StrawberryKiss

You do not need a police check from the USA.

Thank you so much! I cannot stress enough how much we appreciate the help that you and Harpa provide all the time!!

Yes, her student status makes no difference. She needs a police cert.

I studied abroad in the States in 2009/10 being on a J-1. I stayed less than a year, but longer than six months - no incidents with the police whatsoever. Do I need to obtain a police cert from the US? I thought USCIS would have seen if there was an entry by doing backround checks on me. Thank you!

Guys , we just send in our AOS Package on 2 September and we had paid the fee last week and also completed the DS 261.

My Question is "Approximately how many more months should we wait for the Consulate interview ?"

We are just getting frustrated on this . Else can we also file or 129F will that be processed faster than this ?

We had filed the 129F right after getting our NOA1 for the 130 petition. The latter was approved earlier, so when the 129F was finally approved and forwarded to NVC, they told us that they received the 129F, but the case was immediately closed for administration since the 130 was already in the stage of processing and would take less time to be completed than the 129F. Honestly, I gotta say I highly doubt that fact And now we're still waiting *patiently*

Here is an official link to the current processing times: https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/Dashboard.do

It looks like the USCIS process would take 5-6 months until approval. Then you also have to add 4-6 months (as of now) of processing at NVC to that.

Once your I-130 petition is approved, it *may* be difficult for your husband to visit you since it is up to the CBP officer's grace to grant him the admission to enter. If so, he has to prove strong ties to the UK showing that he will return back home after his visit (e.g. with an employment letter, lease contract, utility bills...) and not file for AOS while in the States. Here is the link to the thread dealing with this topic: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/479894-yes-you-can-visit-ir1-cr1-version/

I got 2 checklists. One for my civil documents (they were hell to get), and also they wanted me to re-do the AOS (I-184) because there was one spot, I simply left blank (because it said to leave blank, idiots) but they wanted me to write "N/A" on... Stupid, but I put them together, and sent as one package along with my civil documents. They received and scanned my stuff July 10. They told me I should have an answer by September 10, no matter what, even though I got the 60 day notice August 1. it's 60 CALENDAR days, or 8 weeks from receive/scan date. REPEAT, CALENDAR DAYS. I know it sounds like I am repeating myself, but it's a HUGE difference. because if it was business days like how they count everything else, it would be 12 weeks. Sucks absolute balls when they DON'T count those precious weekends that they close on. So... Without further adue...

60 DAYS

or

8 WEEKS

or

2 MONTHS

However you want to look at it. It's within that time frame.

Congratulations! The NVC nightmare is finally over for you

So when they approved your stuff, did the AOS/IV documents section change from N/A to Approved (or something alike)? Or is the change of the AOS fee from Paid to N/A the only indicator for CC? Thank you!

I assume they can view any entries related to you in their Interpol (and what not) data base... e.g. if there are international warrants out for you. I don't think they can view anything minor going on domestically, e.g. DUI entries.

We have almost same scan date. July 31 scan date here. It seems NVC will take forever to finish up with July packages.

At this rate they may reach our scan dates by end or Sep or early Oct I guess..... Thank god we at least have this wonderful website to console each other!!!

I am there with you guys. Scan date of AOS package was July 31. NVC finally needs to get past their July 15 scan dates and stop being so slow At least I'm not alone. I'll keep following your posts and updates

The residence permit is required when filing DCF. The list of required documents for Frankfurt DCF is here. From your signature, it looks like you did not go this route, so this would not apply.

As to the original question, for the I-130 packet, everything should be translated to English (see the document linked above). For the IV packet - as HK12 noted - documents in English or German are fine, with a few exceptions that must be in English (those instructions here).

The instructions don't say anything about whether the Aufenhaltstitel should be translated. They do see them all the time, but we might do as you've done, Stressed Out, and quickly translate it just to be sure. What's one more piece of paper...

I had emailed them a coupe days before and wasn't receiving a response from their office, so that's why I translated them to be safe. But, 10 minutes after I got home from shipping away the I-130 I got a USCIS email saying simply "the German residence permit does NOT need to be translated".

And, StrawberryKiss: It seems they only require proof of legal residence from the petitioner, so don't worry one bit...

4. Submit one copy of the petitioner’s German Residence Permit (Aufenthaltserlaubnis) or if dual citizen, copy of German passport, or a copy of the petitioner’s orders if he/she is a member of the U.S. military stationed or Armed Forces civilian employed in Germany to show proof of residence in Germany.

Thank you both for the information!! I was just confused and freaking out a little bit. Oh well, that's what this whole process is doing to everyone involved, I guess

Good luck to all of us!

My husband and I have also never lived together, so we didn't have any joint bank accounts, property, lease... to include either. What we did include with the petition were several affidavits of US relatives that attended our wedding, verified our relationship and explained how we met and when they got to meet me the first time. We never got an RFE and were approved immediately.

Hmm I wonder if they started sending it out only for IV packages received at the end of August and not earlier in the month. Or maybe it's completely random? I'm just hoping my submission isn't lost in a black hole somewhere. This whole process can make a person feel really powerless...

Oh yes, "powerless" is definitely the right word here... and maybe sleepless, too, in my case

We actually got the infamous email for our AOS package (scanned July 31) at the beginning of August. So somehow it looks like they didn't send out those emails in the middle of August. But I fear the same, so that's why I'll have the hubby call NVC tomorrow so we'll know about the scan date for sure Hopefully, it'll be over soon!

We sent our IV package on Aug 11 and didn't get a second 60 days email either!

Wow I never got a second 60 day email for the IV package either, my package was sent august 7. I'm wondering if I should be worried? I sent my documents via EP and the operators can't confirm what they have received only that they have "something". Have any others gotten a second 60 day email for the IV docs?

JUUUST sent my I-130 packet off to Frankfurt not 10 minutes ago! (super excited!) So I researched multiple I-130 cover letters along with the instructions to get a feel what I should include, and this is what I came up with:

Please find enclosed my I-130 Petition for Alien Relative on behalf of my husband, LG.

In support of my petition please find included:

 Credit card payment form of $420 USD

 Personal Information for myself and my husband (i.e. contact info)

 **Photocopies of my US passport and German residence permit(s)(**Note Personal Information sheet regarding residence permits)(Permits are translated)

 Form G325A for myself (NAHG)

 A passport-dimension photograph of myself (name on back of photo)(Attached to respective G-325a)

 Form G325A for my husband (LLG)

 A passport-dimension photograph of my husband (name on back of photo)(Attached to respective G-325a)

 A photocopy of our marriage certificate (accompanied by international version)

 **Photocopies of husband's German passports (**Note Personal Information sheet regarding old/new passports)

I left out the introductory words and such, as it doesn't interest you guys I'm sure, hehe. Does it look like I got everything? I decided to refrain from trashing up the packet in including evidence of a bona fide marriage...seems quite obvious based off of our biographic info we've been living happily together for the past 3 1/2 years. Someone else who did DCF in Germany said they did the same without problems as Germany has low fraud.

Wish us luck! And congrats to those who've already been approved!

Your list looks complete to me, so you should be fine. I don't think you'll need to add more evidence, but even if you did end up getting an RFE, it wouldn't delay your case so much since you're doing DCF

Somebody said that they sent their Aufenthaltstitel in German and all was fine. That's what I'm going to try since our Rathaus has nothing to do with the Aufenthaltstitel anymore and we'd have to drive an hour to the Ausländeramt. We used to be a part of Kreis Krefeld which is only 20 minutes away, but our community had to switch to Kleve's jurisdiction. Wish us luck, though!

Is it necessary to include the residence permit of the German beneficiary in this package? Because we didn't

I am so sorry this happened to you! I really don't understand what the heck is going on with USCIS Thank you for sharing your story with us and providing this helpful piece of advice! I hope you receive your new EAD card soon and can get back to a normal life again!

The CO we had in Ghana asked for a copy of the original friend request from Facebook.

that's ridiculous

Some people have mentioned about a bar code on every page of I-864. Is this barcode also present on I-864EZ .I dont see it so just confirming...Thanks

No, the EZ form does not have a barcode.

Hello Everyone,

My first post! I've been on here for a few months sporadically in this process getting loads of good advice so..thank you! We are just in the NVC process ourselves. I submitted the DS-261 on July 13th 2014....aaaannd still no IV bill invoiced

I think i've made a few mistakes after reading a lot of forums and reading about people getting checklists, so i wanted to see what you guys think about it all.

Mistake #1: On the Form I-864EZ, we left a few spots blank. Like Part 3, #9 - place of residence (if diff't from mailing). Also left Name of second employer blank since there's only one employer.

Mistake #2: Signed the form I-864EZ in blue ink! Thought this would be best because we filed using electronic processing. But re-read the instructions and realised they do specifically say black ink.

Mistake #3: On the ceac website, on august 23rd, clicked on the DS-261 link! Argh. Went from complete to incomplete. So i re-completed it, but I didn't get an email from NVC, so i'm hopeful that they are still just considering the july 13th date for submitting the ds-261. I read on the August NVC thread, that the resetting of the date was a glitch and it seems to be fixed - i'm hopeful of this since I don't want to be set back 60 days from august 23rd! I am planning to call NVC to double check next week.

So with the above mistakes, I am resigning myself for a checklist for our AOS package. Since we haven't even submitted the IV package yet, i'm guessing the timeline will be similar for approval of both packages even with a potential checklist. Really really hopeful for a december interview date, but am prepared for a January one...it would really suck if it's later than that!

Anyways, just wanted to post and let you guys know where my husband and I are at. I know that we are luckier than most since my husband is in seattle and I live in Vancouver and we do get to see each other every weekend...but it's hard when we're the only ones in our social circle going through this. However, it has been helpful and encouraging to see how helpful everyone is each other in this slow excruiciating beurocratic process!

Husband also left part 3 #9 blank instead of saying N/A. I know it tells you in the instructions that you should leave everything blank if it doesn't apply, but we got a checklist for that

Ok...but if you called...you may have had the info at least a week earlier...that's why it's important to call daily until you get a response...which I did...and when finally got through...voila! done deal.

What if the petitioner (USC) is the only one who's able to call NVC, but also has a full time job where you simply can't afford to be stuck on the phone for hours to finally be able to speak to an operator? Sending an email can be so much easier One week doesn't matter so much if you can't pay the AOS fee before it's issued anyway I can only encourage everyone to try both... it can't hurt

That isn't true. NVC emails out the case numbers when they are ready (if a G-1145 was submitted), along with the AOS & IV invoices and any checklists.

I can confirm that. In addition, my husband initially tried calling NVC to find out if they had received our petition from USCIS, but the phone was always busy. He then just requested this information via email and they replied a few days later.

Ok, thanks, so it means someone touched a paper with our name on it....better than nothing I guess but it only took them almost 5 months lol

thank you!

It also took 5 months for me to finally be assigned an A-number. They are just super slow, but my petition was approved 3-4 weeks later. Good luck!

Yes they ask me for specific things that I didn't filled out on the i864 form.. I will send them today!!!

The only thing I wonder if I can send them also through my email.

No, if you aren't registered and set up for electronic processing, you can't just email them. You'll just have to send the new, completed I-864 via mail.

We're also waiting for the iv Invoice but today i got an email from the nvc with a subject line "AIVF for neopost ds1200" i got excited and checked the pay portal but still nothing. Im hoping that the email is somehow connected to the iv invoicing.

It is connected to the IV invoice! It'll still take 1-2 day(s) for the payment to become available in their system.

We paid our AOS fee and submitted the DS-261 on June 3. And our IV fee just became available for payment on August 8. It's taking them forever. Everything is so backed up