Laurafaye

Hi everyone,

Today was my husband's interview with the US Embassy in Madrid. I just wanted to vent somewhere.

Everything up to the point when our documents went to the consulate has been really smooth sailing. However, when we received our interview letter, it didn't contain any information about his medical exam. On my suggestion, he emailed the visa section to get the specific information about where and when he could have it done. They came back with the information, but added that the information was in interview letter. It absolutely was not. I literally went crazy reading the interview letter and email. All it says about the medical is "bring this interview letter to the medical exam...." It turns out the information is on the Embassy website, but there is no reference to that fact in the letter. That was annoying, but ultimately no big deal.

At the interview, my husband went to the first window where they asked him for various documents, including the most recent tax returns of our sponsor and myself, which were not included in the AoS. We had this just in case, but it was not included in the list of documents that we were required to bring with us. The interview letter only requests tax documents if we filed for an extension. Again, no big deal because we had that prepared.

At the second window, the first thing the consular office asks for is photos of our wedding. We did not bring those with us because 1) photos were included in our original I-130 and 2) photos of our wedding were NOT included of the list of documents to bring to the interview. As a result, they issued him a visa denial. However, she said to email the photos to the visa section and they would process his visa. They did take his passport, so ultimately everything is going to be fine (although delayed a bit). It's just extremely annoying that they asked for things that were not listed.

Something similar happened when we went to file my daughter's consular report of birth. The list of documents and copies we were asked to provide was inaccurate. It asked for one copy of her birth certificate, but we had to provide two. So I was charged for an extra copy. Again, it's not a big deal, I just don't understand why they don't convey exactly what they want. It seems like it would make it easier on everyone including themselves.

/venting.

Can someone add me to the list? I really don't want to mess it up.

LauraFaye..........06/24/13....07/12/13....08/22/13....IR-1/CR-1....Spain

congrats. add my wife to the list that is due in june too.

we're at the NVC stage and trying to have her get an interview before she gives birth.

Congratulations! There are a lot of June babies around here! Are you trying to have her enter the US before birth? I suppose that if she doesn't, you'll have to wait until the baby can get a passport to fly, right? We are staying put here in Spain until the baby is born, but I am slightly concerned that between approval and baby's passport arriving we wont have a lot of wiggle room to enter the US before his visa expires.

I hope your wife is able to get her interview before she's due! Best of luck.

congrats on the expected new born and NVC progress. we have dame due month . I am IN A HURRY so he can come in b4 i give birth LOL.

Congratulations! My husband and I are both in Spain and with US insurance issues, and flight restrictions, it's best for us to stay put until baby arrives. I hope he gets in before you're due (looks like the timelines are in your favor!). Best of luck!

Just want to check in. We got our email from NVC yesterday. Our NOA2 was dated December 14, 2012. Our email fro NVC was dated January 22, 2012. So it's taking a bit longer than 30 days it seems. We've paid our AOS invoice online and requested to be contacted via email. I think we may decide to delay providing our AOS a bit. I'm pregnant and due in June. We will be staying here until the baby can get a passport. So I'm not in a big hurry to speed the process along.

I saw this post and just decided to check the website. We got our NOA 2 as of December 14, 2012. We still have not received the letter, though. So, NOA1 October 16th. NOA2/Approval December 14th.

I filed at the end of September and still no NOA2!!!

Just want to specify: I filed from abroad (Spain) on September 28, 2012. I received the hardcopy of my NOA1 October 16, 2012 with an MSC code.

I don't know who told you that your husband has only 30-60 days....but yes like others said you have a half year.

Believe it or not, it was an immigration attorney. I had asked him for tips (he's a boyfriend of a friend), but I think he actually handles different kinds of immigration cases. He also told me that my husband could not travel to the US during the process, but I've recently found out that isn't true either. Thank goodness for Visa Journey. I'm an attorney myself, but I'd be totally lost without VJ's collective wisdom!

I sent my application on September 28th and my NOA1 directed me to the NBC as well (receipt beginning with MSC).

From what I have seen on here recently, some petitions have been routed to MSC to help ease the workload.

Take a look at this thread: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/390565-aug-and-sept-i-130-filers-transfered-to-missouri-nbc/

Thanks. Only time will tell if this is a good thing or a bad thing re: timing. And I'm not sure if what good vs. bad timing means for me! Knowing that we'll have six months rather than 30-60 days is a huge relief, though.

I got my hardcopy NOA and email around the same time (10 October), and I have also been unable to check my case status online or with the National Customer Service Center phone number. I called again today and got ahold of a customer service rep who gave me an email address to contact. By the way, my receipt number starts with MSC.

It looks like my I-130 was sent directly to the Missouri Service Center, as my receipt number is MSC.

The receipt number on your NOA1 will tell you which service centre you are assigned to: WAC is California and EAC is Vermont.

The others are right in that he will have 6 months from the date of the medical in which to enter but there are also plenty of opportunities to slow down the process on the way to the interview if you need to.

Congratulations and good luck.

Nevermind, I see that it's the Missouri Service Center. That isn't even listed as an option to check processing times at the USCIS website.

The receipt number on your NOA1 will tell you which service centre you are assigned to: WAC is California and EAC is Vermont.

The others are right in that he will have 6 months from the date of the medical in which to enter but there are also plenty of opportunities to slow down the process on the way to the interview if you need to.

Congratulations and good luck.

Thanks for this info. My receipt number starts with MSC. Do you happen to know what processing center that is?

Did you list your Madrid address? If so you would be considered a USC filing and leaving abroad and usually they get auto-expedited through USCIS. When you get to NVC you can control the speed in which you are processed if you wanted to wait. As long as you have made contact with NVC within a year of being there your case stays active.

If you wanted to get all the way through to getting Visa you have 6 months to enter the US not 30 to 60 days. So you do have some options. Play it through or you can delay things. Hoep this helps.

It looks like the auto-expedited thing ended. It's been 21 days since our first NOA and still have not received our second. But I didn't realize we would have 6 months to enter the US. I was told 30 to 60 days. This is exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you!

Could you have missed out on direct consular filing(DCF)? did you indicate ur address in spain in all of the spots on your I-130 and G325 or you used your US address? if spain has DCF then you may have miised out on saving months of delay at the USCIS stage.

I am also 7 weeks pregnant and so understand your concerns. i do not want my husband to miss out on the brith of our child but at least i am based in the U.S. and have a permanent job here. hopefully you get answers.

DFC was not available for us, unfortunately. But yes, I used our address abroad on everything. I only used my US address for where we will reside once my husband is able to enter.

Hi there,

My husband, who is a British citizen, and I (American citizen) got married in the US on July 7, 2012. We both reside in Madrid, Spain. I mailed his I-130 to the Chicago Lockbox in September and received our NOA1 on October 10, 2012. We have not yet received an NOA2 and have no idea what processing center we will be assigned to (but my permanant US address is in Texas).

Here's where my concern comes in. I found out I was pregnant after filing the I-130 and am currently about 8 weeks pregnant. I'm worried that by the time my husband receives his CR-1 visa with a 30-60 day window to travel to the US, I will be unable to travel before him or with him either because I will be too pregnant to fly (and without having a designated OB in the US) or if it happens soon after birth, the baby will not receive its passport within the timeframe. I also don't think it's very realistic for me to go to the US too early in the pregnancy without knowing when my husband will be able to join me because I have a job in Spain, can't expect to find a new job in the US while visibly pregant and I really don't want for my husband to miss my pregnancy or his child's birth.

I know it is quite early in the process to be worried about this, but the timing seems like it could really make things complicated for us. Is there any way to request an extension of the deadline to enter the US under these circumstances? Has anyone dealt with anything like this?

Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!