Changing consulates at USCIS stage

[lex1239 0]

Hi! I received NOA1 for the I-29F I filed last week. We initially nominated the consulate in South Africa for my beneficiary's interview, however he is legally residing in Australia and wish to move the interview to Australia if possible. 

Is it worth:

1. Withdrawing the petition and re-filing with the Australian consulate listed? OR

2. Calling USCIS and requesting they amend the form OR

3. Waiting until the NVC stage before requesting a case transfer? - we know this can add months to the process, and since we have only just filed, we are happy to withdraw and re-file if it ends up being faster than option 3. 

[SalishSea 17,921]

2 hours ago, Alexandra Culhane said:

Hi! I received NOA1 for the I-29F I filed last week. We initially nominated the consulate in South Africa for my beneficiary's interview, however he is legally residing in Australia and wish to move the interview to Australia if possible. 

Is it worth:

1. Withdrawing the petition and re-filing with the Australian consulate listed? OR

2. Calling USCIS and requesting they amend the form OR

3. Waiting until the NVC stage before requesting a case transfer? - we know this can add months to the process, and since we have only just filed, we are happy to withdraw and re-file if it ends up being faster than option 3. 

You have a very long time until the consulate stage.  You can request a change of consulate once it gets to the NVC.  He will need to get police records from both countries when it gets close to the interview.

[lex1239 0]

Thank you! So it's impossible to request consular change before it gets to the NVC? 

And would the withdrawal and re-file be an option too?

[SalishSea 17,921]

17 minutes ago, Alexandra Culhane said:

Thank you! So it's impossible to request consular change before it gets to the NVC? 

And would the withdrawal and re-file be an option too?

Withdrawing and refiling makes no sense.  No part of the petition part of the process (which you are at the very beginning of) has anything to do with the department of state or consulates.  It is for determining the petitioner's eligibility to sponsor an immigrant, and that's it.  It would add time to your process, and maybe even call into question your intentions.  I wouldn't go that route.

 

People request consular changes at NVC all the time.  Realistically, it could be close to a year before you are at that stage.

 

 

[Redro 4,611]

If you're thinking of re-filing consider just meeting in a third country (if travel to Australia is still restricted), get married and file an I-130 (you won't lose anytime and your partner will be an LPR when they arrive).

Otherwise wait until the petition reaches the NVC stage and request a change. It's been done before. 

 

Edited November 27, 2021 by Kor2USA

[powerpuff 6,727]

If you put his current physical address as Australia, I can tell you with 99.99% certainty that his case will be sent to Australia even if you listed SA as preferred consulate. USCIS does not look at nor care about about that consulate question. The case will be automatically send it to the country listed on the physical location question. 
 

This happened to me, although for me, I did want them to send it to the one listed as my preferred consulate. As a result, I had to change it at the NVC stage but in no way did it cause a months long delay as you suggested. Couple of weeks max. Trying to change it while the case is at USCIS is futile - NVC will still assign it to the one where beneficiary lives in. 

Edited November 27, 2021 by powerpuff

[lex1239 0]

Thank you so much powerpuff! Makes complete sense. I really appreciate it. Glad to know that it doesn't add months to the process either.