tomatoboy

4 hours ago, WeGuyGal said:

I think most CBP officers even at smaller border posts are familiar with the Extension letters. If any one is not, ask to speak with their Supervisor or peer. 

Oh, no I meant their Canadian counterparts. I have no concerns about returning to the US on the extension letter, it is about using the extension letter to verify LPR status to allow for visa-free tourist entry in Canada once a green card expires. 

Out of curiosity, has anybody visited Canada in the past year or so on an extension letter. My wife is currently pending RoC and would be traveling with her extension letter. She had no issues visiting Canada via NY last fall on her green card (since US LPRs are allowed visa free entry in Canada), but I’m wondering how folks have fared using their extension letters with an expired green card of late. We were thinking of visiting Banff and Jasper National Parks while we are in Montana, but that means making the crossing into Canada at a smaller land border crossing that might not be as familiar with extension letters, and I’m wondering if anybody has run into any issues using an extension letter in Canada. 

NOA1 notice of receipt with extension letter finally received today. Had put in an e-request on in early January. It was assigned to an officer on 1/11 and they closed it out on 1/22. 18 month letter. 

We are still in the e-request “has been assigned to an officer” at VSC phase, but I’m glad to see the NOAs are finally going out for a number of November folks. USPS informed delivery has been a great help in scanning for and making sure we haven’t checked for mail, for those who don’t have it. 

We are in the same boat as several others. Filed in November. We did receive the biometrics appointment notice, attended biometrics, but no NOA1/receipt notice/extension letter has come. We have USPS Informed Delivery so I can see our mail before it arrives and I am 100% sure it isn’t just something we missed in the mail. Either they didn’t send it, or they sent it somewhere else. Did submit an e-request, waiting to see if that gets us anywhere. Giving it another few days and then we will have to try to schedule an Infopass for the stamp, as GC expires early next month. 

Looking at Cathay's website, it looks like it is $150 for each additional bag from the Phils to US. That's actually pretty reasonable. Will have to call to confirm. 

Just out of curiosity, does anybody have a recommendation for a sea freight or other low-cost shipping option from Cebu to the east coast of the US? Preferably someone you have used? My wife's CR1 was approved and we're starting to sort out what we can and cannot get over here, but so far we're not finding a ton of options on shipping. So far, the ones we found were roughly the same cost as just putting it on the airplane as excess baggage, just a LOT slower, or are mostly Manila->west coast options with drastic extra charges for Cebu or the east coast of the US. We're probably only talking about 50-100lbs at most, generally some books of sentimental value and other household items, not like furniture or anything. lol

Quick question... My wife has her CR1 interview coming up in Manila in a few days. She completed the US Travel Docs delivery address pre-registration as indicated in the requirements. We noticed an oddity on the printout, it gives a DS-160 barcode. DS-160 isn't the form for a IR/CR1. Can anyone confirm that they got a similar barcode? The visa type is correct on the form, so I'm assuming it is a quirk of them using the system for multiple things, but I just figured I'd make sure. 

Withholding the information is terrible advice. They have the same name, UNRELATED people have been scrutinized for that, and if they find out later that you concealed it there will be heck to pay.

You can expect extra scrutiny. Applicants who have some sort of family connection or even met through family often get a little extra scrutiny on the bone fide relationship question. You'd want to submit proof that if you handed said proof to anyone on the street they would see and believe you were a real couple from it alone, without knowing or meeting you both. Lots and lots of proof. This is one of those situations where "front loading" the application materials with LOTS of communication and whatnot would be very smart, in my humble opinion.

If the individual in question believes they have committed marriage fraud, the individual in question should contact a qualified immigration lawyer. They may want to discuss whether they need a criminal defense attorney with said immigration lawyer. While they find one, read up on denaturalization:

http://immigration.findlaw.com/citizenship/can-your-u-s-citizenship-be-revoked-.html

6 months or less for purposes of the visa itself. They can reduce it. My wife overhead someone getting around three months (they had latent TB) and SLEC was VERY clear about it to them. Clear enough the whole room heard. So presumably, if you get less than six months, you'll know.

The whole point of calling is to confirm if the three N/As DOES mean CC. It *usually* means CC. Not always. That's why we call. Always call to confirm. Especially since our only written confirmation our case was completed was the interview letter. lol

this is very informative thread for us too.. will fly from USA-Narita-manila with 1.5hrs layover.

I just hope that's enough time to re-check in

Thanks!!!

I'll second the question...what airline(s)?

If you are flying the same airline, an airline within the same alliance, or an airline with an interline agreement (basically every MAJOR airline), you shouldn't have to check anything, just do what I described below. If you are flying different airlines and they do not have an agreement (highly unlikely) you would then have to collect your checked bags and recheck them. Doesn't happen often unless passing through certain countries (China being a big one).

With United and Asiana, my layovers in Narita are usually 1.5-3hrs going the other direction (CEB-ICH-NRT-ERW). It will depend on your airline and the time of day, but 1.5 hours *should* be long enough provided the lines are not terribly long. All they do is scan your carry-on, swipe your passport, pass you through a metal detector (and sometimes, take your water), and you are done. The actual process takes about 30 seconds.

The lines can be pretty variable. I usually do it via United (UA 78 from ICH-[737]-NRT-[777]-EWR) and the line for UA78 *sometimes* gets nasty if another United flight happens to arrive at the same time. Even then, I think I waited maybe at most 30-45 minutes? The one time I used Asiana to get to NRT was a very short wait, despite being on a full 747.

Brassballs, I recall inquiring as to the point of asking for a CENOMAR for me (which would be blank) when my wife and I originally filed for our marriage certificate in the Philippines. What we were told was that it was to check for prior marriages in the Philippines, in the event one had occurred and the USC spouse was being dishonest.

Presumably, the point of the CENMAR/CENOMAR (aside from just the certificate of marriage) at the consular level is similar...they are verifying that both the USC and the Filipino spouse both have no prior marriages (in the Philippines), or have disclosed all their prior marriages on the previous paperwork. I'm sure they get a at least a few people a year who fail to disclose a prior marriage.

I just went and had my wife order CENMARs for both of us, and looking at them, it certainly looks like that would be what the CO would be looking for, since they list our marriage in a format that suggests if any other marriages were listed they would be in chronological order.

Hmmm... I was curious about this as well. I used TurboTax for the past 5-10 years and none of my returns were wet-signed. At an earlier stage in processing (NVC), I just put a signed note with the returns saying they were done in TurboTax and filed electronically, so they were not originally signed, and left them unsigned, but included my tax transcripts as verification. NVC had no issue with it.

However, since you are dealing with USCIS, and they aren't looking to verify the amount but the names, your mileage may vary. I'm wondering if a "return transcript" might help. I'm not sure what data is on those.

Hopefully somebody will chime in about how they handled this with an I-751.

Call NVC on Monday after 7AM EST.

Congratulations u r still my lucky charm so far, I got mine very late yesterday as well

Lol, and I've actually been using another group of users as my "measuring stick" for when to call NVC, since when their stuff gets finished ours is usually done the following day or two.

I've got a question...

NVC's original checklist sent with the welcome materials asked for an ORIGINAL I-864.

Now, the interview letter says my wife needs to bring the ORIGINAL to the interview.

Now, I've got an extra copy I filled out in ink, but obviously it isn't the *original* of the one I previously sent, it is a separate "original." I'm not exactly sure what to do. Advice?

NVC actually sent the interview letter to both our email addresses LATE last night. Thanks!

after your case was completed how long do you usually wait to call nvc for your interview date? if you have not receive any email/mail to confirm?

Our case was completed 11/21, based on confirmation over the phone. They did send us an interview letter LATE last night, confirming the interview date, so about two weeks after the case complete date. It can be longer or shorter depending on when they finish your case, since they only schedule during parts of the month.

I'm still waiting to see if the NVC generates the email tonight. When they've sent e-mail in the past it came very late at night. As of right now, it has not been sent (not in spam folder).

The NVC representative actually said they had not sent anything yet, as they had *literally* just scheduled it. I'm wondering if that means they are going to mail it. We've gotten sporadic email and only one piece of actual mail during the entire process, and they send it to my wife through me as the agent, so hopefully they'll mail it here rather then send it to her...the mail from here to Cebu has been taking about 3-5 weeks...if they don't send an email.

When you say the NVC letter, you mean the original "the NVC has received your case, the numbers are..." letter?

When you mention "ready" in CEAC, which screen are you referring to? The general status page?

We're aware of the visa validity date being tied to the medical examination date. Unfortunately, with her being in Cebu and wanting to keep working until she leaves, our scheduling options are somewhat limited right now. We actually weren't expecting a January interview date (assumed February based on NVC's progress), so this is all being done somewhat on the fly.

Case complete 11/21 and scheduled for interview 1/17, according to NVC over the phone. Nothing paper or email from NVC or Manila to confirm yet.

Normally, when you go for an medical, you bring the interview appointment letter with you to the medical. However, we just found out that Manila scheduled my wife's interview for 1/17...over the phone. No interview letter yet, and based on NVC's mailing record, I'd say there is a 50% chance we will get it before my wife needs to do the medical (probably in mid-December).

I know Manila allows advanced medicals. But what documents can you use in lieu of the interview appointment letter? Is the original NVC sheet with the case number enough? She's going to call SLEC tomorrow, but I'd like to hear what other people's experiences have been.

Manila is also scheduling for January. Just got word of my wife's interview.