GitmeOuttaHere

So far myself I have had good luck with the NVC.

We sent our 260's in about a month ago, and got back a response withing one week that they could not process it and further because we did not send our I-864.

We purposely had not sent it in at that time and were holding it for a while.

Sent our I-864w's for our kids in mid April...no problems, also sent our I-864 and 5 days later got back a checklist saying that we did not send in the I-864...

Go figure in all the prepping of our documents, and having 9 different attachments to add to our email to the NVC, I forgot to actually attach the I-864.

Resent in just the I-864 this past weekend...If things keep up as they have been we will probably hear something by this coming weekend. Would love to start May with a Case Cleared from NVC.

We did ours via EP and when we sent in scanned copies of my BC and marriage cert. for the 230 we received a confirmation of them receiving the stuff withing 24hrs and then about 5 days later got an email saying that they needed my BC and MC (which they already had but could obviously not read, as they were pretty crappy copies). Went to a copy center and got a much better digital copy put on a flash drive and brought them home and resent them. Got a response about a week later, that all was OK. (Except that my petitioner had not sent the I-864) We were holding off on doing that until we got a certified real estate appraisal because we are using assets. Sent all the I-864 stuff a couple of days ago and got confirm email....So just waiting to see if any RFE's or if we get a case complete...Crossing our fingers for a May/early June interview. House is going up for sale May 1st so hopefully a quick sale and 30 60 day close (or less).

there are 120 Chinese Accupuncturists within a 12 mile radius of my house in Plano.

That's a major reason I settled here...

We are heading to Roundrock once I have my Visa in hand.

Can't wait!!

Here is a quick update on our status

Just sent in the I-864 via EP today, we sent in our DS230 and everything a couple weeks ago and they sent us back an email basically saying that the only thing missing was our I-864 (as we had not sent it yet).

So our stuff is at NVC and now just waiting to hear if we will have any RFE's about the I864.

I am hoping that it will process in about 5-7 days, as that was what it took for our DS230's. We had to resend copies of my birth cert and marriage cert, as the first scans were not readable enough for them, we went to a copy center with the right kind of equipment and had better digital copies made and resent them and they were accepted with no problems.

Hopefully we with have an interview in MTL in the next 4-6 weeks or so.

This will fit our schedule much better, as we have been sitting on all this stuff since early January when we got our NoA2 and paid all our fees. If we would have sent everything in back then we would probably already be done and gone by now...but this is working better for us in our situation. Still have to get instructions on when/where to get my medical done which I assume will come to us once our case is complete at NVC.

Good luck everyone

OMG I hope we get luck like that. We are doing it on assets, as neither of us has ever worked in the US. We are selling our home and my classic car as well so we will be OK.

We are only an 8hr drive away from MTL so we could easily go and stay over night, come back home and go back 3 or 4 days later if we had to. Somehow makes me glad I don't live as far as AB.

We are in the same boat you are. We both live here even though my spouse was born in US. She has been in Can. since she was 2 and both her parents are Canadian so she has both Canadian and USC.

We were a little concerned about proving domicile as we have no ties to the US at this time (other than a bank account), but I don't think this will be a major problem.

If you are/have been married to your USC spouse for 2 years or more it is an IR-1 visa that you are going to file for, and the I-130 is sent to Chicago LB to get the ball rolling. After that it will go elsewhere (but you don't know where until you get your NAO1) Ours went to CSC.

Our stuff was mailed from the US on Oct.31 and our NOA1 and 2 were processed and our stuff was at NVC by very early January. We are doing all our stuff via EP so no more snail mail for us We didn't want to have our interview until May at the earliest so just last night we sent all our DS-260 supporting documents in and got an email conformation that they were received. Hopefully we will have no RFE's. We are going to be sending the I-864 in by the end of March.

So far so good

I am sure Saylin will chime in as she is very experience in all of this and is an EXCELLENT source of reference...lol

Not sure where you live in Canada, but our interview will be in Montreal.

Good luck.

Also, please keep us all updated by making a timeline.

Hey Saylin...Thanks for all your help on my prev post regarding the passport pics and stuff. We have sent off all our DS-260 stuff. And I have read your wiki several times and find it a great help.

Not sure if you would know the answer on this or not but it kind of ties in to this posters questions, but mine differs a little.

Since my wife is the USC, when it comes to the I-864 could she do the I-864W for our 2 kids and would they be considered US citizens as soon as they cross over because they already have one US parent??

(there is some notes about on the I-864W exemption form about the child citizenship act of 2000) We are finding this part kind of confusing. I am thinking that she will have to do a normal I-864 for me and the I-864w for our 2 children.

We are at the NVC stage and have already done the DS-261 and DS-260 all fees are paid and processed on the Dept of state/Ceac website, but have yet to actually send in our documentation. We got our approval for EP a couple of months ago, and are just getting our documents scanned and stuff ready to email to the NVC.

My question is in regard to the passport photos required.

Are we supposed to scan and email a copy of my passport photo or can I just bring the original photos with me at interview time?

I know I have to send a scanned copy of my current canadian passport, and copies of all the other required documents. I just don't know since it is via EP if there is any use in sending in a 2x2 passport style photo (I would see the need if we were going by regular snail mail) but I think basically bringing the original passport photos and all the other original docs I am supposed to bring to the interview anyway should be sufficient...Is this Correct?

We have been filing out and submitting our kids paperwork via EP and so far have not had any issues. There is a section near the end where they ask if someone has assisted in filing in the form and what their relationship is. Since my wife is the petitioner and we are the beneficiaries, she puts down her name and either "spouse" or "parent" in the necessary location. It has not been difficult.

Not sure if this helps but my wife is the USC petitioner for me and our 2 kids. We applied for E.P. for all of our stuff and yes we did have to fill out a CoA for both of them and my wife is the CoA for all of us. It is really just "electronically signed" so there is no actual hand signature on it...it is not a problem, was exactly the same as doing my own. Seems to me so far the process is the same as usual, except that I dont think they require a police clearance..at least mine don't anyway.

I had the same reason when I was at NVC last year. I wanted us to be together for our first year anniversary on May 21. It did indeed happen

Well, that's impressive. I know the cameras are good on smart phones these days (mine's an 8MP), but I just figured that scanners are more stable (no shaky hands) and are more up-close to the document. But hey, whatever works

OMG Thank you and Alizon both for the fantastic advice...

The marriage cert is both long and wide but the width was more the problem...But I had my son download the app that Alizon mentioned and even with just the trial version it is excellent and worked great..

Thank you both it has saved our weekend!!

This weekend my wife will fill out her I864 and send it in with her tax stuff, and I have my lf birth cert, marriage cert, and police clearance all ready to go, just working on the passport photos using your wiki tips!!

Will have this stuff on in for monday morning..Then just have to wait and see how long it will take to clear.

Hoping for and April or May interview date, and then be outta here by Mid june as soon as the school year is done.

Saylin Thanks for all your hard work!!!

Your knowledge on this stuff is priceless.

I want to run this by you..

We set up EP and got an email back confirming we are good to go for ep.

As you can see on my TL we got our NOA1 and 2 very quick, and got our case number and stuff at the beginning of the year.

Not wanting to go to MTL in the winter we have waited until last weekend to do our 230's...My wife has yet to do the I-864, but we are going to try and send it out this weekend.

My question is...Our marriage cert. is very large and has been difficult to get a decent photocopy. We are wondering if we can just mail everything in via snail mail even though we have already filed for EP? If so we are just going to put everything together and mail it all in.

TIA.

I am doing my DS-260 online and it asks me to list all residences since I was 16 yrs of age...Seriously???

I have moved several times in the last 25 years (do the math...I am over 40 now) but do they seriously need exact dates, what if I am off by a month or so?

I know one time several years ago instead of being able to move directly from one home to another, we had to move in with the in-laws for about a month or two since our house wasn't finished being built yet. Are they going to think something is awry if there is a gap of a few months?? I am a little worried as I don't even remember the addresses of some of the places I lived in college (I read the side bar about not including temporary residences, but I lived off campus on my own). Do they seriously go back and check 25yrs worth of my residency status. I mean I have never left the country in a permanent way other than to travel under normal vwp guidelines. Any advice?

Quick question for Saylin

I am able to do my 260 as it is all paid but have not done it yet.

I just sent for my long form BC on Monday so I may not get it for a week of so.

Should I go ahead and do it anyway since it is all EP and then scan and email everything later, or do you have to email it all right after doing the DS-260?

Also have to do the 260 for our kids too since they are just young, I assume they do not need a police clearance right?

Also, my petitioner did her 3 yrs back taxes, and submitted them almost 2 weeks ago, how long should we wait to get transcripts, as it does not have any record of them yet when trying to order them online. Or should we just use her T4's and stuff that she used to do the 1040's.

Wow, that is a lot to ask...Thanks in advance!!

Who is the USC him or you?

I am confused?

"What's wrong with Montreal, anyway? It's got the best poutine on the planet."

Not a big P-tine fan, but we mostly detest having to go there because it is 8 hrs away, and we have been spoiled by living our whole entire lives only 15 mins from the border where our POE is going to be....We routinely travel back and forth and have never had any major issues. We have no apprehensions about the whole process and we are already familiar with the procedures and where we have to go when it actually comes time to poe. The vwp has been good to us. Cant wait to get this all done and hand them that envelope.

Its mostly a pain to do the MTL thing because with less hassle and in a shorter time we could go anywhere in Michigan or even go right to Chicago a heck of a lot faster than having to go to MTL

My wife just filed 3 yrs worth of tax returns because she has not filed since 2007. She is the usc, but we have lived here in Canada and been married for almost 19yrs We felt the same way as it seems pointless to file when we have no US income, no w2's and cannot claim any deductions even though we have 3 kids. She had only ever filed in 2007 because of some sort of Obama rebate she got. We don't owe any US taxes, and have always done our Canadian taxes. So hopefully we can get transcripts to send in soon. We were glad to just do them and get them out of the way.

Saylin has the best Wiki on this stuff!!

Yeah, I am not looking forward to having to go to Montreal either...Been holding off on sending in our I-864, and we paid all our IV fees but haven't logged back in to finish our DS-260's either. Just in case it goes too quick and we end up getting an interview date in March. Would rather wait and have an interview in April or May.

No, not a 2nd home. It is our family home and we are going to put it up for sale and go.

Just trying to do the I-864 and plan on using some assets as part of the deal.

It says that if using real estate you need a "certified appraisal"...Now my question is what do they consider a

certified appraisal, is an appraisal from a licensed realtor good enough?

I am not worried about not having enough assets as our mortgage is small compared to the value of our home, which we

are definitely going to be selling anyway, but just don't want to get any RFE's...

Thanks

I finally went on today and paid the IV fees even though I could have done it a few weeks ago.

Wanted to get my petitioners back taxes done and sent in before we went any further.

Didn't owe anything, had just never filed since 2007..Figures it is 8,9 and 10 that we needed to have for all this.

I will probably be able to go on and do the 260 in the next couple of days.

I know what you mean about things going too fast. We have been holding off on paying our IV fees...just got the bill on the 13th, and I went on and checked and I can now access them and make a payment, but we don't want to end up having our stuff sent to the Montreal consulate too quickly and end up having to go for an interview before maybe April.

Should probably go on and pay them today just in case, because I guess if we needed to reschedule our interview that could be done if it comes up too quick. I don't look forward to going to MTL in the middle of Winter

I have been trying to use the payment portal to pay the IV and when I click on pay it sends me to the next screen to put a check mark in the box and pay it but it wont let me put a check mark down....I guess the 261 is still pending? I will keep an eye on it, I have never had to call for anything in this whole process yet...hopefully I can keep it that way...lol

I know what you mean about domicile, I have basically been married to a Canadian American for the last 19yrs...lol...She was born in the US and moved back here with here Cdn parents back in 72 when she was 2 yrs old and has been here ever since. House is going up for sale in Spring and we are basically packing it in here to head to the USA.. So yes the I864 and domicile stuff is going to be tricky.

We are in the exact same boat as you, my spouse is the USC. Fortunately we live in a border city and almost weekly head over to the US. We just went over and she opened the US bank account and we got money orders. Any of the above ways of getting payment should also be acceptable.

Not sure if you are in the same situation as us, but the hard part for us is the AoS (It seems harder to do because my usc does not reside in the US and we have always been in Canada) All of our employment and taxes have been in Canada. My spouse filed her US taxes a few years back, but it seemed pointless since we never ended up owing any taxes to the US. Now we have had to file the last 3 years just so we can have it current for the I864. Never having W2's and 1040's make this difficult.