jillplusjohn

Hi Francesca,

I am having the EXACT same problem. My visa was issued on March 6th. I didn't actually the read the paper that said I had to pay the $165 fee until we were at the border ready to cross by land (Seriously!) but it was was not an issue for my entry. I have been in the USA now my visa "activated" my permanent resident status upon entry, since March 14th.

I have been trying to pay my $165 fee for my physical green card through USCIS ELIS and it is not working either. It gives me the same error message, even though my A# is nine digits and everything else I enter is correct. My date to "try again" also keeps changing with each day that I attempt again.... It's good to know that it's not just my file and this is a more common problem happening to others.

From my current experience, and others' advice, not paying the $165 does not affect your entry or status. The fee is really just for the physical green card, which can take up a to a year to receive.

I have tried calling USCIS and I find it impossible to be able to speak to a real live human about the issue. I even wrote to them through their contact us/help section, but they told me to fill out "all the information given to me on the paper I received." I did, and have been doing it and obviously it's not working.

Has this issue been resolved for you? Please let me know of any updates if you are able to! I would love to get all this ridiculous administrative nonsense over with finally!

Hi All,

I got my visa issued on March 9th and finally it is in my hand

On the big sealed package there are instruction on how to pay the immigrant fee through USCIS Elis

I logged in and inserted my A number and DOS number but it keeps giving me the following error message:

The A-Number or DOS Case ID you entered is incorrect. Please enter the A-Number and DOS Case ID listed on the USCIS Immigrant Fee handout you received from the U.S. Embassy or consulate.ERROR: NOTE: If your visa was issued less than five (5) days ago, you may not be able to pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee at this time. Based on the date you entered, we recommend that you log into your USCIS ELIS account on or after March, 25, 2015 to pay the fee

I am sure i am putting the correct data (i have checked and tried a million times)

Do you know what i do wrong? Did you have the same problem?

Thanks,

Francesca

Wow, thank you so much. That is super helpful!

You are welcome!

I've been panicking about this too! My husband's appointment is next Friday! IN that whole registration, I'm still confused about when they ask for the DS-260 number on the first page of that. Where do you find that? I went back to my original application and didn't notice it.

The DS-260 number can be found on your confirmation page after you completed the online DS-260 application. Sign in to your account on the CEAC website, where you filled out your DS-260 IV application, and on the landing page, at the top menu bar, click on IV Application, then "View" You will be brought to your IV application, but go to the top menu bar, and click on the far right where it says "SIGN". Scroll down, and At th bottom of the screen you will see a set of two (2) barcodes. The one on the right is the DS-260 number. (The one on the left you will recognize as your case number)

Hope that helps!

Thanks for the update. My husband has his interview on March 30th and will need to register for Loomis soon. I'm following along to see how this is resolved. Please post an update if you don't mind

Good luck -- you're almost at the end of this whole thing!

The Strangest and most unlikely of things happened today... literally MINUTES after I spoke to the service agent from the DOS, who was going to look in to the glitch... I received a call from an agent at the NVC, and it actually almost seemed like a customer satisfaction call! She was SUPER nice, was asking if I knew about my interview date and if I had any questions she could help me with. Can you imagine?! After months of 60-day waits, busy signals and 30-minute waits on hold, the NVC calls ME to ask if they can help with anything!? SO weird.

So obviously I told her my issue with trying to get my confirmation page from Loomis printed. She told me she has had a few other cases with the exact same problem and she has been trying to fix it since this morning. She assured me that she would do her best to get this resolved as soon as possible. And if not, NVC have been in contact with the US Consulate in Montreal regarding the issues, and if the glitch is still not fixed in time, I could print out everything I possibly can off the website and they should be able to work with it. She was incredibly helpful, encouraging and understanding. We even chatted and shared a few jokes..... seriously... NVC?!

Anyway, I went out for dinner and came home around 9PM, checked my e-mail.... and BAM: There is my Loomis Courier confirmation E-MAILED to me from the DOS people. I didn't even have to figure it out again - they actually just did it for me! I'm still in shock! All these "glitches" and "errors" and it being the government, I was very skeptical that I would even hear anything back. But everything was done within 24 hours!

So my suggestion, if you have any issues with registering your appointment and trying to get the Loomis Courier confirmation, call a service agent and talk to them. Here is the link to the contact phone numbers: https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-ca/iv/information/contact_us

Almost there!! Thank you to everyone for all the encouragement and positive thoughts! Last leg is FOR REAL now. Medical this Wednesday and Interview the following Wednesday!

I actually ended up calling the Customer Service for DOS Visa Appointment Service. The gentleman was very nice and tried to walk me through it, and the same problem kept coming up. He wasn't even able to provide a solution for me! He said he had to have this issue "escalated" so that it can be resolved and I can print up my Loomis confirmation in time for my interview. Thank goodness I have just under 2 weeks, if this had been the week of, I would have been panicking!! (Even though I still sort of am....)

Seems like the issue is the website..... so if anyone out there is experiencing the same confusion, it's not your fault!

I am SO over this process!

Hi Everyone,

I have been searching for advice on this topic, but couldn't find anything that addressed my particular problem so maybe someone out there can offer me some advice?

NVC scheduled my interview in Montreal on March 4th, and I am trying to register for the Loomis Courier Services so I can print out the confirmation page and put my mind at ease. But the website is driving me bananas. Please see my issues concerning Step 3 and Step 4.

Step 1 - complete applicant information - DONE

Step 2 - choose courier locations - DONE

**Step 3 - Consular Selection Location: Montreal Appears but it will NOT allow me to choose my interview date on the day I was assigned! All the dates are blanked out for March**

**Step 4 - I can't get continue to the instructions page, which I assume contains the confirmation page I need to print**

How do I get to this confirmation page? And why won't it let me enter my interview date? Is this a delay in administrative updating, should I wait a few days and hope it gets cleared up?

See attachment of the screen shot of the web page I am dealing with...... Thank you in advance for any help!!!

After 22 gruelling months of this process.....FINALLY GOT MY INTERVIEW DATE FOR MARCH 4th!!! I Am so thrilled and excited!

Thanks for all the replies, everyone. It seems as though US immigration law and reform is going through some immediate and major positive changes for some, while others are just stuck waiting out the extended 60+ day waiting periods......and still having no real timeline of when we can be reunited with our loved ones

Ok I completely understand the importance of the AOS as a contractual agreement that my hubby should have/be making a certain amount of money in order to be able to sponsor me. But the error was a literally a typo. And the amount he put was lower than his actual income (he had put an amount that included moving deductions) - and it was still way above the standard minimum!

I realize now I am just ranting. And just hoping that one error won't result in another two-month wait.

Hi Everyone!

I have a quick question, hopefully someone can help us out.

We have sent all of our documents for AOS and IV application, and are (im)patient to finally get an interview date. We are past the 60-day review period, and we got a checklist for the I-864ez with a tiny error: my husband filled out the wrong number on his app which didn't match his income tax. He made the change immediately... and the corrected form was out the door, and expressed the same day we got the checklist.

Like I said the mistake was a very small one. In fact he put an income lower than he was actually supposed to!

So I called NVC today to inquire if they had received the corrected form (was supposed to arrive last Monday) and it wasn't In the system yet. But they told me that all my other documents were fine it was just that one error that needed to be corrected.

Then he told me once they receive that form in the mail with the ONE correction, IT WOULD TAKE ANOTHER 60 DAYS TO REVIEW.

Is this a joke?? Someone please tell me this cannot be for real and he just didn't know what he was talking about. Will it really take the NVC 60 days to review ONE CORRECTION ON ONE FORM?

Sorry for all the caps....it has been 1 year and 7 months and we are slowly going crazy. Thanks in advance for any insight!!

Hey there,

My husband and I were in a similar situation when we filed the petition. He was a USC living here in Canada (he is a dual citizen), but he had been here in Canada for about 7 years with no property, income or ties to the US, except his citizenship. He accepted a job to work in the family business, and when we found out that the petitioner has to be a resident of the US, he quickly moved down, moved in to a house to establish residence, changed his driver's license, opened bank accounts etc. Only after that did we file the I-130 for the immigrant visa (CR-1).

Not to discourage you, because I sincerely hope everything goes much faster for you and your spouse, but we are 18 months and counting into the process and while we have had virtually no complications at all with our application, the process has been EXTREMELY SLOW. I don't expect to get my interview before year's end, which means that is almost 2 years since we petitioned and essentially 2 years since we have officially lived together as a married couple in the same country. Good luck, and like I said, I really hope it goes faster for you....but in my experience, this family visa thing is the pits! I know people all around me who got student and work visas faster and got to move down while I have to wait and have to live apart from my husband.

Hi everyone,

This is my first time posting, but Visa Journey has been an AMAZING resource during this very long and frustrating process.

Here is the shortened version of our long process: I am a Canadian and my husband (USC and a USN veteran) got married in November 2012. Filed the I-130 for the CR-1 in April 2013. We have not had any major complications with the process except for the fact that it is taking ridiculously long (18 months and counting...). We are now in the last stages, where I am waiting the 60 days for the NVC to review my case, and then wait for my interview date. Thankfully, since I live in Canada, and to the kindness of the border agents at every POE I have crossed, I have been able to visit my husband for extended periods of time, with very few questions asked at the border. The first visit was 4 months, the next visit was 2 months, the next visit was 5 months, and the final visit was 2 months, all between June 2013 - August 2014. Canadians do not require a visa to visit the US, and are granted 6 months of consecutive stay, and I have never overstayed that time limit. During the time, I was taking an online course for certification to become a health and nutrition coach, which can be done from anywhere since it is online based, so I indicated I was a student. This last attempt in September 2014, was not successful, as the border agents have now sniffed me out and denied me entry until I get my immigrant visa, which is extremely frustrating.

My question now is, will my numerous visits be an issue at my interview? I told the truth on my application, and indicated the dates and time of my last five visits into the USA, which are exactly as i stated above. Has anyone else who has been able to visit their spouse for extended periods of time and who has gone through the interview, had questions concerning their visits to the US and has had any issues with the visa officer? I realize that it doesn't look great that I have spent so much time in the US during the process, but we have been honest the whole time, and never had the intent of me overstaying or moving before I had my legal papers. (I mean really, if I had intent, I would have done it by now and not paid the thousands of dollars in application fees, not to mention plane tickets!)

Any feedback on the issue would be hugely appreciated!