Aditi & Vasu

key_neha:

Its faster to do this to schedule your interview:

1. Download packet 3 from Mumbai's site

2. Follow instructions

3. Send them confirmation via snail-mail that you have all docs and they should schedule your interview

4. They will then send you packet 4 and instructions and interview date

5. Corresspond with them via email - they take about 3 or 4 business days to respond, but they do respond

Good luck

AV

Our petition for I 130 has a notice date of 2 Oct 2006, and our I 129F has a notice date of 16 October 2006 and is currently (still) at the California Service center.

Also still 'pending' Nothing to do but wait, wait, wait. I am not a patient woman.

Good luck for an approval in the near future, hang in there!

ya lubzee i know

thr is no othr option

but yeahi had thought california centre was a faster one

do keep in touch n lemme know coz u n me same boat almost except the vermont n californa diffrnce

sure i let u know if anythng on my side

Hi cutest_girl,

Since it is about 5 months now since the I130 was filed, I'd realistically expect the NOA2 this month, and add in another month for the NVC to get all the other docs from you. The NVC seems to be taking 6 weeks to process the paperwork (assuming no RFE's) , before they punt it over to New Delhi (which is pretty fast in India). If things go at the regular pace, I'd think New Delhi should have the papers in June.

In the meantime I'd give the visitor visa idea a chance too. My wife did, and we are glad we tried since we were able to be together in the US for 6 weeks. I just heard from her that her CR1 and K3 visa interview dates are in the end of April in Mumbai, so we're excited!

In our case the NVC part of the CR-1 case was longer than most people generally experience - since I was not in the USA for most of January and February, and the paperwork got delayed by me.

Good luck with the whole process... its an odd ball ride to be sure.

Vasu

Hi Folks,

Had a question concerning visitor visas during spouse visa processing. Sorry for beating a dead horse if this question is similar to any previous posts, but couldn't locate anything on this.

Details:

- Husband (me), US Citizen, reside in California

- My wife, Indian Citizen

- Married on Jan 25th 2007

She had a visitor visa appointment at the Mumbai Embassy prior to meeting me, to visit her friends in US and appear for a physical therapy law exam. However after we decided to get engaged in Aug 2006, she changed her visitor visa appointment date to March 20th 2007.

I recently sent in the I-130 application packet to begin her K3 visa process. (still haven't got NOA1)

The question I had was:

Does she 'legally' have a chance to secure the visitor visa on March 20th which she had planned for before our marriage, or does this immigrant (I-130) visa application preclude her from getting the visa based on law? She intends to fully disclose all facts at the interview... no secrets. And she does intend to return to India after her visit and wait out the rest of the K3 processing.

Anybody see any problems? Will this have any negative impact on the K3 process?

/UM

Hi UM,

Aditi, my wife, came over from India while her I-129F and I-130 were in process. She interviewed at the Kolkata consulate for a visitor visa. The interview was quite straight forward and went smoothly. She had a letter from me saying we had applied for the K-3 and CR-1, and carried the usual docs : an affidavit of support from me, her bank docs to prove she had the money, and our wedding pics just in case they should ask to see them (they didn't).

In November 2006, her arrival in Newark NJ was equally uneventful. The officer asked her with whom she intended to stay and for how long (me and 6 weeks). We went back to India in December - her visa expired the day after she left actually.

I hope your experience is similar too. My best wishes to you and your wife. Feel free to ask other questions if you have any.

Vasu

Thought I would update this thread - to complete the loop , so to speak.

Aditi, my wife, came to Newark, NJ on her visitor's visa yesterday. SHe informs me that all that the immigration officer asked her was where she would live, when she would return, and whether her spouse was American. She was not even asked to produce any documentation other than her passport and immigration form that she filled out on the flight over.

However, Aditi was prepared (just in case) with the following:

1. Our return tickets from NJ to India on Dec 21st

2. A quick verbal appeal in case she was rejected - essentially to say that the religious ceremenoy that we would be going to India for was very important for both of us, and teh officer could only give her an I-94 valid only until that date if he so wished.

I am hugely relieved. If you or your spouse are waiting for your K3 etc I would encourage you to try getting a temporary visitors visa. Ofcourse, check with a lawyet if your case is complicated and so on.. but on the surface a visitors visa isnt as complicated as I initially imagined it would be.

Thank you all for the good words of encouragement and cheer

My I130 received no touches since NOA1 until it was approved.

The K-3 has been touched so frequently, at the VSC, however, no approval yet. It received a touch today - again. Thats 5 touches in Nov alone.

Cheers and good luck to us all

Vasu

Congratulations on your approval. The weather in Newark will be sunny and mild today, above 60 degrees Farenheit!

Jersey Girl.. yeah I am luvin' the weather today Hooray

My I-130 was approved today - I based this upon an update on the BCIS website that told me as much. From petition mailing to NOA2 it took the VSC 60 days to approve it.

This is good news for all you folks out there that have recently had their K3's transferred to VSC by Chicago. Hope you all receive your approvals soon too and we can get started on the next step of this process.

Aditi, my wife, just hopped on a flight from Bombay to see me (on a visitor's visa) and I'm so excited to see her tomorrow in NJ !!! java script:emoticon('', 'smid_11')

My case also has touched 4 days in a row. Nov 1,2,3 and 4. What's happening????

My K3 got all those touches on the same exact dates and one today as well.

My I-130 was approved today - I based this upon an update on the BCIS website that told me as much. From petition mailing to NOA2 it took the VSC 60 days to approve it.

This is good news for all you folks out there that have recently had their K3's transferred to VSC by Chicago. Hope you all receive your approvals soon too and we can get started on the next step of this process.

Aditi, my wife, just hopped on a flight from Bombay to see me (on a visitor's visa) and I'm so excited to see her tomorrow in NJ !!! java script:emoticon('', 'smid_11')

Perhaps the I-130 IR1/CR1 process is moving faster than K3 after all. My I-130 NOA2 came in today - about 60 days from the day I sent the petition to the VSC.

As with Riblet mine was at Missouri and recently transferred to teh California "for faster processing". Things will be fine and I'm sure we will all see approvals in the next month or so.

Cool - thanks for the posts. I feel better knowing the redirect was not in error. My I-129F was touched by VSC yesterday and today.

Mine was transferred to VSC on Oct 20 (official date)

A few of us have had the Chicago staff send I129Fs for K3 visas to regional Service Centers. This seems to have started about Oct 18 - 2- this year.

As far as I can tell this is not normal . Mine got sent to Vermont. Normally only K1 petitions should be forwarded to the regional service centers if they were incorrectly sent to Chicago.

K3's used to be sent to Missouri, I believe. The few of us that have been affected by this are hoping its a "load sharing agreement" instead of a newbie staff member's goof up at Chicago.

I tried calling into someone at the national customer service numbers and they had no real info to give me other than to say that I should make an appointment at my local state office using Infopass (details of that procedure are at the BSIC homepage)

Thank you so much all for the good thoughts and encouraging words

Thank you all for your replies. Since my wife quit her job a few months ago, its going to be a bit tough to show that she intends to return at the end of December with me. We have a religious ceremony to perform in India in December - but to prove that beyond doubt is going to be our tough task. We have tickets - both international and india domestic, can have a few family members write letters and so on , but I would think that these are far off from being air-tight and conclusive "proofs"

In the end, the guy at Newark airport just needs to be able to trust my wife's intent. Perhaps she can hold off on specifying that a K-3 is pending approval until he asks her, or declaring that she is visting her husband until he asks her, but I think these questions will eventually be raised by any half competent border guard

I just had my first experience calling into the customer service line @ 800-375-5283.

My experience was that its a line designed to offer little to no chance of actually talking to a person if you punch in your MSC receipt number. In fact it tells us exactly what the email did

One way I managed to connect to a person was my pretending that I had an address change to make. However, the lady seems to know very little about I-129F and just asked me to make an appointment with InfoPass (on the www.uscis.gov home page) to discuss this at a local office.

luvbugs4ever, what number did your husband call? And how did he manage to talk to a person that may know something?

My gut tells me a mistake has been made in fwd'ing our cases to VSC, and I'd like to not believe it

Thanks! my husband just called and the lady she talked with says, it has no problem because the Chicago Center does sends the application to its corresponding local offices. Huh?!!! should we rely with what the lady said?

I have just recd the same email too and posted here to find out if this is normal. Maybe there is a NEW K-3 process that was instituted recently that we are the first to hit on?

Mine is a K-3 application too, and the date of the transfer is the same - 10/18/06 from MSC to VSC

Interesting, and a just a bit worrisome, since its all new ....

Hello all:

My I-129F petition for my wife's K-3 was transferred today from the MSC to the VSC (my region's service center). In reading these forums I have not seen this before. Is this sort of a transfer normal? Anyone have any ideas about what may cause this?

I already have the NOA1 and 2 weeks have elapsed since then.

The exact email I recd was:

On October 18, 2006, we transferred your I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E) to an office in VERMONT SERVICE CENTER for processing. Our office in VERMONT SERVICE CENTER will send you a written decision as soon as processing is complete. You should receive a notice informing you that your case has been transferred to a local office.

If you have questions or concerns about your application or the case status results listed above, or if you have not received a decision or advice from USCIS within the projected processing time frame*, please contact the National Customer Service Center.

National Customer Service Center (800) 375-5283.

*The projected processing time frame can be found on the receipt notice that you received from the USCIS.

*** Please do not respond to this e-mail message.

Sincerely,

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

<mood> a little worried

Thank you

Vasu

I concur with the previous poster except to emphasize (not that the opposite was said) - that she should answer all questions completely honestly. If they ask her about you she should admit that you are married. But definitely have evidence that she is going back. Enjoy your visit!

It's a good thing because you will be together! Having/using a visitor visa has no impact on the petition process. But keep in mind that she should be well-armed with evidence to prove her ties to her country and her intent to return in the event she is questioned about this at the POE. She should try to avoid using the word "husband" if possible. Good luck.

Thank you kitkat1 and riblet for chiming in. Aditi will be bringing the paperwork that she used for her visitor visa application including the docs that show our i130 and k-3 status. Not so sure how she can avoid using the word "husband" We're going to be completely honest in our answers, needless to say. I'm just hoping they dont turn her away at the POE in Newark airport. Fingers crossed.... We really are looking to spend more time with each other, spend Thanksgiving together, and the opportunity I have in showing her New York City very soon.

Hello all. This is my first post and thank you for being such a great resource in my visa journey.

I (Vasu) am a USC. My wife (Aditi) is an Indian citizen living in Kolkata. I have petitioned for her I-130 as well as K-3 and have recd NOA1 on the K-3 2 weeks ago.

Aditi applied at the Kolkata consulate for a visitor visa with supporting docs that clearly indicated our I130 and K-3 status. After a few questions she was issued a 6 week single entry visa and she is planning to come over on the 14th of November and she will return Dec 22nd

Is this OK , or does this pose a risk in the approval of the I130 and/or K3? Has anyone any advice/experience?

Please let me know... I am quite confused about whether this is a good thing or a not so good thing...

Thank you so much

Vasu

Time line-

I-130

Recd 9/20/06

I-129F K-3

Sent 9/29

NOA 1 10/4

Case online reports "updated date" of 10/16

Visitor Visa

Applied in Kolkata

6 week single entry visa issued 10/17