redbeard

I have two cases with NVC...wife's and stepson's. We were approved for an expedite at the USCIS level and by the embassy...though the embassy wanted everything to be documentarily complete at NVC before being forwarded to them. Everything was submitted mid August. Son's case was completed, but because the dumb dumbs at NVC can't tell the difference between British Columbia and Great Britain, they requested a police report for my wife from Great Britain. Well...she's never even been to Great Britain, not even for a layover. So I ask them to remove that request from her file. Not possible they say. They ask me to submit a letter attesting that she has never been to GB as a place holder for the requested police report. I immediately draft one up and send it overnight for $42 USD, and it is signed for the next morning at the NVC. That was 9 days ago.

I called after a couple of days to check to see if it was scanned. No luck. I wait and call back today, and they are telling me they don't have any record of ever receiving anything from me at all and nothing has been scanned in!!!! I have repeatedly asked to be put through to a supervisor, but the worthless front line dodos always tell me one isn't available. I ask to be put on hold to speak with one and they say that's not possible.

Should I get my senator involved at this point? Just send another stupid letter? Get nasty with NVC reps until they put me through to a supervisor?

So I got the 3 N/As for my stepson's case today, but my wife's is still not complete. So I call the NVC, which I surprisingly got through to within 10 minutes, only to find out that my wife's case has been reviewed and is complete except for...wait for it...........a police report from Great Britain...a country she has never lived in and never visited!!! The operator told me that she can't tell me why, but their system is waiting for that. So now they want my wife to mail them a letter stating that she never lived in or visited Great Britain for more than six months. She also said it could take 30 DAYS TO REVIEW THAT LETTER and get a case complete!

I am so fuming mad right now!

Well good news this morning...I hope! Haha. Received this email from NVC at 5:40 AM PST:

Dear Sir/Madam:

The National Visa Center (NVC) received your inquiry regarding the immigrant visa petition: MTL********** filed by ************* on behalf of ********************.

The U.S. Embassy or Consulate is willing to expedite this case when we have all the fees, forms, and documents. If you have not already done so, you can pay your fees and submit Form DS-260 at ceac.state.gov. Please send everything else to this address:

National Visa Center

31 Rochester Avenue, Suite 100

Portsmouth, NH 03801-2915

I have already paid all fees and we have submitted all documents. Hopefully this means everything will be sent off to Montreal!

Spoke with the NVC this morning. They confirmed that the expedite request has been sent to Montreal, and that they are waiting to hear back from them. Feel like I've done pretty much everything I can do at this point. Maybe it is time to just be at peace and patient, and trust that everything will work out ok.

Got all our stuff taken care of at NVC in a grand total of 9 days, from first getting case numbers...to paying all fees...and submitting all documents. Rep confirmed that everything is scanned into their system as of this morning.

You mention driving back and forth across the border, but you also mention restrictions on flying due to pregnancy. Will driving her to the states be a hardship for her, as well? Just curious. Nothing behind my question.

She can drive just fine. I end up going north all the time due to us having a previous "proof of ties" situation at the border in which they thought she was trying to immigrate illegally (She wasn't). They let her through again now, but she gets hauled into secondary every time and usually waits in line for an hour, and that is hard with a toddler, so she doesn't do it often. Usually when she wants to come down to the states now, I drive north and pick up my stepson and bring him back with me, ahead of her, so she can go through secondary by herself. It's a pain.

sorry,

when one requests an expedite at NVC,

NVC contacts the IV Unit at that Consulate/Embassy as

it's the IV Unit that grants the expedite.

So maybe I should try to contact the consulate directly then.

Sadly the route which we can not discuss would have been the way to go.

I know. Sometimes it is better to ask forgiveness than permission. I feel good knowing we are doing things the right way though. Just hope someone at the NVC can help us out and work our file fast. Would sure be a big deal and blessing for our family.

From a medical perspective wouldn't she be better off in Canada?

Probably, on the chance, god forbid, something really serious should happen, though we do have very good medical insurance in the states through my job.

We have a toddler though...and she has been ordered not to lift more than five pounds for the remainder of the pregnancy, and to not exert herself or exercise. This has been a great challenge with us living separately. So I end up driving north over the border usually three days a week after work (and weekends) to care for him and take the load off of her. On the average day when I drive north, I spend about 3 hours driving. I work at 5am, and by the time I get him to bed at 8pm and drive an hour + back home and get settled and to bed, I'm going on less than 6 hours of sleep a night.

I'm not trying to tell a sob story, but this is wearing me down week after week. The thought of doing it for another 4 months, and then still being separated from my wife, son and newborn until February or March is hard to swallow. Of course I will do it if that is the way things end up going down, but I'm sure as heck going to do everything in my power to get an early interview, if at all possible.

I don't think embassy has any role in it. hound nvc and try getting expedited

Best wishes to you and your family

I just emailed the NVC expedite address to see if I can get an update. I'm also going to call them in a bit when hopefully the phone lines get less backlogged.

A little background...

Filed I-130s for wife and stepson. Applied for expedite due to high-risk pregnancy and was approved end of April. After much effort we got our NOA2 in the beginning of July. Now we are at the NVC and after almost a month after NOA2, we got our case numbers and things are moving forward. I immediately submitted an expedite request to the NVC on the same grounds about a week ago and haven't heard anything back. Have sent off the AOS and IV packets because I don't want to sit around and wait for a yay or nay from the consulate in Montreal, only to find out I shouldn't have waited to send everything.

So...things are moving, but I'm freaking out that an interview will not come before my wife is no longer able to fly. Due date is December 11th, so basically 4 months out, but due to the pregnancy complications, she likely won't be able to fly for the last two months. Then the baby is going to come, and she won't exactly be able to fly right away with a newborn...probably not until February realistically.

AOS and IV packets will be at the NVC tomorrow morning. My AOS fees are paid, and my IV Fee Invoices just came via email today, but are not yet available at the ceac portal. I'm feeling like getting a case complete and interview in the next two months is not going to happen at this point without an expedite at either the NVC or at the consulate in the form of an immediate interview after cc.

What should I do? Hound the NVC? Attempt to get a processing expedite there? Contact the consulate directly and explain the situation? Any advice would be much appreciated.

If you mailed the AOS you must mail the IV. When you do EP you must do everything one way or the other. You've delayed yourself since they do not look at the docs until they have both packages, but it's not the end of the world.

Ok. I'll mail the IV package off Fedex next day, and hopefully they will both arrive at NVC on Wednesday then.

Thanks!

So I mailed off our AOS package via Fedex yesterday and have been busy getting everything together for the IV package today. Because this whole process is overwhelming and confusing, I didn't realize I was supposed to send them together. I figured since my AOS invoice was paid that I should send that. Then once the IV invoice was paid I'd send that. Guess that was wrong.

Anyways...what should I do now? Have I created a problem for us? Should I send in the IV package via mail now too, or should I email it to the NVC, since we are eligible for EP?

Thanks for any help.

I don't want to discourage you, but in my personal experience with TSC, an approved expedite doesn't mean your case will be processed...um...expeditiously.

In our case, we were granted an expedite request at about 6 weeks. At 115 days we finally received NOA2. And I was on top of them constantly. And my congresswoman was on top of them constantly. Ironically, I only got my NOA2 after submitting an online case inquiry on the basis of not receiving my NOA2 document by mail. They auto responded that I would hear from them within the next 30 days. I then left them alone and basically gave up the fight for a while. On day 30 exactly after that case inquiry, guess what?...NOA2!

From what I understand, I can stay up to 6 months (per calendar year) so technically, I could come back in January? would be gone back for just the month of December in this case.

It is possible, but yeah...CBP will likely see what you are up to and flag you in their system and send you to secondary. From your original post it sounds like you do not have strong ties at all to Canada anymore. They will most likely deny you entry and won't allow you back into the states until you CAN show strong ties. That could take a while to establish, as it sounds like you don't have a job or lease back home anymore.

In my opinion the fiance visa route is going to be your best course. Just stay down here and enjoy the next four months and accept the fact that you will have to go home for a few months to finish out the process. It is not the end of the world, and many, many people on Visajourney would give anything to be in your shoes right now and have that option.

Not likely...Montreal is a fairly slow consulate. More like a year.

I guess we don't know where the poster is from in Canada. Vancouver also interviews for K-1 visas, right?

Although...geez...after reading your initial post, you mention that you have "already managed to move all your stuff down here".

That says to me that you DID come here with immigrant intent. Adjusting status if immigration was your intent all along would be Visa Fraud.

If that is the case, here's what I would do:

Have your partner file an I-129f for you right away. It will likely be sent to the CSC and approved within two months. You are probably looking at six months until you'd have a fiance visa in hand. You are allowed to stay for up to six months, so you could stay right where you are for the next four months. Then go home to Canada for your interview, medical, etc. You'd probably only be out of the states for two months.

Getting married and adjusting status is going to be by far the easiest route to a green card for you. Any other path is likely going to take years and you will have to go home...Unless you have some specialized skills/training/degree.

Are either of your parents natural born US citizens?

Adjust status, assuming you did not have immigrant intent when you initially came. If that is the case, get married ASAP and file for AOS. DO NOT go home if you go that route.

We got our NOA2 on 7/6 and NVC just received our petitions today, 7/22. No case number yet though...

I figured that much. Wasn't sure if they could submit the request to the embassy using the USCIS Receipt #'s though. Thanks.

My I-130 petitions were approved for wife and stepson two weeks ago. We received an expedite at USCIS and I want to submit a request to the NVC for an expedite there as well, due to ongoing and serious pregnancy complications. I called today and they still have not received the petitions from USCIS, even though they were sent a week ago. I am trying to be proactive and want to get that expedite request in as soon as possible. Has anyone successfully submitted an expedite request prior to receiving case #'s?

Thanks.

Call them. Then, if approved, and if after approximately 30 days you haven't received NOA2, call USCIS and ALL your representatives about once a week until you get movement. For us it took about 2.5 months after expedite approved to NOA2. Ours was a verified high-risk pregnancy backed up by letters from her OB. I fought tooth and nail and bugged the living heck out of the TSC and my senators until approval happened. Unfortunately, even if your expedite is approved, like ours, doesn't mean it will be processed expeditiously!

Best of luck and be a thorn in their side

I can tell you this based on my personal experience (I am US Citizen husband with Canadian wife...married in Canada). The CBSA are far more easy going than the US CBP. Granted I hold a Nexus card, but the Canadian border officers could, and have always cared less what my intentions or duration of stays were in Canada. On the day of our wedding I literally told the Canadian officer that I was coming up to get married. She never asked for proof of ties or whether I was ever intending to even go home after the wedding! All I got was a "Congrats" and "Have a nice day!" In more than probably 150 entries I have never been asked for proof of ties or ever sent to Secondary. My wife gets sent to Secondary every time she comes south to provide proof of ties.

I can almost guarantee you will have more stringent questioning from the US officers. If you are honest with them about coming over to get married there is a good chance you will be denied entry. They are far more paranoid and militant than their Canadian counterparts (Most are ex military with big egos I suspect). Be smart when interacting with them. Never lie, but NEVER volunteer information that they do not SPECIFICALLY ask for. It does not pay to be upfront about EVERYTHING.

Honestly you are much better off getting married in Canada IMO.

It's been well over a month for us and no contact has been made with an answer. We called last week and spoke to tier 2 officer that I must say was very rude and he basically said it could take another month, 3 months or 6 months. Good bye!!

We are devastated :-( and upset that no one can give us any info just that fact that they sent us an email to the wrong address and cannot resend it!

Had enough now! What's the point of an expedite request that could take months to process! The whole point of ours is financial loss!!!

We are still waiting almost two months after our expedite was approved. After multiple congressional inquiries and promises by TSC that my petitions would be processed right away...still nothing. This whole system is such a joke. They should subcontract out the entire USCIS stage. We would all get our approvals in a week I'm sure.