Devonian

Devonian,

Not sure if you saw this post from yesterday. Looks like London is booked up for Sept.

I did, thank you

(Hence the mutterings in my last paragraph)

I called NVC on August 6. She stated since they could not guarantee timeframe on interviews they do not want medicals completed before interviews have been scheduled. I guess, not postive, but medical exams are only good for a certain amount of time and right now it looks as though some people are waiting several months for an interview.

For us it is frustrating because my husband is in the highlands and has to fly down to London twice and some time reference would be nice.

Yup, it's a pain for anyone outside the London/Home Counties area to make two trips or stump up for an extended week in the Capital, especially for those of us stuck in the middle of nowhere in the far flung corners.

Just out of curiosity, has anyone booked their medical yet?

I was planning on waiting until I had an interview date, but as it's now getting closer to September I'm assuming we aren't going to get much notice...

I was planning on doing it in the next week or two... then saw this by Geosavygirl

When I phoned on August 6, 2015, I specifically asked if we could schedule a medical and she stated, "No". She said we had to wait for an interview date because when you call to schedule they will ask you your interview date.

... so I thought I'd ask, did you call NVC or the Doctor's?

NVC specifically state somewhere in their blurb that CR-1's shouldn't book the medical prior to receiving an interview date but I thought I'd read someplace about people doing it anyway. My only concern with doing it a while before the interview is that it gives bureaucracy a longer timeframe in which to lose the medical results!! I'm quite keen to get it out of the way because it's a major pain to make the round trip from Devon as it is without squeezing it into their timetable rather than mine and I can think of little worse than making two visits to the Capital with only a short turnaround between them.

Otherwise the latest timescales for an interview suck big style. I was hoping for a mid-September interview with flight out at the end of October, just in time to spend a relaxed weekend in Savannah whilst my good lady beats her running shoes on the road, she is going to be even less happy than me if I don't get to drive her to Georgia!

I will be sending the AOS/IV documents this week, I had already filled out the i864ez, but now there is new version expires 2017....start all over now..... 3 questions on the new form.

1) intended immigrant and for sponsor there is a box In care of? should I type here, leave it blank, or N/A?

2) another question it asks for USCIS ELIS for both petitioner and beneficiary.... account #...what is this?

3)house hold size...the total (2) can not be modified....first line your self and person sponsoring (2)...but can not add anyother person....thetotal household size has (2) cannot be change...has anybody noticed this?

Thanks

Question 1): Which page of the form is this on can you copy and paste the exact wording to help us answer your question?

Question 2): If you don't have an ELIS account ignore the question , I believe this question was also on the old form was it not? I think a CR-1 needs to open an ELIS account sometime around interview time so that they can pay the Green Card fee that is due before the card itself will be issued.

Question 3): I looked at the form and entered '1' in the spouse box then clicked on the total box and it changed from '2' to '3'. (Remember that this form is for all immigrants not just spouses hence the fact that it seems odd to count a CR-1 in the first box and NOT in the 'spouse' box, so if it's just you and your partner then 2 should be the final answer, obviously make sure the final total equals the number of people in the household including the immigrant).

EDIT: Sorry PC issues, Double post

Our CC was August 5th, we've since had an email, August 12th, stating that an interview will be scheduled (no clues as to when though!).

This is something that I'm considering at the moment and with only a day separating our CC's I figure that our interview dates will be fairly similar too.

[My concern, however, is not with the expiry term of the visa but the practicality of fitting in a medical prior to interview (I'm still in the US making the most of the VWP!). I'm hazarding a guess at 6 weeks from CC to interview, which would factor an interview around the middle of September!]

If you were able to book and attend a medical tomorrow (for example) are you not planning on visiting the US prior to 8th February 2016, I should have thought the relatively short possible time between medical and interview make the issue of late booking a medical a fairly moot point for most people?

To answer your question, I'd personally feel happier getting the medical done sooner rather than later just for the piece of mind of ticking it off the 'to-do' list - but I'm not sure how easy it is for you to trek to and from London, getting there from rural Devon using only public transport is a proper pain especially doing it twice in the space of a month!!

Going through old photos can be a good way to jog your memory for places you've lived...

I found the 10 year requirement for the police certificate reasonably easy but, as a CR-1, for my IV application I had to find addresses going back to the mid-eighties when I was 19 - is that not something a K-1 has to do?

Anything prior to 1998 is almost impossible to find online so whilst I managed to figure out the addresses (royal mail postcode finder and google maps helped for finding house numbers and postcodes) I had to guess the years, months and dates for a lot of the older addresses!!

No, it's just a matter of being lucky and getting the "right" NVC person reviewing your case. We also did our case like you, in the direct order in which NVC wants it and 105 days later, NVC still haven't reviewed my DS-260. Even got a checklist for it on June 18th, saying I hadn't submitted the DS-260, even though it was submitted April 25th.... We're now on day 45 of supervisor review, which means in theory, we should get the three N/As today, although we're not holding our breaths.

Congrats on your fast cc.

Sorry to hear of your wait, hope those 3 little magic letters pop up today

I should have been a bit more specific in the wording of my post, at the time I thought the person I was quoting had filed in the old fashion but upon further inspection I had mistakenly thought their signature was in chronological order (my bad!).

Obviously many people will submit exactly as NVC asks (and still get stuck with checklists and system breakdowns delaying their cases ) rather than other ways and that may have worked in the past but is possibly redundant since the recent requirement to submit both packages as one. I get the feeling that with the recent requirement to submit one package only that NVC are trying to simplify the system, maybe future filers will have to make only one payment and maybe NVC will scrap the DS-260 as it is a pointless exercise, we can live in hope!!!

It just seems from reading on the forum that many who file their package before the IV fee get held up with checklists and a 45 day wait - the reality is probably that many more don't have any issues and are unlikely to make posts about it if their cases progress swiftly.

The only thing that can be said for sure about NVC is that the system is antiquated and sucks, just like many government departments the only difference being that we are directly paying for their ineptitudes!

Wishing God speed to all

THE 3RD N/A HAS APPEARED!

... I've not been able to stop myself from obsessively looking at our case many times every day since then. This morning at 10:30am it was still 2 N/A and a "PAID". I just looked again 2 hours later and "paid" has changed to N/A

Same for us

I'm wondering if cases are faster when processed in the order asked by NVC, it seems to be common for those who submit the documents prior to paying the IV fee to get checklists and 45 day waits advised by NVC (they advised us of a 30 day wait)?

We sent AOS fee, then IV fee and DS-260 and then submitted the IV/AOS supporting documents together in one package lastly.

Scan date to CC - 19 days (and I've not yet had to spend a dime on phone calls!)

19 Days after the '30 day email' from NVC, the CEAC site is showing 3 N/A's today. I believe I have a 'Case Complete'

NVC have been having computer issues for a long while and this past week a computer glitch wrongly sent termination notices so it's quite likely that it's a mistake and you can relax!

Relevant link.... http://www.peerallylaw.com/national-visa-center-wrongly-sending-termination-notices-applicants/

Bit late but assume that by posting my dates on this thread an admin will add my details to the 'Scan dates to Interview' spreadsheet? If so, would someone care to add them to the database please?

DS-260 was submitted on 10th May 2015 and IV/AOS supporting documents were sent on 15th July 2015.

Email received from NVC on 22nd July 2015 confirming receipt of the supporting documents as 17th July 2015, presume this is my scan date?

Congrats ChristinaG!! So happy for you!

ok so heres the new dilemma... my husband picked up his visa last week (YAY!) but it expires on Oct 2 :/ which gives us very little time to get his ticket... our dilemma is buying the ticket one way or round trip... the travel agents in the Ivory Coast are telling him if he gets one way he can be denied entry at Istanbul (his only layover) and returned to Abidjan... while others say that we can buy the one way ticket and all will be fine. I dont mind if we get the one way ticket but my fear is if we buy it and hes denied entry and we cant get the rt ticket before his visa expires we will have to go thru all this again :/ ... the ticket prices are almost double for rt than ow thats why I want to get it right ...has any one had any issues with this or have any ideas?

Congratulations on the visa

I smell a rat here! Sounds to me as though the agents are angling for a larger cut. Whilst it is a recognised issue with one way tickets, it is one that crops up when a person heads to a destination without an ongoing ticket.

As long as hubby has a ticket that takes him out of Turkey the authorities will not care whether it is a return or an onward one, all they are concerned with is him not staying in Turkey indefinitely. It should be no issue if he does indeed have an onward ticket from Istanbul

The checklist is dated June 25, but NVC email came June 30 and we responded the same day; part of it says "After you mail or email the requested information, allow us 45 days to review your response". That is why I was wondering if the standard 30 day has crept up to 45 days.

Our NVC email was received on 22nd of this month (ie 3 days ago) so 30 days is the current time (for a case that doesn't, yet, have any checklists), however could it be that 45 days is the standard review time for a checklist - I seem to recall reading something to that effect a while back?

...Are these not the kind of questions that an immigration lawyer should be able answer as a matter of course???

Waiting till at least the 30 day window which is next week. Has the 30 days now creeped up to 45 days for NVC to review response to a checklist?

More importantly, I want to hear from anyone who already submitted ds260 and still got a checklist for it.

We haven't got a checklist but did receive an email from NVC stating that they'd received our AOS and IV package (which was sent after completing the DS-260) and that it would be a further 30 days before they would review our case.

I have been led to believe that the 30 day period is a standard minimum that resets whenever more information relating to the case is submitted, the email seems to confirm this - note that it doesn't specify whether those 30 days are counted by calendar days or working days, I'm assuming the former and would therefore refrain from wasting time getting frustrated on the phone and wait until at least 30 calendar days are past. It sounds as though you have received a false checklist if you have already submitted the DS-260 info they asked for (presumably backed up by an email confirming it's submission?) - it's hardly something they can lose as it's attached electronically to your file, unlike the supporting documents.

Hey August peeps..... Just back from the interview....and we're APPROVED!!

Congratulations.

Hope you're bracing yourself for the temperatures, I'm in Austin for a few days and it makes Florida look like a temperate zone!!!

My wife and I are currently going through the system without using a lawyer and have found it easy enough to follow - especially so when using various immigration sites for reference.

If you are fluent in the English language, can read and write and don't have criminal, mental health or childcare (ie, ex-spouse) issues then you should find the system easy enough yourself - if not somewhat frustrating at the timescales, which I've been led to believe are likely to be increased when introducing third party representation.

Mailed my envelope containing AOS and IV documents today, should soon be done with NVC

I'm hoping I've judged the timing well as I'm in the US for another month yet and there's still the small matter of a cross-country trip to London to fit in a medical prior to interview!!!

CEAC portal is finally working today. I was able to pay IV and AOS fee.

Could you guys let me know when and how can I fill out the DS260?

Thanks!

UnaMexicana

If I recall correctly I couldn't access the form until the IV fee showed as paid AND until NVC reviewed my DS-261 which took them nearly a month as opposed to the usual 10 days. However, isn't your situation slightly different with the whole DS-261 because you have a lawyer?

I'd be surprised if it's any less than 10 days, especially as the whole country seems to stop working for four days over this weekend period!

EDIT: To access DS-260, go into 'invoice receipts' section on the CEAC site, click on the 'select' button where it says 'IV 325$ paid', scroll to bottom of page and select 'IV processing instructions', et voila.

My wife is not in US and we have been apart for nearly year before I went to see her last month to celebrate our anniversary. If you don't understand the frustration I don't know what to tell ya.

I think we can all agree, that regardless of the visa process and timescales that we are each bound with, that the amount of time taken would be frustrating enough without departmental delays but add those into the mix and it's a right pain in the butt - and looking at people's individual circumstances it would seem that most hit some kind of departmental ineptitude along the way!

Hope yours is resolved sooner rather than later

If I were offered a new job in the company, in the US, do you think this would be a valid reason for expedite at NVC stage? I know expedites are usually health emergency related, but I have seen a couple based on financial hardship. If my not accepting a good job offer impacts the USC financial situation... would this work?

I am not obsessing like I said.. but I am desperate to complete this process.... and hopefully without being jobless for a long time!

Any input is appreciated!!!

UnaMexicana

Hi, I'm fairly certain that NVC would not consider a new job in the US as a reason for an expedite, however I'd be inclined to strongly emphasize the loss of your current job as a factor creating hardship - if you have property and/or savings in Mexico though it may be hard to justify hardship.

Bearing that in mind I'd be wary about mentioning a job in the US as they may think that you've colluded with your current employer to suddenly find yourself jobless just as your visa application is at the stage it is!

God speed. x

This is posted on the London US embassy's website but applies to all countries....

"The Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs is currently experiencing technical problems with our visa systems. This issue is not specific to any particular country, citizenship document, or visa category. We apologize for the inconvenience and are working urgently to correct the problem and restore full operability.

As soon as the situation is resolved, we will update this message.

Form DS-260

We are aware that some applicants continue to experience technical difficulties accessing Form DS-260. The issues are intermittent, therefore we suggest that you return to https://ceac.state.gov/IV/Default.aspxperiodically to try to complete the form."

The following link from ABC news gives a little more information on the general situation...

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/state-dept-suspends-overseas-passport-visa-issuance-31729129

Thank you!!

We received the AOS and IV fees on Friday. Lawyer received the email from NVC on Thursday night.

Do you have any tips for paying? We have been trying to access with no luck. As for the DS260... this is avilable only after we pay, right?

We are getting the error below:

Sign In Failed

The selected Case Number and Invoice Identification Number combination you entered do not match our records. Please try again or click on the Contact the NVC hyperlink if you have forgotten your Case Number or Invoice Identification Number.

I will NOT obsess over this anymore.. but if you have any tips or can let us know how long did it take for your info to be accepted at the Fee payment portal, we appreciate!

UnaMexicana

Congratulations on making it to NVC!

If I recall it took about a week after receiving my email from NVC before the fee part became available. Are you paying the fees directly to NVC or do you send them to your lawyer who then forwards them to NVC?

Presumably you are entering the three letters as well as the numbers for your case #? So your case number should have 3 letters and 10 numbers, whilst your invoice number has 8 numbers.

The system does tend to keep you waiting between each step - and as you've already found out, that wait can vary considerably. I have noticed recently that there have been various threads about the NVC website having loads of problems since they 'updated' the site. It could well be that you've landed at NVC just in time for them to keep you waiting beyond expected times!!

EDIT: The DS-260 did not become available until after payment of the IV fee, which did not become available until they'd reviewed the DS-261 ( It took about 40 days for me but I believe it's much shorter now, however I'm not sure whether changing the structure of payments was one of the things which they've updated)

Hey Guys,

How are you? As you know, I am here in the US currently visiting my husband. I called our lawyer to inform her that I was here and wanted to know if it was possible for me to change my ticket from the initial departure (Jun 13) to a couple more months out since I was admitted until Nov.

She got it pretty bad that I was here and advised against extending my trip beyond the return date that I told to the officer at the POE.

This is her reply to my explaining that I have been coming and going to see my husband and for business purposes, and that I would like to stay a couple of months this time:

Hi XXXXXX,

You are risking an inadmissibility determination when you go to your interview at Ciudad Juarez.

Clients who submit B2 visas or B2 renewals while their I-130 is processing are often deemed inadmissible for fraud. (WHAAAT?) Your case presents the added risk that fraud was committedwhen you entered the US and informed the CBP Officer of a departure date that was later switched. (This has not happened yet, I was considering changing the ticket from Jun 13 to end of Aug) If you're deemed inadmissible, your B2 will be revoked, you will have to prepare a waiver, and you would not be allowed into the U.S. while the waiver is processing. Waivers are arduous applications, there is no guarantee that it will be granted, and take over one year to prepare and process. You'd likely have to retain an attorney to assist you with the waiver.

Let me know if you have any questions.

According to her criteria... I am already in even deeper trouble than I ever thought possible. This is the lawyer we are paying to assist us.

I am not worried one bit as I know I have been playing by the rules every time I have visited the country, either for business or tourism... but I just want to know what you think, because for me this is just unacceptable.

Hope to hear from you!

UnaMexicana

Seems to be a bit of a strange one - as you have already been admitted to the US and are not extending your date beyond your B2. Although it may well have an adverse affect upon future B2's I presume that you are unlikely to be applying for anymore as you hope to have a green card soon!!!

I'm no lawyer but surely fraud exists only if you overstay the terms of your B2 with an intention to Adjust your status or if the entry officer thought you were going to overstay (which he/she obviously didn't as you wouldn't be sitting stateside right now!!) -and which would be a moot point if they pick it up on your flight out!!

As for a possibility of an inadmissibility adjudication at your CJ interview I can't understand how this would apply (it's not an issue that seems to come up for UK residents) but the facts are that you are already in the US, had no issue at POE and will presumably return within the dates of your B2 and, if it were me, I'd be inclined to try not to worry about it as it is a historical fact and worrying about future implications which are out of your hands will have no beneficial effects for you. I'm a 'cross that bridge when I get to it' kind of chap but am more than happy to be corrected by others.

Try not to worry, all the best

Lol don't worry ask anything it's fine and when you pay the iv fee it's going to give you the same bar code sheet so don't worry about it that's why you can go ahead and print it out twice and use it for both its no different because that barcode is for ur case so it has to be exactly the same make sense ? Myself and many others have done it this way to shorten the waiting time because the iv fee and ds-260 will be able to be completed while we wait for our documents to be reviewed . And yes that's exactly how you can mail them in print the cover sheet twice put one on the aos packet in one smaller envelope and then again for the iv documents in another then you can deal both up and put them in a big one together that's exactly how they want it . Good luck .

Can I ask where it specifies that two separate packages with two separate cover sheets are required?

The cover sheet recently has a checklist for all documents, both AOS and IV, listed on it and the instructions specifically say mail as one package. I assumed that the days of separating the packages were behind us and that all we are required to do is submit all items in one package - placed in the order as specified by the cover sheet. Is this not the case?

One thing I would recommend, from others recommendations, is that every item you send them is marked with your case number - making it easier for them to reunite lost papers if/when that happens!!!