Codrin

How much time did it get you to receive your visa from the interview date?

***Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Progress Reports to US Embassy & Consulate Discussion; topic is about this phase of the process.***

**Moderator hat off**

Answers:

1. No
2. Issuance of a visa is never 100% guaranteed. You wife needs to be prepared to answer any questions a CO may have about your relationship, family, etc. Everything subject is fair game.
3. From the time the interview takes place to the time the passport with visa is back in-hand is not an exact science. Do not purchase tickets until the passport with visa is in-hand.

Hello everybody,

After a long wait my wife finally got her interview scheduled in Bucharest,Romania. However I am still not sure what I should do next. I got the instructions E-mail from NVC which specifies the further steps she has to take for the interview, however I still have some questions about it.

1. Besides the E-mail will I also get another letter in the mail at home?

2. What are the chances for the interview to be denied after all the documents submitted and questions asked at NVC. Should I be nervous about the interview?

3. How much will it take the embassy to provide my wife with the visa after the interview? We're thinking to buy the plane tickets to LAX in advance so we don't pay a lot for them.

Thanks in advance. Any other advice you could give us is appreciated.

Hi everybody,

I filled a I-130 petition for my wife about a year ago. She got accepted and so on... We filled the DS-261 about 60 days ago and still haven't got the IV FEE INVOICED. I paid the AOS FEE and DID NOT send the package as I'd like to send both IV and AOS packages together.

What should I do to get things done faster?

Is it true that my wife's petition will expire after one year from the day it was submitted?

Thanks !

I filled out my DS-261 on May 30th and don't have my IV invoice yet. We've been calling NVC about twice a week since last week to no avail so far. They're incredibly backlogged and appear to be processing these DS-261s out of order because I have seen people who filed them a week or two after me get their IV invoices. I think they have so many cases they don't have the means to organise them chronologically.

So what should we do? Wait until what? What did they tell you? Can we forward any complaint to any supervisor or something? Thanks for your answer !

Hello everybody ! I got my i-130 accepted in may and completed my ds-261 on june 16th. I also paid my AOS FEE on the 18th and got my AOS Receipt on the 21st. However I did not get my IV FEE INVOICE available for payment yet. Do you have any idea if something might be wrong? When I login it says PAY NOW, but when I click it the payment is not available.

Any ideas?

Thanks !

Thanks for your advice, I'll write everything down and start contacting them. BTW I called USCIS again and another Tier II officer told me that my case was never sent nowhere. It's just waiting at TSC for approval. I should wait for two more weeks before getting an answer. I'm VERY confused. Everytime I call USCIS I get a different answer...

I would print out a copy of the emails that you got (also check on their website) and you should have written down the agent/time/date that you confirmed that your case had been approved and sent to the NVC. If you get your congressperson/senator involved, I strongly suggest supplying them with this information. Aside from that, I would contact the following:

Ombudsman's office

Texas Service Center

Service Center HQ (possibly also the director of the service centers. I know that Lovemytico has that guy's name and email address.)

And/or call and talk to a tier 2 supervisor.

Oh, and put in a service request online based on USCIS error.

Deep, my PD was 10/15/2013, Romania. Please view my last comment, I actually don't know if I was really ever approved. I think it was just a computer error.

please give me your pd date ? your country ? and all other information so I can better assist you.

how did you find out it was sent back to TSC?

Did you get your approval notice in mail.

if yes, than Call uscis and let them know that you were approved before.

I filled my timeline as on 10th of March I got an E-mail stating I got approved. However 2 hours later I got another mail stating I was back in initial review. I called USCIS, a Tier II officer told me I got approved and my petition was sent to NVC. I called Uscis again after two weeks and was told my petition was sent from NVC back to USCIS and was NEVER APPROVED.

I don't know what to believe and what I should do. Just wait...or what?

Your timeline shows you were approved on 3/10. So you only got an online update but not a hard copy?

When you check your case status now https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/Dashboard.do , what does it say?

No, I didn't get any approval hard copy. I will call again and try to get to a TIER II officer who hopefully will explain me the problem.

It's weird that my case got sent to NVC though it wasn't approved before, isn't it?

Your case was never approved? Did you get the hard copy from USCIS?

Thanks for your reply Deep.

The Tier II officer I spoke to told me that my case was never approved. So, why was it sent to NVC in first place? Maybe they sent it there by mistake? My case was sent back to TSC...

I really don't know how to involve my senator. I am currently abroad. Can you help me?

I am here...

one more like me

It's happened with me also.

I got approved on Feb 21st and NVC received my case on 11th March.

NVC sent my case back on 19th March.

I still didn't find my case yet.

here is some things that might cause to happened this situation.

1) Uscis didn't sumbit our all documents to NVC. So NVC sent back to case USCIS.

2) After approval USCIS feel that they need more proof or documents for our case. And approval was mistaken.

3) Computer mistake.

4) 129f and 130f ( my 129f was closed at USCIS instead of NVC)

5) they might sent our case to our country consult office.

6) for Nothing

And don't wait for their answer.

Please involved your senator and also make a infopass appointment.

make a service request to USCiS and NVC both.

many chances to delayed our cases from 1 month to 2 months.

anybody else? Please HELP

Have you called NVC to ask why?

I called USCIS and they told me to wait for an answer....didn't call NVC though...

I just called USCIS and spoke to a Tier II officer who told me my case got shipped back to USCIS from NVC. They didn't say anything was missing. Any ideas anyone? Did anyone encounter this problem ? Thanks ! Please HELP !!!

I called USCIS and talked to a TIER II officer about two weeks ago and she told me that my wife i-130 petition got approved and sent to NVC. However the online status still shows initial review and I still haven't got the NOA2 hard copy in mail. I just received the NOTICE OF TRANSFER. ANY ADVICE ANYONE?

Thanks

I have no idea where my case was transferred to. I had that problem with my case being first approved and then set back to initial review again, so I thought asking a Tier 2 officer to clarifiy that problem was the best solution, as it proved in the end.

The officer just told me I got approved. I wasn't provided with any other information. I was just told to call NVC for further assistance.

Congrats! Your case got transferred only a week ago. Did they transfer your application to California? Probably not Nebraska, right? Haha.

I just called USCIS and got to speak to a TIER 2 officer. I just got approved, PD 10.17.2013

This is what I got last night after being approved. So after being in the post decision activity and sent back to initial review this is the answer. The notification does not have a date or other specific information. Can anybody help me with a suggestion? What does this mean? What should I do now ? I also want to specify that I got two E-mails from USCIS. The first telling me I got approved, and the second telling me I'm back to Initial Review. Thanks

Initial Review

The I130 IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN was transferred and is now being processed at a USCIS office. You will be notified by mail when a decision is made, or if the office needs something from you. If you move while this case is pending, please use our Change of Address online tool to update your case with your new address or call our customer service center at 1-800-375-5283.

This is bizarre: I just received a text and email that seems to indicate I've stepped backwards in the process...

3.) On March 10 (Today, 3:45PM) I received the following update from USCIS:

"Your Case Status: Initial Review

The I130 IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN was transferred and is now being processed at a USCIS office. You will be notified by mail when a decision is made, or if the office needs something from you. If you move while this case is pending, please use our Change of Address online tool to update your case with your new address or call our customer service center at 1-800-375-5283."

I checked on the Case Status page again and it stepped back two steps, from "Post Decision Activity" to "Initial Review".

What should I make of this?

This just happened to me too, ####### ?

Can anybody explain to me why I got a post-decision and approval notice on March 10th , about an hour ago, and now when I check on USCIS it says still on initial review? Did this happen to anybody before? Thanks

Wow congrats! Do you know which service center you were transferred to?

It varies according to case. Now that you have NOA2, just refer to whole "NVC March 2014 filers" thread and ask around for answers there. They will be able to help you out.

Hi dee&vee, I actually have no idea, I just got a notification of transfer on the 7th, and now, the NOA2.

HELOOOO EVERYBODY . JUST GOT APPROVED !!! NOA 1 - 10/17/2013 , TRANSFERRED ON 3/7/2014 AND NOA 2 ON 3/10/2014 !!

Thanks a lot !

Hello ... My case got transfered on 1/22/14 and got approved 3/5/14... depends if they ask you for RFE .... My case went to the CAlifornia Service center..

Did you get a RFE?

Hi everyone,

I just got this in my E-mail: My PD is OCTOBER 15

On March 7, 2014, we transferred your I130, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN, to your local USCIS Office for further processing. The new office has jurisdiction over your case and will send you a decision as soon as processing is complete or you will be notified if further information or action is needed. If you move, please use our Change of Address online tool to update your case with your new address.

I don't understand, maybe you can help me, why my petition got transferred to MY LOCAL USCIS OFFICE. Does this make things different? How much time will it take for them to approve my I-130 petition after the transfer?

Thanks !

Hello everybody ! My PD is 10/18. I just got this from USCIS: When should I get NOA2 ? Thanks !

On March 7, 2014, we transferred your I130, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN, to your local USCIS Office for further processing. The new office has jurisdiction over your case and will send you a decision as soon as processing is complete or you will be notified if further information or action is needed. If you move, please use our Change of Address online tool to update your case with your new address.

Hi everyone ! I created another topic regarding the affidavit of support about a month ago, however I still have some questions about it.

I am a US citizen, and filled a I-130 for my wife on October 18,2013. I am currently waiting for my NOA2, but I'd like to prepare in advance for the next steps.

My story goes like this: I am both US and Romanian citizen. I was born in Romania and naturalized in the US after living there for 6 years with a green card (lottery visa). One year after getting my US Citizenship I met my Romanian wife on the internet, so I came back to Romania to meet her. After two years we married, and now we are two years married and four years together. Since then I've been living in Romania, finishing my studies and getting different certifications for a future IT job. While residing in Romania, my parents supported me financially. While in the US, I had two jobs, one for two months as a pizza cook, and one as a web developer for six months. However I earned around 2000 $ as cook and around 9500 as web developer.

So my questions are:

1. How will I complete the I-864 if I am unemployed and if I have 0 income. I didn't file any tax returns as my income didn't require it.

2. Do my assets count? I have 300k $ worth of assets, as wedding presents from my family.

3. Do I need a co-sponsor? My mother and my uncle are currently in the US, both US-citizens.

4. I am only 23. Do I need to write a cover letter stating that I was unemployed due to the fact that I needed to finish my studies and get certificated ?

5. Do you have any estimate on when I should get my NOA2? It's been almost 8 weeks now.

6. Anyone else in my situation?

I appreciate any advice you can give me. Thanks a lot !