Bogota Rocks

Anyone on VJ have a September interview date in Bogota? Just curious.

I'm still waiting for my case to close, so I have a ways to go yet in this process.

Have any Spanish-speakers here spoken with both the English and Spanish-language NVC agents? Are the Spanish-speaking ones more helpful than their English-language counterparts? Or are they both about the same amount of helpful?

Just wondering if the Spanish-speaking agents have a little more empathy and are willing to level with us a little more.

Shouldn't the NVC rep tell me to wait if the reviewers usually don't review the DS260 until the checklist is also reviewed? Shouldn't one hand be talking to the other? Can't ANYONE at the NVC give us straight answers and just review some docs quickly when the deadline has already passed?

The lack of clarity in how the NVC handles these very important and sensitive documents is appalling. I have no idea if I just mindlessly added an unnecessary month to my case being completed, and none of the reps even know how the NVC handles the document processing to be able to tell me if that is what I have done?

Then again, who knows if what those reps even told you is true. This is what is so maddening about this process.

I'm calling and bothering them every morning now til something moves along. This is ridiculous.

My DS260 was filled out July 9th. I called yesterday and it hadn't been reviewed yet. So the NVC rep said she could put me on Supervisor Review. I said go ahead.

I am not sure what I am in for. Apparently, Supervisor Review can take up to 42 days. Some questions for folks who might know:

1. Supervisor Review was generated for my DS260, but I also have a checklist awaiting review (scan date July 27th). When the Supervisor Review is finally performed, do they review everything in the case?

2. How long does it take until the Supervisor Review is completed? Does it usually take the whole 42 days?

3. Are cases put in Supervisor Review completely removed from the regular queue for evaluating cases and documents? Assuming there is a queue, since I don't really understand what the normal process is for reviewing docs at the NVC.

I called today to ask some variation of the questions of an NVC rep and she was completely rude, dismissive and unhelpful. I asked to speak directly to a supervisor, but one wasn't available. Feeling pretty lowdown, since this process doesn't seem like it's going to end soon, and then there is the waiting for the interview date afterwards. Am I screwed until the end of September now?

My last scan date was also July 27th, but my neither my docs nor my DS260 have been reviewed yet.

Planning on upping my requests to speak to a supervisor.

Has not a single visa filer gotten an interview date for September yet? In any country? What is the NVC doing these days?

I'm still waiting for a Case Complete at the NVC, but dear God every step of the NVC has been delayed because of something on their end. I had to wait over a month to pay the IV fee and fill out the DS260, they've spent over a month and still haven't reviewed my DS260, and now when I am ready for an interview to finally scheduled they are going to drag their feet on that too?

Why is this receiving no attention at all? This system is a mess. It should not be this opaque and complicated for US citizens to bring their foreign spouses into the country. Surely this must be affecting thousands of people right now? Why can't the NVC do better? Why isn't anybody making them do better?

Filled out DS-260 on July 9th.

Paperwork scanned in response to last checklist July 27th.

Called NVC today, no movement on either one. Apparently my DS260 has been flagged for a supervisor to revise, not sure if that is the official Supervisor Review that takes up to 42 days. Seeing people with similar scan dates get case complete, which only heightens my despair.

Sick to death of this process. I had no idea what immigrants to the US go through when they follow all the rules.

Is there any way to get this process moving any faster? This is ridiculous. Should I start asking to talk to a supervisor when I call the NVC?

Hey Anamaral,

My timeline is pretty similar to yours. What was your checklist for?

I just sent in a checklist for the petitioner's and joint sponsor's I-864 (they each had a mistake). Checklist scan date July 27th.

I just got my NVC letter yesterday. Mind you, I have had a case number since May, when I called the NVC to get it. I have already paid all fees and submitted all forms, just waiting for the NVC to receive and review some forms I had to resend in response to a checklist.

So it took me about three months to receive the letter. Not sure if the NVC or the Colombian postal service was to blame for the delay.

Either way, don't wait for the letter. Call the NVC every few days and see if they can give you a case number yet.

I'm in the same boat as you. Was told about the checklist on the phone about the petitioner's and joint sponsor's I864s. Still haven't gotten the email.

But I called the NVC, two different times, and each agent said I could send in the corrected I864s with an AOS cover sheet and a note that they were in response to a checklist. The NVC agents told me I didn't have to wait for the checklist email and that I could send in the docs sooner if I wanted.

Now, I know the NVC agents aren't always on the ball, but they wouldn't just make that up out of thin air, would they? I am planning on sending the checklist response to the NVC today even though I haven't gotten the email yet.

Hi Timpoong,

What was your checklist for? How long did it take to arrive after the original scan date? How long was it from when they scanned your checklist until they gave you a case complete (if they did)?

I wasn't going to send the two I864s separately. I am waiting for the joint sponsor's to arrive so I can send them both together. But I don't have a checklist cover sheet. Should I wait for the NVC to send that before sending the I864s as well? Considering how slow everything else has been with them, I'd rather send them off ASAP. Will the NVC get confused if I send a checklist response without a checklist cover sheet? How long will it take for a checklist cover sheet to arrive?

Hi everyone,

So on Friday I was told I need to send a new version of the petitioner's and joint sponsor's I864 forms due to a mistake on both of them. The NVC said I would get an email about the checklist, but I haven't gotten it yet. If I want to send the documents to the NVC before the email comes so I don't waste even more time there, what should I send with the new I864s? I am planning on sending an AOS cover sheet and maybe a short note explaining that the forms are being sent in response to a checklist I received by phone. But is there a checklist cover sheet that I need to wait for before I send the documents?

I am still waiting for the joint sponsor to FedEx me the new I864, so I haven't sent the new forms to the NVC yet. Maybe the email will arrive in the next day or two. Why can't the system just send an email as soon as the checklist is generated?

Called the NVC this morning and got two checklists for the household size portion of the I864, both on mine and mother's (she's joint sponsoring).

My mother's mistake is clear: she put down a household size of two (her and my dad) and didn't include my wife, the immigrant she's joint-sponsoring. Of course, referring to it in terms of a "household" confused her, since we don't live with her and won't be when we get to the US either.

In my own case, I stupidly forgot to make a copy of my filled-out form. So I don't even know if I really made a mistake. If I did, I can't imagine how. There's me, my wife and our child, who I already got US citizenship for. I specifically remember not putting my wife in the table twice, I was very careful not to do that. So I don't know how I would have arrived at any other number than three. Would the NVC itself get confused if our child wasn't mentioned anywhere else in the form? I did send her CRBA and a copy of her passport to show that we are intending to move to the US. But I don't know, this has really got me down.

Anyway, we are going to fill in the I864 all over again this weekend. My mother will fill out her I864, send it overnight to Colombia by Fedex on Monday, and then I will mail the two forms with an AOS cover sheet to the NVC again. Another 30 days to wait.

There has to be a better way to do this spousal immigration process without opening it up to fraud. The way it's set up now is so costly, inefficient, stressful and bureaucratic. And we still are probably going to spend most of the rest of this year waiting for it to finish.

Called the NVC today and they informed me that I have two checklists related to household size, one on my own i864 and one on my monther's (she's joint sponsor).

Stupidly, I didn't make a copy of a my filled-out i864, so I don't know what I put there and the NVC couldn't tell me. But I am sponsoring my wife's visa, and we have a child together who is a US citizen. I was well aware of the fact that I didn't need to put my wife twice (so I didn't put her again in the spousal box, since I had already put her in the box from section 3), so the household size at the end would be 3. I simply can't fathom how I would have put anything else, though I am not sure. But the correct answer for my family would be three, correct? (Me, my wife and our child).

In the joint sponsor's case, my mother put down a household of two (her and my father), but didn't include my wife (the immigrant she is joint sponsoring) in the final tally for the household size. Should she include my wife as part of her household simply because she is sponsoring her, even though my wife is never going to actually live with her? That would mean she puts a household size of three and not two.

Thanks in advance, I think this section of the I864 could be written a lot more clearly.

Perhaps some of the old hands here can chime in...are case closings and interview appointments happening more slowly at the NVC now than in the past? If so, why?

It's been over a month since my scan date and my docs haven't even been reviewed yet.

Hi everyone,

With all of the CEAC website problems that happened recently, I ended up doing the NVC steps a bit out of the order that the instructions tell you to.

First, we filled out the DS261 and paid the AOS fee in May. Then the system went down for over a month. In the meantime, we sent in our AOS and IV packet, which has a scan date of June 11th.

We were finally able to pay the IV fee on July 5th, and then filled out the DS260 on July 9th.

According to the instructions in the Visa Journey NVC wiki and from the NVC itself, the step to fill out the DS260 comes before the sending of the AOS and IV documents, so that the case is processed 30 days after the documents are received. Then you either get a checklist or a case complete.

But it's been more than thirty days. I called the NVC today and they said my documents haven't been reviewed yet, and that it probably will take longer than 30 days. She also said the DS260 is reviewed by someone else other than the person who reviews the AOS and IV documents, and that I would probably not hear anything about whether the DS260 has been reviewed for 30 days after I filled it out.

But then again, I have seen people on the Google docs NVC spreadsheet with scan dates after mine, and who also paid the iV fee and filled out the DS260 in July, starting to get case completes, while I haven't heard anything yet.

I'm probably overthinking this. But does a case get reviewed/processed 30 days after the scan date, or 30 days after the final step in the NVC instructions is completed (in my case, the filling out of the DS-260)?

Hi Rohinifenu,

My dates are similar to yours. Scan date June 11th, paid IV fee July 5th, finished the DS260 on July 9th.

But I called the NVC today and they said that my documents hadn't been reviewed yet, and that it's taking more than 30 days for most people to get their docs reviewed. She also said that it could take up to 30 days after submitting the DS260 to get case complete, assuming everything is in order.

Judging by your case, it seems that that's not true? Although now I have to wonder why someone with a scan date after mine got case complete while I'm still waiting.

Also curious about this.

Scan date for my docs is June 11th. Site was down for a long time, so I only paid the IV fee on July 5th and filled out the DS260 on July 9th. Wondering how long it will take them to deal with what I imagine is a pretty big backlog. Will probably call next week to see what's up. Crossing my fingers that I don't get a checklist for any missing documents.

Hey Laz,

I paid the IV fee on Sunday and it is still IN PROCESS for me as well. All these website issues have got me checking that portal multiple times a day now. I know it is still in the normal range of time but I can't help feeling antsy!

Anybody who paid their IV Fees this Sunday show paid yet? When I paid my AOS fee it posted and showed paid within a day. I paid Sunday and it's still showing in process. No biggie as I know it's supposed to take 2-4 days but just checking.

Thanks,

Laz

Question. Has your DS-261 been approved yet? I believe that's has to get approved before it lets you pay the IV Fee.

I was finally able to pay my wife's IV fee online yesterday, after waiting since receiving the invoice on June 10th.

So to answer the question I posed in the original post, mailing the fees wasn't my only option. Wish the NVC were a little less vague and helpless sometimes.

So glad it seems like things are up and running again. Thanks to everyone here for helping to absorb some of my anxiety and stress in the meantime!

I am still able to sign into the CEAC portal, just not able to pay IV fees and subsequently enable the DS260.

The funny thing is I called the NVC this morning and the agent still told me "We don't know when this is going to be fixed." She should listen to the NVC's answering machine message!

I am just glad to see some kind of action being taken to solve this problem, instead of the "we don't know what's going on" routine that they've been doing the past few weeks. I hope they fix the system. Just knowing that something is being done is mellowing me out a little.

Today marks three weeks since I received my IV fee invoice. The option to pay it still hasn't been enabled in the portal. At this point, still waiting at least a month to see if the payment eventually shows up. Going to call tomorrow and see if there is any news besides the vague Department of State comment about the system being fixed early next week.

Okay VHP, thanks. But you see the IV fee in the CEAC website, with the $325 fee, and you could pay it right now if you wanted to? And it appeared after you called the NVC? How long after the AOS fee was paid and your choice of agent was confirmed?

I got the DS-261 and AOS fee paid confirmation on May 17th, got the IV invoice email on June 10th and still have my IV fee appearing as 0$ in the CEAC system. I am currently going to give it a month from the IV invoice to show up in the CEAC website and then decide what to do next.