CallMeShams

Hi! I just recently signed up.

My husband is an LPR. We were married March 5, 2015. He is currently processing his N400 application and got his Biometrics appointment and it will be on Aug. 23, 2015.

We were confused on when to file an i-130 petition for me. IF we file right away, (he is still an LPR) we can upgrade the petition from F2A to a CR1 once he gets naturalized, right? I have seen posts on some threads that it will take a maximum 60 days for the upgrade to take effect. That would take a while and we dont want any delays because we've been in a long distance relationship for 6yearsssss....and we cant wait to be together for good

So our second option is to wait for him to be naturalized (hopefully it will be soon) and we will file the i-130 (CR1) petition afterwards to avoid the 60days waiting period of an upgrade.

W/c is better? We are really confused now

I need your suggestions VJers.. Especially those who are similar to this case.. Thank you so much!

It is my opinion it is bes to get the I-130 started as soon as possible and the upgrade when available. That is what I did. After naturalization and informing USCIS of that, it should take about 7 days to upgrade the visa category. Enlisting the assistance of a congressman or senator is helpful.

Now she is your wife past applications for B1/2 in no way affect her petition unless she told

lies on those app. and is caught now....otherwise there is nothing for her to worry about, I'd

suggest she carries the originals of her birth & marriage certs to the interview along with

photos and evidences you already turned in and whatever her checklist from NVC state that

she brings. She should know where you work & your kids names (if U have kids)also parents

No need for her to be nervous will be like a regular convo a bit different than asking for a visa

to visit...she must disclose all past reuest

Thanks for the response.

I didn't get the last part of your post. ....she must disclose all past?

So.. it looks like my CR-1 was sent to the NVC June 17th. There hasn't been an update or anything since then.. I'm getting a bit worried.

I plan on emailing them, but can someone let me know what I need to include as information? I assume my wife and mines name, the reciept number, birthdates..

Anything else? Also, this is unusual that I haven't been assigned a number yet right as it's been over 6 weeks.

I take it you have called the NVC and asked about your case number?

I assume you were able to confirm that USCIS did indeed send your I-130 application to the NVC?

Looks like they have been providing case numbers 12 days after receipt of the application.

Here is what NVC sent me in an e-mail.

If U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) approved your petition more than eight weeks ago, send us a scanned copy of your I-797 or I-171 Notice of Action -- Approval Notice. You can email the scan to nvcresearch@state.gov.

Please type your receipt number in the subject line of your email. If you have more than one petition, please send a separate email for each petition. We will contact USCIS on your behalf to find your petition.

Before you send us an email, please check your Notice of Action. If it says USCIS retained your petition, or if it is any type of notice other than an approval, you should contact USCIS. You can reach them at 1-800-375-5283 or on their website at uscis.gov for more information.

Greetings to all. Thanks in advance for your assistance. I appreciate the wealth of information on this site.

I am the petitioner and my wife who is in Jamaica is concerned about whether or not we have sufficient supporting documents to provide evidence of bonafide relationship.

We are currently at the NVC stage, having just received our case number and invoice ID number.

When we filed the I-130 application, the supporting evidence we provided was a copy of the marriage certificate, a copy of our honeymoon itinerary, and some wire transfer receipits.

My wife has had a slew of negative experiences when she tried for a non immigrant visa in times past, so I can understand why she is very apprehensive about attending such a climatic interview.

Here are a couple questions:

Is there an opportunity to present addtional supporting documentation to the Embassy prior to the interview, maybe in the NVC package? Is that even suggested?

It would appear that during the interview at the Embassy, some are not asked for any supporting documentation, is that random or is it because they provided a plethora of supporting documents in their I-130 application package?

Any reassurance you share as to the interview experience.

so what is the fastest way to bring her here to the usa please

She can marry a US citizen or get engaged to a US citizen.

An employer in the US could file for her.

She could attend school if accepted in the United States.

Those are some options that came to mind.

Ok, so would the applicant info. on the form I am filling out for myself (the petitioner) be my information, that part is confusing to me as the heading states applicant.

Yes it would. That would be your information.

I can see the confusion but you will be good if you fill in your information. Your beneficiary will fill in their information on theirs

Good to ask questions and all the best with your petition.

It is my understanding that both you and your prospective spouse would need to fill out the document.

Also include a picture.

There is still hope, the paper form was fine, and the omission is just a glitch in my I-130 PDF copy i've been keeping in my laptop. Because I simply COULD NOT make that mistake! I checked everything before printing and then looked through the printed form to make sure everything got printed properly.

WHat kind of mistake was that, please?

I think I wrote the date of the wedding for the date of birth of the petitioner who is me lol.

I was so mad when I found that out after it was sent.

I think you should be ok. I would be surprised if this was held against you.

I made a mistake on my I-130 and was quite upset, however it was approved so I felt better.

I hope the same for you as well.

That is amazing.

Sounds like you would set a record.

So that is direct consular filing eh?

I called the NVC this morning and they didn't assign me a case number yet. They received our approved petition since the 21st July. Today's my birthday I should get my case number after all

Looks like you will recieve your case number in about 12 days from recepit of your application.

221(g):

The document issued by the Department of State under Section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) is for the most part used for requesting additional information from the beneficiary such as missing documents, additional evidence, or advising them of not being able to issue their visa due to pending name/security checks i.e. Administrative Processing However, Section 221(g) is also used by the Department of State when returning petitions/applications to the USCIS for further review ultimately recommending revocation.

Why are Petitions/Applications Returned to the USCIS by an Embassy/Consulate Under Section 221(g)?:

Petitions/applications are returned for a variety of case specific reasons. Returning a petition/application to the USCIS means that the embassy/consulate refuses to issue a visa to the beneficiary, but they do not have specific evidence to actually deny a visa application. So the next best thing to do is return the petition/application to the USCIS office where the petition was originally filed requesting further review and ultimately recommending revocation.

What Happens When a Petition/Application is Returned to the USCIS by an Embassy/Consulate?:

221(g) is issued to beneficiary at conclusion of the interview stating the application and/or petition is being returned to the United States.

Petition is returned to the United States by the interviewing consulate for "further review"

Returned petition is received by the NVC. It is reviewed and entered into the fraud database by fraud management.

Returned petition is sent to the local USCIS service center where the petition was originally filed and approved.

Local service center receives returned petition.

Local service center who processed the original petition sends a notice of receipt to the petitioner.

Local service center reviews the returned petition and consular officer notes on the case.

Local service center then sends either a NOID (Notice of Intent to Deny) or NOIR (Notice of Intent to Revoke) to the petitioner also asking for more proof of the relationship, many cases have specific consular objections to rebut.

Petitioner is given 30-60 days from date of NOIR/NOID (depending on the service center) to respond with additional evidence of the relationship or other specific evidence. The timeframe to respond will be provided in the letter.

Local service center receives evidence...if in the timeframe given (30-60 days) the case is reviewed and either original approval is reaffirmed or the petition is officially denied.

If the petition is denied the local service center sends the petitioner an 'official' denial letter. This can be officially appealed if the denial letter states such.

If the petition is reaffirmed the local service center sends the petitioner an official notice of reaffirmation.

Local service center sends the reaffirmed petition AND its evidence provided in the rebuttal directly to the consulate along with a recommendation to issue a visa.

Consulate notifies the beneficiary of a new interview date.

Beneficiary has interview for the reaffirmed petition and the visa is either issued, or the case in placed in Administrative Processing which after cleared a visa is issued, or worst case scenario it is denied via Section 221(g) and returned again to the USCIS with a recommendation for revocation

You'll probably have to wait till your case reaches your Service Center(Vermont) and once they contact you THEN you need to respond effectively.

Thanks for the reference. Very good post.

Yes. As noted above my another poster, it is a pretty significant wait time.

Age will not be a factor. See information here: http://www.uscis.gov/family/family-us-citizens/siblings/bringing-siblings-live-united-states-permanent-residents

Excellent. You are good to good. You green card is on the way.

Congratulations.

Unfortunately at his time you will not be able to.

See here: http://www.uscis.gov/family/family-green-card-holders-permanent-residents

When you become a US citizen, you will be able to do so.

Thank you @ callmeshams and @hisempress2013 for the comforting words, at least there is still a gleamed of hope. My husband did an info pass some time in June I believe and he was informed that the case was being processed and that we should hear something with 15 days. Still nothing positive. If I may add he received a letter in response to a service request that he made stating something along the lines that a visa number had to be available and that the case may take up to a year to process. It was my understanding that USC's do not have to wait for a visa number to be available therefore I do not understand why we would be given that information especially since we received a letter prior stating that the case was upgraded.

Regarding the email sent to USCIS I don't remember clearly where we got the email address to email a copy of the naturalization certificate but it was not through the senator. We did that shortly after calling to request the upgrade. Senator became involved in June.

Patiently waiting

You are welcome. There is much frustration with the process.

Something is a miss and it reminds me of something that happened to me. Seems something went awry with change over from a permanent resident to US citizen. I was a permanent resident when I filed the I-130 and after being naturalized I followed the instruction USCIS gave to contact the service center. They sent me the letter I sent them along with my evidence of naturalization but with no acknowledgement that anything would be done. I called customer service and wasn't given a satisfactory response. I enlisted the help of the congressman and he forwarded a letter I wrote where I called into question what they did. It worked in my favor.

See if you can write a letter and have your senator pass it on to the respective USCIS liason person. I think even an e-mail should suffice.

You highlighted an error they made, you right mention you wouldn't be constrained to a visa limit. It may not be applicablen now but USCIS error is grounds for your application to be expedited and they certainly made an error with the visa limit spill post naturalization.

Please keep up aprised of what happens.

I imagine it would the Embassy where you would make the appeal. If you were denied, they didn't give any grounds for the denial?

Hello Every One,

I have been following for a few months now and I must say that the members on this site are excellent with providing help and advise to others on their various situations.My husband and I are in situation right now and would very much appreciate the advise and expertise of anyone on here who has an suggestions. I have browsed many topics but cant seem to find a situation quite like ours.

Our situation goes like this, my husband sent in our I130 petition back in September 2014 to the Vermont service center while he was still a Permanent Resident. (We sent the application back then since my husband had proceeded with his application for naturalization and thought this would save us some time with processing when he later upgraded our petition to that of a USC). He used a consultant who prepared the package and included the I130 application forms, our marriage certificate from my home country, my birth certificate as well as his and copies of our passports. Sadly I only found this website after our petition was sent and once I did I realized that the package that was sent off did not include any evidence to support that our marriage was bona fide. I mentioned this to my husband and he stated that the consultant advised that if and when any additional documents are required by USCIS they will make a request for it. Surely this cannot be correct and my husband was very ill informed. Anyway my husband naturalized in February 2015 and therefore made a request that our petition be upgraded based on his naturalization. At the time of the request the CSR from USCIS asked for his name and date of naturalization and indicated that this would be sufficient to facilitate the upgrade. Based on my readings from this website I highly doubted that this would be sufficient and had my husband send in a copy of his naturalization certificate via email just to be on the safe side. In early March of 2015 my husband received a letter from USCIS informing him that our case had been upgraded and that he should use the date of his naturalization as the appropriate benchmark to estimate when he should receive a decision on our case. I understand that the processing time for a USC is 5 months and therefore 5 months from the date of my husband's naturalization would be in July 2015. To this day we have not received any positive information on our case my husband keeps calling but gets the same scripted answer every time he calls. In addition he has also gone to his local senators office who informed him that when he contacted USCIS he was told that the Vermont office is still working on September 2014 cases . I find this very hard to believe as I am on this website every day and have seen several cases from the Vermont office from February and even March that have already been given approvals.

My only regret is that I did not find this website sooner and to do this on our own. I feel like the consultant messed things up from the get go and I am almost certain that we will be receiving an RFE however 5 months has passed and still nothing has been received.

Can anyone please advise on what they suggest our next step should be. We are feeling so lost right now and would appreciate any advise that can be offered.

Thank you

Thank you for sharing your experience. I am sorry to hear things have not gone as you would like.

I am glad you were able to upgrade your petition. I had to do something similar.

I am not too familiar with the processing times are the Vermont service center but I can see your concern.

You could do an infopass to speak to someone at the local field office or you could call customer service and request to speak to a supervisor and share your concern as you are wondering what happened.

How were you able to send an e-mail to USCIS via email? Was it through your senator?

Yikes, I hope to be at this month in near future. That is quite a bit of time to wait for an interview.

I guess when it rains it pours. I think I have been dealt a raw deal with this migration thing. My story is thus. I have been married in August 2013 to my long time sweet heart. I happen to love her more than life itself. At the time of our marriage she was a P.R. In September 2013 we sent in our I-130 We got a priority date fior the 26th of September 2013. Our case was at the USCIS from that time until it was finally approved January 7, 2015. so that's 15.5 months. of waiting.

I happened to call the NVC in February of this year I was told my priority date is January 7, 2015. The same day the petition was approved. I was asked to send the I- 797C as evidence to show my priority date. I did almost 60 days later I got a response staing the email was improperly sent so I should redo it. Well I done what they requested. During that time my wife got naturalized & documents were sent by her & myself to the NVC with proof to request the category be changed from F2A to IR. we received correspondence in May that it is under review. We got a response last night that they accept the fact she was naturalized & they would proceed with the case. Only to notice we have now been placed iin the F1 category now. I kid you not. When I called last night after waiting over 2 hours I was told by the agent who can clearly see I am not my wife's son that there is nothing he can do because if someone made an error I have to correct it. So now I have to send another email with all the documents to they already have up the wazoo to prove I am not my wife son. BTW we are the same age. I honestly don't know what to do it's like talking to a brick wall when you talk to the agents there they just tell you the same gibberish. No one seem to use initaitive. So now all the persons who filed in and around the same time as I do are either receiving there visas or already migrated & I have to wait 7 years for my priority date to become current.

Very sorry to hear of your experience. Very unfortunate item.

I think contacting the senator is a good idea. They normally make contact with NVC very quickly and can get a response in about 2 days.

Well they tell me it takes 4 weeks after they receive the case but I doubt that's reasonable.

However they didn't give me case number yet. They got my case on July 17.

I suspect you will get your case number either tomorrow or Monday. Based on my experience it is close to 12-13 days.

All the best.

Does anyone know typically how long after given the case number you can complete the Choice of Address and Agent (DS-261) form?

We just got our case number today and our I-130 was approved on June 22, 2015.

Call the NVC and inquire if they have received your case.

All the best.