leenkath

We got an RFE last week and are just about ready to send our response -- a very thick package this time. Does anyone know if you have to get the new 10-year green card before you can do the N-400 process? Because of the delays with the ROC we are now just a couple weeks away from being in the 90-day window before my husband's 3-year mark in the U.S. I really hope we don't have to delay that application...

We got an RFE last week and are just about ready to send our response -- a very thick package this time. Does anyone know if you have to get the new 10-year green card before you can do the N-400 process? Because of the delays with the ROC we are now just a couple weeks away from being in the 90-day window before my husband's 3-year mark in the U.S. I really hope we don't have to delay that application...

Late to the party but here's our info:

VJName..............Date of I-751...NOA1 Date....Biometrics.....Approved
LEENKATH..............02/08/15......02/11/15......04/15/15......--/--/--(case transferred to CSC on 08/19)

My husband arrived in the U.S. on February 14 and received his Green Card in the mail two or three weeks later. But no Social Security Card ever came, so I came on VJ and read that it was wrong of us to expect that checking the "Yes, send my a SSN" on the visa application would result in that actually happening! So, my husband went and applied and they told him he'd get the card within two weeks. It has now been three weeks.

Should we just go in and start over? I have seen a lot on here about what K-1 visa holders ought to do, but I'm unsure if what's happening in our case is par for the course for a CR-1 visa holder. Any advice is welcome and appreciated! Thanks.

I called the service line associated with the http://usvisa-info.com website, and the girl on the phone was pretty clueless-- started talking to me about requirements for tourist visas. A second call put me in touch with a more informed guy who said they don't reschedule appointments over the phone and to do it on the website.

So, I THINK I have managed to reschedule my husband's CR-1 interview in Ecuador, but the info website, NVC and the consulate are all operated by different agencies/entities and totally disconnected, so I'm nervous about whether or not the new date will get updated in Guayaquil. Don't want my husband showing up just to be told he doesn't have an interview..

Has anyone ever used the self-service appointment scheduling system on http://usvisa-info.com/? Were you able to successfully reschedule your immigrant visa appointment on there?

Update! Just got the email this evening-- my husband's interview is scheduled for January 15 at 7:15 a.m.

Not sure if this is just NVC protocol, but a nice gentleman whom I spoke with there yesterday told me they will continue to schedule interviews next week, and everything for December should be done by November 19.

Seeing all the interviews being scheduled got me hopeful, so I sat on hold with NVC for 40 minutes only to be told there is no update. Oh well, it should be soon enough.. I'm getting really anxious now!

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Username................NVC Completed..Interview...Visa Type.....Embassy

AUGUST Cases Waiting on Interview:

GhadeerAshraf...........08/06/12.......xx/xx/12....IR-1/CR-1.....Jordan

Ambichelle..............08/09/12.......xx/xx/12....IR-1/CR-1.....England

Armanhange..............08/23/12.......xx/xx/12....CR-1..........Turkey

Sooraj..................08/28/12.......xx/xx/12....IR-1/CR-1.....India

SweetApple..............08/29/12.......xx/xx/12....IR-1/CR-1.....Vietnam

SEPTEMBER Cases Waiting on Interview:

de_nhui.................09/05/12.......xx/xx/12....IR-1/CR-1.....Vietnam

Jose Vasquez............09/07/12.......xx/xx/12....IR-1/CR-1.....El Salvador

ca_babe.................09/17/12.......xx/XX/12....IR-5..........Philippines

SkyNet..................09/21/12.......xx/xx/12....IR-1/CR-1.....Vietnam

Nolaist.................09/25/12.......xx/xx/12....IR-1/CR-1.....Turkey

ullnvrkno...............09/26/12.......xx/xx/12....IR-1/CR-1.....El Salvador

OCTOBER Cases Waiting on Interview:

Andrea&Sergio...........10/11/12.......xx/xx/12....IR-1/CR-1.....Mexico

SweetieOne..............10/15/12.......xx/xx/12....IR-1/CR-1.....Jamaica

Aschenbecher............10/15/12.......xx/xx/12....IR-1/CR-1.....India

foreverheidi............10/15/12.......xx/xx/12....IR-1/CR-1.....Mexico

Shine11.................10/19/12.......xx/xx/12....CR-2..........Philippines

fishfons................10/25/12.......xx/xx/12....IR-1/CR-1.....Ecuador

If you were married recently in Ecuador you will receive a typed version of your marriage certificate with the signatures from the ceremony. It is called the "Inscripcion de Matrimonio" or at the Registro Civil you can also ask for "La partida integra del matrimonio" or something like that.

If the birth certificate was originally issued as handwritten, you need to get a copy of that. In Quito you might be required to go to the Registro Civil in the south of the city since that is where they store all the original records.

If you go to the registro civil in the north (NNUU y Amazonas) you ask for these records downstairs.

Make sure you get "copias legalizadas" which costs an extra $2 per document and they put a stamp on the back.

If you have any other specific questions let me know as I have done all of these things recently.

Amyjohans,

Were you able to obtain your husband's handwritten birth certificate? If so, did you get it at the Reg. Civil in Quito? They told my husband that they are digitizing everything (or have digitized everything) so it's unavailable. But maybe I can cross-check what you did with what he tried to make sure we didn't go to the wrong place.

This is the part that has me the most nervous, since the instructions from the consulate website are so explicit about what they will and will not accept... sigh...

Thanks for the responses, guys. My husband did everything he could to get the handwritten versions that the Guayaquil consulate requests, but the Registro Civil in Quito told him that they no longer issue those because they have digitized everything. It would be nice if the consulate website would reflect this update, but alas.

I emailed the consulate about the discrepancy, and this was their reply:

I took that to mean that what we had was fine, because it is in fact legit, and we ended up sending the legalized copies, with apostilles and that is what we will take to the interview as well. I will be taking a print-out of that email too.

A few days ago I sent our DS-230 package to NVC, I checked everything very carefully so I think it should go through with no problems. That means we're expecting a case complete by the end of October and hopefully a December interview date in Guayaquil, but it could be January at this point.

Does anyone know if the holidays impact embassies' progress on immigrant visa interviews? I'm wondering, for example, if they schedule interviews during the week right before Christmas and during the week between Christmas and New Years.

If you visit the GYE consulate website, in the part called "What to Bring to Your Interview," they indicate that they do not accept computerized birth or marriage certificates, they only take the hand written copies from the Registro. But when my husband went to obtain these documents in Quito (where he was born and where we were married) he was told they no longer issue the hand written ones, only the digital ones.

Has anyone been through the interview/NVC process recently that can tell me what is acceptable nowadays? If you were married in GYE, the rules are different and the embassy is OK with the computerized versions.. so I'm looking for a Quiteño couple to respond... thanks!

This thread had me crossing my fingers and sitting on the edge of my seat for the last few weeks. I just saw today on USCIS that our petition was approved yesterday after waiting about 2.5 weeks. I was jumping up and down when I saw it. I got really used to seeing "Initial Review" on the Case Status page, so I had to blink a few times to make sure what I was seeing was real!

1. Country USC resides in: Ecuador

2. USCIS field office or DCF?: No, this is not an option in Ecuador.

3. When did you file I130: Sent it on June 29, received NOA1 on July 6.

4. How long has the USC been living abroad: 2 years

5. Do you reside in the country legally: Yes - I am here legally but I am not officially a "resident" of Ecuador

6. What is the reason for your residence: I'm on a cultural exchange visa.

7. Did you list your overseas address on I130? Yes, and the G-325A's.

8. Did you send the package from abroad? No, first I sent it to my parents so they could add some documents. Then they sent it to the Chicago Lockbox.

9. Did you include evidence of your residence abroad in your I130 package? Yes - a copy of the lease for our apartment, copy of bank account info, and a copy of my "Movimiento Migratorio" from the Ecuadorian National Police, which is a register of all the time I have entered/exited Ecuador and proves that I have lived here for two years.

10. Did you mention that you reside abroad in your cover letter? Not explicitly, but I included my address below the signature.

11. Has your case been auto expedited? How long between NOA1 and NOA2? YES! 18 days (or 12 business days)

12. Where did we sent it to: We sent it to the Chicago Lockbox, and they forwarded it to the CSC.

I did that before with our senator but it was useless. Instead of giving me solutions or referrals gave me a bunch of campaign trash mail and emails.

In that case, you probably contacted that Senator's campaign office, not his/her constituent services office. There is a big difference. Look up the correct info on www.senate.gov

No, I didn't expedite or do DCF (Hong Kong doesn't do DCF anymore). Just a lot of praying, and God is good!! I am hoping the rest of the process continues to move quickly! I hope the rest of you get approved soon too!

You were probably processed faster because you are US Citizen living abroad with your spouse. If you search the forums on here, you'll see a thread where it is explained that pretty much all USCs who list a foreign address on the I-130 are processed at USCIS in a few weeks rather than waiting several months.

Hope that helps clarify your situation for you and benefits others who are debating which address to include on their forms.

I'd call them if I were you. Couldn't hurt, and might give you peace of mind.

They are definitely working. I received my NOA1 email this morning.

My husband (the beneficiary) had an incident at a former job that became messy. It's not worth going into the details of the event, but suffice it to say that an accident happened and his employers got extremely nasty about the insurance claim and, long story short, my husband lost his job in the end. The problem is that my husband is worried about listing this employer on the I-130 because he fears that USCIS will contact them, and the company will say malicious things about him, which will negatively affect the petition. Is that a real possibility?

We both know it is important to be truthful on all forms, and that is of course our intention. But we wonder if anyone has any insight into what kind of checks USCIS does for past employment? Do they just verify the fact that you were employed there? What purpose does this information serve, really?

Thanks in advance.

To agree with others on this post, definitely contact your representative in the U.S. Congress or your U.S. Senator (NOT your state senator - it has to be a federal rep.) I used to work in the District Office of a Congresswoman and we had a caseworker who helped dig up answers for frustrated constituents looking for information. Remember, those people can't make miracles happen for you, but what they may be able to do is get someone at the agency you're trying to contact to get off their butt and give you a more direct response than you can get on your own. Good luck!

amyjohans,

When you submitted the I-130 to USCIS, did you only send the computerized marriage certificates or a handwritten document from the Registro Civil? I'm almost ready to send mine in, but noticed that in the GYE embassy they require all handwritten versions. Wondering if USCIS has the same policies.

Thanks!! We hope to get our NOA2 as fast as you guys did!

I'm a USC getting married in less than two weeks to my Ecuadorian fiance here in Quito. We want to file the I-130 fairly quickly following the wedding because I am moving back to the U.S. at the end of August to begin graduate school, and like everyone else, we want the separation to be as short as possible.

My question for today is regarding where to send the I-130 petition. DCF is not allowed in Ecuador, so we have to send our papers to a USCIS lockbox, I'm just not sure which one... I am not a legal resident of Ecuador but I have lived here for most of the last two years. Before moving here I lived for one year in Arizona, but I will be living in the Washington DC metro area (either DC proper or northern Virginia) when I move back to the U.S. in a few months.

So, when I file the I-130 I will live in Ecuador, and the instructions say for people living abroad to send the documents to the Chicago lockbox. But again, I'm only here a few more months. So the other option may be to base it on my last U.S. address (in Arizona), in which case I would send the forms to the Phoenix lockbox.

Thoughts on where I ought to send it? We want to get everything right the first time.

Thanks!

Sorry for not being clear. My family's accountant prepared my taxes and I'm pretty sure he did everything by the book, including reporting my Ecuadorian income. But ultimately it adds up to very little by U.S. standards. I think our best bet is just to explain anything and everything and hopefully have my parents sponsor my husband. Thanks for the replies!

I'm a US Citizen about to enter this process with my Ecuadorian husband. My concern is the financial requirements, I believe it is called the Affidavit of Support(? still new to this). It says they will request copies of my last three tax returns. The problem is that since living in Ecuador for the past two years I have barely declared any income on my US taxes, literally almost nothing, because I have not earned any money in the U.S. for the past two years and I am paying taxes to the Ecuadorian government. It's not that I don't make money, there is just no documentation of it on U.S. papers.

Has anyone else been in this situation? How can I handle it? Is the only way around this to have a co-sponsor, perhaps my parents for example?

Your insight is appreciated.