ArroTG

I had my interview in Montreal on October 13th, 2015. I was asked where we met (online), who went to visit who first, where my spouse lives (very small town), why my spouse lives there and not somewhere bigger (employment opportunity was there), and that was really about it. No questions came up about the same sex nature of our relationship, and the CO was very approachable and friendly. He remarked we'd known each other since 2012 and that it was 'a while' in a positive way. I felt the interview went no differently than it would have with a heterosexual couple, although I have no proof of such.

One of my other immigration friends (same sex couple as well) had his interview a few weeks later and had an easy time, and both of us were going to Missouri, where equality has been more of an issue than in other states. I don't think you have anything at all to worry about.

Hi Mallafri,
If you check out my timeline, you'll find our cases are very similar. My husband and I sent in our AOS/IV packages and had a scan date of April 21, and we didn't have any news at all until just two weeks ago. After 30 days we were put under our first supervisor review. After 45 days of supervisor review, we were put under supervisor review again because nothing had happened. I think we were under supervisor review for about seventy days before someone looked at our case, and luckily we got a CC without a checklist. Here are some of the things we tried to do to get them to look at our case.
- I called every day to ask about where the case was and why it was taking so long. In all of that time they only ever put me through to a supervisor once.
- When I did speak to the supervisor, she told me she would do me a "favor" by flagging my case for something called "unit manager review". Apparently the unit managers are the supervisors bosses. The supervisor I spoke to was super rude and pretty much told me that I just had to keep waiting and that she didn't have to flag my case for me, but that she'd send a letter to her boss anyway. I urge you to request a "unit manager" review for your case.
- We sent two different requests to our state senator (my husband lives in Missouri) to implore her to contact the NVC and ask them to get to our case, as it was outside of fair processing times. We never heard back.
- We sent in a request for an expedite to the NVC based on continual NVC error (because obviously something is wrong that we waited four months when they quote one month) and made a plea to our embassy (Canada) to send our case to the embassy for processing. The request was denied.
Luckily, not long after that I noticed the 3 N/As on CEAC had appeared. I don't know what I would have done to get a checklist after all this wait. There is nothing as crushing as seeing people who submitted their packages 3 months later than you get their CC, and you're still waiting for news.
I hope this helps. My advice would be to make a plea with the NVC to request a unit manager review. Nothing else we tried worked.

Update:

Scan date: April 21 (I think I'm only under the EP section of the spreadsheet)
Case complete: August 11

So happy we had no checklist after such a grueling wait.

Manu, you are not alone. My SD is April 21 and I was put under supervisor review on May 27. Tomorrow my files will be 90 days old and they haven't ever been looked at once.
Call and ask what is happening with your files. Insist to speak with a supervisor; tell the rep that you will wait on the phone to speak to one. When you speak to the supervisor, ask them why it is that your case is taking 80+ days to review when they have quoted you 30. Explain that you are over the 42 days they asked for supervisor review, and ask why your case hasn't been looked at yet.
The supervisor I spoke to on July 10 put my case under something called Unit Manager review. The Unit Manager is apparently the supervisor's boss. I was assured by a rep I trust that the Unit Manager review happens quickly. So far I've waited 5 business days, but I have faith that this week there will be some movement with my case. The rep I trust told me it takes a matter of days to have your case looked at when it is escalated to Unit Manager review.
If you are not happy doing this alone, have the American petitioner contact your state senator to ask them to inquire about the status of the case. In our state (Missouri) one of the senators had a website with an online form you can fill out. You will need to give them permission to look into your file by filling out a release form. A senator cannot get your case approved for you or expedite the case, but they can ask the NVC to look at it for you if it's well beyond normal processing times.
These are the steps I have taken so far. I am patiently awaiting a review; checklist or CC. I pray that when your files get looked at, you have an immediate CC.
I hope it helps knowing they aren't singling you out. I am suffering with this too.

My replies are in bold. I am but a simple creature and am not sure how to quote specific parts of a text as you did.

I have no way to vouch for the book, but if you've read through the guides on this forum you're in good hands.

Affidavits of support are considered more or less worthless, but if you feel better about including them in your case, go for it. My husband and I did. My boss wrote one for me, and my husband's coworker wrote one for him.

Photographs and any receipts you might have kept are likely your best proof. I get all of my boarding passes sent to my email address; is it possible you have some still lurking around? Any photographs of you together are very important to include with your application. On the back of each of mine I wrote the approximate date taken, and the significance of each photo. I think your photograph about opposite ends of the table could work with an explanation -- during one of our visits my husband and I got matching tattoos, and so I included separate pictures of the both of us getting tatted. You could see the same design, the same artist, etc.

The family thing shouldn't be so bad. I didn't have any pictures of me with his family included in our petition, but we did include some of him with my family. Make sure you include wedding photos, even if you're just going to court to sign some documents. If you didn't get traditionally married with a ceremony etc. it might be in your best interest to explain why.

For chat logs, my husband and I took a sampling of our more lovey conversations from the years we'd been in contact. What you need to prove is that you've been having ongoing contact for a while. We used three primary sources: IM (oldschool AIM represent), facebook messenger, and Skype. It'd be a good idea to print screen it so you can show you haven't tampered with the dates sent/received. Some people send in hundreds of pages, but for low fraud countries (I think Japan is low fraud) maybe six to twelve pages should be more than enough. Make sure to cover a wide variety of dates.

After you are married, can you list your wife as the beneficiary to your life insurance? Can you list her as an authorized user on your credit card? Can she do the same for you? Providing evidence of this might help prove a sort of comingling of finances. My husband and I included this in our petition. We were approved without RFE at USCIS.

Good luck! Take lots of pictures and have fun.

In order for your IV fee to be unlocked, your DS-261 must be reviewed. It takes 30 days to review it, OR you can call and have a rep review it over the phone with you. Not all reps will do this, so sometimes you'll need to call back.
A few days after your DS-261 is reviewed, your IV fee should be unlocked. However, lately there have been a lot of technical issues, and for many people the fee is not appearing.
After your IV fee is PAID, you'll be able to complete your DS-260.

Update for those of you stuck in supervisor review:

My scan date: April 21
Entered supervisor review: May 27

I called this morning to ask if my case had been reviewed yet, and it hasn't been. It's been requested twice for review now, and the rep I spoke to this morning was one I talked to several times before. She remembers me now and we had some polite chat. She asked me to hold for a minute so she could talk to the supervisor about something, then came back and said that she was going to personally walk my case over to the supervisor right now to have it looked at, and told me to call back mid-week. She said that I'd been calling a lot (because she recognized me) and that she felt bad it was taking such a long time.

I'm not sure if what she said to me is true, but she seemed like a genuinely sweet lady, so I like to believe it is. Out of all the reps, she's been the most helpful. (Her name is Gina.)

I know all of you are frustrated and tired of being stuck in the NVC for months on end without word, but there are agents who care, and there is still hope for all of us. I hope to see a bunch more CCs today, and a bunch more next week!

Have a great weekend guys. We're getting through this together.

I know how you feel. We've just got to keep strong. If you and your spouse can overcome this difficulty, then nothing will be impossible for you. The week is still young, so hopefully we'll all get some good news before Friday.

When a case is transferred to supervisor review it can take up to 42 days for a supervisor to look at the file. My case has been flagged twice now. The first time we were in supervisor review for less than a week. The second time (this time) we've been in supervisor review since May 27. Others who entered supervisor review on the same day or after me have had approvals already, but I'm still waiting. It seems a little random.
Keep your chin up and keep calling. I call twice a week to see what's going on. If you can afford it, you can try calling every day. It won't necessarily take 42 days, but it might. Try to stay positive. We're nearing the end of this journey, and with your packages reviewed there isn't much holding you back now from a CC.

Good luck to everyone waiting for a CC this week! Today is my 54 day without a review. I'm hoping for some good news tomorrow.

Good luck to everyone waiting for a CC this week! Today is my 54 day without a review. I'm hoping for some good news tomorrow.

In order for your IV fee to be unlocked, your DS-261 must be reviewed. It takes 30 days to review it, OR you can call and have a rep review it over the phone with you. Not all reps will do this, so sometimes you'll need to call back.
A few days after your DS-261 is reviewed, your IV fee should be unlocked. However, lately there have been a lot of technical issues, and for many people the fee is not appearing.
After your IV fee is PAID, you'll be able to complete your DS-260.

Thank you for the optimism and the pep-talk, Ceemu! I'm hopeful, but I don't want to get my hopes up too high. It's a delicate balance. But your words have been taken to heart. Thank you so much.

Ugh! I'm sure everything is going to work out, fayrie. You're so close to being done! Just keep hanging in there and keep pestering them to send those docs out.

We were only able to submit the DS-260 on May 13 (almost a week ago today). The IV fee was unavailable for two weeks from when I had the DS-261 reviewed, and I had to go under supervisor review to get it unlocked. I'm not sure if we'll have to wait for 30 days to pass after submitting the DS-260 or not - I'm going off of what rachel23 is saying about when she calls. On Thursday (my 30/30) I'm going to call if I don't have 3 N/A, so I'll update you at that time about what they say to me.

I feel you. SD 04/21 here. I'm worried that they're going to tell me I have to wait for my DS-260 to be reviewed, since it got locked in the system for an unusual amount of time before I was able to submit it, but I still keep checking ceac. Ugh.

Haha! Well, that would explain a thing or two. You can tell I'm all strung out waiting for scan date to pop up. Thank you for pointing that out. I wonder, then, if it's because we have comparatively few 04/20 compared to the 04/17. The smaller the sample size, the less representative of current rates.
In any case, I'm hoping Monday will do all of us waiting a lot of good.

My partner already had a dog when I met him, but since getting married he's rescued another, and then I got one. I'm not living in the States yet, but I was able to spend six months with him and the pooches over the winter, and it was great. During that time we also rescued a cat, so he has two dogs, and I have a dog and a cat. It's a good thing our house is pretty big, haha. Since I'm gone it's harder for him to take care of them, but once we're living together it'll be no problem at all. I'm looking forward to seeing my family again.

Yes, they will review it on their own without your intervention. The wait is about 30 days after you submit your DS-261. When people call to get it reviewed it's because they're trying to speed up the process, but you don't need to call at all if you're willing to wait a bit longer.

This is normal. The email's processing times haven't been updated, and I received the same email last week. The processing time is still down to between 22-30 days (and sometimes even less!)
On mobile - if anything's wonky you have my apologies.

ArroTG, we have very similar timelines and, after our 261 was reviewed over the phone, it took about three working days for the bill to appear but I was told to expect longer. You also get an email telling you there's a new bill but with us the email still preceded the bill's actual appearance by about 6 hours.
Good luck!

A checklist for the IV fee or DS-260 is irrelevant. It does not slow down the process in any way, shape, or form.
A checklist for a mistake on the I-864 or with the civil documents does slow down the process.
Yes you can send the AOS and IV packages after paying the AOS fee. As the one poster mentioned, you want the bar coded cover sheet. Sometimes you'll get it in an email as a "document cover sheet" which you can also use to send the documentation.

When the DS-261 Online choice of agent form is reviewed and added to your case, then the IV bill becomes available to pay. You can either wait for this to happen or call the NVC to ask them to review it, which they may or may not do. It takes about 15-30 days for that to be added and the IV invoice to become available.

Hello Victoria!

My case was recently sent to the NVC as well, and I've quickly learned that if you need to speak to an agent you have to call back incessantly. When you call and are sent to the voice recorded message (due to the volume of the calls we're receiving...) hang up and call back again and again until you hear a phone ringing instead of the message. At that point you can navigate through the options that best suit you. Be prepared for a long wait to speak to someone. I've had to call twice so far, and I've waited for 50 minutes and 45 minutes to speak for perhaps a minute to an agent.

If you need help you can come find us at the NVC Filers April 2015 thread, or you can message me. I'm muddling through at the same time as you, and while I might not be an expert I might be able to point you in the right direction.

Hello everyone!
I'm a newish member here. I have asked a couple questions but I have never introduced myself. After reading through this thread I feel here is right place to share.
My name is Donald and I started dating my partner Collin in 2011. He was born in Maine but moved to St.Kitts at about 5 years old. He recently moved back to the US last year, and it was very difficult to be without him. It wasn't until last month when I went to visit him (after 7 months apart) he asked me to marry him. Of course I said yes! Now, we are preparing to submit our first set of forms. We had no idea what would be needed to make this happen.
To complicate things a bit, I currently have an ongoing case at the NVC. My brother filed a petition for me years ago, and that case is waiting to be reviewed (currently in that 60 day waiting to be reviewed period). My priority date for the case is current but there is no telling when that case will be approved and when an interview will be scheduled. My fiancé says he wants me there ASAP so we are going to start the K1 visa process in any event.
My brother does not know about me or my lifestyle so if the K1 visa is approved before his petition I àm sure he will be shocked and and upset. Where I live is very homophobic. I have only come out to my mother and she constantly prays that "I will see the light". Collin's family is accepting of me (and us) but I know most would never accept us getting married. We are trying to find the right time to tell them all, because along with the fear of them finding out I also fear physical harm if the general public were to find out.
I know a few members here advised me to wait on my brother's petition and not "waste" cash on applying, but we are desperate to be together and start our lives.
Enough of my story! Congrats to everyone who were brave enough to start this journey and see it through.