Angie135

Hi, 

May I know when you received the visa in the end? I just completed my interview yesterday, 

For those of you who have joint sponsors, how do you arrange your documents in the packet? Do you put all the petitioner’s (main sponsor) financial documents together (I-864, Evidence of income, W2, Tax returns), followed by joint sponsor’s documents (I-864, Evidence of income, W2, Tax returns). 

Or: Peitioner’s I-864, joint sponsor’s I-864, petitioner’s Evidence of income, joint sponsor’s Evidence of income, petitioner’s W2, joint sponsir’s W2, etc etc ?

Or does it even matter? 

May I know if documents can be mailed to NVC using courier companies such as FedEx and DHL? And whether it is ok for DHL or FedEx to get the recipient at NVC to sign for the package for tracking purposes, so that we will know that the package has reached NVC? Thanks. 

Yes, you are right. The phonetic spelling is the same name in its mandarin pronunciation. And I never really use it in writing. It’s just there on my passport and birth certificate. 

Thanks for your reply. I’ve been thinking about the different ways I can do this on the form and apart from putting the phonetic name as an alias, every other way seems weird, haha. 

I know that there are already quite a few questions regarding names on the DS-260, but i have not been able to find someone with a similar problem to mine. 

I'm filling out my DS-260 and i have a question regarding the name (as it appears on the passport). I have both my full name and the phonetic spelling (hanyu pinyin) of my Chinese name in brackets stated on my passport.  My name on my passport appears something like this:

Tan Lee Lee

(Chen Lili)

In my I-130, i simply indicated my Given name as "Lee Lee" and Surname (last name) as "Tan". The DS-260 does not allow parentheses. And if i put "Chen Lili" under given names it will also be incorrect, because then my name will read as "Lee Lee Chen Lili Tan", which is totally wrong. Do you think it will be ok if on the DS-260 i put:

Surname: Tan

Given name: Lee Lee

Then put "Chen Lili" under alias/other names used? 

I realized that the phonetic spelling of my name may be confusing to people who are non-Chinese speaking, and some people may mistake the phonetic spelling as a different name, when it's actually the same, if it makes sense. 

I'm filling out my DS-260 and i have a question regarding the name (as it appears on the passport). I have both my full name and the phonetic spelling of my chinese name in brackets stated on my passport.  My name on the passport appears something like this:

Tan Lee Lee

(Chen Lili)

In my I-130, i simply indicated my Given name as "Lee Lee" and Surname (last name) as "Tan". The DS-260 does not allow parentheses. And if i put "Chen Lili" under given names it will also be incorrect, because then my name will read as "Lee Lee Chen Lili Tan", which is totally wrong. Do you think it will be ok if on the DS-260 i put:

Surname: Tan

Given name: Lee Lee

Then put "Chen Lili" under alias/other names used? 

Regarding the tax returns, my co-sponsor filed his 2017 tax returns electronically, hence when he prints out the copy, there will not be a signature on the 2nd page. Will that be ok? I have not gotten my invoice number yet, and I think it will be after mid April when I get to submit my AOS, so I’ll probably have to include the 2017 returns, but there probably isn’t time to wait for the 2017 tax transcripts. 

Another question - I read on the Department of State website (I’ve included the link below) that as of January 2017, ink signature is no longer required on I-864 and that scanned/photocopies of the signed forms are accepted. This is true? Because if it is, it’ll make it much easier and my sponsor & co-sponsor will not need to courier the original copy to me. 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/ink-signature-no-longer-required-on-affidavits-of-support.html

11 hours ago, jesserz said:

I didn't even think about that. I used a4 for everything and no one said anything of that makes you feel better. 

Thank you!

I’m not sure if this question has been asked before. I apologize if it’s an old or silly question - but does it matter whether the I-864 and other supporting documents are in the US letter size or A4 size? 

We only use A4 sized paper in my country. Is it ok if I print everything on A4 paper? 

58 minutes ago, Khallaf said:

as far as I know right now NVC is requiring the 2016 tax return not the 2017 yet, until it passes April 17th this year so you are fine submitting the 2016 

 

I got my case # yesterday filled out the DS-261 and when I got up this am the welcome letter was in my email, and I am able to pay the AOS and DS-260 bills

Nice! Congrats! 

13 hours ago, Khallaf said:

now I wait for the welcome letter, or call tomorrow to see if they will review the DS-261 so I can start paying fee's

Usually how long does it take between them assigning the case number and receiving the welcome letter? Without the letter we also cannot submit the documents, is that right?

At which point do you go for your medical examination? After you have submitted your AOS package? 

18 minutes ago, Khallaf said:

anyone can be a joint sponsor, as long as they are a USC or a LPR....it does not have to be family

 

I would think so but their stance from what I was told is these cases have been waiting a long time, and so they come first.

Thanks!

47 minutes ago, Khallaf said:

if you have already filed your petition and depending on when it gets to NVC yes you may still be required to have a joint sponsor

 

for example if you have already been approved by USCIS right now NVC is requiring the 2016 tax return, if he does not have this he will have to have a co-sponsor

 

I’ve been approved by USCIS and waiting for my case number from NVC, so I guess I do need a joint sponsor.

Must the joint sponsor be a family member or will a friend do as well? Although my father-in-law can be a joint sponsor, he may retire later this year, so im hoping there is enough time. 

Hi, I have a question about the AOS and joint sponsor. My spouse was not working for the last 3 years as he was living abroad, so his tax returns for the last 3 years showed that he had no income. His dad was supposed to be the  joint sponsor.

However, my spouse has now moved back to the US and he’s just got a job in the US. His salary will be more than enough to meet the requirements. 

In this case, do we still require a joint sponsor? Or would a copy of his employment contract stating his annual salary be sufficient? 

6 minutes ago, Netta said:

You have one year

Thank you! 

7 minutes ago, Netta said:

https://ceac.state.gov/ceacstattracker/status.aspx you can also check you case status on this link. If it says at NVC then you have CC

Oh, sorry, I suppose I didn’t make myself clear. What I mean is: is there a deadline by which I need to submit AOS? For eg, do I need to submit AOS and DS-260 within 1month/ 3 months, etc of receiving the welcome letter from NVC? 

Do do I need to submit AOS immediately after receiving welcome letter? 

Thanks! 

I just saw that my case has been sent to NVC. May I know, once NVC sends me the welcome letter/invoice numbers, how much time do I have to submit the AOS and DS-260? i.e, is there a deadline by which I have to submit AOS & DS-260? 

Im asking because I need some time to gather my documents. Also, my spouse is waiting for confirmation of a new job, which we will only know in March. So im wondering how much time I have.

On 09/02/2018 at 4:36 AM, Mozak said:

Thank you for the reply! 

 

I'm glad it all worked out for you in the end. What was the exact address you sent the information to? I can't seem to find the open address for the Nebraska Service Center anywhere online or even on the USCIS.gov website !

 

 

I sent it to the Nebraska Service Center address stated on the NOA1. It’s a PO Box address. The one where they informed us that they received our case. That’s the address the USCIS customer service officer told us to send to. 

10 hours ago, Mozak said:

Hello, 

 

Good luck with this issue. I hope you were able to solve it! 

 

In fact, if you did do something to solve this issue, I'm curious about what you decided to do?  I have a similar problem and our i-130 application is also at the Nebraska office.  

 

was sending a letter to the Nebraska Service Center useful? 

 

Thanx,

Hi, 

i did send out the letter because the lawyer we spoke to said it’s better to give them the info asap instead of waiting for an RFE because when I file the DS-260 at the second stage of the process, i’ll have to include the same information anyway. 

Funnily though, in my case, my letter and my I-130 approval crossed paths. On the day I sent out the letter I received the I-130 approval. So now, I’m not sure if USCIS will still help me to update the info i sent. If not, i’ll just include the information I want to add in my DS-260 later on. 

In my case, the missing info was an alias that I almost never used, hence we forgot to include it. I’m not sure what the information you are hoping to add is and whether it will warrant an RFE. 

9 hours ago, KarmelAnn said:

It van take some time for USCIS to send your docs to nvc however it doesn't always take long. You can call the nvc # to find out if they have received your file. 

Once they verify they have received your files from USCIS. You can call to get your invoice number  etc. I did not wait for them to send a notice via email to me. I kept calling.. on the call you can give them all the email addresses you would like to be notified. 

Yes nvc will send you some info that you need to send in along with your Affidavit of support and other documents. You can find the affidavit of support form on the USCIS website i864. The other forms and fees you have to fill and pay will be on the ceac site. When you get your invoice number etc. You will be able to log into the ceac website. Note all the forms/fees  will not be available at once. As you complete one and they review the next step will become available. But you got to keep checking your ceac account.

Hope this helps

Thanks very much! This is very helpful 

I have been reading this forum on the NVC process and i am a little confused so I have a few questions which I hope someone can help me clear up. 

I just received my I-130 approval. I understand that the next step is wait for USCIS to send my file to NVC. In the meantime, I can continue checking the USCIS website to see if they have already sent my file, but it typically takes up to 11 weeks, is that correct? 

Once NVC receives my file and assigns my invoice number, what happens? How will I know? will they contact me through mail? I read that some people call NVC weekly, but assuming that I don’t call them, how will I still get my invoice number? 

Also, I read that NVC will send me a check list and some forms. Are these the forms I’m supposed to fill in? Is there anywhere else I can find the updated forms? Because my spouse will be returning to the US soon to establish domicile and it might be better if we can have a rough idea of what we need before he leaves.

i apologize if these questions have already been asked elsewhere, but this stage of the process is a bit overwhelming so I appreciate your advice. 

Hi, 

My spouse (USC) filed our I-130 petition in June 2017 and we recently discovered that we mistakenly missed out on some information on the form. We sought the advice of USCIS as well as an immigration lawyer who both advised that we simply send a letter requesting to add information to the form. We are currently still waiting for the NOA2, but they told us to go ahead and send the letter instead of waiting for an RFE. 

The customer service officer at USCIS told us to send the letter to the address on the NOA1, which in our case is the Nebraska Service Center PO Box. Can I confirm that this is correct? Also, I understand that if I want tracking number, USPS is the only postal service that delivers to a PO Box? 

Also, the lawyer advised us to attach a photocopy of the NOA1 to the letter as reference. Can I staple it or should I use paper clip? Does it matter? 

Thanks for your advice. 

22 minutes ago, Saturn123 said:

Please let us know if any case filed in june that went to Nebraska center has been approved. My case was received on 6th June, 2017, but nothing more than a receipt letter has been received. Please suggest what to do next? Will calling USCIS be helpful...

My case was received by Nebraska center on 22 June and have not heard anything from them since then too. 

I’m also wondering if anyone else from Nebraska has received any good news yet.