kristinaa

Yes, just the email attachments.

I mixed up the dates - Issued was on September 30.

I just got the notification that the visa is in the DHL office now. (!!) We had it sent to Bogota. It took only a day in the mail.

For labs, definitely arrive before 7.

My husband had Dr. Jairo Roa. In the lobby, they tried to say that I couldn't accompany him, but then they agreed to let me go. I waited in the waiting room. In the appointment, they just asked some basic questions about who was petitioning, etc (similar to interview-type questions). Make sure to bring your interview letter and all other requested documents. He said the exam was fine, no complaints, except that he needed 4 vaccines since he didn't have a vaccine record to show.

Our CEAC status changed to the coveted 'Issued' yesterday; now, we're anxiously waiting for the tracking number or some kind of status update. I know that I just have to wait and be patient, though. (Sept 22 - 24 Administrative Processing, with two updates; Sept 25 - 28 Ready; Sept 29 Issued)

Yes, that's my baby. Thanks.

Galeano Gomez, are you doing DCF? It should be much faster than the average for you.

You're Kristina from [redacted] in 2012? Wow, that's amazing. Are you still working there? What a coincidence that we are in the same phase of our lives at the same moment. So great that your husband got a visa!

Tiko, I think you may have misunderstood me. The copy I have of my marriage license is from the notaria itself. They make a certified copy for you when you ask for one of the original license, which is kept on premises and can't be taken out of the notaria. It has the official stamp and everything. Looking over the Bogota embassy's website, it seems that it is acceptable to bring this version to the interview, since there is no way to obtain an original. I sent the same version to the NVC, and in my P4 letter it says to bring an original copy, but I suppose the NVC can't tailor its responses to reflect the different systems in every country.

My joint sponsor is going to scan her birth certificate and send it to me by email. I had already sent the NVC a copy of her passport, and I am bringing a copy or original version of everything I sent to the NVC to the interview as well.

One other question for anyone here with a Bogota interview. I am registering my wife's interview appointment in the Official US Department of State Visa Appointment Service site, and the site said that her case is not ready to register an appointment yet. We have an interview at the Bogota embassy on October 21st, and already received the P4 letter on September 11th. We double-checked that all the info we entered was correct. We sent an email to CSC support to see if there is a problem, but they haven't responded y. Should I be worried or is this normal?

No, not anymore. I think of the group of us hired at the same time, now there's only one left. The coordinator is gone, also. Yes, I was surprised, too, cool. Yes, it's great; now we're just checking CEAC obsessively. It went Administrative Processing to Ready as of Friday. It's supposed to change to Administrative Processing again, and then Issued. (I've heard)

I don't think that they would want originals for the passport. I think only for the parts on the interview letter that have a letter J.

jxpm, the DS-230 is just the old version of DS-260.

In my P4 letter, it says that I need to bring an original copy of the marriage license to the interview.

However, in Colombia the notaria never gives you an original. It is always a certified copy. I went to the notaria and asked, and they said there was no way to obtain an original, since it is in a bound volume full of marriage licenses and can't be removed.

Is this a case of the NVC not knowing the rules in each individual country? Because there is no way to obtain an original marriage license in Colombia.

Has anyone else run into this issue?

Congrats Kristinaa!

When you say they wanted to see the passport and birth certificate of your joint sponsor, do you mean that they wanted to see a copy?

I had sent a copy of my joint sponsor's passport, but not her birth certificate. Should I get my joint sponsor to send a copy before my interview?

I think that's okay, because all civil documents in Colombia are that way. The birth certificate, too. What shows it as official is the stamp or sticker. They didn't ask us for any originals, though.

Thanks. Yes, a copy. I would say yes, just in case. It's always better to have more than you need. It won't mean a denial, but you'll get a 221 (g) and the case will be delayed. Another thing you might need is proof to reestablish domicile in the US. In one of the consulate reviews, one of the members mentioned that since they were both living in Colombia, the interviewer asked for that. (I don't know if you remember me, but we were co-workers in Bogota in 2012. I just wanted to say that I wish you and your family the best in your new life in the US!)

Thanks! Yes, I hope that it is processed and delivered soon, so all three of us can go back together.

By the way, my husband said that it seemed to make a big difference that I was there. The official was very serious at first, but once she saw me, she was a lot friendlier. I guess it just depends on the individual. Some people say that it's the same if the spouse or fiance/e is there or not, but, anyway, this was our experience.

Visa approved! Our interview was at 9:00, but we arrived at about 6:50, and were out by 8:00. It was so fast! We went with our baby. I went to the bathroom a moment to change her, and the next thing I knew, he was already in the interview! It was a little nerve-wracking, watching the official go through all the papers, and not being able to hear what she said. At one point, she spoke with me to confirm some details, and then went in the back for a couple of minutes.

The questions were all very easy.

They wanted my mom's birth certificate and passport (she was a joint sponsor). We didn't have it, but they just said to email it as soon as possible. Also, they didn't give us the Alien number yet, so I can't pay the fee. I guess that we will just have to wait until they send my husband's passport and the other documents to the DHL office.

You can print the certificate online, https://antecedentes.policia.gov.co:7005/WebJudicial/antecedentes.xhtml, but the our interview letter had a J by police certificate, indicating that it was a copy, and that they needed the original.

So, I'm going to bring this version, https://tramites.cancilleria.gov.co/ciudadano/certificadoantecedentes/solicitud.aspx, apostilled. You have to pay 30,000 COP. After you send the request, there's a confirmation number, which you can bring to a bank and pay there.

Thanks for confirming that, KayDeeCee. I hope it will be okay with the two I-864A forms. I'm also going to attach the 1099.

I think I got it now; thanks, everyone, for your time and assistance. I really appreciate it. Nine more days now.

I have some income for 2014.

Item Number 7. This question gives you the option of including certain other non-dependent relatives who are living in your residence as part of your household size. Such relatives may include your mother, father, sister, brother or adult children, if they are living in your residence. However, the only reason to include these relatives in your household size is if you need to include their income when you calculate your household income for purposes of meeting the income requirement for this affidavit. To be considered, any relative included in this category must sign and submit Form I-864A, Contract Between Sponsor and Household Member.

I'm using the income from two household members, so don't they each need to complete an I-864A, per the instructions? Would it be better to omit the parent without the income that meets the requirement? It's a little difficult to submit another I-864, because they would have to send it express mail to get here in time. I'd rather avoid that if possible.

Right, because the adjusted gross income is only for 1040EZ, right?

Really? I thought that as the petitioner, I have to be the sponsor. So, I should check off first of two joint sponsors. On the parts of the I-864 and I-864A, I would put their respective current income, and in the part that asks for the tax information, that should be the same for both? Why can't I use two I-864A forms? Does it just look confusing/messy?

Thanks for your detailed response, Karmalious. I found the source for your confusion with my numbers; I was referring to a now out-of-date version, although thankfully, it's still possible to use my version. The version you're referring to was updated on July 2 of this year.

Yes, I can see where the adjusted gross income and total income are. My question about the income on I-864A is whether I should put that number from line 37 on both of their I-864A forms. Maybe it sounds like a silly question, but I didn't know whether they want to know how much each individual earns, and not just the total combined income on the 1040. Does that make sense?

I asked about 2015 vs 2014 because it says:

Item Number 2. Current Individual Annual Income. Enter your current, individual, earned or retirement, annual income that you are using to meet the requirements of this affidavit and indicate the total in the space provided.

The term 'current' income is what made me wonder if they wanted to know from this year (estimated). Does this mean that it is the same adjusted gross income amount as in the I-864A? Because on the I-864A, it says specifically, 'adjusted gross income', but it doesn't on the I-864.

Hello VJ,

Our interview is coming up in a little more than a week. I am using a joint sponsor, my mother, who files taxes jointly with my father. Originally, I sent just one I-864A with her assets and her individual income from the tax return. NVC said that 'your 2014 income must match the total income reported on your Federal income tax returns'. It didn't match because it was a joint tax return. Since this was the second checklist, they scheduled the interview anyway, and said to bring the new AOS directly there, rather than to NVC again.

This makes me more than a little nervous, because I have to present somewhat "new" information, which might be under more scrutiny. This time, I have two I-864A forms for each of my parents. The income amount on the tax return is well above the poverty guidelines. Additionally, my mom is using assets, also more than sufficient.

Questions:

Page 5 on I-864 has a section for each joint sponsor (6.a - 9.c) Then, on the I-864A page 2, Part 11, there is another part for income, but this asks how much it was on the Federal tax return. Is the amount from I-864 then only the estimated income for the current year (2015) rather than directly from the tax return?

What amount should I put in each section? My mom has no income except for stock dividends. My father is retired, and his income is from pension and Social Security. Right now, 6.c has an estimation of my mom's dividends. Part 7.c has my father's income from the tax return, only his, not the total. Each of my parents put their respective income on Part 11 of I-864A, the total of which equals the number on the 1040. Is this correct? Thank you so much in advance for any help.

I guess we just got lucky; I was expecting a month or more.

On the spreadsheet, it says that the average time from case complete to interview is 59 days, and I see a decent amount of people who had to wait a month to get the interview date.

I like to check this page http://www.visajourney.com/consulates/index.php?ctry=Colombia&cty=Bogotato see upcoming interviews and approvals.

i dont know if it still needed by you buti got an original from the interet but it cost 30,000 pesos in this website since they said the one we usually get free in bogota doesnt work when its meant to be seen outside the country so you ask for it thenyou pay online or through a bank and then they send the pdf to your email to download.

https://tramites.cancilleria.gov.co/ciudadano/certificadoantecedentes/solicitud.aspx

Hi im new to this forum and my NVC case was completed 8/26/15 and i was wondering how long does it take to get an interview date schedule? Thanks

Thanks for that very useful information. We had gone to a local police station as another poster recommended, but they weren't able to help.

It depends; you can check the spreadsheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtbvTEwLyHz1dEhlZjdKczRMRmJrSnc5MTk1SkVrYVE&usp=sharing#gid=0to see other cases. For me, the case complete was July 29, I got an interview date on August 11, and the interview is September 22.

Thanks, we'll try that.

I just got an interview date. In the list of documents to bring, they say that the Colombian police certificate I sent was a copy. I printed it from online, the 'antecedentes judiciales' https://antecedentes.policia.gov.co:7005/WebJudicial/antecedentes.xhtml. How can I get an original?

Thanks for the response, Russ & Caro.

mm77, you might want to check out the K-1 statistics, http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/stats.phpand the K-1 forum. I think most, or all people in this thread applied for IR-1/CR-1 visas.

Case closed (I think) as of July 29th, but with a second checklist. They said to bring the corrected items to the interview (but no date yet) rather than submit it to the NVC again. My hope is that everything can be finished by November so that I can attend the interview, too and we can all go home together.

Thanks to Russ & Caro for creating this thread. It seems that it takes about two months after the case closed. Did it take less or more time for anyone?

Thanks. Yes, you have to send in the I-864a in addition to I-864 if you use someone else's assets or income.

Sure, mallafri76, that would be great. On the site I tried to link to, but was blocked, it also said that a letter from the bank itself was something to be added. I hope you hear good news soon. For me, it took a month for NVC to review the documents.

Thanks for the information, Darnell.

It is a regular stock account, not retirement.

I just received a checklist from NVC for my I-864 and I-864a applications. I submitted evidence of my assets (bank accounts, stocks) in the form of printed onine statements that included my name. Yet in the checklist, it says that I need to submit "proof of ownership and value" of the assets.

I found this website that talks about a letter from an officer of the bank. (***removed***)

Are online statements then not sufficient? What should I do?

Thank you for your time and consideration.

If a joint sponsor plans to use assets only, those assets must amount to 5x the difference of the figure for the joint sponsor's applicable household size. Furthermore, if the liquidation of an asset within one year would be considered an undue hardship to the holder, then it will be disallowed. This is applied at the CO's discretion.

If shared assets are going to be used, then joint sponsor's spouse would need to complete an I-864A documenting said assets.

It sounds like it's overall a bit risky, then, if there is the element of the CO's discretion. My joint sponsor does exceed the 5x difference requirement, though.

So shared assets can be counted as well?