zeljuu

On 7/6/2018 at 10:17 PM, SophieTheGamer said:

Yeah so to help people, our application arrived at NVC on May 5th 2018 we did the online CEAC process and we received case complete on the 3rd of July 2018 we are awaiting to be assigned our interview date now which I’ve heard from a friend who has a very similar timeline as me and is from the same country, her interview date was received in only 11 days so hope that helps people in the online stage with NVC and CEAC fingers crossed we get our interview date soon🤞🏻😁

That's great news. Just submitted payments the other week, I'm cautiously optimistic the CEAC online process will be a bit smoother than waiting on NOA2 and the NVC case number.

I received the Case number today via Email notice, 12 weeks wait time in all. Was getting nervous there at the end.

On 6/27/2018 at 2:51 PM, Abies said:

Same thing I did today. Mine was 8weeks yesterday,called today and was told it will be escalated to a supervisor then hubby called after 2hours,he was told is has been sent to a supervisor and that our case number will be ready before the end of next week Tuesday. 

 

Hope this helped..!

Mine was also escalated to Supervisor level after the 8 weeks had passed. They gave me another 6 week time-frame from that point on. This week will be week four, so I am at 12 weeks overall waiting with possibly another two.

Lmk if you managed to get your case number tomorrow, not sure if I just have to be pushier on the phone with these guys or what.. 

On 6/21/2018 at 10:48 AM, geowrian said:

Assuming there are no issues with the paperwork, you are waiting for "Case Complete" (CC) from NVC. This typically takes ~2-3 months or so.

 

Would you happen to know how greatly that 2-3 month time frame varies between pivot versus non-pivot cases?

On 6/19/2018 at 3:30 PM, Damirabouja said:

I call today about case number at NVC but nothing it is already 8 weeks passed, still they said they gonna talk to supervisor? What do I need to ?it is 8 weeks and 4 days. 

I'm in the same boat, still waiting. I am a week past the 8 now or the first of 6 possible weeks with a supervisor reviewing it. I called Monday and they actually referred me from option 3 which I typically used to option 5 now which is for electronic cases and told me to dial option 5 from now on.

They said my case was partially entered but still no case number. All you can do is wait it out and keep calling unfortunately.

I am still hopeful in the next week or so something will happen, many people seem to generally say they've waited around 10 weeks or so.

Still awaiting case # here, I am at the 8 weeks. Called today and still no number so they escalated to a supervisor with another 6 week possible wait. Fingers crossed it comes in the next week or two.

I just reached 8 weeks from the receive date today. When I called the technician pushed it up to a Supervisor for review which they said can take a maximum of another 6 weeks from now. I am hoping the case number will come in the next week or two.

I've read  it takes them a month or so to schedule from case complete, I would be interested to know as well.

If you call in they give an estimate of 8 weeks from the point of the receive date to get the case number. Many users here in the past few months have reported 8-10 week wait times.

Mine was received April 12th. They are telling me the same, it takes about 8 weeks but you may get the number at some point in May and they are currently entering the information into the system. Can only be patient and keep following up every week. If it is 8 weeks for sure I could live with that, if it's more it will be difficult.

I am just using this time to get the paperwork sorted for the AOS and IV packages so I can send everything as soon as possible.

On 4/19/2018 at 10:45 AM, JackG said:

Thanks much for your response, ZAKMrak. Believe it or not, this morning we received an email sent just after midnight with our case number, 79 days after it was transmitted to the NVC by USCIS.

 

Our lawyer is handling the fee and paperwork for us so, hopefully that won't take long. Interestingly, the lawyer told me this morning that they appear to have changed the process at the NVC to an online version (it appears new, he said). All he does is immigration so I assumed he would be familiar with it all, but it seems like it is a novelty to him. Just an FYI to folks.

Best,

Jack

That's great news, congrats!

I am only two weeks in after the receive date, just trying to get the paperwork ready in advance now. I have a ways to go..

The NVC doesn't really contact you, you need to take initiative and call them (Usually on a weekly basis) after your petition is approved by USCIS to confirm when the petition was received by them and what the Case and Invoice number are. All you need is your USCIS receipt number and you should be able to call them to check the status. You don't really need to rely on a lawyer for that at all.

The wait time between the NVC receiving it and providing a case number seems to be around 8-10 weeks based on what most people are saying on here. We're probably about at that time-frame now assuming the NVC received your case shortly after Feb 1st.

It seems like more recently it is taking 1-2 months to get a case number, 1-2 weeks to submit the payments, online forms and AOS/IV packages, then 2 months to process. Then another 1-2 months for the interview date. 

Based on what I've seen more cases than not are probably around the 5-6 month mark recently. I wish it was only around 3 months..

21 hours ago, Mr.Bob said:

The whole process NVC, Interview, Visa in hand.

I would be willing to deal with that much of a wait, I'm just afraid it will go ~10 months based on some of the stuff I've read. 

Just gotta hang in there..

14 hours ago, peachouille said:

There used to be one but they removed it a couple of weeks ago. Give them a call and ask.

Ok, I did some research. Not sure how up to date that travel.state.gov site is but they basically say if your receipt number begins with the below prefixes then email processing is required. The acronyms they mention correlate to the below countries:

AKD - Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
AMM - Amman, Jordan
BGH - Baghdad, Iraq
DMS - Damascus, Syria
GZO - Guangzhou, China

A thread from 2017 I was reading through had a similar list from the travel.state.gov site though even more countries required email processing at that point it seemed which are listed below:

ADD = Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

AKD = Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

AMM = Amman, Jordan

BGH = Baghdad, Iraq

BNS = Buenos Aires, Argentina

DMS = Damascus, Syria

FRN = Frankfurt, Germany

GTM = Guatemala City, Guatemala

GUZ = Guangzhou, China

HNK = Hong Kong

KEV = Kyiv, Ukraine

MRV = Monrovia, Liberia

MTL = Montreal, Canada

PHP = Phnom Penh, Cambodia

RDJ = Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

SYD = Sydney, Australia

TGG = Tegucigalpa, Honduras

THT = Tashkent, Uzbekistan

But there are users here from Pakistan that are going through pivot as well but I don't see their acronym included on these lists, strange.. It seems like the email processing was much faster than paper mail about a year ago, now it's about the same if not more. The thread I was reading in case anyone was interested: 

1 hour ago, peachouille said:

Pivot cases are those with electronic processing. So instead of sending your AOS and IV packages by mail, the documents are uploaded online. As far as I know, cases from Canada are pivot. 

Is there a way to check which U.S. embassies/consulates in foreign countries make use of electronic processing for the packages?

4 minutes ago, Hans Martin said:

These packages you are talking about; is that something I receive from them in the mail, or electronically? Or do I need to just start downloading the forms, fill out and print?

 

thanks!

Not 100% as I'm not up to that stage yet but I believe once you pay the fees, you get a cover letter with a bar code for each package electronically from the payment portal.  They need to be attached to each respective package, and mailed to the address which is also listed on the cover letter.

The contents of the package are mostly items that you would furnish like civil documents, passport photos, W2's etc.. The I864 you can download online and start filling out now, it will be packed in with the AOS package. These items can be basically all just photocopies, the beneficiary should carry the originals (Mostly from the IV package and I864) with them to the interview.

There's a guide on this site that goes more into detail what's needed.

5 minutes ago, Hans Martin said:

Thanks! Good to hear from someone that has experienced delays with NVC as well. And do I need to send any more papers in now? Or just fill out forms online for the rest of it?

I believe you fill out the DS260 online after paying the fees. Then you mail in the AOS package /w I864 along with the IV package, depending on the consulate they may have you submit the AOS/IV packages electronically.

The beneficiary will then need to bring hard copies of basically everything that was in the IV package /w I864 along with a few additional items to the interview.

12 hours ago, Mr.Bob said:

People think once the petition is approved the wait is over. Nope. Set a 5 month goal with NVC and you won’t stress.

That 5 month goal, you are estimating just NVC not with the consulate/interview phase?

I've been reading quite a few stories of people really getting backed up with even just getting their case number.

42 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Get the copy of the current passport in case you need to submit it before the new one is issued.  Updating is not a problem as long as it is done BEFORE the interview.

 

What name did you use on the I-130?

Understood, I have a copy of the current passport at hand already. Thank you for the info!

I used the married/updated name on the I-130. Though there are sections both on the I-130 form as well as on the marriage certificate where the maiden name is designated. The foreign spouse passport wasn't required to be packed in with the petition documents.

5 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

The visa and green card will be issued in the name on the passport.  So, if that is not the name she plans to use going forward, a new passport is in order BEFORE the interview.

A copy of the passport is needed with the IV package so I am looking to get this done even before filing anything with the NVC.

Otherwise, keeping the maiden name or likewise updating it doesn't have other implications with complicating the processing of the forms and/or interview?

Hi All,

One question that's unclear to me is if it's necessary for my wife (the beneficiary) to update their foreign passport to reflect the name change that took place when we got married as that's what is reflected on the wedding certificate and the I-130 petition. Reading through some other comments I've seen this may be a gray area where you don't technically have to but it may be a good idea, just wanted to get other opinions and hear the pros and cons if there are any. 

I am at the stage where the I-130 has just recently been approved so I am waiting on confirmation of the NVC recieving the petition then providing a Case Number and IIN. As such I'm trying to prep the requisite documents for the IV/AOS packages and the packet my wife will need to bring with her to the eventual interview.

And my apologies if this is a beaten to death topic, I did a search on the forums and didn't find any exact threads addressing this in depth. Thanks in Advance!

As others have mentioned in this thread, even the K1 Visas are taking substantially longer than they have in the past. ~8-10 months from NOA1 to interview on average versus ~12-15 months on average for IR1/CR1. 

You should look at the positives and negatives of both before deciding.

41 minutes ago, geowrian said:

You can use either fine.

If you do get a round trip, be sure to cancel the return trip after entry into the US (or make it refundable/transferable, if possible).

Be careful with cancellations on airline tickets, depending on how long you wait after purchasing you may have to pay a fee to cancel.

As said before, if you are coming on an immigrant visa such as the IR1/CR1 a one-way ticket should be just fine.

A non-immigrant visa such as the B1/B2 where you are just visiting, a round trip ticket may be useful as evidence of your intentions to only visit if you are questioned at the POE.

44 minutes ago, Mr&Mrs G. said:

 

This is an immigration forum that shares information and advice. If an executive decision  has been made to slow applications down then it's something we all should know, but as yet he has done nothing to interfere with the USCIS or NVC. Anyone suggesting that their application has be slowed as a result of a Trump policy change needs to speak up and not just imply and jump on the Trump bashing wagon.

 

The application process was already backlogged and slowing down under previous presidents due to conflicts around the world. The internet and ease of foreign travel has made it more likely

that US citizens are finding their new spouses abroad. There are more Americans applying now for IR1/CR1 visas for their husbands and wife's. 

 

Family based visa I believe in some categories and nationalities are dealing with applications going back years preceeding even President Obama's two terms, again absolutely nothing to do with Trump.

 

My point is there are enough pitfalls and things to cause delays without throwing Trump's name into the mix. It's more likely that a case will be delayed by poor paperwork than anything the President has said or done.

Like I said it's difficult to say what impact the current administration has on the processing times if any. Despite my impression of it probably not helping there hasn't been any official reform as of yet. 

We are all in the dark as far as what goes into the day to day.