AmandaLane102

Congratulations. I have added you to the spreadsheet. Don't get alot of folk from Namibia.

Thanks! Let me know if you need any more info - I was never great with the whole timeline and data entries, but tried to keep it as updated as possible. But please note I delayed intentionally at a couple points because we had our own timeline of when we wanted to move, so may not be completely accurate (could have moved a LOT faster).

Dear VJ Members,

Just wanted to say a big giant THANK YOU to this life-saving forum. My husband just got out of his interview in South Africa and informed me that he was approved (after first twisting my arm and giving me a heart attack).

We had an extremely smooth and successful process, with no RFE's and no checklists, no delays (in fact expedited), no lawyers - all of this due to the thorough support I received from this amazing site.

I promised myself that if we got through this successfully I would pay it forward and continue to be a support for anyone on here - but any time I try to answer a post, it has already been answered a dozen times over because of what an amazing community of supporters this is.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to message me. And thank you for everyone's insight!!!

P.S.

We did have two "minor" hiccups - one involving a complicated joint sponsor situation and the other involving having to redo the medical exam after realizing the visa's validity date is tied to the 6 month expiration. I would be happy to advise further if any questions on these.

Yes I had my interview on June 4 and received it on June 8th. Is the technical problems with issuing visas still going on? That could have something to do with the delay

Hi there,

Was your visa valid 6 months from your approval date or from your medical?

Hi guys,

Our case was closed and our interview letter received recently. Is a biometric appointment necessary? I saw no mention of this in the letter??

Also for the JHN consulate will he be handed his visa or must he wait for a couple days? Do you know if they would hand it to his sister who lives there?

Thanks

My scan date was September 22 and no CC or Checklist yet. Should I be doing something about this??

Hey guys - I made a mistake. My scan date was October 22, not September 22. But anyhow, just after posting this I checked and saw 3 N/A's and then yesterday (a day after I saw the N/A's but I don't check everyday) I got the official case complete / interview letter.

Was more than 30 days, so hang in there!

Please share with us if you got CC . Anybody here does not have CC yet even though it has been more than 30 days since scan day?

My scan date was September 22 and no CC or Checklist yet. Should I be doing something about this??

Hey all,

Awaiting a date for the medical and interview for my husband. He has to fly to South Africa for the medical - does he need to bring previous medical records with him? If so, what type?

Also, he was treated for mild TB a long time ago - does anyone know how this will affect the medical exam and if it will be a longer process?

Hi All,

In the section of the DS 260 it asks for petitioner address - I have resided abroad in my husband's country for 2 years - can I use my address abroad or am I supposed to supply a US address where I intend to move? In another section of the DS 260 it asks the applicant for the address of his spouse and he put "same as present address" and I want to keep it consistent.

I am aware I will have to establish domicile.

Thanks in advance

He cannot get a new passport afterwards until after POE as he needs a valid passport for the visa to be usable.

Does the visa get put into his actual passport at the interview? Otherwise, I don't understand why he couldn't get a new passport after the interview? It will still be valid upon entry. . .

He can get a new passport anytime before the interview. If this is after submitting docs to the NVC then bring both passports to interview. This isn't an issue at all.

Yes he should put his US address. His eventual visa, when endorsed at the POE becomes a temporary green card valid for 1 year. During that time, and after paying the immigrant fee he should get the hard copy green card.

Thank you! And what if he waits to get the passport until after his interview as it will still be valid at the time of his interview? Can he just show both passports at POE if he gets the new one in between interview and entry?

Hi all,

We are at the NVC stage now but I have delayed the process and plan to submit the AOS and IV paperwork in October, hoping for a January/February approval for him to come over in July or so. His passport expires in August so he wants to get it updated before he moves to the States - will this affect the visa he'll be given or will it still work with a "new" passport? What is the procedure for getting a new passport expiry date during this process? Would it be better if he got a new passport before we submit documents to NVC?

Also - in the DS-260 where he wants his green card mailed, it should be to our U.S. address correct? Does this only come after he has entered the States?

Thank you!

Thank you and does anybody know if we are going the NRA route meaning we must paper file and we BOTH live overseas, do I need to physically sign it or can my accountant do so for me?

Does anybody have a link to official IRA information that talks about writing NRA for married filing separately? My attorney seems to think this is not a possibility. If we write NRA in the SSN box is that all the action that needs to be taken? Thank you.

My grandparents are sponsoring my husband to come to the states. My grandmother is using her pension + IRA + SS as income, whereas my grandfather only has SS as income.

For 'current individual income' can I just use the figures from my grandmother's last pension, IRA and SS as reported on her tax return? And is it correct to use figures BEFORE tax?

For my grandfather I can just use his SS as reported on his tax return?

Thanks

I only suggested sending the AOS now as a way to reset the one year clock. There are plenty of other ways to reset that clock (one example being a phone call to the NVC to talk about your case).

When a checklist is received, they only want what's on the checklist, not the entire package. Although a checklist response could necessitate redoing the whole form, it just depends.

Based on your most recent post, hold off on sending any package until your ready to move your case forward. Reset the 1 year clock with the NVC through phone and/or email contact.

Ok thanks Ryan, I paid my IV bill on January 24th, so my 'one year clock' is set at January 24 2016 now, right?

Will filling out the DS 260 and submitting that at a later date before I send in the IV/AOS packages count as contact?

Answers in bold and red:

Thanks Ryan for being helpful as always. . . one more question for you. . . what would the benefit of sending in the AOS now be if I will presumably get a checklist for 2014 tax info down the line? If I get a checklist and need to submit new tax info for 2014, would this typically mean I have to submit a new I864 form with it or do people then just have to submit the tax return for the year? If I will have to re-do paperwork (I864) to correspond with the new tax information then I might as well just wait until I'm ready to send in the complete package and redo the I864 to include 2014 taxes, right? Living overseas it is quite expensive to send packages to the States so rather just send one complete one then have to end up potentially sending multiple.

Just want to know why you think it makes more sense to send in the AOS package because if I'm missing the benefit of that then I will gladly take your advice, but it seems I'll have to fill out double paper work anyway in the future if I send it in now.

Thanks!!!!!!

Hi all,

I am at the NVC stage and I have paid both my AOS and IV fees. So far our process has been moving along very smoothly and quickly, however a good job opportunity just came up in my overseas country that I want to commit to for one year and thus delay our move to the States by a year.

I know that you are allowed to delay your case at the NVC stage as long as we keep up contact within a year, however I have specific questions/concerns relating to this:

My Affidavits were put together by a consultant that I paid a lot of money to and thus I would like to get the AOS package in ASAP while I know it is completed properly so that I won't have to redo it once we hit the new tax year coming up. My question is - am I allowed to send it in separately from the IV package even though they have been combined in the new process?

And if I do send in the AOS but wait more than 6 months to send in the IV package, will they ask me to re-send the AOS with more current tax (i.e. 2014 tax year)? I read somewhere that if you submit tax documents for the previous tax year but do not get an interview until the next year they still honor the information you submitted for the time you submitted it, if that makes sense but just want to double check.

What would you recommend for postponing at this point?

Is there any way to postpone after the IV and AOS documents have been sent to NVC? I.e. postponing at or after the interview stage so that we have more than 6 months to enter the country?

Advice is very much appreciated, thanks

http://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/policy_updates/National%20_Visa_Center_No_Longer_Collecting_Original_Civil_Documents_November_2014.pdf

very helpful, thanks so much

NVC only requires photocopies of documents now. Take the documents you photocopy to the interview.

Hi Ryan,

Is there anywhere 'official' you can direct me containing the above information regarding the change to bringing photocopies only? Just so I have it on record if I do so. Thanks

Yeah, it is weird that they don't invoice the AOS and IV fees at the same time. Basically, when the IV fee is invoiced is connected to when they actually process your choice of agent form (DS-261). I think it took them around a month to invoice mine after I submitted the choice of agent form.

I've heard of a number of people calling to ask about it and actually having one of the agents process the DS-261 right then on the phone, but I don't know if there's a guarantee you can do that. It's worth a shot though.

Also, I think the DS-260 doesn't really become available until after you've paid the IV bill.

I think the AOS and IV packages can be sent together now and also you no longer need to send originals. Photocopies should suffice. Bring the original civil documents to the interview unless you've already sent them to the NVC.

Ok , as I thought thanks. Next week I should hit the month mark so we will see.

I've also read contradicting things on their website about originals vs. photocopies and have no idea what to do!! But we got "certified copies" of originals from the issuing authority so may send that and if it gets lost/not returned it's not a crisis as we are keeping the true originals. Thanks for the info!

How long does it typically take for NVC to invoice the IV fee? I submitted my choice of agent form and AOS fee on December 11 and yet to receive an IV invoice - is this normal?

Also, must the IV invoice first be paid in order to access the DS-260 or is there a way we can start filling it out before paying the IV fee?

With the new process, we send both the AOS packages and IV packages together, correct?

Thank you in advance for the answers to the above questions!!

Hi amanda! Can u give me a sample on what u wrote in your email? Coz i tried emailing them but i got no reply yet.. Thank you!

Hey! Sorry it's been so long for me to respond but i've had limited access to Internet. To preface this, they came back to me with the case number and IIN however, I don't think it was in response to the email enquiry I wrote them, I just think it was coincidental because it was around the time I should have received a case number.

But, it's worth a shot. I wrote them an email with the NOA2 RECEIPT NUMBER in the subject (very important) and the following body:

In Re: I-130 Information, Case Status Number and IIN Request

Our experience :

I live abroad in Namibia with my husband, but we both came to the States for the holidays but did *not* travel together (I got off work a week earlier than him) so I was nervous he would have a hard time but this was our experience:

We secured a tourist visa for him before we submitted the I-130 (Namibia is not a VWP country).

He entered at JFK and they only asked him his purpose of visit (visiting the States with his wife who lives with him in Namibia for the holidays but they didn't ask if I was an American citizen) and they asked him a question about whether he was near Ebola affected countries. And that's it!!!!

thanks!

Thanks guys. . . just as an update, I e-mailed NVC on December 6th asking for the status of my case and got my case number and IIN today (Dec 11) via e-mail! I received the e-mail from NVCinquiry, but i'm not sure whether this is a coincidence and they were emailing me my case # anyway or actually responded in a timely manner to my asking for my case number but either way, I've got it and moving on. Thanks for the information.