alizon

The IV bill is dependent upon acceptance of the Choice of Agent form (DS-3032/DS-261). The AOS on the other hand isn't dependent upon anything.

Yup, Choice of Agent has been accepted for us, according to AVR. I can click the Pay link next to the IV bill as of today, but can't select the box to pay it. Husband confirmed that it's also greyed out on Windows/IE8.

find a pc running winders, use IE8 web browser. ya, i know - it's mondo suckage - but that's the bit that works. there are other permutations that work - but if'n you wish to pay, hey !

Doesn't really make sense that we were able to pay our AOS fee with whatever set-up we have now but not the IV bill....

Having husband check with Windows and IE now...

Hello Vjers,

Did anyone have difficulty paying online? My invoice for IV bill has been generated today but I could not select the box for the fee so I can pay it. It won't allow me to. Anyone had this experience before? What did you do? I am getting anxious.

Thanks!

You're the third one of us to notice this. I think it'll fix itself in a day or so.

I called up NVC today and they told me that I can now pay my IV fees, but on the portal I still cannot be able to click the box to pay my IV fees... =( what's happening? Do I need to panic? or is this normal... It's been 2 days since my AOS appeared PAID on the portal please help... Thanks

I'm in the same spot, hoping I'll be able to pay tomorrow.

Monday was a holiday so it's only been 3 business days, I don't think you should worry yet.

Somehow each single day seems like too long to respond to an email. I mean, come on, computers are doing half the work for them in electronic processing!

Our choice of agent still hasn't been accepted, and it's been a week now since my husband "signed" the DS-261 (no email about accepting it, no invoiced IV bill). Normal? Keep waiting? Or send them a redundant choice of agent email?

Also, I received an email last night that said they had received our AOS files...hopefully that means they were able to open them.

EDIT: Never mind, I just called the AVR and they said they received the choice of agent form yesterday...and allow 4-6 weeks to be billed. >.<

I called this morning and the rep told me it could take 20 days to get reviewed.. I'm hoping like you that it gets reviewed quick also.

I called today to see if they could open my resent files, and they told me it would take 20 days, even though it took them 1 day the first time. I think that's just the standard amount of time they tell you wait for anything so you won't bother them.

try to open it in a lesser version of acrobat reader, on a different machine, soonish.

Maybe it's a 'version' problem, with the toolsets you used to create the files?

I am using Preview (the Mac pdf reader) to manipulate the files, but it shouldn't really matter...pdfs are supposedly to be universally readable, and there shouldn't be a version problem like with a .doc vs. .docx

My best guess is that the custom filter I created to compress the file (but not compress it as much as the standard filter) created the error. So this time I sent it without any compression.

Tech issues, such is life.

That's weird. Never seen anyone where NVC couldn't open the file due to being "corrupted".

Before sending it, did you try opening it?

Yeah, several times, and I'm still able to open it. Oh well, I think I managed to get it all sent in 3 files, with the cover sheet at the beginning of each file. Fingers crossed.

Sigh. I got an email a couple of hours ago from NVC saying they can't open my attachment on the AOS. It was a standard pdf that I had reduced in size as per Saylin's instructions on the NVC for Montreal wiki. Called an operator who said the file was corrupted, so I should send a couple of files instead of compressing it all into one.

sorry, I'm wrong about the form #, but is same logic though..

When the Agent of Choice Form

is

IN THE CASEFILE,

then that IV Fee Bill is available to be paid, at the portal, within 24 hours.

Right, okay, we filled that out last week, so we're just waiting.

You know that's tied into 'DS-3032 added to the casefile', right ?

I thought that the DS-261 served as the DS-3032 for us because we're doing electronic processing? DS-261 was the choice of agent form.

AOS showing as paid for me too.

Now let me click that little "Pay" link next to the IV bill!! Grumble.

It is not state issued. Canada does not have states.

When something requires a "state issued ID" they mean "state" as in government/nation-state...not state like the individual United States (e.g. Delaware, Pennsylvania, etc.). They're trying to distinguish between IDs issued by employers, universities, gyms, whatever and ones issued by governments. So yeah, Canadian IDs are state issued IDs. [end of political science nerd-out]

The tracking website for my IV package is not working

Same thing happened when I sent the original I-130 package! I'd like to say what I think of the French express postal system but I'm pretty sure it would be violating the TOS

Well, if it makes you feel any better, today is a federal holiday in the US so if your package is over here, it's not moving at all until tomorrow. And despite knowing this, I still keep checking the payment portal to see if our next bill has been invoiced.

How would they know that he entered to US and got out because as far as I know when you enter they stamp your passport or run it through their scanning device but when you exit they won’t even ask you, Am I right?

Regardless of how/whether they know, planning to commit immigration fraud (moving semi-permanently to the US on a tourist "visa"/waiver) is not a good idea. If you two ever did decide to get married and move legitimately to the US, there could be some serious issues. Canada isn't the 51st state.

It says they are allowed upto six months to stay in USA this mean a Canadian can stay for six months go back home for a week or so and come back and stay for another six months?

Nope, as far as I know, it has to be 6 months or less out of a 365 day period.

I thought you needed the AOS coversheet, which is only available for download after the fee is marked 'paid' at the portal.

Let's see what happens, aye?

Yes, you do need a coversheet, but a couple of us noticed that the payment portal is now allowing you to see your coversheet right after entering your bank info, before it's showing as paid. Someone above also said that the coversheet doesn't change between In Process and Paid, so I went ahead and attached it as the cover to my files. It had a barcode on it!

I wouldn't bother if you already have other evidence- electronic communication is further down on the list of evidence of a relationship. Photos, passport stamps, plane tickets, receipts, etc. and whatever the originals you sent to NVC were serve better as evidence.

Okay, maybe we'll just bring the extra plane tickets and a few more photos instead.

Thanks to both of you!

University enrollments come every 4 - 6 months for new term. School leads to educational certification. Which then leads to job offers.

Yeah, but you're not getting a salary and benefits while in school, and there's no guarantee that you'll get a job after you finish your degree. That means the "financial loss/hardship" reason for expediting is pretty tangential and hard to prove with university enrollment vs. a job that is providing necessary certification.

But this is off the topic of the thread anyway. My original point in contributing is someone claimed an expedite for a job interview isn't possible, and I disagree.

Topic title pretty much says it all: It seems like most people aren't getting any evidence checked at the Montreal consulate, but should I go ahead and print off our electronic communication since July just in case? Did any of you supplement your I-130 evidence in preparation for the interview or did you just bring the originals of the scanned documents that were submitted to NVC via email?

See also this thread: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/343684-paisamans-i-130-csc-statistics/

Paisaman is awesome and has provided some really detailed stats drawn directly from CSC.

Unfortunately you will find that multiple VJers have reported that CSC is currently working June 16. They have been saying this for at least a month now, if not more.

USCIS has been reporting June 15/16 for about 3 months now, since well before I got my NOA2.

Can you tell me how people are finding this more accurate information on processing times?

They are calling the USCIS info line and speaking to an operator (see instructions below). Unfortunately, calling doesn't seem to be providing any more accurate info than this website, since they've been giving the same date for so long.

Call 800-375-5283. I can't remember the exact numbers it asks you to press to get to a real human, but I am pretty sure it's 1 for "getting case status" or something like that, then enter your receipt number, and listen to it tell you "we received an I-130 application on this date blah blah normal processing blah." After it tells you about your case, the recording talks about changing your address and something else, but eventually it asks you to press a number to "report a problem with your case." Then it connects you to real operator almost immediately.

I just emailed the AOS package early, after paying AOS fee but before it's showing up as paid. We'll see if it works out...

Maybe if I enroll my fiance is a university here, she can get on the fast track too!

Mm...yeah...job ≠ university, on the job training/certification also ≠ university. Not trying to be a jerk here, just trying to say it works for particular circumstances.