EG&XY

1 hour ago, newton said:

The job meets all of the requirements for financial support. BUT I don't have a w2 and an IRS transcript (naturally because I haven't been back for enough time).

Do you just not have the W2 and tax related documents from this job? Or do you not have any tax documents at all? Did you file taxes while you were not living in the US?

If it is just that you don't have documents relating to the new job, that probably won't be a big issue. If you have not been filing taxes at all, then that will be a bigger issue that you need to get corrected now.

CC today, yay! Sorry for those of you having to wait for review of paper submissions. We were one of the lucky group that get to do email processing. If anyone has the choice, you really should choose email processing. Our review only took 1 week from when we submitted everything until CC.

In case anyone else is from China and still waiting to get to the point of submitting documents to NVC, here is our case:

Aug. 01, 2017 - Submitted DS-260 and supporting documents

Aug. 02, 2017 - Received email with new GZO number (for China GUZ is initially assigned but when email processing is selected the case number converts to a new GZO number)

Aug. 09, 2017 - CC (Ceac shows "At NVC" and the AOS fee line disappeared)

We know someone else from china who did paper processing (their lawyer is lazy) and it took ~8 weeks to get to case complete, as compared to our ~1 week.

33 minutes ago, Jimenez1717 said:

It let me only do the agent part

Thanks 

Call and ask them to review the agent selection over the phone. Otherwise I can take something like 3 weeks for them to review it. The immigrant visa fee won't be invoiced until they have reviewed that.

And once you get the welcome letter then the aos fee should be available for payment.

8 hours ago, Transborderwife said:

I disagree.  If you're purchasing something that needs a birthdate it's important that it's valid.  Stolen id's are a big business 

I agree, but but from what I understand the passport is valid, it is only that the visa that was expired. Sounds to me like a cashier was being a bit over zealous. But I'm not quite sure why they would have looked at the visa and not just the bio page of the passport.

7 hours ago, Jimenez1717 said:

How long after the nvc received your approved petition did they assign a case number? 🤔

USCIS (TSC)

June 28 - Approved I-130

June 30 - Sent to NVC

NVC

July 12 - Confirmed that they have received the files (don't know for sure exactly when it actually arrived)

July 19 - Case number and IIN numbers available

July 20 - AOS fee invoiced (payment ended up taking ~1 week to show as paid due to the system issues NVC was having) and DS-261 reviewed by phone

July 28 - IV fee invoiced

Aug. 1 - DS-260, IV civil document, and AOS documents submitted

Aug. 2 - New GZO case number issued (we are using email processing for China, which requires that they issue a new GZO case number to replace the original GUZ case number)

1 hour ago, Jordan38 said:

Immigrant Visa Application Processing Fee (step 2).

So we should pay it now. Thank you for your help.

So you already paid the Affidavit of Support fee? If so then as soon as the IV fee is paid then your DS-260 should unlock.

While you are waiting you can organize everything else so that once the fees are paid and you have completed the DS-260 you can immediately send in all of the supporting documents. Basically you can do Steps 4 and 5 (collecting all the supporting documents) now while you are waiting.

On 8/6/2017 at 8:28 AM, Timam1 said:

Hello, I've paid my Iv fee last week but today it shows pay now ,what do I do now? Should I pay again or wait till I call the NVC?

Don't pay again until you have confirmed that you need to.

I had something similar happen recently. Check on the "receipts" portion of ceac to see what status is reported there? Also, check with your bank to see if they are/have processed the payment. You can also just call nvc and ask.

in my case we actually received two invoices for the IV fee. I paid after receiving the first and then about 12-24 hr later got a second invoice (only one beneficiary in our case) and the fee status changed back from "in process" to "pay now". But when I went to the receipt page it still showed "in process" with the payment confirmation info. I also called to make sure that the second invoice wouldn't be a problem and the said that there is a glitch in the system and sometimes this happens. Once the payment clears it will be fine and the second invoice doesn't impact anything. About 1 day later the payment was processed and the ds-260 unlocked.

1 hour ago, Jordan38 said:

Hi!

Wish we do not need to wait for a long time again! 

We received in 11/7 an email from the NVC to complete 6 steps before the interview.

First step require to wait 3 weeks before going to step 2. Now we have been late for 3 weeks before we finished step one! should we wait 3 weeks for step 2?

We already received an email from the NVC to pay the fees (which is step 2).

What to do now? Should we do step 2 or wait until the 3 weeks from submitting step one finish? ??

 

Which fees have been invoiced? If a fee is available for paymebt, then pay it. The visa application will not unlock until both fees are paid.

It took us about 30 days from when USCIS mailed our case to the NVC until we got through the 6 steps and had everything submitted.

2 minutes ago, spasiba said:

Thank you, this is very helpful.  I'm a USC.  How I'm interpreting your answer is that once we get married at City Hall she'll have some time to fill out the AOS applications and mail them to USCIS.  I hear it is better to send these forms as early as possible in order to increase our chances of her getting approved to become a USC.

It doesn't really have anything to do with her chances of getting approved. Before she applies for the adjustment of status she could be deported, once she files she will be back in legal status since she had a pending application. Any time that she was out of status (after f1 expires and before she files) will be forgiven as long as she completes the adjustment of status and obtains the green card.

Just to be clear she is applying for a green card. She will not be eligible for citizenship until she has had the green card for 3 years (she can apply for citizenship after having the green card for 2 years and 9 months). And in between she will have to apply for a removal of conditions to change from a conditional green card to a permanent green card.

Sorry, ignore my previous post, I have edited it since I realized after posting what the situation was.

49 minutes ago, spasiba said:

Hello,

I was wondering what the requirements are for a co-sponsor in a marriage context.  My future spouse is a Ukrainian citizen and we are in the process of filling out the forms to send to USCIS.  I do not make the minimum salary of $19,662 so I am told I need a sponsor.  I was going to ask my father but he is still deciding and we do not have too much time since her visa is expiring soon.  Before we ask some close friends of ours to help, I just wanted to clarify what the minimum salary of a co-sponsor must be and other requirements in order for them to legally sponsor us.

Thank you!

 

K and N

@Sunnyland

She is in the US on a F1 and in OPT. They are looking to marry and adjust status.

@spasiba

Would you have enough assets? I am guessing not, but if you did then you could use those to meet the minimum requirements (but the threshold is different). Otherwise aleful gave you the information you are seeking, they must be a USC or LPR and they have to meet the same requirements depending on their household size.

The petitioner (US citizen or legal permanent resident) is responsible for completing the I-864. It is not unusual for the forms to still be in use after the expiration date on them expires. You will just have to check the form version when it comes time to submit it to make sure that you fill out the correct one. For now you can use that one as a guide, but you won't be submitting that form for quite a while.

You will eventually need to complete the DS-260, which is the actual visa application. You won't be able to find an actual form since it is an electronic form that you fill out in CEAC (the online system that the NVC uses). You can take a look at this example (https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/DS-260 Exemplar.pdf), but it is likely a little bit out of date.

For now just focus on familiarizing yourself with all of the steps and procedures. I wouldn't get hung up on the exact version of the I-864, DS-260, etc. The petitioner will have to first file the I-130 and supporting document. Then it will take ~6 months (or more) for the petition to be approved. Then the case will go to the NVC, you will spend a couple of months paying fees and submitting the DS-260, i-864, and other supporting documents. Then you will finally get an interview scheduled.

I agree that I don't think that you can have him working but try to argue that it doesn't actually count as work just because he isn't paid or because it is a non-profit. People working for non-profit organizations still get paid.

However, one idea might be to make him a job offer as you are filing for AOS and request an expedite for the EAD based on that job offer. Not sure if they would question that since it is actually your company, but I thought I might toss that idea out there and see what people thought.

It's not a matter of it being better to wait for the rfe, you MUST wait for the rfe and send it back with the documents that are requested. Plus, you are assuming that you know what they want. You could be wrong and end up complicating matters.

1 hour ago, Caterpillar8 said:

It was the Paralegal I am in touch with for preparing my I-130. The Paralegal said it has to be either money order or cashier's check at the bank.

Still, the paralegal works for your attorney and they don't even know the policies around paying the fees. I would fire them now before they really give you bad advice that harms you.

1 hour ago, danie82 said:

 Actually, it wasn't listed on the checklist at that time or we would have sent them in.   Unless I overlooked it.   

This was probably in the period where the official documents had been updated to the new I-129f form but people were still using the old form. You probably looked at the info for the new form, but were using the old one.

4 hours ago, uv1996 said:

No not yet? But we havent received any letter or notification as such demanding our documents?

When you submit the DS-260 the confirmation page (and the status in the online portal) instruct you to submit the supporting documents (benefitiary's civil documents and the affidavit of support with supporting documents). They will not send you a letter asking to submit those. They will not start the review until you have submitted those documents.

I assume you will have to submit documents physically by mail (check here: https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/immigrant-process/documents/Submit_documents.html). If so they state it can take 11 weeks to review the documents. If they find that something is wrong or missing then they will send you a request to provide the correct/updated documents.

If you are eligible for email processing (rather than mail) choose that option as it is faster.

Yeah, I would give it a week or so. We did not receive a letter instructing us to email our documents, we simply did it. The day after we got an email letting us know our new GZO case number. You don't have the benefit of having a new case number, but I think you are in the same situation as us, GUZ is in the same table (see the table for "Method 3" https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/immigrant-process/documents/Submit_documents.html) instructing that you can choose either method.

Per the state department's website GTM cases have the option to choose between email or mail. If you emailed them I think you are fine, you should probably have case complete in the next week or so. My guess is that the agents on the phone don't really know all the details. I have seen before that people tried to call and have them confirm that their email and files were received, but they stated that they don't have access to that part of the system.

For us, it is similar but a bit different. We originally had a GUZ number, which is for the Guangzhou, China, consulate. GUZ is eligible to choose, like the GTM. But once we opt for email processing we get a new case number that starts with GZO. Some people going though Guangzhou are automatically assigned a GZO number and are required to use email processing.

The deed may not be available yet, but what about mortgage paperwork. They don't really care about the home itself, only that you are both financially linked and sharing the responsibility.

31 minutes ago, masum said:

But I click Yes. Is it gonna cause any trouble

I don't know. I would just try to call the nvc to see if you can have it corrected, other wise just explain it at the interview. I'm sure this confuses people all the time.

1 hour ago, skarim6 said:

Is it normal to not have the ability to pay the IV and AOS fee at the same time? I paid the AOS fee and the IV "pay now" link is available but when I click it, it just shows me AOS fee. I will call NVC to confirm but I wanted to check here before I call. 

The same thing happened to us. Our aos fee got held up in the fee payment problem that they were having recently (thankfully they seem to have fixed it).

I was told that it can take up to 1 week from when they have reviewed your DS-261 (the review can take up to like 3 or 4 weeks from when you submit it) until the iv fee will be invoiced. They also seemed to suggest that the iv fee is not invoiced until the aos fee is paid, but that doesn't not seem to be correct.

If you used an agent at the I-130 stage then is seems that they automatically use that info in place of the ds-261 and may invoice both fees almost simultaneously.

If the spouse is a us citizen or LPR then the answe is "no" to the immigration with you question, and the subsequent question about immigrating later.

Immigrate = to come to live permanently

A us citizen or LPR is already living permanently in the us so they can not immigrate to the us. They would simply be traveling with their spouse (not immigrating).

This would be more appropriate if someone had petitioned a married couple such as their parents. Are they both immigrating together? Would one remain and immigrate later?

1 minute ago, aeromav said:

Haha... that made me smile...  So the native alphabet means in the from is the alphabet not in english letters like france, chinese, japanese etc...

I will put "does not apply" then instead putting her full name.  

 

Thank you...Thank you again.  You've been a great help. 

Yes, "native alphabet" just means the native language does not use the traditional latin characters. Basically that way they could easily match the name up with other documents that might be in the person's native language, which wouldn't be using the latin alphabet that the reviewer would understand. Plus, in some languages like Mandarin that latin alphabet version may actually represent several different things in native language. For example, "ma" can represent 马 (horse), 码 (mother), 麻 (hemp), or 骂 (scold). So that is why they also want to know what it is in the native alphabet. For a tonal language such as mandarin, simply writing the latin alphabet version won't tell you everything.

Sorry, you caught me on a particularly free night and got an unrequested lesson in Mandarin. 

2 minutes ago, aeromav said:

No..No.. in our country we only use one surname not combined.  One last thing... how about the Full Name in Native Alphabet.  Searched google and many answered does not apply.  do i have to do that too?  because we also use english alphabet.

You should be fine. That would be more for people like my husband, who would enter chinese characters in that field.

For example:

Surname = mama

Given name = huhu

Name in native alphabet = 马马虎虎

Ok, that was a bit of a joke, that isn't really his name. Literally those characters mean "horse horse tiger tiger" and it translates to so-so. But the surname and given name are how the english version of those characters are written for a form like this.