ariest

Thank you all for your congratulations and best wishes! Sorry I didn't say that before. Ive been quite busy now since I came to New York last week with so many things to do... Anyway, I wish you guys speedy approvals and reunions with your loved ones, and hope the whole process will go as smooth as possible!

I was kind of reserved to speak about that before since I could not believe my it can happen until the last moment. There was a posting by Isabel telling that her case got tranfered to the Embassy too, and people seemed doubtful about such possiblity. Now I can assert that is indeed possible! I don't know in which cases embassies do that, but apparently they use this option sometimes at their discretion. In my case it was the pregnancy.

I was worried about whether my I am going to make it to the US with all the multi-step NVC process before the due date and within a reasonable amount of time when it's allowed to fly. To assess my chances I contacted the Embassy in Bucharest (Romania) by email asking what is the timeframe to get an interview scheduled after they recieve the completed case from NVC (at that point we already sent Affidavit of Support to NVC which had not been reviewed, and had not recieved the DS-230 from NVC yet). I mentioned I am 6 month pregnant and a real nice lady (!) suggested they transfer my case from NVC and handle it in Bucharest. She said it would take up to 2 weeks for them to recieve it from NVC, and suggested to schedule the interview right away since the timeframe for scheduling is also 2 weeks. So I scheduled it in 3 weeks just to be safe, and that's how it all happened! I traveled to Bucharest to get my visa on August 8, and have left for the US in a week.

The whole experience in Bucharest went really smoothly, people were nice, and it took 2 hours all together.

Now I am sooooo happy to be back together with my husband especially that the idea of giving birth without him near bothered me a lot!

I just wanted to share with you my success story, and I guess it would be helpful for you to know that sometimes it is possible for Embassies to expedite the process.

When I first came on a year-long exchange program to the US I was also wondering what's suppposed to be shocking, but I guess I didn't have any culture shock everyone was warning about. (it's more that I had an "unculture" shock when I came back - I am also from one of the former Soviet Union countries).

I guess one of the things that surprised me was that everything requires so much advance planning from doctor visit sto purchasing show tickets to organizing an event on campus, so there is not so much space for spontaneuity (but I guess with the long immigration process your fiance is now ready for that). Another thing is that in most places in America people just don't walk on the streets, and there is no way to get comfortably around except in a car. Also, depending on your fiance English knowledge, she may find she can't understand a word of what people are saying - being an English student myself (though learning mostly British English) I was almost deaf and numb at first, especially that I ended up for my first 2 weeks in Alabama. Well, in fact, 2 things that did strike me as shocking were the amount of unhealthy food people are eating (no wonder so many obese) and the medical costs. Hope that was helpful.

Hi everyone! I am from Moldova, but will be going through Bucharest for CR1. Have anyone gone through the Bucharest embassy for a immigrant visa recently? Please share your experience, and how long it was before they can schedule an appointment.

NVC automated message says something like this: "We are now in wait for a return of biographic information from petitioner. After it is recieved it will take up to 60 weeks for reveiw." Well, not paying attention to the timeframe they pointed out, but what are they waiting for? I belived the next step is they should have sent DS230 form but it's to be filled by beneficiary, not petiotioner... Is that how it's called? I should probably wait a couple of days to see what my husband (the petitioner) actually gets in his mail, but the message just sounds weird.

That's really sad the date for K-3 hasn't changed , but in fact it's only what we should've expected - we heard of no one approved yet... With my NOA1 date of April 7, we didn't even recieve an RFE! I am totally counting on CR-1 progress now.

How did you see it? I can only see same dates from processing update on June 20. Didn't use any bookmarks... Weird.

In our case the system said that the fee was recieved (at least I think it said it) and the I-864 form was send the week of... In terms of Choice of Agent response we got the next day!

Thank you very much, aussiewench, ziggy, and meauxna - that clarfies a lot. I just wonder how I point that to the Border Agent? Should I have the marriage cert. handy? What else might I need?

Thanks for your replies! Actually, I got some good news today when calling NVC - they recieved the immigrant visa fee payment on July, 3. So it was actually one week to credit it to my case, not 25-30 business days. Good! No they say they will send further instructions withing the next few weeks. Hope it's going to be sooner than that!

Our 2-year anniversary will be October 8, 2006. There is a chance to have an immigrant visa interview before that date, but already within the 90-days (before the anniversary) when I am required to file for lifting conditions. What happens in such case? Do I have to file for lifting conditions immediately, or can they give me IR-1 instead of CR-1? What if I have CR-1 and enter the US after October 8?

I know it's still a long way before the immigrant visa process is complete, I am just curious what awaits me ahead... Thank you for your replies!

We also were confused, but decided to send it anyway. It shouldn't hurt if they have another page in the package.

well you just go back to your timeline by using the link at the top. and then change your visa type to CR1.

Well folks i got my RFE. sendign it back tommorow.

Thanks, but I currently has it as CR1, thus my K-3 timeline is not visible. Congrats on your getting of RFE!

As far as I understand the new I-864 form can be used already. However, in the NVC package my husband has recieved they include the old form from 2001. Can we just ignore that and use the new I-864 form, since we want to use the I-864EZ version? They do mention however in the Important Notice to Sponsor that only 1 year of tax return need, and the form doesn't have to be notarized. Please help me figure that out.

Well, we filed for K-3 and recently got some progress at NVC as well. Don't know which visa will be faster...

As for timelines, I had my timeline filled for K-3, and then I updated it for CR-1. In order to do that I had to change K-3 to CR-1 where it's asks what visa I filed for. And after that only CR-1 timeline is visible and updateable. Anyone knows how to fix that?

It seems that they send RFE without any regard to the NOA1 (reciept) date. I see people who filed in May and June getting them. We filed in April and still nothing...

Thank you fellow VJ-ers for all your previous answers. Here is a couple more:

1) Does DS230 come to the agent of choice? (that's what I assume, but it still feels weird as it requires beneficiary's signature)

2) Do they accept UPS, FedEx or DHL at NVC, so that I mail the form directly and fast from my home country, instead of mailing to my husband in the US first?

3) The downloadable DS230 includes both parts I and II. If I would only need to fill out Part I, is the downloadable form same as I am going to recieve from NVC?

Thanks a lot!

Here is what NVC replied in regards to whether they recieved the immigrant visa fee:

"Unfortunately the Immigrant Visa Processing fee payment has not yet been credited to the case. Please allow 25-30 business days for the fee payment to be reconciled with the case."

Is it really that much time, or they are just saying it?

This is the message I got from the NVC when asking whether the AOS fee was processed:

"NVC has received the requested Affidavit of Support processing fee for this case. The Affidavit of Support (Form I-864) package has been sent to the petitioner the week of June 26, 2006. Please allow two to four weeks for this to be received."

Does anyone have an idea why they allow for such a ridiculous amount of time? Is that mail making a trip around the world before getting to my husband?

Thanks!

I was actually wondering if it's ok to fill out DS230 electronically other then by hand...

Is it ok if I fill out the form and than print out? Has anyone done that? As they mention that we should only use the form they send us, and not download off the Internet, this way it would be clear that I didn't use their form. The reason I want to do that is because some info (like addresses) on page 1 might need to be changed, so I'll have my husband (the agent) print it out with correct info, and I am going to just mail him the page which needs a signature in advance. Also, can anyone explain, why they advice to select an agent in the US, but DS230 still has to be signed by me, thus theoretically no avoing mailing back and forth? Thanks for your input!

She cannot adjust status or get visa before the requirement is fulfilled, so it means the interview should be after Jan.10, 2007 (not sure what to put on DS-230 though). The burden of proof is on your wife to show evidence that she fulfilled the requirement, she should have saved the flight ticket and passport with entry stamps, have some proof of residence and employment in China, if any etc. That's what I heard. However, immigrant visa process is quite long, so she perhaps won't have too much empty waiting time.

Since USCIS has updated the processing dates, and nothing moved for K-3 petitions, I guess, that's a proof to us all, that K-3s are affected by IMBRA and will be sent same RFEs. I only pray it would be done fast!

Wow! NVC replied by email the next day. That was SOME shortcut! Thanks for advice!