xeon

Hey Vjers,
I'm so excited to report that our fiance visa was approved!!! Our appointment was on Monday and it went so well. The Consular Officer was an angel. She literally asked my fiance about our story then told him to call me up to the window and then asked about our wedding plans and said, "Congratulations, you've been approved." We thanked her and she said "you two are the perfect canidates for this. We couldn't have done it without all of your help. Thank you everyone for your love, prayers, support, encouragement and help along the way!! We appreciate you!!!!!
We pick up his passport on the 19th and head to the U.S. together on the 21st. Our wedding is 9 weeks from today!!! To God be all the glory!!!

If my memory is good, I saw somewhere on official website that this is up to 60 days. Usually this is faster. I guess it depends on the embassy.
Good luck and loads of patience

Dear Xeon,
I have the same problem.
My dad has the original USSR Birth Certificate and I just got a letter from the NVC asking me to send the original.
Do you know if I need an apostill for this Birth Certificate?
On the last page of the certificate thers a stamp of the "Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR"
Thanks.

Ok so my hubby had his interview on the 5th and on the 5th it went to AP and then on the it went to visa being issued. We just bought his ticket yesterday the 10th and he doesn't have his passport. His interview was in PARIS and wanted to know if he will actually get his visa/passport on the 10th day. We are worried cause he will be leaving on the 22nd so please if anyone can tell me how long it usually takes to receive your documents after your inter view at the Paris embassy. please let me know!!!
Thank you.
ps( It seems that we always have to wait the longest for things to happen).

Congratulations. We were updating at the same time. hehe . Welcome

I'm sorry what I mean is Nvc don't have yet interview schedule for march.

Hi I just called Nvc they don't have IL for march. Think positive. We hope it will be release tomorrow ????

No it does not. PD does not get current when I-130 gets approved. I-130 can get approved anytime and PD in the Bulletin can still be backlogged.
For example, in your case your PD is Jan 9th 2014. As per VB, PD for F2A is Sep 8th 2013 for most countries. So lets say your I-130 gets approved next month. Then you are still not current as per VB and NVC will not process your case until your PD meets the qualifying date as per NVC. In other words your PD has to be remotely close to what is in the Visa Bulletin. So until VB shows your PD to be Jan 9th 2014 or greater than your case will not processed by NVC even if I-130 is approved.

Oh really? Hoping that by tomorrow there will be agoodnews for everyone of us waiting for IL. Yes i know that. Im also doing that.

Let's hope and pray that they will give our interview sched by monday. Goodluck to us!

Tres bien merci, oui l'espoir fait vivre

Guys,
Just found this link from where you can call NVC for free using internet. You will need a ear phones/ head phones with a microphone obviously.
Just go to the below link and click on CALL FREE VIA WEB.
I used it today for the first time and the speed of connection and call quality was just fine, except I had some disturbances during the wait, but once connected I had no problem.
http://gethuman.com/phone-number/National-Visa-Center/
Thought it might be useful to you guys and save some minutes, especially if you are calling from outside USA.

My wife completed her interview at the Paris embassy today, and the CO told her that she is approved.
The interview went well and was relatively quick (2 hours total). Thanks again to so many of you for all of your help with this process!

Here are my two cents on red flags..
Let's separate two important things here - what a "red flag" is, and what it is not.
A red flag is a metaphor used for peculiarities in a particular case. By peculiarity I mean something that might make a USCIS adjudicator, or consular officer decide to look a little closer at the case. Since this is a K-1 thread, I'm only going to discuss marriage based cases. To understand why your case might stand out, it really pays to look at your case from an outsider's perspective, rather than seeing it from your own biased view. I do not mean to offend anyone by saying biased, but let's face it, we are all all biased towards our own case because that is the only case we are not seeing from an outsider's point of view. No matter what evidence you have, no immigration officer will ever feel what you feel. They can only see the facts as they are presented to them.
An immigration/consular officer's job is to make a subjective opinion, often in a very short amount of time, based on the facts presented before them. Marriage based cases differ from other cases in that they are not presented with firm evidence such as a birth certificate or DNA to show a family relationship. Rather, they are presented with a certain set of (somewhat relevant) facts and evidence on which to make the decision of whether a legitimate family relationship exists. These officers generally go through multiple cases on any given work day. Naturally, certain things will stand out more than others. That's the essence of what a "flag" is - something in your case stands out from the other cases in the pile.
What makes the flag red is when the peculiarity, the thing that stands out, actually makes your case either seem less probable, or, that the flag is in the form of a motive for why the person would potentially want to marry someone whom they do not love.
A red flag is not an automatic denial. No one can be denied a visa because of a red flag. A visa denial comes from a complete package of evidence and facts weighed up against one another. A red flag is not an immigration officer's bias against you or your spouse, it is not an attack so to speak against you. It is simply a fact that makes your case stand out, and in the eyes of the immigration officer, makes your case differ from the norm, thus prompting any experienced officer to take an extra look. Keep in mind also that what might be a red flag to a consular officer in Morocco, might not even be worth a second look to a consular officer in the Philippines. This is due to certain facts being common in one country, while it might be socially unacceptable in another.
Here are some common red flags:
1. A large age gap.
I see this one a lot, and there is a multitude of good reasons why immigration officers take a second look at some cases. This one also depends, as all other red flags, on the country and culture in question. A prime example: For example, a relationship where a 50 year old American male marries a 25 year old female from the Philippines. While the age difference is 25 years, most of these cases are approved, and I wouldn't even consider the age gap a red flag. However, if twisting it around and applying to another country, it makes a huge difference. A second scenario: A 50 year old American woman marries a 25 year old Moroccan man. This is absolutely a red flag, not because the consular officers are biased, but because it is simply very uncommon to see in Morocco.
2. Vast ethnic, religious or cultural differences.
Again, there is nothing illegal under US law about about interracial or inter-cultural marriage. It is socially acceptable in most places in the US, and for the most part, an interracial marriage will not be a red flag at all. However, to use an example: An American new-age hippie marries a practicing religious orthodox from a strictly religious culture. While completely legal, it raises questions as to the bona fide nature of the marriage because it is uncommon, maybe even socially unacceptable in the beneficiary's culture. So the consular officer's question will be "why is this person marrying someone who might actually get him/her disowned by their family?"
3. The beneficiary is from a high-fraud country.
This is guilt by association. Some consulates see a lot of attempted fraud. Some consulates see very little. If you are an immigration officer at a consulate where attempted fraud is a frequent occurrence, you will naturally be more suspicious.
4. The couple got engaged/married after a very short time of meeting.
It is uncommon in the US for couples to get married within weeks or even months of meeting one another. Why? Because marriage is a lifelong commitment, and two people generally aren't expected to know each other well enough to make a lifelong commitment after a very short time. In addition, it is easy for fraudsters and scammers to set up a fake marriage, but it is difficult to forge a scam to last a significant amount of time.
5. The couple have only met in person once, or on very limited occasions.
While the USCIS and State Dept are aware that online relationships are more common today than before, couples are still expected to have spent some time physically together before committing to a lifetime together. It is uncommon in the US to marry someone you have only met once, so the USCIS and State Dept views it as unlikely that an international couple would do the same. However, they are mindful that international travel can be difficult for some. The thing to keep in mind here is that you aren't trying to show then how hard it is to visit - you are trying to show that a bona fide marriage exists.
6. The beneficiary sends money to the petitioner.
I see plenty of people asking "should I show that I send my American husband/wife money?" - The answer is, only if you want the US State Dept. to believe that you are paying them for a green card. While it is normal to support your spouse here and there, this only looks good if you're helping out with shared expenses.
7. The beneficiary is in removal proceedings (for AOS cases).
A major red flag in an adjustment of status case is where the beneficiary is in removal proceedings, especially if the marriage itself happened after removal proceedings were initiated. The first thing on the USCIS' mind will be that the marriage is just a last ditch effort to stay in the country.
8. Substantial language barriers.
Very rarely will you be able to convince a USCIS or consular officer that you are in a bona fide relationship or marriage if you cannot communicate in a common language, be it English, Swahili or sign language. You are expected to be able to communicate with the person you are engaged or married to.
As I stated earlier. None of these alone are grounds for a denial, but the more individual red flags, the higher the burden of proof is. Also, these aren't "set" factors that will end your case up in some list, they are just factors that will make your case stand out from the norm. Certain factors, such as age difference, may be a huge red flag in some countries, but might not even stand out in others. To figure out of your case has any red flags, be honest and look at your case from an outsider's perspective - Is your case somehow abnormal? If you are the beneficiary, is your case abnormal in your country/culture? If you are the petitioner, would the average Joe look at your case and think "how did that happen?" Don't be biased and overly defensive about your case, because the best way to defend your marriage is to know what you're up against.

Well yes its slower because LOR's have to wait in queue for visa number. The bulletin was current have no idea what it is now. All you an do is request it. Let them know you don't want to send in original because your case could be sitting at NVC a long time an dthere is no way to get another copy.

What I would do is call NVC and tell them you will bring the original to the interview and would they case complete you.

Oh I hope it has gone smooth for you and continues too. We were expedited for the USCIS stage, so I will re-submit the same documents for the NVC stage and see what happens. We already have all needed documents/translations/forms finished except the new DS-260/261 which as I understand are only online once they recieve our case.

Yes when we sent our i-130 via chronopost to Chicago....we paid like 52 Euros! Insane.
Our noa2 was just mailed monday! So now we are in the same boat as you...We were discussing the best/safest/fastest shipping. I appreciate this topic!

Hi, we went thru all the process with the basic service with "la poste" and it went well, it just took maximum 5 days for each letter that we send. So dont spend a lot of money using chronopost.

Red flags are things that usually are against the cultural norm of your country.
1. US Citizen older and woman
2. Divoreced
3. Children from previous marriage or relationships
4. Educational difference
5. Religious difference
6. Short courtship
7. short visits (usually under 30 days face time together)
8. Married first time meeting face to face
Things like that can be issues that may make CO look deeper or ask more questions. Sometimes an issue sometimes not

Although it may seem redundant, NVC is a different agency than USCIS. So, even though some items are the same, don't think you don't need to send them. You still do. Otherwise you'll just get a checklist.
The AOS and IV are two separate, independent tracks that have nothing to do with one another. The IV fee is dependent on the DS-261 being accepted and added to the case file. Please go back to post 1 and review the flowchart I made as this should clear it up.

Yes, they're independent of one another, but both need to be done for a case complete.
As I've said before, the IV fee is only invoiced once the DS-261 has been accepted and added to the casefile. The IV fee has absolutely NOTHING to do with the AOS fee.

15 minutes is actually pretty good. I found the best time though to be around 5pm EST. I was typically on hold for 5 minutes or less. I've also heard right at opening is pretty quick at well.
And don't listen to the operator about waiting 8 weeks. Just keep calling 1-3 times a week.

Hi again xeon!
For the doctor appointment, you need to have:
- Passport.
- 1 Picture.
- Vaccination book.
- Letter from the US Paris Embassy with appointment date and time.
- Payment: cash or check.
That's all

Thank you so much xeon
I don't think it will be an issue according to what I have been through with my medical appointment.
The doctor will let you know if any vaccine is missing and will tell you what to do if something is not working in your vaccines history.
I am sure you will be fine. Based on what I have read on some blogs, we will surely get booster shots once we are in the USA and married.
Good luck and let us know when you are approved