Mansini77

8 hours ago, Sunny25 said:

Hi, I'm new here. We're still waiting. I was expecting to have received something by now since it seems others are getting approvals in 4 months or less. We sent my husbands waiver in August and he had his biometrics appointment in September. He was going to try and get his police clearance by going to the mexican consulate and having his brother get it for him but he was told the one from his state expires after 30 days. Would they still accept it if it's expired? Should he just get the national one or do they want the one from the state they lived in?

I would contact the National Benefits Center for a status update on your I-601a.  Maybe there is some sort of of holdup.  Or the original mail with your approval may have been lost, unlikely but possible.

Get the police clearance letter as soon as possible.  The Police letter is attached evidence to your IV case to the NVC and has nothing to do with the I-601a.  The NVC wants the police certificate from the specific state.  

On 1/19/2018 at 6:59 AM, AheartA said:

SAME HAPPENED TO ME with the email. They want my cosponsor's W2 for 2016 even though we sent it. We are gathering ALL (for the past 3 years and for 2017 when available) tax return transcripts and wage and income transcripts just in case. We received that 1/13, and received our interview queue email 1/19.

Wow, that's really odd.  In my AOS supporting evidence, just to make our case stronger, I attached W2s and Federal Tax Returns from years 2016, 2015 and 2014.  As a business owner, I do create my own W2s, but they don't tell the whole income picture.  Ugh.  Anyways, I completely agree with your approach.  Get all income evidence from the past three years and bring it to Juarez....JUST IN CASE.  By the time our interviews are set, our 2017 tax returns should be in order to bring to Juarez as well.  

3 hours ago, AheartA said:

They are currently scheduling December ccs for March according to FB pages. I'm expecting our appointment for April (but am hoping for May and thereafter). If we get an appointment before May, we will have to reschedule. So, likely, you will get an interview date before July, if not, close to.

Thanks for the information.  We received an email from the NVC yesterday explaining that they needed my W2 from 2016 to complete my AOS.  I nearly went ballistic, until I read further that they will go ahead and schedule the interview and told us not to mail it, but to bring it to the interview.  So, I'm in research mode now to make our stay in Juarez as comfortable and quick as possible.  I wasn't aware you could reschedule Consulate appointments.  That's good to know as well.

1 hour ago, AheartA said:

I hope the attorney sent the civil documents and i864 with that. From the date of the last item received, takes up to 11 weeks. Ours took 5. 1/11 our case with NVC was complete. So probably in April, we will have an appointment for hubby's interview. Hoping for May, though. Otherwise, if it's before, we have to reschedule. (about 3-6 months from the date documents are sent).

Hi Aheart,

Since your case seems a bit ahead of the trend here than most of us, I hope you don't mind me by asking.  So on 1/11, your case with the NVC has been completed, but they have not scheduled your Consulate date in Juarez yet?  I'm just trying to gauge around what time my family and I will need to travel to Juarez for the interview.  NVC received all our paperwork in July of 2017.  We looked to be cruising up until I got the email about a Police Certificate clearance.  We scrambled to get it as fast as possible and sent it to the NVC back in early December 2017.  An NVC agent I spoke to said that the one piece of supporting evidence could be stuck in line for up to 11 weeks.  I'm hoping to have a Consulate interview scheduled before July.  Hopefully.

4 minutes ago, ICM said:

When I was told the waiver was approved I talked to the lawyer about the ds 260 but they told me that I needed to wait until NVC asked for it that they cant send anything unless NVC askes for stuff to be sent i called them again this week and they said the same thing that they had already told me to wait. They havent sent the ds 260 or the one where you have a sponsor . 

Okay, so since your petition was approved by the USCIS, you do have a Case Number from the NVC along with an Invoice ID Number to login to the following website:

https://ceac.state.gov/IV/Login.aspx

After you have logged in to this website using your Case number, Invoice number, you can view your progress of your IV, AOS, and DS261.  At this point, since the USCIS needed to see you've paid for the IV and AOS to approve your i601a, IV and AOS prompts should at least say "PAID".  Did your lawyer ask you for any important documents like your passport, birth certificate or tax returns yet?  If so,  maybe he/she has already completed the IV and AOS on your behalf.  The 14 weeks, I think, is how long it may take the NVC to PROCESS your application.  

Right now, we are waiting for a Consulate interview in Juarez.  We are waiting for the NVC to finish to approve our application and schedule our appointment in Juarez.  We could be waiting, at most, another 8 weeks before that happens.  You might already be in the same situation, but I'm confused on why the NVC would tell you to wait for them ask for your IV....unless it's already been completed.  You give them the IV and AOS and it doesn't get processed immediately when it arrives, it waits in line in the order it was received.  11-14 weeks of waiting is whats next. 

I wish I could be of more help, some more information concerning the status of the IV and AOS would be helpful.

3 hours ago, ICM said:

Hi does anyone now how the iv application works my lawyer hasnt sent it in she said that nvc has to ask for it ?  We already had out waiver approved in november

ICM,

Well, considering in order for your I-601A approved by the USCIS Benefits Center, you needed to provide proof of payment to the NVC for both your IV applicaton AND your AOS.  So, since your I-601A has been approved by the USCIS back in November, I don't know what you and your lawyer are waiting for.   Your IV application can be done online easily.  You need to send the NVC your AOS and all supporting documents (Birth certificate in English, tax returns, a Police Certificate from Mexico).  

I would seriously be questioning your lawyer.  While you were waiting for the I-601a approval, which probably took 3-4 months, you could have already completed your IV and AOS during that time waiting.  I'm glad your waiver has been approved, that is one of the major hurdles in your case, but the NVC won't be asking for anything or going out of their way to make this process go any faster.  You need to take charge of your case and get the IV and AOS completed, or give the lawyer the boot.  

Maybe I'm out of line here, but if I paid a lawyer for my immigration case and he/she were dragging their feet like this, I'd be furious.  Getting our visas (via the 601a path) is a long and tedious one.  An immigration attorney should be on this equipped with knowledge and expertise and should have all forms and applications sent promptly.  

Has anyone who has their I-601A approved lately received a letter or an email from the NVC about a scheduled US Consulate appointment(specifically Juarez)?  I called the NVC, and spoke to a representative over the phone about our case status a few weeks ago.  While he did confirm they got "a letter", which was the Police Certificate evidence the NVC requested early in December, he wouldn't comment any further on our case.  Simply "You're waiting".  Which then I would grind my teeth and say "Well, is there any timeline of..." to which he interrupts by repeating "You're waiting".  I know, NVC agents probably get bombarded with case status questions on the when where and whys all the time.  The NVC agent probably wasn't in a position to exactly give me an approximate date of a US Consulate interview because he wouldn't want to give me false information based on just his educated guess.  I suppose we all have to be a little more patient, but knowing is strength and confidence, not knowing is anxiety and stressful.  I'm sure many NVC agents have taken time off for the holidays, so processing might be slow the past few weeks.  With the holidays in the rear view mirror, hopefully we'll get our answers soon.

It's a new year and I hoping the best for everyone involved in this thread, as we're all in the same immigration situations for the most part.  It's comforting knowing there are others out there going through the same that my spouse and I have been through the past year or so.  I realize none of us here are immigration lawyers, but we can give each other valuable information regarding our cases, which can help others who might go through with the same process.  

On 12/30/2017 at 7:59 PM, jhigareda41 said:

Hi all, 

 

I am new to this forum and was hoping someone can clarify something for me. I am a member on a different forum and have not heard of having to send police certificates with the I601a waiver until I came across it on this thread. 

 

We submitted our waiver Nov 14, 2017(no lawyer) and now I am confused about whether the police certificates were supposed to be mailed or taken to the consulate appt. Also, is the NVC or the consulate requiring these police clearances from beneficiaries that have resided in the USA since they were brought as children? I have been here since the age of 2 and have had no other re-entry. Would I still need to take a Police certificate from MEX? 

 

I was thinking of taking evidence (school reports kinder-college) to the consulate appt to prove that I have been in the US this whole time, along with our local county certificate, any thoughts input would be greatly appreciated. 

 

Happy new year to all. 

Hi jhigareda41,

I concur with MaryLu, in your position, you don't have to worry about the Police Certificate.  Since you have not lived in your native country over the age of 16, it won't be needed.  Your I-601A has one purpose, to prove extreme hardship to the petitioner should his/her spouse be forced to leave the United States and not gain reentry from the 5/10 year bar.  USCIS should have assigned you a case number regarding your I-601A application.  They should have mailed you by now a Form i-797C, which is an appointment with your local Application Support Center to do your fingerprints to check your criminal history here in the United States.  That appointment for the ASC is the only needed background check for you, since you've been here mostly your entire life...unless you committed a serious felony before the age of 2, which I'm going to guess is no.  

We(my spouse and I) are not in the exact same position you are, so I wouldn't want to steer you in the wrong direction.  I'd advise to speak to an immigration attorney about how to go about your specific case regarding being in the United States since the age of 2.  In the meanwhile, I'd also recommend gathering all the supporting evidence you can.  School records, dental and health records, bank statements, whatever has your name on a piece of paper that goes back as far as possible.

5 hours ago, coco84 said:

Now gathering the documentation! I don't know why lawyer did not prepare me for this step before!

The only thing that is hard to get and you might not have is POLICE CLEARANCE REPORT. This has to be issue for every country that you have lived more than 6 or 12 months.

In my case, I know is going to take some time to get it, because they only accept the police clearance report issue by one city in Honduras.  If is not from that city, they would not accepted. And you need to issue a power of attorney to someone to represent you in your contry. So people, if you sent the waiver, start working on this too!!!

 

Ugh...the police report was tricky and also unexpected.  The NVC received our PCR a few weeks back, as I called the NVC and the agent confirms they have received it.  I only hope by not having the PCR with our original paperwork, mainly the AOS and supporting evidence, that I haven't delayed our interview date too long.  If we would have originally had all this together, we may already have a date setup with the US Consulate in Juarez.  

The most frustrating part of the PCR is you don't have complete control of the situation.  Once you've assigned someone in the home country power of attorney, you are relying on him/her to do the work for you.  Luckily, my wife's brother still lives in her home city and was able to get the PCR for us and send it back here promptly. 

If anyone is waiting for their I-130 petition to be approved, do yourselves a favor by working on the I-601A and PCR while your I-130 is being processed.  You'll save yourself a lot time and run around. 

$8500-$10,000 for an immigration attorney.  Wow.  Throughout our journey, there have been plenty of times I've said the words "If I knew it would be this much of a pain in the ###, I would have had our lawyer do all this".  Not so much now.  We have an immigration attorney, whom we've paid for a consultation, but not to do the paperwork for us.  Mostly just to outline the steps of the process and to answer our questions.  I'll say most of the steps like the I-130, the DS-260 and the AOS are pretty self explanatory, it's the I-601a waiver that gave me the most stress.  Writing an essay proving "extreme hardship" while providing evidence took a lot of careful planning.  I must have proofread our I-601a five times before I was fully satisfied with it. We also supplied a psychological examination of our family and she wrote her own essay which I supplied with the I-601a.  No matter how much evidence, professional opinions, and hard work you put into the I-601a, there were no guarantees of approval.  After all, how does one prove "extreme hardship"?

Anyways, just out of curiosity, how many people here visited a psychologist for a psychological examination?  Before I started work on our I-601a, I was a bit reluctant to visit a psychologist for help.  However, our immigration attorney highly recommended it and said "The extra time and money spent could mean the difference of having the I-601a approved".  Sure enough, ours was approved and I'm positive our psychological examination made quite a bit of difference in our case.  

8 hours ago, Jane88 said:

So I know I would be in a wrong thread by posting this, but We initially aimed to file I 601A waiver as I am currently still in the USA. But situation changes as my mom is very sick and I would like to leave as fast as I can. Our I 130 is still pending and haven’t been approved yet...3+months waiting already ( its processed at Potomac Service Center). I was wondering if anyone knows how long do I 601 waivers usually take? And if they are only processed at Nebraska Service Center ( the slowest service center ever). Any information or insight would be much much appreciated. Consulate country would be Ukraine if that matters at all. 

Jane88,

So sorry to hear about your mother's health during this time.  Sadly, it appears on average the wait time for the I-130 takes the longest.  Ours took nearly 8 months before an approval.  However, our case was processed at the Nebraska center, not the Potomac Service Center like yours.

Could you please clarify whether if the waiver is for a I-601, or a I-601A.  The current processing times for I-601 and I-601A differ.  If you are applying for a waiver of unlawful presence in the United States, it will be an I-601A.  The case will be reviewed by the National Benefits Center in Missouri and takes around 3-4 months.  Before you can even start on the I-601 or I-601A, the I-130 needs to be approved first by the USCIS before they send your case to the NVC where you would then have to pay for the AOS and DS-260.  To put it in a nutshell, you are stuck in limbo for now until the I-130 is approved, as it is the first initial step of obtaining a visa.  Do you have an immigration attorney assisting you? 

6 hours ago, Lman said:

@Lizziecakes Congrats and best wishes. 

 

When did you file your I-601A? We filed ours Sept. 22, 2017. Hopefully we get the approval too. 

Currently, it seems on average, about 3 to 4 months.  Expect to get an answer within a month or so in the mail.  Best of luck.

8 hours ago, Diana S said:

Yes, I got it by email yesterday with an interview date of 01/30/18. I think that's the best route to go with. How long did your form take to get approved?

 

Diana,

I would start emailing and calling both the USCIS and the NVC.  If you sent out your I-601A back in May, you should have had a response by now.  My guess is that your I-601A was approved by the USCIS and they notified the NVC of approval, and then they scheduled your interview.  The USPS is reliable, but not perfect and could have lost your approval letter.  You will need to get this approval letter from the USCIS to bring to the US Consulate interview, so I wouldn't delay and hope the pieces will fall in place by themselves.  Contact the USCIS National Benefits Center in Missouri, that is where your I601A was processed and hopefully they'll be able to get to the bottom of this situation.  

On 12/3/2017 at 8:56 PM, Angrredo said:

 

Hello Mansini77

I would like to ask you a question if thats ok 

thanks in advance  

 

How much did the mexican consulate charge you guys for the paperwork ?

Im in the same boat trying to get that letter from the local police in mexico

its so confusing 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Angrredo,

Okay, I'll try and fill you in as much information about this as possible:

1)Call the Mexican Consulate nearest you and make an appointment if needed.  Someone at that office will inform you on what you will need to get the Police Certificate from your state in Mexico.

2)My wife didn't need to make an appointment, luckily and just went to the office.  There was NO CHARGE for the Mexican Consulate to assist you in this process.  However, there were some items my wife needed to bring with her to the Mexican Consulate. 

3)My wife was asked to bring the following : Mexican Passport, Mexican Birth Certificate, Two Passport type of photos (you can get these photos at Walgreens) of your front and side profile, and a bill with your home address (like a bank statement or a utility bill).  

4)The Mexican Consulate will then use these items as proof of identification and prepare a document with photos attached.  The Mexican Consulate will also draft a letter giving your relative or friend in Mexico "Power of Attorney" so they can obtain the Police Certificate.  The Consulate will also do fingerprints.

5)Mail the documents to the person in Mexico who has "Power of Attorney".  This individual will then go to the police station in YOUR STATE OF BIRTH.  So if you(or your spouse) were born in Zacatecas, only in Zacatecas can the Police Certificate be obtained, not in a different state like Nuevo Leon or Oaxaca. This person can then obtain the police certificate after paying a fee.  States in Mexico vary on price.  We were told it was 106 pesos over the phone, and then the police station told our relative it was 300 pesos.  So...prepare to send some extra money to your trusted relative.  After the papers have been obtained by your relative, they must then send or the originals back to the United States, (we used UPS and DHL).  

6)When you receive the police certificate in the mail, you will want to have the documents translated from Spanish to English.

7)Mail the following to the NVC together: the Case number Barcode coversheetj, the original Police certificate in Spanish and a translated Police certificate in English.

The Mexican Consulate nearest you should be able to help you and answer your questions.  I have explained this process to the best of my ability and I hope I could be of some help to you.  It was frustrating, but it needed to be done as the NVC won't schedule your US Consulate interview until they have the Police Certificate.  

Good luck.

On 12/2/2017 at 9:42 PM, maryLu said:

Congratulations ! How exciting. That was really fast. That gives me hope since mine was sent in September. I honestly don't believe the processing times on USCIS web site are accurate. When we filed the I 824 it showed a processing time of 6 months and we got an approval in 30 days. 

Wish you a smooth "final stretch ".

Thank you so much.  If you filed last month, then hopefully you will be getting a response by mail as early as this month or next month.  As far as the accuracy of the wait times posted by the USCIS, it's hard to tell.  I'm sure it's a wait time average that is calculated by when they receive the form, until the day it has been reviewed.  I wish you the best of luck on your I601a, and tell us the good news soon!

Hello again all,

Our I-601A was received by USCIS on 8/3/17 and has been approved on 11/25/17, about 3 and half months.  We are very relieved and excited at the same time of the approval.  I was expecting a longer wait, possibly 5-6 months looking at all the projections I've been reading.  We received the approval by mail today, 12/2/17.  For the past two weeks, I've been constantly checking the case status on the USCIS website, only to see over and over "Your fingerprint fee has been accepted".  So, for some reason, the I-601A approval or denial isn't revealed via the USCIS website.  Don't make the same mistake and check your phone every hour, but keep checking your mailbox instead.

Thankfully, the I-601As are processed and reviewed by the National Benefits Center in Lee's Summit, Missouri.....not the Nebraska USCIS office.

Earlier this week, we received the Police Certificate from Mexico that the NVC requested.  I had the document professionally translated for a fee and we are sending them to the NVC in the next couple of days.  

Not out of the woods yet, but finally after a year and half of paperwork, fees, and long waiting....we can feel some momentum building towards the final stretch of this process.               

13 hours ago, CA1515 said:

Hello Mansini, 

 

It should be within about 2 months that they schedule your interview if you have already sent all paperwork to NVC after your approval of you I-601A.

 

I have a quick question for you i need to get this police certificate as well (i got the same email from NVC). So you had your wife get her fingerprints at the Mexican consulate and then they give you paperwork that you sent to your in laws in mexico and from there they are able to get the police certificate for her?

Hello CA1515,

Thank you for your response.  So regarding the NVC scheduling the interview after the 601A has been approved, how far out is the typical appointment with the consulate?  Example: Lets say USCIS approves our 601A today, and then NVC schedules the consulate appointment two months from now...let's say in January of 2018.  When would the consulate appointment generally be made?  I guess it would be hard to determine other than what previous applicants have done before.

In regards to your question. Contact the Mexican consulate nearest you to be sure you have all the needed paperwork before going there.  My wife needed her Mexican passport, a bill with our home address (she used a bank statement that had our address), and two passport like photos( one front profile, and one side profile).  At the Mexican consulate, they did all the fingerprints and filled out all the needed documents.

We mailed the documents to my brother in law in Zacatecas through DHL.  It cost nearly $45, but it came with a tracking number, and arrived in Zacatecas in two days without being held up in Mexican customs.  

This is where things got interesting.  My brother in law then went to the local police station for this "Police certificate" thinking that the cost of getting these papers was 106 pesos.  According to the Mexican consulate in Denver, 106 pesos was the cost, and when we phoned the police station, they also said 106 pesos.  When my brother in law arrived, he was told that the cost to get my wife's "Police certificate" was 300 pesos.  Now...maybe something I'm not aware of had changed, or maybe some people are just that damn corrupt.  In my opinion, we got screwed out of the extra money, but what else could we do?  Either we pay what they demand, or not get the papers.  The authorities know exactly why a request for these papers are being made: Immigration Purposes.  They know that people like us would pay extra just to be done with the circumstances, so that's why they do it, to make a little extra cash.  So be prepared to wire 100 American dollars to a trustworthy relative who would handle this procedure.  Because they need to secure the papers, and then DHL or UPS the documents back to you in the United States.  It cost $45 dollars to ship to Mexico, it will cost the same in Mexican pesos to ship back to America.  

Depending on what state your spouse came from in Mexico, I'd recommend calling the police station to get a list of everything they need.  According to the Mexican consulate, the states in Mexico all have different requirements for the Police Certificate.  Zacatecas, Durango, Nuevo Leon etc.  

Once I receive the documents, I will have them professionally translated, not by myself.  I will then send all the paperwork and the translations to the NVC.  The NVC didn't specify that the documents needed to be in English, but I'm not taking any chances since they will all be in Spanish.  I would recommend doing the same.

Hello all, while I'm new here, my wife and I have been in the thick of the immigration process for some time now.  

I'm relieved to see that most I-601a waivers are being processed around 4 to 5 months.  The USCIS received our 601a petition in early August of 2017 and we have been been checking the status of the case nearly everyday.  While we have an immigration attorney that guided us through the steps, I wrote the 601A myself for my wife and had a psychologist do an evaluation of our family and filed her report in the 601A.  We remain confident and patient. 

A week ago, I was blindsided by an email from the NVC asking for a police certificate for my wife during her time in Mexico.  Either this wasn't explained to me in plain English by our immigration attorney, or I just completely overlooked it.  Frustrating.  I assumed this was not needed since the 601A was in process with the USCIS in conjunction with biometrics done (fingerprints) two weeks AFTER the USCIS had received our case.  Well, no use whining or complaining about it.  My wife was able to get to the Mexican consulate within a couple of days and did all the fingerprints and papers needed for the local police department.  The next day, I went to the local DHL office and expressed the documents to her brother in Zacatecas, Mexico.  Hopefully, he will be able to receive the police certificate quickly and mail it back to us here in the USA, so I could then mail it to the NVC.  I hope I haven't delayed our potential US Consulate interview.  But since the USCIS still hasn't reviewed our 601A yet, it might not affect it at all.  

My question to all is, how long does it usually take for the the NVC to make your US Consulate interview AFTER your I-601A has been approved by the USCIS?  I'm guessing a few months.  I tried googling this question, but I always get bombarded with information regarding I-601...not the I-601A.