Bello

Yay my husband is here! Process is finally over!

So he lives in Northern Ireland, so we thought it would be best to pick up from the DX Depot at the airport. We have dealt with DX in the past and they have been unreliable with delivered previous packages because we live in the country side of Ireland. It's always been easiest for us to drive to the Depot and pick up our packages there. So this being said, we didn't pay the extra fee for the delivery to be sent to our house, so on Friday we received an email with our tracking number saying "The U.S. Department of State Consulate located in London has released document related to your Visa application to our courier DX Group. The document is being sent via the courier option you selected at registration..." 

We checked the tracking number and DX said it would be available for pick up on Monday. We were hoping for my husband to fly on Sunday so he drove up to the depot early Saturday morning and the minute they opened he went in to ask if they might have it. Just to happened that the plane JUST LANDED and they were able to give him his package in 15 minutes! With the package and passport in hand, he went ahead and booked a flight to Newark Airport. 

He left Dublin this morning and went through customs there. He said the flight had no more than 50 people for this huge plane and customs gave him no problems. He landed and was able to walk right off the plane and straight to pick up his luggage. Flying through Dublin definitely was a wise choice and super quick and laid back. Aer Lingus was great and he got here half an hour earlier than anticipated. 

So so glad to have him here! Wishing everyone a speedy and smooth process as you procede with the last steps. Any questions don't hestitate to message me and we will answer to the best of our ability. Good luck everyone!

Interview completed! My husband's name wasn't on the list but he has his proof of appointment so they took care of him (remember to print out confirmation of appointment/carrier). Submitted I-864 (they mentioned something about W2 but we had pay stubs back to September as well as tax transcripts so it was ok). They appreciated the extra copies of papers we had, saved them time and was able to move the interview along faster. Paid fee. And then asked a couple questions (how we met, what my parents do, and who is supporting us). No "proof" needed. And then said that he was approved! And that was it! 1.5 hours max. They commented saying that our process was the quickest they've seen since our NOA2 was mid December. Expecting our passport back this weekend and hoping to fly this Sunday. Such a relief. So much weight lifted off our shoulders. Reunited soon enough!

Yay!!! Super excited for everyone! Keep an eye out for those interview dates because they are opening up!

An appointment just opened for Jan 31st! Literally just now! Aaahhh!!! 

Cam, I assume you tried contacting them? When we emailed them we sent emails regularly until we got our case number. At least know that once you get it you can quicken the last bit of the process. Have everything ready to go for the interviews and all. 

Medical is done! It was quite quick, my husband said he was in at 9 and out by 10:45. Everything went smooth and the people said the embassy should have our stuff by Wednesday!

So every since we received our case number we have been checking online to schedule our interview at the embassy. Originally we secured an interview for Feb 27, but it is SO EASY to reschedule your interview. We both (him in Northern Ireland and me in America) would check online a few times a day for openings and they happened quite often. Soon we had an interview for Feb 14, and then Feb 6, and now Feb 2. So we went from Feb 27th to Feb 2nd in the span of 3 days. And we are still going to try and get a date a little earlier (Jan 31st). So, can't stress enough how important it is to constantly check for a sooner date! Especially if you want to move to the USA asap. 

3 hours ago, sajan953 said:

Seems like you are doing DCF. Thats a lot different than the average way. Pretty much your I130 has been approved, and you are moving on to the NVC part of this process. Since you are doing DCF, your case will go faster at NVC as well.. but sometimes it takes awhile for the NVC NOA. 

You can check DCF forums. Enjoy being able to do DCF, you will get your visa VERY soon! ? 

Yea we have our medical scheduled this Saturday and interview Feb 14! ?

Medical booked for this Saturday! When my husband called, the lady was quick to give him an appointment next Wednesday, but he quickly asked if there was anything sooner and she said first thing Saturday morning. So definitely ask for a sooner date, the worse that could happen is they say nothing is available.

We also checked out the calendar for available dates for the interview (we didn't book anything yet) and the soonest date was for Feb. 24th. So there is at least a rough estimate for how long we should be waiting. We are hoping someone cancels in the upcoming days haha.

Our case number came in! It looks like it was assigned on January 11, but we didn't receive it until now since my husband lives in Northern Ireland and postage takes a while. But it finally came in!

Just now, Cam73 said:

One of the many forums I read. How do you know about the dates of issuing case numbers?

I read on a forum how they assign your case number. I have been guessing case numbers every day hoping to unlock something. haha

3 minutes ago, Cam73 said:

I'd love it if it's only another month - I've been alone for 12 weeks and I'm guessing another 10. 

Cam where did you hear about the Feb Appointments?

5 minutes ago, stevecov said:

This makes no sense based on all the other processing times I've been seeing, it's almost as if they have just suddenly stopped assigning case numbers...

 

I feel your frustration...the not knowing what is going on is killing us!

I know they assigned case numbers January 5th, 10th, and 12th, but only a total of 8 numbers have been assigned. Before that the last time the assigned numbers was back on Dec. 15th (11 cases assigned in one day). My husband and I are guessing that people were away on holiday, or they are short staffed, so we are hoping to hear something next week. Either way the wait is so dreadful, we have been separated for 5 weeks now and its looks to be another month :/ 

21 hours ago, Cam73 said:

Yes. Incidentally, I've heard that all the Feb appointments are now gone, so you and I will be unlikely to be entering with a visa before April if that's true.

Cam, where did you hear that all Feb appointments are gone? I still haven't heard back for a case number, this is so frustrating.

5 hours ago, jonnydi said:

Hey guys,

 

After Cam's response I emailed the embassy - took them about 10 days to get back to me, but they replied to say the case number had been sent way back on the 17th November, which is only 5 days after NOA 2 for me. I guess my letter must have been lost in the post so I would definitely recommend getting in touch with them if its been more than a couple of weeks. The wait times for the medical and the interview didn't seem too bad as I was able to book mine for the 6th of Jan and 2nd of Feb respectively, but still very annoying as it has set us back by over a month. 

 

@Cam73 - Thank you for your original advice - I'd probably still be waiting if you hadn't replied. 

 

Good luck to both of you! I know the painful feeling for watching the letterbox everyday.

 

 

When you emailed them, did you use the contact form? Could you share what emailed address they responded with? Just so then we have a more direct for of contact instead of waiting through a random contact form. 

On 12/13/2016 at 4:27 PM, Cam73 said:

Hi,

I haven't got to that stage in my journey yet, but from what I've heard I wouldn't expect it to take so long - I've heard of it being as soon as a week after NOA2. I'd email the embassy.

Good luck.

Hey Cam,

I saw that you had your NOA2 on Dec 16th! have you heard anything about a packet 3 yet?

On 12/13/2016 at 2:30 PM, jonnydi said:

Hey Everyone,

Firstly let me give you our timeline thus far:

01 Sep - Mailed package to US embassy

08 Sep - NOA 1 received and payment taken

12 Nov - NOA 2 received

We're currently still waiting for our case number to come through after almost 5 weeks which seems to be on the high side compared with some other timelines I have looked through. I just wanted to check on here to see if anyone had been at a similar stage recently and experienced a similar delay?

The letter from the embassy does say it could take 5-8 weeks but I was under the impression it is usually much quicker than this and wondered if their quoted timeline was likely to be accurate based on the experience of others. I am thinking things are likely to be slower due to thanksgiving, the election and being in the run up to Christmas.

Thanks

Hey Jonny,

Have you heard anything back yet? We received our NOA2 last month and thought the delay was strange since most people receive it a week after. Still waiting on that case number, we have even tried guessing it online with no luck :/

Is anyone else waiting for their Packet 3 for the Spouse visa? Filing DCF via London. NOA2 was dated December 16. Just trying to find someone on the same timeline, or someone who has recently gone through it.

Hey Everyone! I tried asking this in another group but had no response.. maybe someone here can help me?

 

Hey everyone! I don't know exactly how all this works, so excuse me if I confuse terms and dates and such.

So I lived in Northern Ireland and was married there on October 10th. I then filed for my husband the I-130 and sent it to the London Embassy (DCF). I received an email from "USCIS Field Office London" (email dated Oct. 18) stating that "The Petition(s) for Alien Relative (I-130) that you recently submitted to this office has been properly filed (payment taken) on October 14, 2016."

The NOA1 does not state anything about the application being sent to another office. 

I then emailed them on Dec. 15 for any information on the process.

They responded on Dec. 16:

Good afternoon,

Hey everyone! I don't know exactly how all this works, so excuse me if I confuse terms and dates and such.

So I lived in Northern Ireland and was married there on October 10th. I then filed for my husband the I-130 and sent it to the London Embassy. I received an email from "USCIS Field Office London" (email dated Oct. 18) stating that "The Petition(s) for Alien Relative (I-130) that you recently submitted to this office has been properly filed (payment taken) on October 14, 2016."

The NOA1 does not state anything about the application being sent to another office.

I then emailed them on Dec. 15 for any information on the process.

They responded on Dec. 16:

Good afternoon,