SenA

She just got back to us, but all she got from TSC was - "This is what they sent us back: The I129F will be sent to the National Visa Center within the next 10 business days."

So it should be there within the next 2 weeks. If ours is being sent, then others will be being sent there too with ours. They didn't give any answers about what exactly they've been doing with them up UNTIL this point, but hopefully with politicians getting back onto them again, it will give them a kick up the back side.

And yes, Congressman Joe Wilson's office has been invaluable with their help in this entire process.

Thanks Queen! I hope that's true!

Oh hello! I just found this thread . NOA2 6/25. VSC to TSC transfer. So, I just called NVC for the first time and got the 8 weeks spiel. I want to mention that I pressed her if that was 8 weeks for all service centers or just for TSC and she said it was for all service centers. I also specifically mentioned it was a K1 visa, and that's when she said oh, ok, K1 visas can take up to 8 weeks to appear in their system. This is quite obviously BS since we've seen that cases from VSC and CSC are moving to the NVC in roughly 1 to 2 weeks. I think they are just covering their asses since TSC is gumming up the wheels. How frustrating. I would say I'll contact my congresswoman again, but honestly she was less than zero help when we were awaiting our NOA2. They refused to contact me by email or phone and instead mailed everything, including printouts of emails (!?) to my home address. I hope someone else is able to get a congressperson interested in this situation :-/

Actually that was not me...if you go back to July 2 and find Aleksey and Ksenia...their post states the files are on the floor of NVC...I had just quoted them at the time....I can't quote on my cell phone....

Woops, sorry! I need to learn to read more carefully :-P Were they a TSC transfer?

I will...this is unacceptable if it's reality....

Wait a minute guys. Zoroopa, you told us last week that you spoke to someone at NVC who told you that your case was in the building, but it just hadn't been assigned a case number yet. So, if that's true then it's not possible that they're holding them at TSC for 8 weeks. The consensus thus far when speaking to the customer service reps is that it will take UP TO 8 weeks to process them, not that they're holding them for 8 weeks before even shipping them out. Angelina, could you clarify who it was that gave you the information that TSC is holding them?

Thank you for your reply! Yes we've been in Limbo for the last 6 months waiting for the Supreme Courts decision. I'm in the process of sorting all the forms and what to send. My heads spinning. lol

Unfortunately London doesn't do direct filing for I-129f, however we can complete the K-1 visa process in London.

My cousin does reach the 125% poverty limit which is great as I'm going to contact her soon to get the form and evidence completed by her and sent to me.

Another quick question: Do I use my UK address on the I-129f petition or a US address.

Thanks again

Cheers

Trish

Maybe someone with more knowledge can chime in about the address to use. I've heard that it's best to use a US address, but I'm not really qualified to give an answer since I currently live in the U.S. and filed from here.

As I mentioned before, you'll want to wait a bit to get your cousin to fill out the I-134 and get her evidence together, since the petition often takes 6 months or more to process, and by the time you get to the interview, her info might be outdated. The consulate will want to see a recent I-134, and a recent letter of employment, etc. With your current timeline, it's likely your fiancee will be interviewing next year, so you have plenty of time to gather all that together.

Good luck!

I think what might help is if you clarify the purpose for which you want to come and live in the U.S. If you are planning to marry your American girlfriend, and you get engaged in the near future, your best bet is to apply for the K1 visa, as someone suggested above. The visa process can take up to a year, so you don't have to elope immediately. You'd have plenty of time to plan a big, beautiful wedding. If you're not ready to get married, or she's not the specific reason you want to move here, it's a bit trickier. As others have mentioned (and you seem to know), it's quite hard to get an employer to sponsor you for an H1B visa (or this Q1 visa that others have mentioned, of which I have no knowledge), without specialized skills and an advanced degree. What is your real goal here? To marry and live with your girlfriend permanently? Or to just have a bit of an extended holiday? Maybe take some time to think about it. Good luck to you!

Hi All,

Just a few questions regarding proof of suport.

My partner and I have been in a relationship for the past 10 years. I have been living in England with her for the past 8 years, 7 of which we have been in a Civil Partnership. Now that DOMA has been struck down I can now file a petition for her to go to the US to get married as the US does not recognise Civil Partnerships from UK as Marriage at this time.

My questions are :

1) How do I prove income if all my income is earned over here and I do not have a job in the USA?

2) My cousin has offered to be a sponser for her, Do both my cousin and I need to complete seperate I-134 forms?

Just a question regarding I-129f petition.

What do I need to prove for ongoing relationship? Will joint tenancy and council tax be sufficiant to prove we've met? LOL Its such a silly question but I want to make sure I get everything spot on.

Thanks for any help

Cheers

Trish

First of all, congratulations! So happy that same sex couples can participate in this process now!

1. You'll need a co-sponsor if you don't reside and work in the US, but it seems like you've already taken care of that.

2. Yes, both you and your cousin must complete I-134s. You cousin must make enough money to support your fiance and anyone else who's dependent on him/her (spouse, kids, etc.) at 125% of the poverty level.

Joint tenancy will certainly be enough to prove your ongoing relationship! Btw, check if your embassy allows direct consular filing (I'm not familiar with the UK), becasue that could save you some time.

EDIT: Another thought. You won't need the I-134 until the interview stage. You don't send it with your I-129F petition, so you should of course think about it now, but you don't need to fill it out now.

I was wondering that myself, as I was looking at the form today... I was planning to initial on that line. Seems like a logical option. Can anyone else weigh in?

EDIT: Thanks, HK12. I think I'll still initial that line. It seems like a logical place for initials, confirming that you've read and agree to that stuff on page 2. I think it's probably fine either way.

I was very surprised to get an RFE also----every paper that had to be signed was signed and i had letters of intent from both of us and even the 325 was signed........just was not wanting an RFE...and i hope that they will get the notices out soon, some got RFE's 2 weeks ago and are still waiting to get the notice in the mail, i feel sorry for those folks.

this immigration needs revamped, and it needs it soon, in my humble opinion.

Yeah, it just seems a little fishy that there were so many in one day, towards what seems to be the last of the adjudications of the May transfers. I'm very curious as to what the RFE will say, so keep us posted and good luck!

I am confused about the whole affidavits (I-134). I am a beneficiary, did they need me to fill affidavit of financial support. i

Nope. Your petitioner needs to fill it out to prove he/she can provide you with financial support. Or, if you have a co-sponsor, both the petitioner and co-sponsor need to fill one out.

Oh nevermind, you are talking about the 1-134.

Yep, I mean the I-134 (Affidavit of Support). Sorry, I've been referring to it as the "Affidavit" to my dad (our co-sponsor), who's a lawyer

Oh, also, the K1 guides here recommend sending another letter of intent to marry, dated closer to the interview, so I'll probably stick the original of that in the FedEx envelope as well, just in case.

Hey there, sek298!

Yes, I did just send in my I-129F recently and it's not likely that I will have sufficient income by then, as I have never attained a full time job nor made anywhere near the 125% poverty guideline annually in all my years of working...

Luckily the Netherlands accepts co-sponsors, and they seem to be pretty lenient compared to other embassies on financial proof. Actually if you look at their website (http://amsterdam.usconsulate.gov/iv_k1_pkt3.html) they even allow self-sponsorship. We have a co-sponsor as well, actually, because I'm a full-time graduate student with a stipend that doesn't kick in until September. Hopefully my fiance's interview will be before then! It seems like Jay-Kay answered the rest of your questions, but I'd still advise waiting to fill out and send the I-134 until you get your NOA2. They'll probably want things dated at the most a few months before the interview (and if your interview is next year, the consulate will definitely want to see a recent letter of employment and maybe even 2013 taxes for your co-sponsor). It's good to start thinking about it, though! Good luck!

Hi all,

Happy 4th of July to those in the US! Not feeling all that patriotic today... hmm I wonder why ;-)

I think I'll make my first call to DOS (or NVC) tomorrow. My NOA2 date is June 25th, so I didn't want to waste my time calling before now. Anyway, for those of us off from work today, have a drink, go to a barbeque, watch some fireworks, Skype extra long with your honey and take a load off! The time is near and it's our last summer alone, so let's all try to stay positive! Every time I get frustrated waiting at each step of the way, I keep saying to myself, well this is the last ______ without him here. Surprisingly, it helps get me excited a little again for his move here.

Re: sending documents for the visa interview, I'm sending the actual Affidavit (two originals w/ signatures) to him via FedEx (I think there's a good chance they'll want an original of that) and also "originals" of our entire I-129F packet (as recommended here in the guides) and the originals of my boarding passes to visit him the last 2 times since we filed. Everything else (tax transcripts, pay stubs, letters, etc.) I'm scanning and letting him print. I'm also letting him print all the recent photos of us, Skype logs, facebook chats, etc. FedEx is quite expensive, but I learned my lesson the hard way once when sending him a Christmas present. I sent it "express" mail through USPS and it got lost and ended up getting there in mid-January. So, it's worth it to me. So sorry to hear about your troubles with the post, batallion9! Good luck recovering everything!

And good luck to everyone else on here!

They won't work on cases filed in May for some time. TSC is working on DEC, JAn, and feb. VSC is working on Feb, March. CSC working on March.

I think Katha means people that were transferred in May, as opposed to the second batch of transfers in June. Are there any of those left? Haven't been on VJ in a couple days and I was just checking in on you guys... I'm a little shocked how many RFEs there seemed to be before the holiday. Keep us posted on what they are when you get the hard copy. FYI, for those asking about passport pictures, mine were not the standard 2x2 size and we didn't get an RFE, so I doubt that will be it, but maybe some officers are more picky than others? Double check that you have letters of intent signed by both beneficiary and petitioner. I think that's a common one. Other than that, good luck to you guys!

They said it was back at the USCIS and being reviewed by someone now to forward it to NVC.

Wow. Well at least you got some answers. I hope yours is first in line to be forwarded to the NVC. Good luck and keep us posted!

Guys, again...

I dont know what i would do without you...

Really happy for being able ti get all this priceless information from all of u!

We all need to be very happy and litteraly GOING CRAZY! because pretty soon we will be accomplishing our dream being able to finnaly be with ou life partners without having to worry about distance anymore...

That should give all of you a huge shot of energy and patience.

Eva

You're the best

Just had my infopass appointment. Our case was sent to NRC and not NVC.

Did they give you any more info than that? Are they going to send it to the embassy? You've been waiting an awfully long time so I hope they gave you something better than that!

@AZARA Girlll you made me laugh with this one!!!

Personal Case Update:

Just checked site

RFE given today... showed up on site about 5pm EST.

i have a callback scheduled withUSCIS because I am meticulous about or packet and have aTWO EXACT DUPLICATE packets of everything I sent them!!

Aww Enigma! Sorry it's an RFE, but congrats on the case movement finally! Any other approvals or RFEs today? This week has been SLOW so far. Good luck to everyone tonight and you're all still in my thoughts!

It's probably just a buffer since they have been bottlenecked with all the TSC transfers, and even the CSC approvals before that, noticing a slowdown of sorts. It doesn't end there either. I do know that many of those CSC approvals had a hard time finding timely interview dates with some embassies afterwards due to the massive approvals as well.

I'm guessing you'll get your number within the next few weeks.

I sure hope so! Luckily for us (or maybe unluckily?) our consulate schedules the interview automatically once the packet 3 is sent back, and there are way less pending applications in the Netherlands that many other countries, but I imagine that will be the next headache for those of you fighting for interview slots!

So... yes, let's try and stay positive. I notice I'm turning into a bit of a grump on here today. Maybe it's time to take a little VJ break and fantasize about my fiance being here with me .

I was just told 8 weeks. #######. I'm going to explode.

Yeah, I mean, from 15 business days to 8 weeks is a HUGE difference. This process just gets more and more frustrating all the time. Le sigh.

That doesn't prove anything. It just says that the consulate called her, which I agree is unusual, but has nothing to do whether or not they have the packet or NVC had it first and is sending it to them. As I was explaining to someone else, all some embassies need is the number, not the actual packet, for them to accept an interview scheduling date.

And yeah, the CSR was just feeding the misinformation. It's a very common bit of misinformation. Many, many, many on VJ have read that letter wrong and given out that theirs was sent "directly" to the consulate. So many have read this and spread around that some get sent directly while some do not. This is simply not true. All get sent to the NVC, get the number from the embassy, and is then sent out.

And, yes, that is another fact - it is the embassy that is the source of the number the NVC assigns. So they have it when it is given to the NVC.

Ah, ok. Thanks for clearing that up. It seemed from that post that it would have been impossible for it to get from USCIS to NVC to the embassy in 3 days (which I still think is record time!) but now that I know the embassy gives the case number to the NVC, it makes more sense. They could theoretically contact you without the case having even arrived yet, since they'll obviously have to be in contact with NVC before the case is sent to them.

Might we also hope that 8 week thing is misinformation? (more wishful thinking)

true. we got Noa2 june 21 and june 24 the embassy called me. at first i thought it was a scammer or a fake but when i asked the lady if i can get an interview date earlier she told me my fiance to call the manager of the embassy to confirm that.

... As I said, this is not the usual case, only exception to the rule.

EDIT: I also want to say, I brought this up because I read in another thread that someone called the NVC and was asked to read the NOA2, and when they got to the bit about the case being forwarded to the listed consulate, the NVC person said, "then why are you contacting us? it says it will be sent to the consulate." Now, again, I know this was probably misinformation (gotta love that customer service incompetence), but it had me concerned with calling for the case number. Thanks for everyone's advice and helpful suggestions!

Mine said that it was being forwarded to the consulate (without one named) and it was sent to NVC.

Think of it like when you send in your I-129F petition. Even though it's going to CSC or VSC, it goes to the Texas Lockbox first where it is then sorted and sent to the proper service center. NVC is like that Texas Lockbox. USCIS sends the petitions there where they are sorted, assigned a case number and sent to the proper consulate.

Thanks, yeah I knew that was the case for almost everyone... I just wondered about the wording, but now I'm seeing that most (if not all) people's NOA2s are worded like that

All get that wording on their NOA2 letters. All go through the NVC.

This is embassy specific. For the Philippines, I do know that once you have it, you can schedule your embassy interview with it.

That's not true, and I just re-read this entire thread to be sure. For some embassies, it skips the NVC and goes straight through (as evidenced with a post earlier in this forum). I was almost entirely sure that's not the case for my consulate, especially given the fact that no consulate is listed. However, I just wanted to double-check that others had similar wording, because (as also stated above in this thread), the wording varies on NOA2s, but it looks like lately the all say basically the same thing. So, I'll go back to waiting/calling NVC for my case number . Just wishful thinking I guess!