mlucasva

I just wanted to take some time to thank everyone in this forum for their assistance throughout this process. My wife had her interview this morning and we have been approved!! She said it was very fast, only lasting 3-4 minutes. It sounds like they basically asked 2 questions: how we met and what I do for a living (both with simple follow-on and related questions). They then looked through the pictures and asked where we got married. They told her she was approved and happy travels. She claims they then took her passport and advised it should be ready for pickup within 2 weeks.

Thanks again everyone and for those still navigating through the process, rest assured it's just a waiting game at this point and it will all be over soon.

Hey everyone I wanted to get some advice please. We have been scheduled for an interview on June 27th in San Salvador and we're currently getting everything ready. However, when my wife called the doctors to schedule her medical appointment they all claim to be booked until after the interview date. What should we do? She called the embassy and they basically said we can either attend the interview without the medical or reschedule our interview date. I don't like either of those ideas!! haha

I just wanted to pop in and let everyone know my experiences with NVC so far. I've been very fortunate to have a case that's moved faster than normal, so I think I can shed some light on what those of us getting approved I-130's will experience in the near future. I'll also update my signature block after this post, but my timeline has remained updated throughout if you want to reference that as well.

My case was approved at the California Service Center and I got the text letting me know, followed by the official NOA2 letter in the mail about a week later. That was the last correspondence I received from USCIS, there was no "we sent your case to the State Department" for me. I called the NVC about a week later hoping to get my case number, and first and foremost the reps at NVC seem tremendously better so far. They didn't have anything at my first phone call and advised me to wait 30 days before calling back. I called back on exactly 30 days from the date my I-130 was approved and they had received it 2 days earlier. They provided me my invoice and case numbers, accepted both email addresses over the phone, and were very congratulatory and wished me luck in my continuing journey. I got a letter in the mail from them the next day.

From that point I was able to access CEAC and complete the DS 261 and pay the AOS fee. It took about a week, iirc, for it to show the IV fee and I paid it immediately. At that point I had already assembled my packets (both AOS and IV) but I was waiting, per the instructions, to complete the DS 260 before submitting them. Once the IV fee showed paid I was able to process the DS 260, and it actually took me 2 days as I wasn't prepared for documenting my wife's work for the past 10 years (I assumed 5 years since that's what we put in the G 325a).

At this point all fees show as paid and the DS 260 shows as completed. I mailed both packets last week and according to USPS they were delivered Friday. I'm now just waiting for confirmation they've received them, and the subsequent "scan date" that starts the clock. They claim they should process it within 30 days, and so far they've met every deadline they've proposed. The NVC group threads are currently saying it's running around 30-35 days for those of us who have to snail mail our packets. I'm secretly hoping for a birthday present of an interview date assigned by my birthday on April 30th. Feel free to comment with questions and I'd be happy to offer up my experiences.

I believe that you're not required to provide the current year's return until after April 15th. The fact that you're providing a copy of the 2015 return is sort of going above and beyond and I would think they would overlook the fact that it doesn't include signatures. You might send on the IRS transcript once it's available, to further preclude an RFE.

Roger that, that makes sense to me. Also, I found the income line in the instructions for the 864 buried in a paragraph. For future reference, if you filed a 1040EZ you use adjusted gross income, for 1040 and 1040A you use total income.

Ok guys, I need some guidance. I'm sure I'm way overthinking this, but I just really want to avoid a checklist. I just filed my DS 260 last night and I've assembled the IV and AOS packets to hopefully mail today. I'm just looking over everything for accuracy and completeness and have the following questions:

1. We've jointly filed a 1040 this year along with an ITIN request, and it's still being processed. In my AOS packet I've included a copy of the return (and W2) from turbotax, however since it was generated from turbotax it's lacking signatures. Is this ok? Having her sign from El Salvador again would be a royal pain. I've also included transcripts from the IRS for 2013 and 2014.

2. What lines do I use for total income on the 864? Adjusted gross income or total income?

3. Right now I have both packets complete and in their own envelope. Inside each packet I have the bar-coded cover letter printed from the CEAC (it says "print document cover sheet") portal and my typed cover letter detailing the documents included. Is this all I need for bar-coded stuff? I was just reading James' shortcuts and it mentions "You will need to attach the barcode that was generated after paying the IV fee before sending in the IV packet." and I'm not exactly sure what this means.

Thanks in advance!!

Hello everyone, just wanted to post a quick update that our I-130 was approved last night. Now on to the NVC!!

Hang in there guys, the wheels may be turning slowly but they are still turning.

As a DoD employee, my understanding is that the breach only involved the system used for security clearances. The recent notices were actually being sent to those who were on someone else's clearance application. Basically, if your SSN was on someone else's SF86 then you now get this letter and are eligible for credit monitoring. This reversed a previous decision to only cover the applicants themselves. So long story made short, I believe (but as always, could be wrong) this is more likely because your data was on someone else's application for a clearance and not because of your immigrant visa application.

Early Christmas present for us -- we received NOA2 today with our NOA1 received Nov. 5.

Good luck, everyone! We'll get through this!

Wow that's awesome!! Congratulations and keep us posted.

Hello fellow November filers!

We officially mailed our I-130 package for a CR-1 November 23rd and it was received and scanned in on November 25th (luckily we got the CSC). We also applied for expedite: we sent the request to expedite on November 30th, they requested more info for the expedite on December 4th, and we faxed our letter with more details on December 7th.

I'll try to stay pretty active on here for anyone that wants to know how the process is going or works out. I'm also excited to be a part of this community and share in this life-changing experience with the rest of you.

Affidavits are of little value. No one ever writes a bad one.

Be sure to show evidence of time spent together (boarding passes, travel receipts, passport stamps, photos in different places, etc.) from the beginning of the relationship to present day.

Roger that, yeah I forgot to add that in. I plan to put pictures from every time we've been together, including the wedding. I have some of the boarding passes and hotel receipts, and also my passport stamps that will be in the package.

And understood on the affidavits, should I even do them? I've been reading many people say they don't really matter, so maybe I shouldn't even bother with spending the time to gather them.

Greetings,

I've lurked here for quite some time, and it's time I finally make my first post. I married my wonderful wife September 12th and we're getting everything together to file for her CR1 visa. This post is mainly me saying hello to this amazing community that I'm hoping to be accepted as a member of. I know I'm just beginning what will be a long and sometimes frustrating process, but I hope to survive it with assistance and guidance from everyone here.

I also had a few quick questions out of the gate, if I may. Tomorrow my wife will mail her documents to me for the first phase: marriage certificate with translation, her G-325A, and her passport photos. The translation was done by a friend who also translated our wedding ceremony, with the statement at the bottom (that they're fluent and assuring its accuracy) that we found here. That's all we need for the marriage certificate right? No apostille?

Also, as far as proof of a bonafide marriage, I plan to include a statement from my bank showing that she was added to my account and thus we are co-mingling financial resources, a few affidavits from my family and friends who have witnessed the entire relationship and were at the wedding, and some chat histories from Facebook and WhatsApp to show constant contact and communication for several years. Is this good enough? I'm really hoping to avoid an RFE...

Again, thanks for everything. You guys are the best!!