heartinKorea

On 3/12/2018 at 12:29 PM, SwimminginSync said:

Did you have your interview yet?  Can you provide feedback on how it went?  Ours is next week at the Seoul embassy.  Did you have a chance to present your documentation to the consulate or just give everything to the window consulate?  We are nervous!

Hi just saw this! Good luck with your interview- ours went very well. We gave all of our documentation at the window during the interview. 

The interview only lasted about 5 minutes, and the questions were basic. Don’t be nervous! We interviewed on a Monday and got the visa that Wednesday. He just asked stuff about how we met, why we did the K1, where my parents live, and our wedding plans. 

Hey guys I've been offline for a while now, but we are finally married and are preparing to file for AOS this week!

I'm also starting to plan our honeymoon, and right now we are planning to go at the end of August... I was literally about to book everything to Tahiti and then I suddenly was like wait... what if the AP document doesn't get here in time... what do you guys think? In my head, I was like well average processing time WAS 3 months, so if I'm planning this 5.5 months from now I should be fine.. right? But we all know how that went for May filers before, so before I drop an insane amount of cash on this honeymoon that is non-refundable, I wanted to ask y'all for a sanity check.

Should I try and push it back to September or October or something? Am I having a last minute freak out? I thought this was a safe date, but it's a lot of money and I'm suddenly remembering flash backs of thinking I was going to get NOA2, and then the case number etc.... i don't want them to ruin my honeymoon. 

Hey guys, our interview is 6 days away omg. I leave on Friday for Seoul, and I'm making sure all of my documents are in order before I leave. 

Quick question for you guys: for the affidavit of support, do you know if it's necessary to include evidence of our balance in 401K / Roth IRA? I have sufficient savings and make almost double the poverty line, so I'm fine on that front. 

My retirement accounts have a decent balance but I didn't see an easy way to print out a statement from them / would rather not include it in the affidavit unless it's necessary. But obviously if there's a risk that we'd get in trouble if I don't disclose everything then I will definitely figure out how to include it. Please let me know what y'all have done!

Did anyone get a letter from USCIS after receiving a hard copy for NOA2? 

I have informed delivery, and it shows a letter coming from them. It's really weird though, since my fiance already has his interview scheduled and did his medical yesterday. Anyone have an idea what the letter could be about? I don't want to get nervous, but it seems weird that I'd get something from them at this stage. 

On 1/7/2018 at 10:32 AM, Scandi said:

Definitely SSN first, there's no reason not to. Even if you plan on changing your name when you get married it's still better to at least have an SSN as soon as possible after arriving. Changing the name can be done at a later date, not as important as actually having a SSN.

 

Some SSA emåloyees even think that the rules change if you get married, meaning they won't even issue you a SSN after you got married DESPITE having enough time left on your i-94, they won even give you a SSN in your maiden name.

 

It's up to you if you're willing to risk having to wait several months to get your SSN (getting the EAD can take up to 6 months right now), I know I wouldn't. No reason not to apply for a SSN asap. Personally I waited until my 4th day in the US to apply for a SSN.

But you need to wait 2 weeks at least for the I-94 to be in the system. So my question was would it make sense to get married during these 2 weeks while we are waiting, and then apply for the SSN before we file for AOS.

I've read conflicting things about this, so I just want to clarify. I (the US petitioner) am female and my fiance is male, and we want to clarify which order we need to complete these steps once he arrives in the states. 

Can we get married first within the first 2 weeks and then file for his SS #? I read before that a lot of people had trouble when they got married and/or filed for AOS before getting their social, so I just want to clarify. We would like to get married and file as soon as possible after her arrives, but want to make sure we do everything correctly. 

Guys our status changed last night to "ready", and we finally booked our interview this morning!! What a great start to the New Year Interview date is Feb. 5th, which is the first available. There's finally an end in sight to this long process! Keep the faith!

27 minutes ago, payxibka said:

Most embassies nowadays do not send out a physical "packet 3." In your case your packet 3 will be an e-mail.   Since you have the Embassy case # there should be no issue with you going ahead.  Depending on the backlog of interviews, just make sure you provide enough time for your file to arrive

The soonest interview is Jan 22.. do you think this is enough time? My file was sent Dec 29. 

I want to make sure we don't make any mistakes since I'll be flying from Boston to Seoul to attend the interview with my fiance, so if we have to move it for any reason it will be an expensive mistake.

On 7/5/2017 at 9:42 AM, csong825 said:

Hello,

 

I received a letter from the NVC dated 6/19/17 saying that my approved petition was forwarded to the Embassy in Seoul. The letter also included our case number and relevant embassy information. When I check the visa status on CEAC, it still says "In Transit," My fiancee tried to call the Embassy in Seoul earlier today and they were unhelpful and all they could say was that it was "In Transit." Looking through the other posts, it seems that the Embassy should receive a case after 5 days or so. However, for us, it's been over 2 weeks now. Any suggestions on where to go from here? I was going to try calling the Embassy myself, hoping to speak to someone more helpful.

 

Also, does packet 3 come via e-mail or regular mail to the petitioner or beneficiary? I don't recall ever giving them my fiancee's e-mail but my e-mail was on the initial I-129F.

 

I can actually find a pdf of packet 3 online via a search on Google and it details a checklist. Would it be prudent to start obtaining these documents now and also to fill out the DS-260 online, prior to the CEAC saying our case is ready? Or should we wait to get started on all of this until our case is "ready?"

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

Hello, did you end up waiting until your case showed up as "ready" on CEAC? Our case is also in transit to Seoul now, and since we have the case number I'd really like to go ahead and schedule the interview and everything... but I'm worried something will go wrong if we don't wait for packet 3 or at least for it to say "ready". Any advice would be appreciated.

11 hours ago, AnaMolina said:

I didn't. There was so much going on and we wanted to get married in 2017 cause of taxes. I will go apply for it this week!

 

it's fine either way

Ok! But you need to apply for on before AOS right? Let us know how it goes. I heard some people had trouble getting a SSN so I want to hear your experience. 

@AnaMolina congratulations!! Lovely photos I have a question: did you apply for a SSN before you got married? 

I read that it's better to get it before you get married, but people have said you have to wait 2 weeks to apply for one so your I-94 is in the system, and then it takes about 2 weeks to get the card in the mail, which means the earliest we could get married if we wait for the SSN first is about 4 weeks from the arrival date... 

We want to get married ASAP as well so we can quickly file for AOS and get that process going, but I know that a SSN is needed for him to be added to my bank account / be added to my apartment lease, so I wanted to check with you and see what your experience was.

Just now, AZSunshine78 said:

I’m so happy for all who are getting through the NVC so quickly!

 

What a wonderful way to begin 2018!!

 

I’m noticing only three statuses when it comes to NVC

 

“arrived” = it’s at NVC

”ready” = scanned in and you should have your case number 

”in transit” = on its way to the embassy

 

Is this correct?

Almost, but not quite. I think these are the 4:

"At NVC"- it's at NVC

"in transit"- on its way to the embassy

"at embassy"- arrived at the embassy

"ready"- ready to schedule the interview/medical

Some people seem to skip "in transit" or "at embassy".and go straight from "at NVC" to "ready". It probably depends on your embassy specifically, so I'd look at other timelines from the UK to get an idea.

Ours changed to "in transit" overnight!! My birthday wish came true

7 minutes ago, HelenaProserfina said:

Count me in, still AT NVC 😟

I hope we all get it soon. I'm so scared of another long delay.

12 minutes ago, BnE said:

s

sound like pretty close to what ours said with the ready message 

Really? So does that mean it's "ready"? The online status still says "At NVC" so that's why I'm confused...

Just now, MariaB Soria said:

after how many weeks did you submit your request? 

6. At first they emailed me and just said they "have no record of my case". I called a few days later and got a case number, but then I got this email today.

1 minute ago, TNJ17 said:

That’s probably because they submitted an inquiry before NVC had their number and when they were ready to reply the case was assigned a number. Use the number to track on NVC where your case is. My guess it’s getting processed to be sent out to embassy and that’s what they mean about fees and whatnot. 

Maybe. I think it's probably also a canned response? Sounds more like what they would say for CR-1/IR-1. When I called NVC today they said my case is still there but they "don't process K1s, so it should be sent to the embassy shortly". Idk how long "shorly" is though, since many cases received the same day as mine have already been sent out.

1 minute ago, AZSunshine78 said:

I would submit your ds160, schedule your medical and embassy appointment,

after calling NVC and confirming your case is ready.

 

goid Luck!!!

i called them but they just said it's still "at NVC". It's not ready yet. So that's why the email is confusing.

Just got a really weird response from NVC Research: 

"The National Visa Center (NVC) received your inquiry and is ready to accept fees, documents, and forms in support of this immigrant visa application. We will send detailed instructions to the petitioner, principal applicant, and/or attorney of record soon." 

Did other people receive this too? I submitted an inquiry to them 2 weeks ago and they said they didn't have it, but then I got my case number on the 20th. This is the first email I've gotten from them since then.

Just now, kannan said:

Just checked my case status at NVC this morning and it says 'Ready'. #######? it said "at NVC" last night.

GAH everyone else's changed who received it on Dec 20... now I feel really worried about mine. I thought South Korea should move smoothly...

1 hour ago, alaris said:

I woke up in the middle of the night and decided to check my status again (it is an obsession, I guess) - it was changed to Ready (without being In Transit). This morning I received a letter from the embassy in Moscow that I can schedule the interview. it is the best New Year present I have ever got!!!

mine still reads at NVC... ugh  I am glad yours changed! Hopefully mine will soon...

3 hours ago, plyn1209 said:

Same here. Maybe tomorrow or next day hope our status will change 😁

Same here with you and @alaris. Hoping for all 3 of us. 

9 minutes ago, MarkbK1 said:

 

Got a question about the NVC email address as I am about to send an inquiry:

 

In the Shared document it says that the address is nvcresearch@state.gov   - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1k57PdywNRpUqytomJxMzz6_7DsMqpi52DgnaYt9FyC8/edit#gid=2061710905

 

However, the NOA2 notice says to contact nvcinquiry@state.gov

 

Where did the nvcresearch@state.gov email come from?

 

 

 

'

NVC reps will verbally tell you to email NVC Research. I emailed both addresses, and got responses back from both. But the responses were just "Unfortunately, NVC has no record of your case". I finally got my case number after 6 weeks and 6 days, but I only found out from calling. I still didn't received an email from either address saying they have my case. So it's kind of useless in my opinion, but at least they have written correspondence from you so they have a paper trail. I don't think it actually makes the process faster though.