my parents and requested consular processing since they are in the country of origin. There are more updates on this.

The timeline is the following for both cases:

7/9/2019 - NOA1 for I-130

2/12/2020 - I-130 approved

2/19/2020 - received NOA letters with approval confirmation in mail

3/18/2020 - petition forwarding to NVC completed  (This info comes from USCIS call. I know this looks like a big gap with previous date, but I called USCIS twice and consistently got that 3/18)

3/21/2020 - petition returned by NVC back to USCIS "for correction".  (Actual NVC phone support do not have cases in the system, so they suggested to reach out to nvcinquiry@state.gov. The response came via email today from nvcinquiry@state.gov after I submitted a request last week)

 

So as of today, I know petition was returned to USCIS.

As of today, I also know that USCIS does not see returned petition in their system.

My plan is to give them couple more weeks until they can acknowledge they have it back.

It is not clear what "for correction" means, I did not find much in google about that.

 

After that, if I they still don't have the case and NVC claims to have returned, I will hire a lawyer.

I can not be in a situation, where one federal agency tells me they sent it to NVC, and other tells me they sent it back and no accountability. Just a mystery case!

 

If I can get any advice from anyone, I will be grateful.

Otherwise I will be updating things. 

 

[Greenbaum 12,258]

I believe this is what happened in your case.

 

When NVC receives the approved I-129f from USCIS, they check to ensure that it’s been stamped. Occasionally NVC will receive a petition from USCIS and it does not have the appropriate approval stamp in the upper left-hand corner. NVC is also checking to make sure that the three criminal questions have been answered. NVC noted that there are times when the petitioner will forget to complete those questions and those questions are subsequently missed by the adjudicator.  In both of these instances, the case will then be sent back to USCIS. If one of these things occur NVC would know within the first week of receiving the case. USCIS will review your case and re-certify once everything is corrected. 

[StaGor 26]

48 minutes ago, Greenbaum said:

I believe this is what happened in your case.

 

When NVC receives the approved I-129f from USCIS, they check to ensure that it’s been stamped. Occasionally NVC will receive a petition from USCIS and it does not have the appropriate approval stamp in the upper left-hand corner. NVC is also checking to make sure that the three criminal questions have been answered. NVC noted that there are times when the petitioner will forget to complete those questions and those questions are subsequently missed by the adjudicator.  In both of these instances, the case will then be sent back to USCIS. If one of these things occur NVC would know within the first week of receiving the case. USCIS will review your case and re-certify once everything is corrected. 

Wow, thank you for this information. You sound very knowledgeable. Would you suggest involving a lawyer if I don't hear from USCIS for some time?

[Greenbaum 12,258]

7 hours ago, StaGor said:

Wow, thank you for this information. You sound very knowledgeable. Would you suggest involving a lawyer if I don't hear from USCIS for some time?

I wouldn't involve a lawyer at this time. This is just an administrative step that must be completed prior to the record moving on through the process. These things take time, especially through these times that we face. Trust the process! 

[StaGor 26]

On 4/15/2020 at 6:51 AM, Greenbaum said:

I wouldn't involve a lawyer at this time. This is just an administrative step that must be completed prior to the record moving on through the process. These things take time, especially through these times that we face. Trust the process! 

After calling both USCIS and NVC more than dozen times, inquiries into both NVC and USCIS, reaching out to senators office and freaking out, I finally got welcome letters from NVC.

Apparently petitions were bouncing back and forth between two agencies for at least 3 times within a span of 2.5 months.

 (Unrelated to Trump executive order).

You were right to not involve lawyers and trust the process.

[Greenbaum 12,258]

1 minute ago, StaGor said:

After calling both USCIS and NVC more than dozen times, inquiries into both NVC and USCIS, reaching out to senator's office and freaking out, I finally got welcome letters from NVC.

Apparently, petitions were bouncing back and forth between two agencies for at least 3 times within a span of 2.5 months.

 (Unrelated to Trump executive order).

You were right to not involve lawyers and trust the process.

Glad it worked out for you.

 

I know a thing or two because I have seen a thing or two. 

[StaGor 26]

4 minutes ago, Greenbaum said:

Glad it worked out for you.

 

I know a thing or two because I have seen a thing or two. 

I was surprised to get an email because I thought executive order would stop NVC backend operations.

[Greenbaum 12,258]

1 minute ago, StaGor said:

I was surprised to get an email because I thought executive order would stop NVC backend operations.

Things are still processing. Nothing has stopped that we know of, but we do have an eye out for changes.

[Tooba Nasir 0]

On 4/14/2020 at 12:24 AM, Gonzalaz said:

Hey! We are doing a CR1 visa process. We received the letter from USCIS that we were approved and that they were sending our case to the NVC in the beginning part of September. We didn't get our welcome email from the NVC until the end of October. It was about 6 weeks wait for us. I would guess it is taking even longer now. Hope that helps!! 

Everyone get letter from department of state after approval of case??

[Greenbaum 12,258]

8 minutes ago, Tooba Nasir said:

Everyone get letter from department of state after approval of case??

Your application is approved by USCIS. NVC (DOS) assigns a case number and moves your file on to the embassy. You will get a letter from USCIS which is referred to as a NOA2 letter advising you of the outcome of your application. Most times it's an approval. Once NVC assigns a case number to your application and it (case file) is sent to the embassy then they will send a letter to the petitioner with your case number and receipt/invoice number. Those letters are not mailed until your case file is physically sent from NVC to the embassy. So yes, everyone gets a letter, whether it arrives or not is another topic.