Devonian

Congratulations, me too
(Which means I probably saw you in the mosh pit that is the waiting room this morning, I was #I-918 )

The figures from the DWheels data link for the period July and August last year indicate that cases were notified of scheduled interviews pretty much after a fortnight for nearly all cases, so at least people knew they may have a long wait to interview. The waiting is frustrating but usually we have some idea of average times between each step at the moment even those who are hanging on the phone to NVC aren't getting any indications.
BUT you are right - frustrating as it may be we have to accept that the wheels will turn and eventually pretty much everyone will know whether they will receive a visa or not in the end, however long that may be. Getting wound up just makes the whole thing more likely to end in a breakdown.

I think that the frustration on this thread isn't so much the times from CC to interview but more that the scheduling of interviews at all embassies appears to have come to a grinding halt.
We haven't waited overly long yet (in the grand scheme of things) in that our CC was 5th August but apparently notification for interviews for London are normally scheduled 7 days after CC.
We are told that it is the embassies who notify NVC of interview times but it does seem strange that embassies globally appear to have stopped scheduling since mid July. Why would every embassy suddenly find itself with no time to schedule CR-1 interviews? Is it that non-immigrant interviews have taken priority and shunted us to the back of the queue?
I understand that visa printing was an issue back in June and July but one would have thought that cases were processed on a first come, first served basis not type basis?

We're using a lawyer (straightforward case, long story), and the lawyer responded to the checklist by email. We attached the 1)DS260 confirmation page, 2)copy of the ds260 we had saved as pdf, 3)checklist coversheet.. as attachments. I forget to check if NVC acknowledged our response; do they send an acknowledgement email?
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.

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.

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!!!

It's not typical practice but they do have access to it. I don't think bad credit will have any bearing on immigration decisions unless there is some kind of fraud or major issues.
Wow just wow. So despite not knowing why someone has bad credit you automatically just think they shouldn't get married? My credit sucks because of school loans and being on my own since 16 and not having any money management skills. If handled properly, it doesn't have to affect the marriage. Not to mention with two working adults it's easier to pay down any debts and learn good money management.

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.

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

Must be a relief to finally get out of USCIS!
Did you bring all the relevant docs to the US with you so that you can do all the stages right up to medical and interview before having to return to Mexico?
The clearance times at NVC appear to have reduced to just under 30 days after scan date, which is good news for both of us but I have seen threads about website payment chaos over the last few weeks which may slow you down a bit - appears to me that there always seems to be at least one department in the process that doesn't work properly!!!
Does the Mexican embassy have a fairly fast turnaround? It would appear that there's about a six week wait at the UK embassy from the time that NVC instruct them to interview time meaning that I'm hoping for a mid-September interview

Aaaw, that's rough.
Are there any figures on here on the times for background checks, as you aren't the first to suffer background checks?
Praying for a speedy resolution to your USCIS hell. x

With some judicious packing skills you can pay for one extra checked bag and still manage to bring 200lbs of kit with you (I have done this on every trip I've made to the US.)
It is possible to get 50lb of books in a laptop sized bag, and also to remain within size limits for the carry on bag whilst packing it heavily. Two checked bags of 50lb each are easy with large bags. Remembering not to pack anything remotely questionable in carry on luggage is a different matter though!!

Sorry, I'm a bit confused!!
Surely the first part of the immigration process, the I-130, for a spouse to come to the US as an LPR (initially CPR) is specifically to check the applicant petitioner's background and the validity of the marriage certificate? If the majority of the checks were on the applicant then why would they not ask for the details which you are later required to give in the DS-260 (Immigrant visa form)? It would make the requirement to obtain a police certificate obsolete if they already knew that the applicant was a miscreant!!

That was the fee for a 'travelling' request!!! This lot would probably charge for a deep clean if you farted in the waiting room!

That was the fee for a 'travelling' request!!! This lot would probably charge for a deep clean if you farted in the waiting room!

Flippin' eck, they apply terms to everything!!! (talking about that link).
Only he can decide what the right course of action is. Personally I found myself in a similar situation to your husband and decided that a 'talking to' did not fall into any of the categories of 'Convictions, arrests or cautions', so I answered 'No'.
My thinking being that they are checking my record, or lack thereof, and if there is anything of note they'll be sure to pick it up!!! (I assume they ask the question to help distinguish between John Smith, the murderer; John Smith, the football hooligan and John Smith, the saint )

It is recommended that you send all your documents in one package - but put your AOS documentation in one envelope and your IV documentation in another then put both envelopes in another and send as one. You'll need a cover sheet with each pack, both my wife and I received paperwork from NVC which has a cover sheet in it. (My wife, the USC, received her package about two weeks before mine arrived).
We are not sending our documents in until later because I'm headed back out to the States for two months and don't want an interview date to be given whilst I'm away visiting! VJers are recommending that you send in your documents as soon as possible, before paying the IV fee as it is taking approximately 60 days for NVC to process it.
IV fee invoice is apparently taking about 42 days to be issued after filing the DS-261 (choice of agent) although some VJers are getting a faster time if they call NVC and ask for the DS-261 to be reviewed over the phone. Again not something that is an issue for us as we won't be sending any paperwork until the first or second week of June.

Flippin' eck, they apply terms to everything!!! (talking about that link).
Only he can decide what the right course of action is. Personally I found myself in a similar situation to your husband and decided that a 'talking to' did not fall into any of the categories of 'Convictions, arrests or cautions', so I answered 'No'.
My thinking being that they are checking my record, or lack thereof, and if there is anything of note they'll be sure to pick it up!!! (I assume they ask the question to help distinguish between John Smith, the murderer; John Smith, the football hooligan and John Smith, the saint )

What you have now is the closest thing you'll ever get to an invoice and the sooner you pay it and fill in the DS-261 (if you haven't already) the sooner you'll be waiting for the DS-260 etc!!!
Edit - when you log into CEAC you have to enter two sets of information, your case number and your Invoice number

I'm sorry but if that were the case I'd be sitting in Florida right now clutching a green card in my sweaty hands but it's not. If you care to research the timelines you'd see that is just not true (Cases are faster though when the USC lives abroad with the applicant and files from the applicant's country but that applies globally not to just the three countries you've picked out).
This thread is supposed to be for the support of ALL August filers, regardless of our nationalities, but reading your comments makes me feel uncomfortable. Any chance we could stick to bashing USCIS and NVC for their processing times without singling out specific nationalities
One thing we can all agree on, regardless of whether we happen to be expedited or not, is that the whole process takes far too long for each of us.

The wording of this reply sounds very much like a standard type response - The I-130 is used solely to provide USCIS with details of the petitioner so that they can judge whether or not he's putting forward a genuine case. Thus all I-130's are 'on hold' until USCIS have performed and reviewed the results of 'security checks'.
Strikes me very much as their way of saying 'we've not yet got round to your case and we'll let you know when we do'. On the bright side it does imply that they've actually started to review the I-130 so hopefully it's moving now rather than just sitting in the 'inbox'
Wishing you the best

That sucks, it's not like it's the end of the process once the I-130's approved either.
I sent a service request just a few days before they sent approval and thought it was bad enough that they said 'not yet out of processing time, try again in the future' (or words to that effect) and that was 'only' 5 months and three weeks. Why do they say processing times are '5 months' when it is plainly obvious that, unless you are lucky enough to be expedited, it's just shy of 6 months - on average.
Time for phone calls?
Hope they approve your I-130 soon.