sumdesi

Hi everyone,

I'm sorry if this question has been answered but I did a search on Visajourney and couldn't find a thread regarding this topic.  I'd appreciate guidance from anyone who may have knowledge on this.

I filed a DS-260 for my mom, and it was conditionally approved in May 2021.  Next step was to wait for the US Embassy in India (possibly the one in Mumbai) to schedule an appointment for interview, but that has understandably been delayed due to COVID.  That being said, I can't find any information anywhere online whether the embassies have started scheduling appointments for the visa interview, what the wait times are, what dates they are currently processing, etc.  It's been such a long time waiting for the interview to be scheduled, especially when there is zero guidance from the embassy when services will restart.  Plus, it's been 2 years of COVID, most things are opening back up and things getting back to normal, the fact the embassy still isn't opening up their interview services (that I know of), it's very frustrating.  So if anyone knows of any information regarding this, please let me know.

Thank you!

Interesting.  I've emailed VFS on this, but hopefully someone else who has filed recently will be able to confirm sooner whether VFS prints the return label themselves.

Hi,

I completed the process for a New OCI just now, but I might have ran into an issue.  After I did the steps on VFS Global's website to submit my OCI request and paid for the courier labels, I only received one courier label which will be used to send the application to the consulate.  I didn't receive the 2nd label which I would include with my package so that the consulate would ship back my US passport.  It never asked me for a round trip shipping fees or just one way.  And on the Application Confirmation Letter, it shows that I paid $30 for a "Round Trip courier" and a $15 fee for "Courier fee (New OCI to return US passport)".  

So when you guys submitted your OCI application, did you only have 1 courier label to ship to the consulate, or did you get a 2nd label to include in the package?

I need some advice from someone experienced with OCI renewal rules.  I am being told about a particular rule by an Indian travel agent which I can't corroborate anywhere on an official Indian immigration website or through general articles / forums online, so I believe the travel agent has most definitely misunderstood the OCI renewal rules.  But I thought I would ask the question in this forum to see if I'm missing something.

First a little bit of background on my situation.  I used to be an Indian citizen, but became an US citizen as a minor along with my parents in 2005.  Then in 2007, I received my OCI card when I was less than 20 years old.  Then I renewed my US passport in 2015, by which time I was over 20 years old.  I did not renew my OCI card at this time, and I have already traveled to India since 2015 without any issues.

So what I am being told by a travel agent is that in 2019/2020, Indian government stated that people who had received their OCI card when they were a minor (<= 20 years old) need to renew their OCI at least once when they renew their US passport, even if they are older than 20 years old at that time.  Meaning that I should have renewed my OCI in 2015 when my US passport was renewed.

However, that doesn't match with the rules I see on official consulate website, as follows:

OCI Travel Advisory – Re-issue of OCI Card (On getting a New Passport)

• For an applicant who is 20 years of age or younger, OCI documents must be re-issued each time a new passport is issued.
• For an applicant who is 50 years of age or older, OCI documents must be re-issued once after the issuance of a new passport. If the OCI card is issued for the first time after the age of 50 years, then there is no need for re-issue of OCI.
• For an applicant who is 21 to 49 years of age, there is no need to re-issue OCI documents each time a new passport is issued. However, if the applicant desires, he/she can request that the OCI documents be re-issued so that the OCI documents reflect the correct passport number.
Please view the full requirements for OCI Re-issue for more information at the following link.

According to the above (particularly the part in red), if you are currently between the age of 21 and 49, the you do not need to renew your OCI.  It doesn't state anything of when you originally were issued the OCI.  That is why I believe the travel agent has misunderstood when he says that I need to renew my OCI now since I have not renewed it since I originally received it when I was a minor.

Any insight and thoughts would be appreciated!

Hi,

My wife is an Indian national with an Indian passport, who currently resides in the USA with a green card.  She will be flying through London airport on her way to Paris in a few months.  She booked her flight from USA to London separately from her flight from London to Paris.  Therefore, she will be switching planes and moving her baggage from the first airline to a different airline in London.  Her departure flight from London is on the same day and same airport as the arrival flight.

The UK transit visa website states that you need Visitor in Transit visa if you will be going through border control, which I believe will be the case since she will be grabbing her bags from the first airline and checking them into the second airline in London Heathrow.  However, it also states that you may use the transit without visa option if you are traveling to or from USA, onward outside of UK within 24 hours, with the departure flight from London being on the same day as the arrival flight into London.

So we are confused whether she will need a visitor in transit visa or not.  Anyone else have a clear idea of how UK transit visa process works, and which of the above rules supersedes the other?

ok I'll check out my state's laws and see if the name can be changed prior to AOS. If not, we'll wait till naturalization. Thank you both!

Hi guys,

My wife came to US on a K-1 visa. My wife and I just got married few days back. We received our marriage license yesterday. We have plenty of time to apply for her AOS before her K-1 visa expires. I'm just waiting on my most recent tax forms so I can fulfill the requirements of the I-864. I had a question about name change for my wife though.

Legally, my wife's first name is Poorvi. Her parents always wanted it to be spelled Purvi, but the government official in India messed up and put it down as Poorvi on her birth certificate, and all of her legal documents after that have used Poorvi. However, my wife and her parents used the Purvi whenever possible, and my wife wants her name to be spelled as Purvi. But since all of her legal documents had her name spelled as Poorvi, we just thought we would leave it as such while applying for her K-1 visa, and change it once she came to USA.

So now that we are married, I know she can legally change her last name to my last name, but we wanted to find out if she could also change her first name as well. The part that is confusing is how would we do this, and if we do, would it confuse USCIS when we apply for her AOS. I have not submitted any of her AOS paperwork, but I have most of it completed, with the name entered as Purvi Shah (my last name). Does anyone have experience with this or can guide us in how to go about doing this name change?

the A # is also on the visa, just above the petitioner name if memory serves.

That's the same place that Nobbie had mentioned where the A# would be. However, my Fiancee's K-1 Visa does not contain the A# under the Annotation section/above the petitioner's name. In fact, I looked through the whole visa and can't find the A# anywhere on the visa itself now. It has the case number for the I-129F petition that we had filed above the petitioner's name.

Maybe things have changed now.

wow thanks guys! I found the A# on the NOA2 like everyone said.

Nobbie, the A# is not on the K-1 Visa though. Where it says annotation, it has our I-129F petition case number.

Hello VJers!

I am in the midst of preparing the I-485 Form, which I will file once I marry my Fiance who is here with me in the US on the K-1 visa .

I have been following the example I-485 form on VJ, but I am confused about one part. The example form has the A-Number for the Fiance filled out in Part 1 (albeit with a fake number). But I can't find in any of my Fiance's documents where she has received an A#. Do K-1 visa holders receive an A#? If so, where would the number be located?

Hello VJers,

My petition has been approved, and sent to the Mumbai Consulate by the NVC on Nov. 7th. My Fiancee is yet to receive any letter in mail or email regarding the interview information/date. We have completed the DS-160 online and opened a profile on USTravelDocs. My Fiancee has paid the Visa fee.

How long does it take to receive the interview packet from the consulate? I'm confused as to what to expect next.

so happy the petition has finally been approved! and just 1 day after 5 months since my NOA1 :/

but totally excited now!!!

Notice how if you tilt your head to the right and look at it sideways it looks like USCIS is giving us the finger...

whoaaa didn't notice that! lol

At least with it at 5 months, we can complain. My congressman contact them last week and sent back reply that they were processing Oct 15 so I was still within normal times. VSC has approved 1 filer from Nov , and that appears to be for the whole week. They are not going to do anything since they transfer files, because it looks like they are within national goal of 5 months on paper. They still have Nov, early Dec files and late Jan files that are just sitting there. Next week (25th) I will be at 5 months and will now at least get to send in a service request. The backlog continues. VSC is an a bunch of Morons!

hope it comes soon man! I'll be antzie if my petition also goes that long without a single word

I'm willing to bet that they put the decimal in the wrong spot and they intended the national average to read "6.4 months"

yea that's probably what it is.. but if both CSC and VSC are "supposedly" churning petitions out in 5 months, that average doesn't make sense.. they're probably taking into account TSC as well.

I saw this today too!!! My Fiance' is coming from Iraq and we filed in Jan . We are really hoping to hear something next week as our 5 month mark with be the 25th!!!! If we get good news we can both breathe. Good luck !!! I hope you also get good news soon!!! I

Is anyone else out there at the VSC coming from Iraq?

thanks and i'm sure you will hear good news soon! the wait is almost over

its crazy how how it works i got my noa1 hard copy on 20th march i see a few ppl on here have been approved from vermont who submitted n mid april and i even have a immigration lawyer to them its all paper and work they dont understand its our lives

well I think those mid-april petitions are most likely the ones that were expedited through the expedite system.. otherwise it would be completely unfair to work THAT far ahead when people from Nov and Dec are still waiting..

congrats!!

Has anyone noticed that the processing time at VSC for K-1 petition has came back down to 5 months as of April 30, 2013???

How is that possible? From looking at the timelines on VJ, it seems like they are still processing Dec and Jan filers, and yet they claim to be working at 5 months processing time. I know VJ timelines isn't representative of ALL the K-1 petitions, and some VJers may not have updated their timelines, but still I don't know if I believe it.

However, if they really have caught up, then I'll be damn HAPPY!

Any thoughts?

wow congrats!! great to hear the good news

great! congrats!!

hey congratulations!!!

congrats guys!!!

wow congrats to both of the couples!!

Congrats!!

what is Administrative Processing? at what stage of the petition/visa does one get on Administrative Processing?

Not a big issue. Just make sure you put the full name as it is shown on your passport. If the 2 middle names don't fit, then just attach an extra sheet for the I-129F form (like they instruct you to do in the K-1 visa instructions packet) and then right your full name. As long as you specify that you have attached an extra sheet with the full information, it should be fine. Don't forget to sign and date the extra sheet

What I don't understand is that the infamous October 15th processing date is as of the March 31st USCIS update. That update was over two months ago... clearly they have moved well beyond October 15th.

If nothing else, THIS is what frustrates me. Update the damn processing time! I agree, after 2 months they obviously are not still on October filers! Sure there may be a few stragglers, but they should state which month their main focus has shifted to. If I truly knew what time period they were processing, it would at least help me better anticipate when my file will be touched and keep me calm. But the way it is now, all over the place, it's just plain frustrating!

What about having just a wedding in China and then come to US to reguster?will that still be considered married??my fiancee really wants a wedding in China since all of her friends and family are there.

As long as it's nothing legally related and just a ceremony/party, I don't see anything wrong with it. And to the OP: I suggest trying to communicate better with her. My fiancee and I also have stressful miscummunication like this. Good luck

i had a similar question... overwhelming VJ members recommended against this!

here's the thread:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/432499-k1-filed-can-we-do-a-wedding-ceramony-and-not-register-it/#entry6252717