Question for barcode users

[katita1757 2]

My question to the forum is has anyone that has generated their own barcode ever have been turned down. In other words has the NVC ever sent it back and said that this is not the original barcode in the packet. I am reading a lot of posts where people are afraid to generate their own barcode.

[mike & elena 0]

My question to the forum is has anyone that has generated their own barcode ever have been turned down. In other words has the NVC ever sent it back and said that this is not the original barcode in the packet. I am reading a lot of posts where people are afraid to generate their own barcode.

I have use self generaed barcodes for all of my submissions except the IV Bill. Never a problem. NVC seems to be appropriately focused on the applicants paperwork and not the tracking coversheet. Don't be afraid go for it. It really saves time. As much as two months.

[Mononoke28 134]

I have also used the barcodes by following James' shortcuts and haven't had any issues at the NVC.

[katita1757 2]

I have also used the barcodes by following James' shortcuts and haven't had any issues at the NVC.

What about the DS-230? They are putting the date on the cover sheet now??

[Mononoke28 134]

That's a tricky one I found out so I had to wait for the actual DS-230 to get in my mailbox. But now I know better so if you want to use James' shortcuts, you need to call the NVC and ask them when they will mail the DS-230 instructions sheet. If they say for example THIS week, then you can put Monday's date on the shortcut coversheet, so it will be 7/23/07. The date is always the Monday of the week they plan on mailing the DS-230 to the choice of agent.

Diana

P.D. Please make sure you are using the NEW DS-230 coversheet. It's the one with the blue Statue of Liberty stamp.

Edited July 25, 2007 by Mononoke28

[simple_male 1]

That's a tricky one I found out so I had to wait for the actual DS-230 to get in my mailbox. But now I know better so if you want to use James' shortcuts, you need to call the NVC and ask them when they will mail the DS-230 instructions sheet. If they say for example THIS week, then you can put Monday's date on the shortcut coversheet, so it will be 7/23/07. The date is always the Monday of the week they plan on mailing the DS-230 to the choice of agent.

Diana

P.D. Please make sure you are using the NEW DS-230 coversheet. It's the one with the blue Statue of Liberty stamp.

Diana,

It is great to see that you figured out this new barcode thing. It will help people in future.

[Mononoke28 134]

It took a lot of patience with the NVC but I finally figured it out. They no longer give you a specific date of when it was "generated", nor do they put that in the automated system. So using the date of the Monday of the week they mail the instructions out is the way to go.

[katita1757 2]

It took a lot of patience with the NVC but I finally figured it out. They no longer give you a specific date of when it was "generated", nor do they put that in the automated system. So using the date of the Monday of the week they mail the instructions out is the way to go.

Wow. And is your barcode the same size?? And are you sure about Mondays being the day?

[Mononoke28 134]

Yep the barcodes and everything else look exactly the same as it does in the shortcuts. And yes, I'm 99.9% sure the date is the Monday of the week they say they're going to mail you the instructions for the DS-230.

[katita1757 2]

Yep the barcodes and everything else look exactly the same as it does in the shortcuts. And yes, I'm 99.9% sure the date is the Monday of the week they say they're going to mail you the instructions for the DS-230.

Ok thanx. Have you heard of someone having their barcode rejected? And my barcodes are just a bit larger. Do you think it will work?

[vylex 0]

Yep the barcodes and everything else look exactly the same as it does in the shortcuts. And yes, I'm 99.9% sure the date is the Monday of the week they say they're going to mail you the instructions for the DS-230.

Ok thanx. Have you heard of someone having their barcode rejected? And my barcodes are just a bit larger. Do you think it will work?

I sent my AOS fee Bill using the self generated barcode cover sheet and realized it was tad bit larger (or smaller...I forget). I had no problems getting it accepted into the system. I believe the key is that the correct encoding scheme is used. I am pretty confident that a slight deviation in size should not matter provided the scale is maintained.

Worst case is the barcode reader scans an error and they manually plug in the NVC case number which is plastered on each document anyway. I can see them doing it like the supermarket cashiers when they can't scan an item. They just plug in the serial number of the product LOL.

[katita1757 2]

Yep the barcodes and everything else look exactly the same as it does in the shortcuts. And yes, I'm 99.9% sure the date is the Monday of the week they say they're going to mail you the instructions for the DS-230.

Ok thanx. Have you heard of someone having their barcode rejected? And my barcodes are just a bit larger. Do you think it will work?

I sent my AOS fee Bill using the self generated barcode cover sheet and realized it was tad bit larger (or smaller...I forget). I had no problems getting it accepted into the system. I believe the key is that the correct encoding scheme is used. I am pretty confident that a slight deviation in size should not matter provided the scale is maintained.

Worst case is the barcode reader scans an error and they manually plug in the NVC case number which is plastered on each document anyway. I can see them doing it like the supermarket cashiers when they can't scan an item. They just plug in the serial number of the product LOL.

Thank you. That is music to my ears. The ones that I have made never came out to the correct size either.

[scorpio 0]

Dont laugh people but, Where is "James' shortcuts " I cant find it

Please direct me

[Stabu 0]

Dont laugh people but, Where is "James' shortcuts " I cant find it

Please direct me

It can be found under the forum part "US CIS and Dept of State Offices" and there under the sub-forum "National Visa Center (Dept of State)". It's pinned right on the top. But you wanna make sure you use the correct version. (Actually it took me forever and a half to find the shortcuts - I found them looking at James' profile - because I was under the impression that everything related to CR-1/IR-1 will be posted on the CR-1/IR-1 section.)