js030802

What VWP country is she from?

it's not clear where she is coming from. i thought at first she is from bahamas coz the OP is from bahamas and she is talking about her sister. and if her sister is from bahamas, which makes her a citizen of bahamas, Bahamas is not part of the 38 countries under the US Visa Waiver Program. recent country that was added was chile. so that's why i'm totally confused why there was a mention about VWP. Ms OP what country is your sister a national or citizen of? please clarify. so people in this forum will be able to give you the right information and lead you to the right direction. thanks.

i'm confused. i just checked on the countries qualified for the US VWP and the Bahamas is not included. my question then, is she a national of another country qualified to enter the US under VWP?

as green card holder, you can stay outside the US up to six months, but i suggest only 5 months, without disrupting your continuous residence requirement to apply for citizenship. if you stay beyond six months but less than one year, you can still come back to the US using the same green card but you have to start anew your continuous residence requirement for citizenship purposes. if you have to stay outside the US for more than one year but less tan two years, then you need re-entry permit to come back to the us and not just use the same green card to request entry into the US. now in answer to your question, every trip is counted individually as long as every trip does not last more than six months then your continuous residence requirement is safe. if for example you go home jan 1- march 31 2014, that's 3 months. then you decide to go home again july 1 - december 30 of the same year, thats still ok. but just be careful of going in and out of the US quite often coz they (customs and immigration officials) might question your intentions of establishing residency in the US. remember the only persons guaranteed entry into the US are US citizens. the rest are subject to admissibility requirements including green card holders.

mine was approved 9/23. per uscis website, it said they shipped the approved petition on 9/26. called the NVC last night and spoke to an agent after an hour wait, luckily the lady agent i spoke to was very nice and helpful. she said they received my file on oct 7 and has assigned the NVC case number, Invoice ID number and Beneficiary ID number. so pretty much it took about two weeks for my case to get the case number from the time it was approved. but then again mine is I-129F Petition for Alien Fiance. it seems to me they work faster on this type of petition coz there is a validity period for the approval of just 4 months. though the consular officer at the embassy has the right to extend the validity of the approval.

i stand corrected, AOS fee is $1070 not $1090.

I learned that folks in Philippines get special treatment due to the last hurricane...so I wouldn't be bothered with any approval from Philippines.

But hey, dont rob in anyone's face.

it was in no way that i meant to rob my luck on anyone's face. i was thankful that i got approved in a short period of time and i was not in any way boastful of what i got. i even offered my prayer to get theirs approved soon. if you interpret that as robbing it on anyone's face, then that's on you. don't sound bitter...just saying. if i was downright proud and feeling high and mighty that my petition got approved sooner than anybody's petition like yours, then by all means say that to me not to rob my luck on anyone's face. but i wasn't.

Wow! Congratulations! Did they expedite your case?

I looked at your timeline, saw you're from the Phillipines. I am also a July filer, to be honest I feel sad that you guys get your cases expedited while we dont receive such privilege.

However, I rejoice with you. Congratulations again, and I wish you success all the way!

hi. to answer your question, i did not request to expedite the application. i was prepared to give it 5 months for the adjudication of the application but i was pleasantly surprised last night that it only took 2 months. i'm not sure if i was given the privilege of expediting my application but i'll take it if they did and i'm grateful for that. i feel for everybody who are waiting for their turn to be approved but only the adjudicators and the staff of the 4 service centers know how they process applications. a little bit of luck and a lot of prayers i guess coz thats what i did. i actually prayed for two things....first is hopefully i won't get an RFE....and second if no RFE, hopefully it will only take 5 months to process at Texas Service Center. but i got two months with no RFE, i'm extremely thankful. i will continue to pray for everybody in their journey.

i agree with everybody's input. i kind of want to point out the previous response about the fees and everything. that might be what your boyfriend is worried about coz part of the process is kind of expensive, if not really expensive. to file the petition is $340. k1 visa fee is now increased to $265. medical exam fee has also been increased to $245. then the plane ticket will be roughly around $800-$1000 probably coz now way ticket to the US is always expensive compared to roundtrip ticket from the US. then you have the wedding ceremony which depends on what kind of ceremony you will have. then the last part, before removing conditions of permanent residency and naturalization, is the adjustment of status which is very hefty at $1090. so if i have to sum up all the fees from filing the petition to filing of adjustment of status minus removing conditions and naturalization would total to roughly $3000. now if that's an issue for your boyfriend then that might be one of the reasons he wants to pay off his debt first before filing for your visa. i'm hoping he has savings in the bank but if not then that's definitely a big problem to hurdle.

thanks. i have updated my timeline as soon as i got the message and verified at the USCIS website.

just got an email and text message from texas service center that my k-1 petition i submitted on july 16, 2014 just got approved.

Thank you for your thorough response. The instructions from different sites are conflicting so your timeline made it a lot easier to understand. So there is no use calling the NVC? What about sending them emails? Has that work for anybody?

ur very welcome. i believe there is still some use calling the NVC but to a certain degree it doesnt help. calling them many ties about the same case will not make speed things up. right now NVC is dead on reviewing documents submitted to them in 60 days. if the 60 days limit has passed then that's the time you call to follow up on your case. coz if you call well less than 60 days, they will just tell to wait for 60 days and if that passed then you can call. sending them emails is not helpful neither coz one time i sent an email to inquire about a certain case, it took them one month to answer back and they only answered back because there was an update to the case. we all are at the mercy of the NVC but what can you do, basically just wait and your time will come. i dont think NVC deliberately sleeps on anybody's case, it's just just there's just too many cases being approved and i guess not too many people working in that office.

so good luck on your case and feel free to ask any question you might have...

Where does anyone get 60 Days, it has been 210 days at NVC for my stepson now.

60 days for every documents that NVC receives like if you send I-864 form with supporting documents...that's 60 days from the time NVC received the documents. supporting documents for ds-260...60 days from the time NVC receives it. ds-261...also 60 days...and all these forms and supporting documents are independent from one another. not to mention if they will send you a checklist for missing documents, that's another 60 days from the time you respond to the checklist and sends the missing documents they requested. so all in all you might stay at the NVC step of the process for one year or may be less but no less than 6 months i believe.

NVC is saying that they have received a lot of approvals from USCIS so thats why they are behind in processing documents right now. when NVC changed its method of communicating and submitting documents, things will be a lot faster, i was disappointed. but it is what it is. let the waiting game continue....

the NVC process is as follows:

1. NVC receives case file from USCIS

2. NVC generates case number for the case

3. NVC will email you the case number, invoice ID number, and beneficiary ID number together with the Affidavit of Support fee bill

4. you pay the AOS fee - processed in 2 days

5. after paying the AOS fee, cover sheet for AOS documents is generated which you will use to send I-864 form and supporting documents

6. at the same time, NVC will ask you to fill out ds-261

7. once ds-261 is processed (which right now is about 60 days for NVC to process), IV fee bill is generated

7. pay IV fee - which will be processed in 2 days or less, cover sheet to send supporting documents/civil documents is generated

8. once the IV fee is processed, ds-260 will then be available.

9. fill out ds-260, print out the confirmation page to bring to the interview at the US Embassy. do not send the confirmation page to NVC.

10. send civil documents for immigrant visa application with the cover sheet to NVC

11. NVC will review your Affidavit of Support documents, DS-260 form online, and Civil Documents in support of the IV application. NVC is claiming right now that reviewing documents will take about 60 days, that is 60 days for AOS documents from the time they receive it. and 60 days for the civil documents from the time they receive it. AOS documents and IV application supporting documents are independent from each other review wise. not to mention if NVC finds any lacking documents, they will send you a checklist of the missing documents. then you send back the missing document/s then another 60 days will begin from the time they receive those missing documents. it is a long and tedious process and your patience will definitely be tested.

12. if everything is in order and your case is complete then NVC will schedule your interview date at the embassy of your beneficiary's country.

with this hopefully you will be extra patient with NVC. and calling does not help for the most part. you will just subject yourself to a long wait and when you finally talk to an agent for about a minute long....or may be less, they tend to be not so helpful and sometimes downright rude.

good luck....

p.s. everything will appear N/A until every document is processed, so dont worry about it. once the documents are processed, it will change. if it has been more than 60 days from the time NVC received your documents, then it's time to call. they may or may not be helpful.

i agree with you on that. i believe we need to start some kind of action to address how NVC answers calls from petitioners/beneficiary/case agent. they are sometimes downright rude. but my thing is that NVC is under the Department of State and not with Department of Homeland Security which USCIS is under. so if we have to write a letter, may be we should address it to Secretary Kerry. just saying.

I don't have a MAC to check it, wait I will "borrow" my asawa's iPad, I just checked the site using her Safari browser and it was all there.

At the top is this, each one is a tab that opens to more info:

Home NVC ~ USEM Process Medical @ St. Luke's CFO Tracking ~ POE

i see it now. thanks. i will read through all the information. thanks again. have a great day!

At the top there are tabs for each part of the process, just click on any one of them and it will pop upward.

i still can't find it. all i can see is the icon for Facebook, twitter, etc. and on the bottom right corner is the link for domain for developing the website. or may be because I'm using mac computer. I'm not sure but ill try opening the page again at work tonight. computers at work are windows based. thanks.

See the flashing arrow below in my sig? Follow it then click the link, that will take you to all the details for the process in Manila, plus there is a link in there to the embassy instructions letter listing everything.

Good reading while waiting.

i clicked on the link and it opened but the page won't go anywhere. is there a button to click after getting on the page?

The embassy asks for your most recent tax return and W-2 as evidence of support. If you have a new employer at the time of the interview include a letter from your new employer.

Seriously it won't be an issue, there are many before you that have been in your exact situation.

Thank you so much. your response gives me confidence. thanks a lot.

No, But for sure keep USCIS updated of your address if you have not received your NOA2 (approval) before then.

Then at the embassy phase make sure your new address is used on all the forms.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/129-philippines/

Thank you for your response. i think what I'm apprehensive about is that if and when the application gets approved sometime in december or january, i will most likely to start a new job around february 2015. if the embassy phase will be sometime first or second quarter next year, that will just give me about 1-4 months in my new job. though i have been working in my old job for 12 years and will be able to provide IRS transcripts for income tax return. i hope the embassy will not base my ability to support the fact that i just started a new job.

i have a question and i'm not sure if this topic already has a thread or not, i apologize if there's already one. i'm a USC with a pending K1 petition submitted last july 2014. i'm still waiting. i will be moving to seattle, wa this december so i will start a new job when i get to seattle. my question is.... will that have an effect when i submit the i-134 for my fiancee when it's time for the interview? coz i've read that when you submit the I-134, you have to include pay stub. please help.

This is a nice summary. I will need to steal this.Thank you.

sure. np.

The immigrant visa fee is different then the AOS fee? And there is nothing for us to do until they have processed ds-261?

Thanks for your reply!

the NVC process is as follows:

1. NVC receives case file from USCIS

2. NVC generates case number for the case

3. NVC will email you the case number, invoice ID number, and beneficiary ID number together with the Affidavit of Support fee bill

4. you pay the AOS fee - processed in 2 days

5. after paying the AOS fee, cover sheet for AOS documents is generated which you will use to send I-864 form and supporting documents

6. at the same time, NVC will ask you to fill out ds-261

7. once ds-261 is processed, IV fee bill is generated

7. pay IV fee - which will be processed in 2 days or less, cover sheet to send supporting documents/civil documents is generated

8. once the IV fee is processed, ds-260 will then be available.

9. fill out ds-260, print out the confirmation page to bring to the interview at the US Embassy. do not send the confirmation page to NVC.

10. send civil documents for immigrant visa application with the cover sheet to NVC

11. NVC will review your Affidavit of Support documents, DS-260 form online, and Civil Documents in support of the IV application. NVC is claiming right now that reviewing documents will take about 60 days, that is 60 days for AOS documents from the time they receive it. and 60 days for the civil documents from the time they receive it. AOS documents and IV application supporting documents are independent from each other review wise. not to mention if NVC finds any lacking documents, they will send you a checklist of the missing documents. then you send back the missing document/s then another 60 days will begin from the time they receive those missing documents. it is a long and tedious process and your patience will definitely be tested.

12. if everything is in order and your case is complete then NVC will schedule your interview date at the embassy of your beneficiary's country.

with this hopefully you will be extra patient with NVC. and calling does not help for the most part. you will just subject yourself to a long wait and when you finally talk to an agent for about a minute long....or may be less, they tend to be not so helpful and sometimes downright rude.

good luck....

once your ds-261 is processed then you will get an email to pay for the immigrant visa fee and processed in two days then and only then you can fill out the ds-260. and as it is right now it takes longer for NVC to process ds-261. from my experience as i'm helping a friend right now whose case is at the NVC, it took 3 months for them to process ds-261. that may be an extreme case but as it is right now accepting the fact that it takes 60 days for them to process documents, that would be the way to go and if it comes sooner than 60 days then just take it as consolation.

we also received email from NVC this morning saying that the affidavit of support documents they received last 9/3 will take 60 days before it is reviewed. so good luck with your journey....

how long is she planning to stay in the philippines? normally after you submitted your N400 application, you will be scheduled for fingerprinting approximately one month after you submitted the application. there is no restriction in traveling after you submitted the application as long as you inform the interviewing officer on the day of the interview at your local USCIS office about your travels from the time you submitted the application up to the interview day. although it is advisable not to do any travels after you submitted your application but is not restricted. i don't think there is any provision not to travel after submitting your application. as long as you go to the application support center for fingerprinting the day you are scheduled which is approximately one month after you submit the application which in your mom's case will be around late september or early october. after the fingerprinting schedule then comes the waiting phase for interview schedule which may be from two months to five months from the time you submitted your application depending on which office the application is adjudicated. i would suggest have your mom go between now and third week of september. I'm not sure about the process of withdrawing application at this point since no file has been created yet for your mom's N400 application. normally when USCIS accepts application, creates receipt number for the application, your check is automatically cashed. if this is the case then withdrawing your application is not the best option since application fees are not refundable once your application is accepted. it's a catchy situation but that's the best advise i can give.... first...have your mom travel between now and third week of september....second...have her travel after her fingerprint appointment which may be around october.