H-H

@H&H.

Replying to your post in the last month's thread that stated:

"hey did u guys make it to usa ok and what was that process like at airport? i also had a question about receiving visa once approved. my wife tried to sign up for courier service but theres confusion if they will deliver it or u pick it up? do they give u options on how to get the visa/passport once ur approved? thanks!!"

Reply:

We traveled to the states together yesterday through Ettihad Airways and are so happy to finally start a life together alhamdulillah!! For the visa, I am not sure about other cities but when my husband signed up for it and since we are from Islamabad, they emailed him and I think also called him to let him know that his visa was ready to be PICKED UP. I am not sure how if there is an option for delivery or not. I will ask my husband and update you if he knows more. 

The process on airport was a bit tedious for us just to give you a heads up but it all worked out in the end! Since our cases are electronic (pivot) cases, we did not get the immigration packets as I mentioned earlier (since everything is available online). So when we were leaving Pakistan, everyone at the boarding counter and immigration kept asking us for the "yellow immigration file" but we didn't have it so we had to tell them a lot times that they don't give the packet anymore since everything is done online and they were eventually convinced and let us go. 

My husband's immigration was done in Abu Dhabi since we were flying through Ettihad (I would recommend you do the same since it saves you a lot of time once you enter the US). I got stuck in security so my husband reached the immigration counter before me. He showed the immigration officer the passport with visa and officer, again, asked him where is the immigration packet. My husband told him that his case was electronic and didn't receive any such file but the officer insisted and said "no, no, you cannot enter USA without the immigration file." My husband told him my wife is also traveling with me and she has some documents. So the officer told him to go back and come back with the documents and your wife. When I left the security and my husband told me what happened, we were so scared that they might send my husband back. But anyways, we went to the immigration window and we were sent back to the same immigration officer. I showed him the small envelope we had received from courier services and told him "this is all embassy gave us. It had the passport with visa along with instructions for paying $220 immigrant fees. That's it." This is when the immigration officer went "ohhhhh it's one of those cases!!" and he started laughing so hard. He said, "you married a trouble maker! I have never processed one of these cases before so I am sending you to the secondary and they should be able to process your immigration from there." And then he told my husband "you are so lucky to have found such a nice young lady. You take care of her ok?" He was so nice in the whole process. So they took us to the immigration waiting area and we had to wait 3 hours for our turn, which was frustrating but once it was our turn, the immigration officer literally didn't ask a single question. Just told us "congratulations, your immigration is completed. You can now use this visa as a green card temporarily for a year and you should receive your green card in mail soon, etc...." And we were so happy.

The point is... for all those with pivot cases who will not receive immigration packet: do not panic if they start saying oh you must have the immigration file. Just tell them it's an electronic case and have the envelope that embassy gives you with you. It seems like even the immigration officers are still new to the system so they sometimes don't really know about it. Hope this helps! Best of luck for your wife's interview!!! I am sure it will go great!

56 minutes ago, peachouille said:

That is weird, you need that packet for immigration as far as I know. Did you get the passport in person? Maybe they have yet to send you the packet?

They did give us the passport in person with the visa. We asked for the packet and they said that Islamabad Embassy doesn't give out that packet anymore. There were two other people for spouse visa who got interviewed with us and they didn't get the packet either.

Hey guys! We had our interview at Islamabad Embassy on May 16th and got the visa in hand on May 18th! We will be traveling to States on May 29th and l want to know what steps we need to take before the immigration. We have the visa and we were not given any packet to be opened at the time of immigration. There was just one paper with instructions on how to pay the immigration fees ($220) at USCIS. We have paid the fees and also got the confirmation email which we will be taking with us. Is there anything else we need to do?

3 hours ago, H&H. said:

obviously better if u can go. i cant go because have limited time off from work. hey i see ur cc was 3/27. when did u know about ur interview date via call or email? thanks!!

Thanks for the reply! I have work too and am doing my masters as well so it's not easy to go either. Yes, cc on 3/27 and got interview date on 4/12. From what I have seen and gotten from other people's experiences, Islamabad Embassy usually sends in their slots to be scheduled the second week of the month. But I hope they send in their schedule for June early and you can get your interview date soon. I know, the wait for interview is so frustrating. It's like you are at a point where you are so ready to get excited and know when the finish line is going to be but they just take their sweet time to do it - very draining emotionally. We are so nervous but at the same time so excited for the interview. Need prayers that everything goes well and we get approved right away. Best of luck to you!!  

Hey guys! My husband has his interview coming up on May 15th at Islamabad Embassy. l last visited him this past December-January. We are kind of confused whether l should travel and go to interview with him or not. Is it worth it going just to attend the interview? Or do you guys think he will be ok going by himself?! We just want to make sure the interview goes well and everything works out.

23 hours ago, MahiAS said:

I think everyone who interviews after the deadline for filing taxes which is April 15th is required to bring something for 2017 unless an extension was filed. If he just brings the tax return and tells them that the transcript isn’t ready yet, I think he’ll be fine. 

23 hours ago, H&H. said:

if u dont have transcript bring copy of tax return and w2. it took me 2-3 weeks to get transcript from online irs system but i filed in jan....

Okay, great! Thanks guys! Is it okay if I just print out a copy of tax return I filed or I have to get it "stamped" or "certified" somehow from IRS? I think I read that somewhere so I am a little confused. 

Hey guys, I have a question for people who will have an interview late April or May. Are we required to take the Tax Transcript for 2017 to the interview? I filed my tax return for 2017 through mail this week since I filed as Married filing Separately as I couldn't file electronically since my husband is not in US. I am concerned that I will most likely not have a transcript ready by the time of the interview. My husband's interview is on May 15th. What should he take to the interview if we don't have the tax transcript available by that time or if the tax return is not in the system yet?

I GOT AN INTERVIEW DATE!! I was losing hope for a May interview and had stopped calling NVC but I got the interview email today!

SD: 3/16/2018

CC: 3/27/2018

Interview Scheduled/Received Email: 4/12/2018

Interview Date: 5/15/2018

Islamabad Embassy

25 minutes ago, H&H. said:

for pivot cases after submitting both packages, is it possible to tell scan date or when they look at ur docs

 

or we'll just know if theres issue with submitted stuff or if case complete? 

Scan Date is the date on which you submit both packages online. In my experience, once they reviewed the documents, I received an email that there is an activity or message in the message box for you. When I opened my dashboard on CEAC, I could see the documents "accepted" or "rejected" and what I needed to do.

1 hour ago, Beast333 said:

How can we expect that our case in nvc will be pivot case or other one?

Does this thing matter with country or anything like that?

Is Country like Pakistan considered to be selected for pivot cases?

I hope anyone can help me on this issue

My case just approved today

IR 2

Hi, yes, Islamabad Embassy cases are pivot cases. Pivot cases have been taking 8 to 9 weeks to get a case number at NVC once NVC receives your case. Is your case approved at USCIS? Did you just receive your NOA2? Good luck!

Any interviews scheduled at Islamabad Embassy recently? This wait is killing me.  

2 hours ago, tay25 said:

CC: 3/22

Islamabad Embassy....just got off the phone and was told that an interview has not been scheduled for my husband yet. Is anyone else with a CC close to mine waiting for an interview at the Islamabad Embassy?

 

The wait is nerve wrecking....

Also waiting for interview at Islamabad Embassy. CC: 3/27

5 minutes ago, H&H. said:

ok but number one is landscape and i thought they needed portrait so was confused thanks!!!

It seems like they are giving conflicting answers! My suggestion is to do this (this is is what I did and my document was accepted after doing this):

1. Screenshot the first picture you have (the one that's NOT sideways), save that as an image

2. Open the image and click "print"

3. Save it as pdf. Here you should see an option to save the document in portrait.

This way, you will have the document displayed correctly and it will also be in portrait, and not landscape.

1 minute ago, truelove29 said:

Mine were all scanned portraits, but they rejected the two documents that were sideways 

Huh that's so weird! Because I had two documents sideways but they didn't reject those but rejected the one that was in landscape. I guess it would be best to make sure it is portrait AND also not sideways!

10 minutes ago, H&H. said:

ok im confused out of these two which is correct?? i was planning on submitting one...

 

ONE?

 

 

TWO?

 

From my experience, it seems like they don't care if it is sideways - it just has to be in portrait. One of the documents I submitted was sideways but portrait and they accepted it just fine but rejected the one that I could read just fine (without having to tilt my head) but because it was in landscape. I can't tell by looking at the pictures which one is portrait but go for the one that is in portrait.  

Also, anyone waiting for an interview date at Islamabad Embassy?

Hey guys, I got a cc yesterday, March 27th for our case. Now we are waiting for the interview to be scheduled! We are expecting our interview date to be after April so from what I understand, we are required to take the 2017 tax return to the interview, correct? I am planning to file for 2017 taxes as married filing separately. Do I need to submit W-7 if I file this way? Also, since I would not have the tax transcript for 2017, would just a copy of the tax return be sufficient or do I need to take something else as well? Some people have mentioned getting the tax return stamped from IRS as well. Can someone please explain exactly what I need to do? Thank you so much for the help in advance!

1 minute ago, H&H. said:

my passports are in landscape because u can read them that way. if i put them in vertical (portrait) i will have to tilt my head to read them. so u mean we should change them still? 

Have you tried saving it as a pdf and then change to portrait? It shouldn't rotate if you do that! Let me know if it works!

Guys, posting this because it might be helpful for pivot cases (submitted electronically). We got a checklist just because the biographic page of the passport was in landscape mode when we submitted it, and not portrait. So please make sure your documents are all in portrait so you guys don't get a checklist for something so small like that!

7 hours ago, ABK said:

Is the police certificate required for Pakistan?

I am think it is but can't say for sure. But we did submit it for my husband and NVC accepted the document as well!

Hey guys! I got a cc today!! Ours is a pivot case.

NOA 2: November 15, 2017

USCIS Case sent: December 29, 2017

NVC Case Received: January 9, 2018

Case number assigned: February 22, 2018

Documents submitted online (SD): March 5, 2018

First checklist: March 16, 2018

Second SD: March 16, 2018

CC: March 27, 2018

Now waiting for Islamabad Embassy to schedule an interview! For all those with pivot cases, it does take a long time to get the case number but the process goes pretty fast after that so hang in there! We got a cc in 21 days even with a checklist!

Anyone with Pivot case got a cc recently? Wondering which pivot cases NVC is reviewing.

1 hour ago, Kathyil said:

Hola Fellow Travelers,

 

I just confirmed my NVC journey is complete.  Received cc 3/23/2018.

 

CR-1 - Dominican Republic

SD 3/2

CC 3/23

Congratulations! You are almost there. Was your case Pivot or regular?

1 hour ago, H&H. said:

why did u sign the tax transcript? i just downloaded it and was planning on uploading it the same without adding anything....

I did not sign the Tax Transcript. I got my Tax Transcript in mail so had to scan them and ended up with a huge file after scanning.