Is there a Coversheet for DS230 RFE??

[Chris Parker 10]

Ok, i'm going to post it all out tommorrow am, i'm going to remove the A2D and just leave the case number and date. I'll report on what happens next. I'm sure the A2D or AVM etc does have some relavance to peoples cases, but i think everything should be ok, plus i have to send in all original copies along with it. IF i was to be given another RFE because of that code i couldn't submit my originals again. Part of me thinks we may be acting over cautious, and i think Trailmix's outcome gives us hope...

Because i've found out pretty quick i'm gonna give this a go and see what happens.

Since I suspect some other people may also want to use this RFE shortcut right now even though it is still being tested and proven, I'm providing an updated RFE coversheet document (without the A2D and with other notable improvements) as well as updated instructions here. Hopefully, we'll be able to post this as the final version in the James' Shorts pinned thread shortly, once the NVC completes successfully the review of the RFE responses that have been sent already.

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Okay folks, because I got an RFE for the I-864, I've decided to do the James thing and create another coversheet using his grand style and rhetoric. As of this writing, this new coversheet and barcode sheet is being tested and strictly a beta 2 version. There are currently 3 people (including myself) known to have used this shortcut already, so we should know very shortly if it does in fact work correctly or what NVC does with it. This shortcut may be used to reply early to either I-864 or DS-230 RFE's. Corrections WELCOME and encouraged!

The RFE coversheet

When NVC reviews the I-864 Affidavit of Support or the DS-230 Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration, the person reviewing may decide you need to make a correction to the form or provide additional information. If this happens, NVC will send you what they call a "checklist" of the changes and/or additional information needed, along with a barcode coversheet to use to return this information to NVC for re-review. As soon as this happens, the IVR will indicate it, and you should speak with an operator to determine exactly what information is needed (make sure you find out everything!). In some cases, you may not be absolutely sure what was wrong or how to fix the problem, and if so, do not use this shortcut, but instead wait to receive the actual notice from NVC describing in detail what needs to be done. However, if you are sure you know what NVC needs you to do, and you've double-checked this completely with the operator, then you can use this shortcut instead to re-submit the DS-230, I-864 and/or I-864A form or supply additional supporting documentation before actually receiving the notice from NVC.

Note, during I-864 Affidavit of Support review, it is common when using the James' shortcuts for an RFE to be announced at its conclusion for a missing Form DS-230, because NVC is still processing or just processed the IV fee bill and has not yet requested the DS-230, and if this is all that happened, the RFE is harmless and you should not send an RFE reply (that said, however, do not automatically assume this is what the RFE announcement is for, still check with an operator, because it could be a real I-864 RFE also). The operator will be able to tell you exactly what was wrong and what they want you to do. If a form needs to be corrected, it will be unstapled and detached from the supporting documentation and sent back to you alone (if you are using this shortcut in that case, you will be sending in a new copy of the form instead, and NVC will not have the "Received CMR" date stamped on the original submission anymore, if that matters to you).

First, you will need the RFE coversheet as a MS-Word file, which is attached at the bottom of this post. This same cover sheet can be used for responding to both I-864 and DS-230 RFE's. The coversheet file has two pages, both of which must be returned to NVC. Note, the coversheet file also contains embedded comment text on the fields that need to be changed with your specific case information, but if you do not see the comments when you open the document, select View | Comments or View | Markup in Microsoft Word to make them visible (similarly, before making a final printout of the filled out coversheet, be sure to hide the comments by re-selecting that same menu item).

Page 1: Change the BGT1234567890 in the table at the bottom to your case number, enter the "Received Date" shown on both USCIS NOA1 and NOA2 as the Priority Date, and replace the names and addresses as appropriate with ALL CAPS. Remember to use the Agent's name & address at the very top, remove country if USA, enter the addressee's name for the DEAR clause, and specify the Beneficiary's name at the bottom. Change CR1 to IR1 if appropriate. Then go to View | Header & Footer on the menu, click on FOOTER, and replace the date with the date NVC announced the RFE on the IVR, and also replace the case number there too. Change the date at the top of the letter to the date announced on the IVR also.

Finally, you need to generate the barcode at the top of Page 1 for your case number by using http://www.idautomation.com/java/linearservlet.html. To generate the barcode and put it in at the top of page 1 of the sample coversheet, type in the case number under "Data to encode." Under "Barcode symbology," select CODE 39. Select "No" for the "Add check digit," "Add check digit to text," and "Show text below barcode" options. Change the "X dimension" (bar width) to 0.07 and the "Barcode bar height" to 0.7. Click on "Create Barcode."

In the resulting window, right click on the barcode and click on Copy. Paste the image into a graphics editing program such as IrfanView (either by selecting Paste under the Edit menu or hitting Ctrl + V on the keyboard) and crop out the gray text "Powered by IDAutomation.com (i.e., draw a box around the barcode only and, e.g., in IrfanView, select Crop selection under the Edit menu). Copy the image from the graphics program either by selecting Copy under the Edit Menu or by hitting Ctrl+C on the keyboard. Then go to the MS Word copy of the RFE coversheet and left click on the old barcode that's already at the top, to the left of the words "CHECKLIST." Hit the Delete key. Then click on Paste under the Edit menu (or hit Ctrl + V on the keyboard). The barcode may be underlined -- left click on it again and then de-select the "U" underline button in the MS Word Toolbar. You then need to further adjust the size of the barcode by double-clicking on it. Select the "Size" tab in the box that pops up. De-select "Lock Aspect ratio" if it is selected and change the height to 0.26" and the width to 2.13". Click on OK.

Page 2: Now, go to page 2. Enter the case number, beneficiary's name, and change the visa category if necessary. To generate the barcode to put onto page 2, go back to http://www.idautomation.com/java/linearservlet.html. Type in the case number under "Data to encode." Under "Barcode symbology," select CODE 39. Select "No" for the "Add check digit," "Add check digit to text," and "Show text below barcode" options. Change the "X dimension" (bar width) to 0.05 and the "Barcode bar height" to 0.6. Click on "Create Barcode."

In the resulting window, right click on the barcode and click on Copy. Paste the image into a graphics editing program such as IrfanView (either by selecting Paste under the Edit menu or hitting Ctrl + V on the keyboard) and crop out the gray text "Powered by IDAutomation.com (i.e., draw a box around the barcode only and, e.g., in IrfanView, select Crop selection under the Edit menu). Copy the image from the graphics program either by selecting Copy under the Edit Menu or by hitting Ctrl+C on the keyboard. Then go to the MS Word copy of the RFE coversheet, select the old barcode that's already there and hit the Delete key. Then click on Paste under the Edit menu (or hit Ctrl + V on the keyboard). You need to further adjust the size of the barcode by right-clicking on it and clicking on "Format Picture," clicking on the "Size" tab, de-selecting "Lock aspect ratio," leave the height alone but change the width to 2.5" and click on "OK."

As always, remember to write your case number on the top right of any forms or documents you send to NVC. Also, be sure to turn off comment display in MS-Word before printing. Mail both the RFE coversheet and barcode pages to NVC at the address shown on the barcode sheet, with the corrected form(s) and/or any additional documents that NVC requested. Finally, it cannot be reiterated enough, "If you are going to use the RFE shortcut, you will have to be very very specific with the NVC operator to give you ALL of the information they are going to request. I actually was and they still didn't mention everything - so proceed with caution." Speak with more than one operator on separate calls if you can, as you most certainly want to avoid getting another RFE from NVC because of an incomplete RFE response when using this shortcut.

DISCLAIMER: None of this is legal advice, and you may only use this shortcut at your own sole risk!

The attached document comes without warranty of any kind!

[Chris Parker 10]

For anyone about to use the RFE coversheet shortcut described above, I have made some more changes based on a more close barcode sizing & positioning comparison with the original. Since the same scanners probably scan all of the barcodes of various widths and height used in the shortcuts, these changes should not affect the validity of anything already sent in, however they will make the form more conforming for future users. The attachment has therefore been removed from above post and is now attached to this message instead. The same disclaimers continue to apply.

The barcode insertion instructions (in particular the number values and resizing widths) are hereby revised as follows:

Page 1: Type in the case number under "Data to encode." Under "Barcode symbology," select CODE 39. Select "No" for the "Add check digit," "Add check digit to text," and "Show text below barcode" options. Change the "X dimension" (bar width) to 0.05 and the "Barcode bar height" to 0.4. Click on "Create Barcode."

In the resulting window, right click on the barcode and click on Copy. Paste the image into a graphics editing program such as IrfanView (either by selecting Paste under the Edit menu or hitting Ctrl + V on the keyboard) and crop out the gray text "Powered by IDAutomation.com (i.e., draw a box around the barcode only and, e.g., in IrfanView, select Crop selection under the Edit menu). Copy the image from the graphics program either by selecting Copy under the Edit Menu or by hitting Ctrl+C on the keyboard. Then go to the MS Word copy of the RFE coversheet and left click on the old barcode that's already at the top, to the left of the words "CHECKLIST." Hit the Delete key. Then click on Paste under the Edit menu (or hit Ctrl + V on the keyboard). The barcode may be underlined -- left click on it again and then de-select the "U" underline button in the MS Word Toolbar. You then need to further adjust the size of the barcode by double-clicking on it. Select the "Size" tab in the box that pops up. De-select "Lock Aspect ratio" if it is selected, leave the height alone, and change the width to 1.75". Click on OK.

Page 2: Type in the case number under "Data to encode." Under "Barcode symbology," select CODE 39. Select "No" for the "Add check digit," "Add check digit to text," and "Show text below barcode" options. Change the "X dimension" (bar width) to 0.05 and the "Barcode bar height" to 0.6. Click on "Create Barcode."

In the resulting window, right click on the barcode and click on Copy. Paste the image into a graphics editing program such as IrfanView (either by selecting Paste under the Edit menu or hitting Ctrl + V on the keyboard) and crop out the gray text "Powered by IDAutomation.com (i.e., draw a box around the barcode only and, e.g., in IrfanView, select Crop selection under the Edit menu). Copy the image from the graphics program either by selecting Copy under the Edit Menu or by hitting Ctrl+C on the keyboard. Then go to the MS Word copy of the RFE coversheet, select the old barcode that's already there and hit the Delete key. Then click on Paste under the Edit menu (or hit Ctrl + V on the keyboard). You need to further adjust the size of the barcode by right-clicking on it and clicking on "Format Picture," clicking on the "Size" tab, de-selecting "Lock aspect ratio," leave the height alone but change the width to 2.75" and click on "OK."

BTW - As a further update, one of the test subjects of this shortcuts has now gotten an IVR message acknowledging receipt of a submission using this shortcut. So far so good, but I'm still waiting for processing confirmation and review completion of my own submission and one other one before I move this shortcut out of the "beta" phase and onto the JSC pinned topic.

DISCLAIMER: None of this is legal advice, and you may only use this shortcut at your own sole risk!

The attached document comes without warranty of any kind!

[trailmix 77]

Hey Rina,

Hoping you see this post, I can't respond to your PM as your inbox is full.

Have you seen this sheet Chris made, it's a good copy and you might want to use this?

[RandyandRina 2]

Hey Rina,

Hoping you see this post, I can't respond to your PM as your inbox is full.

Have you seen this sheet Chris made, it's a good copy and you might want to use this?

Hello trailmix,

Yes I just deleted my inbox. I got it and this is what I will be using. Thanks for pointing it out!

~ Rina

[trailmix 77]

No problem, good luck!

[Ness and Keith 0]

This A2D thing is the only thing that is bothering me, it seems like such a random code, i dunno weather to leave as A2D or change it to something even more random! I have no idea.. A2D.. hmmm what on earth

The A2D is not random. Myself and greeneclipse both got AMV in the footer. It may be the reviewer's initials or employee code or something. I sent in my RFE reply using A2D when it should have been AMV, so we still have to see how they handle that.

For the final form and instructions, I'm putting AZX down there as a nonsense code to force them to lookup the correct code, if they look at it at all.

Hi NikkiPrecious and Chris Parker.. I used the shortcut also in my RFE'd DS230.. I followed your posting here and it really help.. Thanks for this..

U both now are case complete CONGRATS!!!... Did u used the Shortcut in sending ur RFE'd DS230 and got case complete with no problem? I forgot to put the initial in the bottom part i just put my case number and the date. i hope this will not cause problem

Thanks for the info..

[Chris Parker 10]

Did u used the Shortcut in sending ur RFE'd DS230 and got case complete with no problem? I forgot to put the initial in the bottom part i just put my case number and the date. i hope this will not cause problem

NikkiPrecious used it for DS-230 RFE.

I used it for I-864 RFE.

Both are NVC case completed now without a problem.

The initials are part of your case number, they identify which embassy the case will go to!

As long as the embassy letter initials are included with the case number in the barcodes you generated, I think you will be all right.

[Chris Parker 10]

For any looking here for the I-864/DS-230 RFE shortcut, it has been moved!

You can reach it by clicking below, it is now located on the James' shortcuts pinned thread:

I-864/DS-230 RFE shortcut for NVC

The attachment that had appeared above has therefore been removed. Click on the above link to read the get the attachment along with the most up-to-date instructions.