Mrs.A2010

I'm so sorry mrs a2010 just be Patient and everything will be fine just keep Calling your lawyer my prayer are with you that you get your letter soon keep updating us good lick

Thank you LoveRules, that is very nice. I will pray for you as well! At this point I'm just trying to relax a bit since i know we don't have the money saved up to go for the appt in MX anyways. lol

I guess I should give an update. I received my spouses biometric appointment on 4/4/2013 and we went in the ASC office the next day via walk-in. I waited outside the building and it only took him 15 min. to complete everything. I also got a my final checklist notice from the NVC stating that all that needs to be filed is the I-601A approval notice so that they can schedule the interview. Now all we have to do is wait....I hate waiting...

Well I'm officially pissed off... yesterday was 6 wks since our application was accepted and we got our receipt number & we still haven't gotten a dang biometrics appointment letter.

I called USCIS several times and spoke to Tier 2 ppl and no one can tell me anything. Finally I made our paralegal call about it 2 wks ago. They said wait for it another 2 wks. Yesterday was their 2 wk deadline so I made her call again and now they say instead of the "you must allow 30 days from receipt of case until your biometrics is scheduled/letter sent to you" NOW ITS 60 DAYS.

I'm so so so so annoyed. I feel like we are stuck in a black hole, since several people on here sent theirs off the same time as us (March 17) and got their receipt around the same time (March 22) and have already not only gotten the bio appt letter but also completed the appointment.

Sorry for the rant. SO PISSED!!!

Pepe, when did the lockbox receive your waiver? I'm trying to figure out about how long it will take for my husband to get his biometrics letter/appt. We only sent ours off about 10 days after the people that sent theirs the first day and most of them have already been able to find out their biometrics date from USCIS but when I called last night they said he wasn't even in the que for biometrics yet. I'm so frustrated I just want to get all this over with ASAP...

I received my notice of receipt today !!!!!!!!! They got my application on March 14th. I noticed that they assigned me an Alien number, and it specifically says that I should not go to the Biometrics office until I receive a letter from USCIS. Has anyone been approved???

We sent our packet off 3/14, got the text saying they received it 3/22, rcvd the hard copy of the same thing 3/22, and now we are waiting for our biometrics appt letter too.

Some people on immigrate2us.net forums say they were able to walk into their local ASC to have their biometrics done prior to the appt USCIS set for them, but I can't do that bc apparently our local center will not take walk ins, but the website says once they send you a letter with the appointment date/time, that the appt will be set 14 days out from that point.

Good luck to you too!

This is my situation, today my attorney called me, she recieved my waiver pacakage back. USCIS is saying that the signatures on the package are not my fiance's. What? So now I have to send it off to him again so he can sign it again and send it off. I believe that they saw the signature on his passport and the ones on the letters and the application and they saw it different, I don't know what's next anymore .Just a month to waiste. Has any one had this experience

I suggest you to follow the I-601a Provisional Waiver Attorney & Laurel Scott (https://www.facebook.com/laurel.scott.98?fref=ts) on Facebook. Both are imm lawyers & Laurel is constantly posting updates she's receieved about the i-601a. She's had one returned to her saying she used an outdated form even though it was the new one, so it sounds like USCIS is not immune to big errors with this new process. I get all my info from Laurel's page. You can't add her as a friend but you can follow her on it.

Good luck.

I want to start out by saying that I am posting this thread in hopes of finding others like myself that are also going through the I-601A filing process. I cannot find anything on the internet besides lawyers guessing as to what the possible outcomes may be.

I filed the I-601A at the lock-box facility in Chicago, IL and they received it on March 20, 2013. Yesterday they send me a text and email stating that they had accepted my application a receipt number starting with MSC was given. I'm assuming this means it will be sent to the Missouri National Benefits Center. Today, March 22, my case status is online to check on the USCIS webpage. All it says is that it received my fingerprinting fees and they will send me an official letter in the mail explaining the next steps that need to be taken in this process.

I already have an approved I-130 (IR-1 status) and a pending case with the NVC.

Our lawyer sent our Provisional Waiver packet & NVC documentation (had already paid the NVC fees) on Thursday March 14. I received the email message from "Do Not Reply Lockbox" late this past Friday night saying the National Benefits Center received our case & gave the MSC number. I am under the impression Lockbox is solely related to the waiver packet, because I didn't think the Lockbox had anything to do with the NVC part, since the NVC stuff goes to the National Visa Center. I'm thinking the two sets of documents are going to two separate places, but I could be wrong.

I don't understand what you mean about the fingerprinting, unless your case is different because your profile says your consulate is Armenia. Our consulate is in Mexico and my husband isn't getting his fingerprints/medical exam until he's back there right before the interview.

I know how you feel about it feeling like we are the first ones to go through this new process. I think we will all be okay, I just don't want the amount of time he has to be in Mexico to be too longer. : /

Oh and one last thing... Our spouses are living here inside the US paying taxes with the tax ID numbers they asked for from the IRS, most have been in the US about 5 yrs & a lot of them closer or more than 10 yrs--- all while paying taxes and contributing to the economy by renting owning homes owning cars, running business so YES I DO think they are entitled to having an opportunity to get in the back of the line just like you all as well. It's not our fault most ppl jumped into starting their processes before waiting to see if the system could be simplified or cases cleared out first. We will be waiting it out at least 4-6 months + as well but At least our spouses are here contributing instead of sitting outside the country waiting and not contributing. Our 7-10k of money spent to do this is just as valid as your money and time spent. I'm done now and I won't be coming back on this post so you all can continue griping amongst yourselves.

Wahh wahh all of you whining that illegals are getting to do their stuff too should just be happy other ppl not in your situation are finally able to have the opportunities you alll are

Getting with your spouses. Talk about a bunch of rude, ungrateful people... Ppl in our position have been waiting patiently for a process like this to change so don't think you are the only ones who have suffered waiting. Sheesh.

Funny that you ask. Actually I got the alert email last night at 11:58 pm saying they recieved it!

Yes here is where you can check the status of this step, but you have to put in the new case number after you put in the case number from the I-130 step and select to be alerted.

https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/Dashboard/CaseStatus.do

Good luck to you too!

I know this thread is really old but I just checked our NVC case status online and it says:

U.S. Department of State

NONIMMIGRANT VISA APPLICATION

Processing at NVC

Application ID or Case Number: MEP2012XXXXXX

Since this isn't the exact wording shown on this post, I'm just curious if (since the message doesn't say anything about generation or processing a specific form, does this most likely mean they've received our fee payments as well as our NVC forms? I'm just curious.

Thanks to any who can answer!

About to start writing the Hardship case for the form I-601A. I know how to write it and how important written evidence needs to be proven. But does anyone have any good advice or recommendations to be stress free? Maybe some advice of how to put it together/organize it should be? Thank you for your time! Would you think putting pictures of when we were dating would also be good? Adding marriage, and after wedding pics too.

We just sent ours off through the lawyer this past Thursday.

Personally, I gathered all my evidence first & wrote my HSL around it to back it up. I took my time over the last 6 months getting my medical records first, then financial docs, docs showing I'd added him to as many credit card accounts as I could, as well as some of the cheaper insurance options through my job/dental/vision/life insurance etc, since I can't afford full health insurance for him. When it came out in January that this would start in March, all I had left to do was get the support letters written, make copies of my last 4 pay stubs, & the last month of each bill we have, which was amazing, stress wise. Rather proud of myself for that. I just wanted us to be ready to jump when it opened and we would have sent it off right after it opened (instead of 2 wks later) if our lawyer hadn't pushed our appt to fill out the 601A application until this past Thursday.

I copied/pasted the guideline for the friend/family support letters into an email for them to follow format-wise, & above that asked them to mention something about either how much we rely on each other financially or how close we are to back up my points, and asked my mom & dad to mention their health issues to back up my points about them relying on us as well. I also included my dad's disability rating from the VA, which is extremely helpful (hardship wise) itself, because he's about 240% disabled. My doctor mentioned both parents & their health problems in his letter about my issues as he's their doctor too, but I didn't ask him to, he just is awesome like that. <3 Basically I just made sure everything overlapped, because it really does all affect us if we are separated for long.

She told me the 2 DR's letters I got were more useful than the medical records I gathered (to back up the DR's letters lol) but she may have included them too, so I'd focus on your letters if you get any.

For the waiver packet/pictures, the paralegal asked me to bring more recent pics of us with our families together (so I took her about 30 from current day, dating back to when I sent off the pics for our I-130). I watched her fill out some pages on her computer where it looked like she had an outline for what all was in the packet & listed the documentation we provided under each section. On the title page of the waiver packet, she put 2 pics of me & my husband just us, next to 2 pics of us with our 2 sets of parents in the pics with us. She wrote a title at the bottom talking about how unified we are. (Corny but the office has a 97% waiver approval rate so i guess it works. LoL)

I hope all this helps you and others!!!

Paralegal sent it out yesterday.

I know it's only been 10 business days since it opened up, but has anyone else sent theirs off already & gotten the notice it was received? If so how long did it take for them to receive it?

RELIEVED & EXCITED!!!

After our case closes at the NVC & it is time for the appointment to be set, are we GIVEN the appt date/time by the consulate or do we have the ability to pick the appointment date for ourselves?

I saw someone who was pursuing a K1 post that (the same consulate we are going to in Ciudad Juarez) they were able to pick the date themselves & from when their NVC part was done, they looked up when the appointments were and the soonest one was 2 weeks away. I'm paranoid we are going to be given a date only 2 wks away and have to beg to get off work in time to go on such short notice. If we could set it 2 wks later it would help a lot.

Thanks in advance!

We made our appt. around the 20th of December, and there were openings already two weeks later. We called the NVC to get our invoice ID # and scheduled our interview before we got our letter in the mail. We ended up getting the letter in the mail a few days before the interview. It took about a month from the 'NVC left' date to the 'Consulate Received' letter arrival. Congrats and good luck!

Embord, can you please reply back to tell me if you were forced to take the appointments that were open in the first 2 weeks or if you were able to select an appointment a little farther out if you wanted to? I ask because we haven't sent our NVC stuff off yet but i am wondering when they let us know it is complete if we will be able to select an interview date that is about a month out so we have time to plan accordingly or if they just assign you an appointment?

Thanks so much!

what does this mean exactly, can anyone give me a link to read more about it?! thanks

Hi, Matt. I don't think this will apply to you if you are doing the K-1, but here is the link to a good YouTube video I found that might help explain it faster than I can. lol

I was just checking FB and went over to the I-601a Provisional Waiver Attorney's page I just found a week ago, and this morning she'd posted:

Here it is! According to 601 Waiver expert Laurel Scott, the Provisional Waiver has passed final review and may be published in the Federal Register on the next Federal Business day. I am not clear on whether that is Monday or Wednesday. Monday is not a bank or mail holiday, but it may e a holiday for federal offices.

So I went to Laurel Scott's webpage and there it's already posted but I don't see it anywhere else online!!!!!!

On Friday, December 21, the Provisional Waiver Final Rule was approved by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), a sub-agency of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) at the White House. The rule is now cleared for publication in the Federal Register. Publication usually occurs within days of final approval, sometimes the next business day. Since the federal government is closed Monday and Tuesday for Christmas, the rule is expected to be published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, December 26, thought it could possibly be publshed the 27th, 28th, or 31st. It is further expected that there will be a public stakeholder meeting the same day. Once the rule is published, it is official and can only be withdrawn by going through a lengthy process similar to the one the government just went through over the past twelve months. At this time there is nothing standing in the way of publication.

http://www.scottimmigration.net/content/provisional-waiver-program-passes-final-review-oira

WE CAN FINALLY MOVE ON WITH OUR LIVES!!!!

Thank you God for this blessing!!!

to make a long story short,I'm a U.S Citizen. I submitted the 1-130 for my husband back in january 2012. He had his visa interview on November 15 2012 and was asked to schedule a waiver appointment to submit the I-601 waiver( he lived in the U.S illegally for 6 years)

his waiver appointment was on November 29 2012. He went to his appointment and turned in the waiver application and packet. They told him to wait 30 days to get a response from them via DHL. could anyone tell me what to expect next? what will they say? and will it really take 30 days?

please respond to my question thank you soo much. god bless you all

Brenda, I"m so glad to hear that he was able to get an appt to turn the waiver in SO FAST after his interview!! People always make it sound like months in between those.

I hope it doesn't take the full 30 days to decide on the waiver either. Please come back and post again to let us know when you hear back!

Good luck!!

Hey, BrownEyedGirl. Sounds like we are in the same boat.

My husband barely missed DACA by coming here when he was 17 tho.

I have been following the proposed i-601 process change since Obama announced it Jan 6.. i have found a bare handful of mentions of it on this website, really not sure why, but we just finished our I-130 step and are also waiting on the change to come down. In my heart, I feel it is coming very soon & even though I don't feel like my husband would have to stay in Mexico longer than mayybe 3 months (zero background issues, only 2 Driving without a license tickets & they were before it became a big deal), he REALLY doesn't want to be there longer than a week or so as they said the process change would most likely result in... So right now we are waiting. We have a follow up appt with our lawyer this coming Monday so we will see what she says but she HAS to tell us each person that goes back may have to stay 6 months to a year and a half. I just want to know her guess for us specifically with his lack of background issues...

I am no immigration professional by any means but I research a lot about it & IMHO, if your husband is scared of going back to CDJ like mine is, I think you should definitely use the DACA track. Once he gets that work visa, your lawyer should be able to tell you how long he should keep that until they can apply for him to be processed into a green card because he's married to you (assuming you are a USC), then he shouldn't have to go back.

We will basically do any track we need to to keep him from going back. It also sounds like immigration reform has a real chance to come down soon, i just wish we knew if it was very likely or not, because if so, they may only fine people 1k or 1500 which would save us the coming 4k for the lawyer and consular processing/i-601 help.

I hope everything turns out well for you. You are really lucky to have the two options at least. DACA is way cheaper to do than the other or moving forward the way it is too. My husbands two sisters just got approved for DACA and they only paid about $500 for the form plus the lawyer's fees to do it, so about 1k plus finger prints and background checks. Good luck!

Hello,

My husband is 21 years old, he came to the US without inspection from Mexico at age 8. We have been married for a year and a half, and have been dealing with this process for quite some time. We are now getting ready to do our 3rd packet. Our lawyer says that Obama may pass a I601 waiver law, but it is not for sure.. She also mentioned that he qualifies for this new deferred action. We are so far into the visa process now that the NVC said once we turn in packet 3 it will just be a few months before his interview.

This whole thing has been so hard on me, so much stress, and we have a baby together. What are other people's opinions on if Obama will pass that waiver, to where we can turn in the hardship letter before his interview?

What do you think about deferred action.?

Any help or advice, thoughts would be appreciated.

THANKKKKK you

Chelsie

why u have to apply for waiver

Because it's part of our process to get a visa.

We planned on using a lawyer throughout the i-130, NVC, and i-601 waiver parts of our case. We have just completed the i-130 step using the lawyer and our case just got to NVC.

From my extensive research, intelligence and use of this forum, I feel more than confident that I could do the NVC step myself, saving us at least $1500 I'm guessing....

My husband is saying (and always said) he's heard that if "you do the process without a lawyer and you put one letter or number out of place they can deny your case & won't allow you to fix your mistake." He says someone his family knows tried to do everything himself back in 1986 and messed it up and he still hasn't been able to fix it.

I already have the full list of documents we need to send in for this, all we would have to do is pay the fee online, mail our packet in with the very simple looking forms filled out.

I don't believe what he's saying because he was told for years by others that they've all heard stories of ppl who go to CDJ for their interview and 'if the agent is having a bad day they can assign you the 10 year max to stay JUST BECAUSE THEY CAN or if they are happy that day they can give you 3 months," yadda yadda. Well I asked our lawyer that and she was like that isn't true at all, so naturally I'm hesitant to believe any more hearsay from his people.

Opinions please???

I guess I'm not sure what is meant by "walking"? So from the El Paso to Juarez you can cross with a cab from the airport to the hotel. But when when you are coming from Juarez to El Paso you have to go "walking"? Anyway, so a cab drops you off somewhere, I would imagine the Boarding Crossing building or something? not quite sure and haven't read anything that is detailed enough to understand.

When I heare "walking" makes me feel I'll be "walking the plank"

Brex, did you ever find out about this? I see your wife was just approved (Congrats!!) but I saw this old post and it got me to thinking too. Did you/your wife have to walk across the line coming back? Seems a little strange to talk about it lol

Well, if you claimed to be a USC that is a huge problem and you'll never be able to get a green card if USCIS finds out.

Assuming that isn't the case, though - you don't need the 2012 return unless you either file or are interviewed past April 2013.

Agreed. Our lawyer told my brother in law if he ever once stated he was a USC or even just checked the USC box on any form that she had to stop the meeting right then & there and she would not be able to continue speaking to him or be able to take his case.

Good luck.

Wow, you got lucky! Some of us have been waiting for 5-7 months from the Vermont Service Center, I wonder if your application was processed in another place. Whatever the reason, congratulations!

Yep, I fell into the 6 month category, but you are really lucky to get yours so quick. Congratulations!

Thank you all for your well wishes!

We sent out the I 130 the end of Aug 2012, so based on your case I'm assuming I'll get a response around February 2013?

I would definitely plan for it to be that long, at least, since my brother in law's took the exact same amount of time too. They only filed about a month and a half ahead of us.

Good luck!

After waiting for SEVEN months I have just found out that I got my NOA 2 today!!!!!!!!! Decision: APPROVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats!! We just got our NOA 2 from VSC yesterday too! Onward and upward!