easyriders2011

My step children will gain their US Citizenship once my wife becomes naturalized and they file their N-600 forms.

During the N-400 process for my wife there was an opportunity for my wife to legally change her name.

I have asked my kids if they would like to change their name to my last name once they become USC's.

They have indicated yes.

My question is this: Will they be offered the same opportunity to change their name at the time of their 'naturalization' as their mother was during her N-400 submission?

If it isn't readily asked on the form, is there a way to get their name changed at that time?

Thanks,

Hello All,

My wife and I have been filing for our / her kids in the Philippines. We have been approved for an expedited case due to the school year starting here next month. My question is trying to obtain two one way tickets for them once my wife purchases her round trip ticket to go fetch them.

Any one here have experience in this?

What is the best way? I believe that you're restricted from purchasing one way tickets from the Philippines.

I was considering having her buy some of the discounted Cebu Pacific or the like, tickets to another close by Asian country, such as HK or Korea and then purchase the kids one way tickets from there.

I solved that problem for her initial trip by using my airline miles but unfortunately I don't have enough for this (she has used them all up on 2 trips last year back to the Philippines).

Looking for a solution? Hope someone has experienced this before and has a proven remedy.

Thanks,
D

Hello All,

We are starting to fill out the paperwork for my step children but while I was filling out the I-130 form, it asks for her relative (my wife) I-94 number.

It is not in her passport. I don't remember seeing it.

From what I have read this number is used when my wife was issued her social security card, so the number must exist.

Is there a way to discover what the number is?

Any help that can be provided would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Dontron

why not hold onto the GC until you reach the point of abandonment (being outside of the US for 1 year) just incase your fortunes improve, or you need to return to the US to visit the father if he dies, etc.

If you give up your GC and you can't show your ties to the foreign country you will have a very difficult time getting a new visa, but if you keep track of your time that you have been out of the country and when that limit line is approaching you can go to the nearest embassy and relinquish the GC at that time and still be in good graces with USICS.

Why commit yourself to a particular course of action if the govt. has not mandated that you do so, and you can still keep your options open. Just be sure to keep track of your abandonment date and then be sure to surrender your GC before that time comes.

Makes sense to me.

We got our case# yesterday, and we got the AOS billing today. I was calling NVC 2-3 times a day because this site gave me advise to be proactive, and it was so damn frustrating to be told 3 different things three different times each day. I would tell them. If you would just give us the truth, that from the date you pkg arrives in our building, we hold ourself to get it input into the computer in 5 days, period! then they wouldn't be having the huge call volume of people badgering them for details 2-3 times a day, but instead they continually tell you 30 days, 60days, 10 - 20 business days, then they tell you different dates. ( our pkg was received 3/19, but wasn't entered into the system till 3/21, so each time the different operator would give me a completely different answer on how long. The last guy told me to call back in 20 business days for our case number, and low and behold it was there the next morning.

If they could just try a little bit of realistic metric analysis and tell the truth, everyone's life would be so much simpler.

Thanks,

I have no intention of having her stay any where near the 6 month mark. If we can get her interview completed and approved by the end of May, She will be accompanying me back to the States in early June.

Thanks for that intel though. That is critical information for someone else down the line who might read this thread and it might be applicable to.

Great, thanks for some good news. I was really worried about not being able to get our medical done while we were in Manila because of the delays at NVC, but if we can get it done, that will really help out a lot.

Is it possible to schedule (manually) or to request the interview to be scheduled as per Wally's comments? If so, how can I try to schedule her interview towards the end of my stay there (end of may)???

thanks,

Well I guess you guys have answered my question, I just hate the answer. It's extremely frustrating to be in limbo again after finally getting out of CSC hell!

3 weeks have passed since our NOA2 and still no case #.

thanks for the info.

I have been trying to figure out how the NVC process for several recent K1 visa applicants zoom right through the entire NVC process in 2-3 days, from soup to nuts, yet our package has been at NVC waiting input into their system since the 19th?

Is there something less complicated about the K1 visa that allows them to be just whisked right through and off to the embassy for an interview as compared to the IR-1 process. I understand we have a bit more documentation, but the CO at the embassy is going to make the final call. But they would do that for both the fiancee as well as for the spouse.

It is very frustrating to say the least.

If any one can shed some light on this I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks

Don

Our package is still at NVC, and I am traveling to the Philippines on the 14th. My wife will be arriving in Manila to meet me. We would like to get her medical done at that time because we live in Mindanao and it is very expensive to travel to/from Surigao to Manila again.

Is it possible to get her medical completed with out having completed the NVC portion yet? What if we have the NVC case number? would that be sufficient to allow us to get the medical completed?

If anyone has had previous experience in being able to get their medical completed early, I would be most appreciative if you could chime in and provide me with the necessary details so I can thread this needle while we are already in Manila.

Thanks in advance.

Don

yeah, your right we're stalled because of this and it's frustrating. But thank you for the idea of W-7. I don't know that but based on what I read in some forum, I'm aware that I have to sign something like that. Is it really necessary for me to have that form? and what are the ID requirements? How long do you think this entire process (from filing to IRS to NVC) ?

You will need to supply an official NSO birth cert and marriage cert. You will also need to write a letter and sign it, stating that you wish to be considered as a legal permanent resident for 2011 for tax purposes.

I checked the USCIS website last friday and saw our I-130 was approved on 3/14, but it wasn't entered on to their website until 3/17. I wasn't able to contact the NVC AVR system until this morning. They told me that our package, according to our WAC#, still wasn't in the system and to give them 2-4 weeks.

Is this normal?

What is the fastest way to get our NVC # so I can start getting the DS-3032 out and the fees paid?

Any insight from those who have recently proceeded past this point would be greatly appreciated.

Any tricks I can do to get this case number identified so I can move this ball down the field?

Thanks

Don

[quote name='Anthony-Kristy' timestamp='1238115876' post='2777952'

Hi,

i am new to this and don't really know how to manuever around this site. this is probably very easy but how do i get to see your draft for the NVC document?

This is what you are looking for: http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/...he_NVC_ShortCut

Hello All,

After 6.1 months of waiting, we FINALLY received our APPROVAL notice on the USCIS website. It states they approved it on 3/14 but it just showed up today.

I know we need to send off the DS-3032 choice of agent email, but I need the NVC case number. Since I have not received the notification email or actual letter yet, how can I find out what the NVC case number is?

I tried to search for this info on previous threads but I didn't find it. So if you could please indulge me on how I can find out the NVC # so I can move this package down the field I would appreciate it.

Thanks,

Most likely your best option is to use the superferry or its equivalent. Your fiancee will most likely be use to traveling by ferry and she will not have any weight restrictions included in her fare. She will just have to pay the porters to lug it on and off the ferry and then hire a jeepney (private trip) to take it to your apartelle. That would save you the cost of the airfare and you would be able to use the money saved to pay for the transportation of the goods to/from the apartelle.

You can get a ferry ticket for about 750-1000 for the standard fares, or you can get a cabin for 2 for about $80. so the trip would be more comfortable for her and her son. That way she doesn't have to keep a continuous eye open on her son she will have an enclosed area to let him play but safe from scumbags.

I have done all three methods, airfare, private room and open berthing, and as a westerner, of course I prefer to fly to just get it over, but your fiancee has grown up taking ferries so the time issue is less of a factor for her. Plus we've already discussed the high cost for extra baggage, and this is a good alternative.

Lastly is the safety factor for justifying the need to spring for a little extra cash to get the private stateroom.

US children's passports are valid for 5 years.

REQUIRED PRIMARY BONE FIDES EVIDENCE: You must have 2 items

1. joint property

2. joint lease

3. birth cert. of a child between you both

4. co-mingling of finances

5. signed affidavits from people who have direct knowledge of your marriage.

You can get a joint bank account. I went to my bank, WF, and told them why i needed it, and they opened a new account and gave me the signatory form and I sent it to my wife. she signed it and then sent it back to me. Doesn't have to be a high balance, just an open account.

Then I had two American friends sign affidavits that they were present at our wedding.

I have a Sept 9th WAC#, will that help you?

I use T-mobil unlimited international texting to send texts. I use startec for voice calling. Calling globe is much cheaper 9.9cents/minute vs smart 16cents/min.

I use fil-amphoneclub to set up a text relay account that I prefund and then assign certain aliases to certain telephone numbers in the Philippines who can text back and forth for 1P from PI and 2P going to PI.

I let her txt me using the txt relay and I reply for free using the T-Mobil international plan so not to burn up the prepaid 'bank roll' .

It works for us.

The list of available requirements for meeting primary bonefides is fairly limited, and having a joint bank account is one of those options. I did this. I went to the bank told them what I was trying to do and why (to show primary bone fides) and I took the signature document and scanned it and sent it to my wife. She signed it and sent it back via FedEx and I had it in a week. In my opinion if you can't get any of the other primary bone fides this is an excellent way to establish the link between you and your wife.

Paisaman,

As if you don't spend enough time on this already. But in your free time, it might be worth it, from a statistical comparison point of view, if you could run the same against script against the VSC to see what kind of throughput that agency is dealing with and successfully handling.

I say that because it seems to me that the Chicago lockbox is the load balancer of sorts. So it would seem with that being the case, the number of new cases going to CSC or to VSC would be generally equal, if all other things are equal.

Then include the facts that the two service centers are using the same forms, the 'same' processes, you would expect them to have similar results. Which all of us are painfully aware of the fact that this is not the case.

If your script is able to data mine the performance of both centers, heck, you might even be able to sell it to USCIS management so they could figure out who's butt to kick once in a while. [wishful thinking of course, since they don't want to know about problems, hence the musical chairs mentality of their phone center responses.]

As an update:

Current August 2011 Stats (As of 2/24/2012)

Total Applications: 37,886

Initial Review: 26,927

Decision: 5,846 (2,065 this week)

Request for Evidence: 1,267 (747 this week)

Acceptance Errors: 3,116

Testing: 83

Other: 647

Processing done for August breakdown by day (includes Decision and RFE). Monday was a holiday but they basically made up for it Tuesday.

February 24: 538

February 23: 620

February 22: 645

February 21: 1,163

February 20: 3 (HOLIDAY. Hmm someone came in?)

Total for week: 2,969

February 17: 707 (!Nice!)

February 16: 318

February 15: 427

February 14: 220

February 13: 280

Total for week: 1,952

As a comparison for the previous week:

February 10: 329

February 9: 90

February 8: 67

February 7: 49

February 6: 7

Total for week: 542

I don't know what January's numbers look like, but looking at the first week of February and if January was anything like those numbers, the folks at CSC were having some serious holiday hangovers.... No wonder their action rates have dropped from 5 to over 6+ months.

thank you for this great thread and all the work you've put into it. You've reaffirmed that my date is in the chute, and ready for launch soon.

truly priceless info.

bravo zulu

Hello everyone! since I was annulled, do I still have to get CENOMAR? sorry I know its easy, I'm just confused. and my daughter will be with me me too (k2) what the other requirements she will need aside from Birth certificate and School ID. thanks for any reply.

Yes, when you get your new cenomar it will show your previous marriage and then have a bold statement "Annulment of marriage" inside the lines for that entry.

I'm looking at a copy of my wife's and that is what is on hers.

Thank so much for that info. I wasn't sure what to do. I want to burn his GC and SScard. I purchased a mailbox with a lock on it today so he cant take the mail out while I'm gone to work.

Those can still be broken into, perhaps a temporary mail box at 'mailboxes etc.' or something secure. you can always change it back after a few months. It's up to you, but its a suggestion.