cordoba2015

Hello everyone,
Happy to announce that after 25 days arrived in Portland OR, US
I RECEIVED THE PLASTIC GREEN CARD
when I called USCIS, they told me the green card will arrived within 120 days after POE
and I got it, after 25 days after POE!! so excited!!
now I got my SSN and Green Card, I can take a break from the long immigration process
 
this is a super useful website!! people here are always willing to help
I didn't use a lawyer, did not get any checklist, thanks all your help and support!!
 
hold on guys, wish all the best luck with u!!
 
Parsha
 

I still stand by those comments. Our visa paperwork was looked over very meticulously when we presented it at the interview and the wet signature was absolutely required. The person reviewing our documents thumbed through every single page of the Affidavit of Support for myself and for our cosponsor and they studied the signature to make sure it was authentic. My attorney made a point of telling me we absolutely needed to have the wet signature. 
 
The announcement that wet signatures are no longer required is extremely misleading, very confusing, and completely false. The way it is stated in the article makes it sound like just a photocopy is ok, but my opinion is that NVC allows photocopies of the signature for purposes of completing the case, while the wet signature is required at the embassy.

Case Was Approved
On June 23, 2017, we approved your Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, Receipt Number LINXXXXXXXXXX. We will mail your approval notice. Please follow the instructions in the notice. If you move, go to www.uscis.gov/addresschange to give us your new mailing address.
 
I fully expected my case to be approved and now I begin preparation for the NVC stage.
Good luck to everyone.

Hi Guys!
 
So my wife's CC was confirmed on 6/21/2017.  Upon further inquiry, I was informed that NVC will start to roll out August interview dates for June CCs.  
Hope to get the interview date soon!  For Islamabad interview, interview date is approx. 42 days from CC.  Hopefully we get something for first two weeks of August.  
 
Does NVC e-mail or mail any letter regarding CC or no?  
 
Many Thanks!

That is a very good point that I did not consider. I feel like we are coming up with the answer to this issue while talking it out on here haha

That is a very good point that I did not consider. I feel like we are coming up with the answer to this issue while talking it out on here haha

So point # 1 is a known reason for a wet ink to be asked. For all the documents sent electronically, the original signature are required to be brought at the interview. As NVC never vetted them.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Yeah, the stressful part is that there is not one answer for everyone. If in doubt, take the wet signature, but if they tell you a scan is fine, you have your answer.

As a general rule, if in doubt, BRING IT. The embassy can ask for whatever they want, regardless of what NVC says.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Yeah, the stressful part is that there is not one answer for everyone. If in doubt, take the wet signature, but if they tell you a scan is fine, you have your answer.

I still stand by those comments. Our visa paperwork was looked over very meticulously when we presented it at the interview and the wet signature was absolutely required. The person reviewing our documents thumbed through every single page of the Affidavit of Support for myself and for our cosponsor and they studied the signature to make sure it was authentic. My attorney made a point of telling me we absolutely needed to have the wet signature. 
 
The announcement that wet signatures are no longer required is extremely misleading, very confusing, and completely false. The way it is stated in the article makes it sound like just a photocopy is ok, but my opinion is that NVC allows photocopies of the signature for purposes of completing the case, while the wet signature is required at the embassy.

Oh so Many little things to take care of.. 
i sent email to emabassy asking if our signature can be scanned.
They replied me that they prefer original, but scanned signature is acceptable. Maybe it depends on embassy 

No problem. This was one of the issues I could not get a concrete answer for while doing my research here on Visajourney to educate myself on the process. I had to rely on my attorney to clarify this. The reason it is so confusing is because you have to distinguish between what NVC requires and what the embassy requires. Here we have the announcement from NVC:
 
https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/news/ink-signature-no-longer-required-on-affidavits-of-support.html
 
That announcement is from NVC, and there they are specifically addressing the part of the process that is at NVC. However, they include the very confusing wording that I quote:
 
"This improvement will simplify the submission of financial evidence in support of a visa application, and decrease the rate of visas refused only because the required documents were not available at the time of the visa interview."
 
That sure does make it sound like you do not need to bring the wet signature! But the embassy can still ask for whatever it wants, so better to have the wet signature. In our case that meant having the cosponsor express mail it down to us at no small expense, but at least we had it!

I still stand by those comments. Our visa paperwork was looked over very meticulously when we presented it at the interview and the wet signature was absolutely required. The person reviewing our documents thumbed through every single page of the Affidavit of Support for myself and for our cosponsor and they studied the signature to make sure it was authentic. My attorney made a point of telling me we absolutely needed to have the wet signature. 
 
The announcement that wet signatures are no longer required is extremely misleading, very confusing, and completely false. The way it is stated in the article makes it sound like just a photocopy is ok, but my opinion is that NVC allows photocopies of the signature for purposes of completing the case, while the wet signature is required at the embassy.

I recently re-entered the US with expired 2-year GC and extension letter. I skipped the kiosks and headed straight for the immigration officer. Only 4 fingers on my right hand were scanned (no thumb) and I had to take my hat off for the photo. That was it. Easy peasy.
 
Even the airline staff at check in seemed to know what an extension letter is so I encountered no problems there either.

Go ahead and pay both fees. We received a welcome email from NVC that included our case number and our invoice number. Both fees were available to be paid, so we just paid both of them immediately.

The G-325As are no longer needed, but the I-130A is needed instead. The official VJ guide is outdated now (only with this aspect...the rest of it is fine).
 
https://www.uscis.gov/system/files_force/files/form/i-130instr.pdf
The checklist is at the bottom.

Spoke to someone on the phone who said the system had "conflicting information" about whether she even needs to attend the appointment. One part of the system says she is fine and we are just waiting for a greed card, another part says they need her biometrics, but then he couldn't even see that we had an appointment scheduled. I'm now waiting for a higher up officer to call me back.
 
The incompetence of this system never ceases to amaze me. 

We received our case number almost 3 weeks after NOA2. It took a week for USCIS to send our petition to NVC after approval. Then it took a week to arrive at NVC, and almost a week for a case number to be assigned once received by NVC. I called NVC after a couple weeks to see if they had received our petition so I could have an idea of when the case number would be available. All I really cared about at that point was getting the case number and invoice number so I could pay the fees and get everything submitted as soon as possible.

Call NVC to see if they have received the petition.

No office, we went straight through with no lines. The officer at the immigration booth opened the sealed packet, asked us a couple questions, stamped the passport and sent us on our way. Made it through in 5 minutes.

No problem, let me know if you have any more questions.

ADD = Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
AKD = Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
AMM = Amman, Jordan
BGH = Baghdad, Iraq
BNS = Buenos Aires, Argentina
DMS = Damascus, Syria
FRN = Frankfurt, Germany
GTM = Guatemala City, Guatemala
GUZ = Guangzhou, China
HNK = Hong Kong
KEV = Kyiv, Ukraine
MRV = Monrovia, Liberia
MTL = Montreal, Canada
PHP = Phnom Penh, Cambodia
RDJ = Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
SYD = Sydney, Australia
TGG = Tegucigalpa, Honduras
THT = Tashkent, Uzbekistan

I've been  reading everyone's  posts on their  status, and that the  case status is not updating . Today I got up at 4:15 am to  go to the gym, which I did  . As I returned home I walked past my mailbox, a little voice told me to "check your mailbox" (something I rarely do) . I opened and didn't see anything but  continued pushed the envelopes  through my fingers. At the very bottom was  a letter with my name, before I  dismissed it I looked at the sender  "Homeland Security" . I ran inside shaking all I see was my fiancé'  name through the window. I tore it open and handed it to my roommate , who read it to me, "approved"!! Oh thank you Jesus!! I was  literally jumping up and down. I wanted to share the news with my love, but he was  still at work and an hour past , still waiting for him to get home. Once he arrived the darn Wi-Fi  was  on the brink. After multiple try's we finally connected , by this time he was  tired, hot and sure he is hungry being that it's  Ramadan.  He can't hear me well, but I was able to  give him the news, now I'm late to my 9 am appointment at work and it's 8:55am.   I can't wait until tonight to finally see his face and talk. This has been a long time coming , I'm  excited and  a few more steps and I'll be with my love.
NOA 1- 3/17/17
NOA-2- 6/9/17
God is Good !

There have been quite a few posts recently regarding traveling on an expired GC with the one year extension letter.
 
Page 38 of this document provides some reassurance:
 
https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Carrier Information Guide- English.pdf
 
It also makes clear that the 12 month extension is from the card expiry date, not the receipt date of the I-797.