mlouiser

On 3/28/2020 at 7:50 PM, Boston17 said:

Hi. 1-751 ROC was transferred to Potomac in January 2020, prior to filing the N-400 a few days ago. Im in Boston, MA.

@Boston17 -- I'm curious if you had an worries about submitting your N-400 while the physical permanent residence card is showing expired? When you submitted your evidence (including front and back of the card), did you also include the 18 month extension letter as proof that you're still on track? My husband hit his 90 day prior to 3 year mark yesterday, and we're eager to apply for citizenship, but don't want the physical card showing "expired" to cause any problems/delay. 

I agree with all of those statements, hah!

Especially the part about the process being super backwards!!!

Fun fact - I actually got to go through a video call with someone from the White House working on a project with the State Department to "improve" the visa process. I shared LOTS of feedback; not leaving out my immense frustration with the process ??

Anyways, just wanted to consult since I know we're on the same timeframe here. I am sure they'll be there by the 6th as promised as well

Again, safe travels and have so much fun! I'll be there the week of the 17th-25th ✈️

Hey Will - just curious if you've been checking the CEAC portal to track your fiancé's visa (https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx)?

Ours has said "no status" all week, and just changed to "administrative processing" this morning.

It reads:

"Your visa case is currently undergoing necessary administrative processing. This processing can take several weeks. Please follow any instructions provided by the Consular Officer at the time of your interview. If further information is needed, you will be contacted. If your visa application is approved, it will be processed and mailed/available within two business days."

The "if your visa application is approved" note is conflicting, as the consular officer already told him it was "approved" and gave him a document with instructions for pick up - his pick up date is listed as September 6th.

Just curious what your pick-up date was listed as, and if the CEAC portal shows anything different for you?

Sorry I'm sure you're super busy preparing for your trip!

Congrats, Will!

We also received the green light and are BEYOND thrilled

He said he only asked a few questions:

-How/where did you meet?

-Where does your fiancé work/what does she do? Also asked for the evidence to back this up > he presented the letter from my employer.

-Asked to see some pictures.

-Asked if he/I was ever married before (we weren't).

-Asked how we communicate/what languages do we speak in.

-Said congratulations you are approved, welcome to the US and presented him with a letter that gave instructions for his visa pickup from the designated DHL location!

We also had about 40-60 pages of documentation (including the affidavit of support info) that he didn't even ask for - we also included lots of proof of relationship info in our initial petition.

Similar to what Will reported, my fiancé said it was pretty simple and painless. Certainly want to be available as a resource as well if anyone has questions.

Safe travels and have fun celebrating Inkutatash (New Years) together, Will!

Happy Friday everyone!

Can't believe the 29th is only 3 short days away ? Getting sooooo excited!

Just wanted to update that I also received the information that the embassy emailed me (including the checklist and official letter saying they are ready to begin our approved petition) PLUS our approved I-129 form with stamp from USCIS, in the mail. I scanned these 6 pages of the I-129F with the stamps and markings by USCIS so that he could print them and have them on hand when he goes to his interview Monday. Not sure that this is necessary (as it wasn't included in the checklist they sent), but I just wanted to be extra vigilant that he has ALL if not more documentation.

Also, this is probably a totally silly question, but the interview appointment time reads 12:30 EAT - meaning 12:30 PM - I'm only wanting to double check on this because Ethiopia utilizes a different time system than us, which was ALWAYS confusing when I lived there. But because this is coming from the US Embassy I'm sure they're utilizing our time reference, yes?

Will, if I can ask, what time does your fiancé plan on arriving Monday?

Hello Maggie,

So does it mean that without this "Embassy confirmation and instruction letter", one can not attend the interview after scheduling for it even when one has the "Visa Application and Interview Confirmation"? Just wondering if the email is in lieu of the so called "packet 3." Good luck to you and also to Will on Aug 29.

Not too sure on that... It wasn't made clear, but the wording of the letter makes it sound like the embassy should give you the go-ahead before the interview date, or it could cause delays?

"This office is ready to begin your approved I­129 petition filed your behalf. "

Definitely not certain on that answer though, but if I hear anything more on that I will keep this thread updated.

I'm thinking maybe it's a new process where packet 3 isn't required? Either way, I'm going to force myself to stay positive. It seems like packet 3 is only a email away so we still have almost 3 weeks to receive it. I hope we find out something soon and I'll report back if I hear anything on my end.

Morning Will (and anyone else reading!)

Firm believer that positive thinking brings positive results - woke up this morning to an email from the Embassy ??

It was a response to the initial email I sent on July 27th (just days after I had heard from the NVC that our petition had been forwarded on to the Embassy). The first page says:

 AMERICAN EMBASSY ENTOTO STREET P.O. BOX 1014ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIADate: 09 Aug 2016

Dear XXX: 

Chief, NIV/K Visa Branch

Visa AppointmentDate            Time********************            ***********************

I am attaching a copy of the checklist and instructions which were included following the brief little letter above ^^

It's basically the same info listed on their website, with a bit more detail.

So it took exactly two weeks for them to respond to my first email request, and who knows if they'll ever respond to the second now that they've given me the info we need (also not sure if sending two emails actually delayed their response time as they mentioned in the auto-responder...). BUT, that still gives you plenty of time to receive their response to your email request you sent before the 29th. Keeping my fingers crossed that it comes in the next couple of days so you don't need to stress (don't stress anyways, it's going to come)!

I'll continue to keep this thread updated if anything changes in the next 3 weeks before the interview date.

Oh yeah, I also came across this checklist that another MVJ member who was approved for a K1 visa in Ethiopia this February posted, for documents to bring to the interview. I'm going to try and gather as much/if not all of the info for my fiancé to bring with him to his interview - just so we have all the bases covered:

INTERVIEW DOCUMENTS

Section 1

· Embassy confirmation and instruction letter

· Visa Application and Interview Confirmation

Section 2

· DS-160 Form

· Visa payment

· Valid passport

· Birth certificate

· Police certificate

· Medical examination

· Rights and Protections for Foreign-Citizen Fiancé

Section 3 Evidence of support

· Form I-134

· Statement of Employment

· Paystub-1 & 15 January 2016

· Paystub-1 & 15 February 2016

Section 4 Evidence of relationship with the petitioner

· Fiancé Letter of Intent – Petitioner

· Fiancé Letter of Intent – Beneficiary

· Marriage Date with Quote

· Letter from Beneficiary’s Father

· Letter from Beneficiary’s Mother

· Letter from Beneficiary’s Cousin/Lawyer

· Letter from Father Tom Donovan (Catholic Priest)

· Letter from Ahmed Fouad (Petitioner friend)

· Letter from Artur Kolojeski (Petitioner friend)

· Plane Boarding Tickets

· Visa Stamps

· Phone Logs

· Engagement Ring Receipt

· Engagement Ring Photo

Section 5 Tax Returns

· 2015, 2014, 2013

PETITION DOCUMENTATION

Section 5

· I-129F

· G-325A Biographical Petitioner

· G-325A Biographical Beneficiary

· USCIS Notice of Action 1 (I-797C) Receipt

· USCIA Notice of Action 2 (I-797C) Approval

· NVC Letter

Section 6

· Petitioner Divorce Decree

Apologies again for the overload of info, I just know I've been searching for some more thorough answers so I hope this is helpful.

Cheers!

Wild - I definitely believe you though! And appreciate you posting the document as well ??

I received our letter from the NVC in the mail on July 29th, and it stated the same that you mentioned above...

I have just spent the last hour or more scanning through other Ethiopia K1 visa member posts, timelines, etc and it's seeming pretty clear that we need that packet 3. I messaged someone who has been rather vocal throughout the different forums but have yet to hear back, so hopefully he'll send me some info ASAP! I will certainly keep you posted and I hope you do the same.

Either way, I'm sending the most positive vibes for both of us that August 29th is going to go just swimmingly and the stars will be aligned and we'll have those visas in hand within the first week of September. I've got a good feeling, so let's just keeping fueling the positivity shall we?

Awesome thanks for that update Will!

So just to clarify - when your fiancé went to the Embassy to inquire about packet 3, they told her that they won't send one at all? Meaning that you should just follow the instructions on the website and not worry about receiving a packet 3? That also seems strange since many people have posted here in their timelines about receiving a packet 3... I also inquired with a friend who completed the process back in October/November and she said her fiancé received a packet 3 in the mail, about 1-2 months AFTER the NVC forwarded their case to the Embassy. This worries me that maybe the packet 3 is required before paying and scheduling the interview online? The documentation is so vague and varies ever so slightly depending on the source you're reading.

Definitely not trying to make you worry as well hah, just wanting to clarify what info your fiancé received when visiting the Embassy. Appreciate the discussion very much!

PS Still no word from my two email requests to the embassy (2 weeks and counting)...

Hi Will,

So I came across this post of yours while researching info regarding the next steps needed for my fiancé to complete now that our case has been forwarded to the Embassy in Addis, and I was curious if you've received your "packet 3" from the Embassy yet or any info from them at all?

Your post makes it sound like you're pretty much on the same time frame as we are, and so I'd be super grateful if we could compare notes!

We received word from the NVC on July 22nd that our paperwork was forwarded to the embassy in Addis, but have yet to hear anything from the Embassy... I emailed them the week after we heard from the NVC that our case had been forwarded to the embassy (addisfiance@state.gov) to see what the next steps were (i.e. if we needed to wait for packet 3 BEFORE paying the fee and scheduling an interview date), but didn't hear anything all week, so we just went ahead with the next steps listed on their website > filled out the DS-160 > registered his account online > payed the visa fee > and scheduled his interview date for August 29th (we also only had the option of August 8th or the 29th when accessing the portal to schedule an interview).

After not receiving a response to my email for a week, I sent another email updating them that we had completed these steps and scheduled his interview for August 29th > and requested that they send the packet 3 via email at their earliest convenience (aka NOW! haha). I saw that someone mentioned this was a way for them to expedite packet 3 in the Embassy info, here.

He completed his medical exam this past Monday (they only needed the printout from the online account saying he had payed the fee and scheduled his interview), and will receive those results on August 19th. He was also able to collect his police records this past Thursday as well. I am in the process of collecting the necessary paperwork for the I-134 and I'm nearly finished - and we have also made sure to collect the documents listed on the Embassy website for K1 visas > here and here.

Anyways, sorry for the overload of information but again, just hoping we can compare notes and get some comfort in knowing/hearing that someone else is going through the similar steps at a very similar time!

Thanks so much ??