zeljuu

Here to report the same, we received the permanent resident card on Nov  20th 2018. A little over 6 weeks after POE and still no sign of the Social Security Card, I checked the site that was posted in this thread for the status and there is no sign of the case for an SSN having been opened for my wife.
 
In any case I am prepared for a trip to the local SS Office.. Fortunately not in a shady area of town but once again as someone said, it's sort of a pain that you need to stay on top of this especially when there's a checkbox and statement in the Visa application to generate this automatically.
 
I'm very thankful for this site, it's an understatement to say if not for the community on here we would be left even more so in the dark than we already are with this process.

We qualified to use the I-864ez and did.  It's shorter by far.  If you qualify for it, use it!

It's 2018 now and everything is still the same. I called both NVC and SSA but no one knows about this type of SSN application. What a joke!

So an update on our SSN: It has been almost 6 weeks since POE and no card has arrived in the mail. We went to the Social Security office today and they told us my wife was nowhere to be found in the system. I could only laugh and remember what it says on the Social Security website:
 
"If you apply for a Social Security number (SSN) card when you apply for an immigrant visa, you can save yourself time and worry. If you use this process, you won't have to:
Find a Social Security office near your new home;


  Go in person to the Social Security office;


  Wait in line;


  Apply for a Social Security number at a local Social Security office. Instead, the U.S. government will use the same information that you give to apply for an immigrant visa to apply for an SSN. Then, once you arrive in the U.S., you can expect your SSN card at your mailing address in about 3 weeks.
One less thing to worry about as you settle in your new country!"
 
Wow, so we basically ended up doing everything they say we wouldn't have to do by applying with the visa. What a completely idiotic message to put on the website when there are clearly many issues with applying for a SSN on the visa application. They make a point to showcase on their website everything those of us not fortunate enough to have the system work as it should have to worry about. They suck!
 
Haha, had to get that off my chest. Anyway, we were waiting about an hour up to that point and all I can say is that the people waiting along with you are quite the colorful cast of weirdos. Those government benefits offices sure do attract some real clowns. Pretty shady crowd and shady part of town.
 
We made it through the line, presented green card and birth certificate, and 10 minutes later we were told we would be receiving the SSN card in the mail within 2 weeks. Problem solved, no thanks to the very sucky system they have in place for you to check a box that may or may not (most likely not) result in you getting your SSN automatically sent shortly after POE. Why would anyone check no on the visa application? Why not just automatically apply for SSN for everyone? Is there anyone who would really not want to automatically apply for SSN, or do they think we really want to waste our time with a bunch of weirdos? Obviously not the case, because they posted on their website that it is a benefit to not have to wait in their awful office with those people! Rant over.

Sounds like a mix up of some kind.  The Green Card and SS Card (if requested) should have been automatically mailed to your wife after POE since you paid the $220 fee.   No other action should be required until the 90 window prior to expiration.........

Same thing happen to my mom on cr1
entry 3/22/18
5/7 ordered card produce
5/31 received notice for code 2 biometric
6/12 biometric take
6/12 change back to case reviewed
a lot emailed and called them
10/25 ordered card produce again
hope she get it this time 

Sounds like the biometrics was faulty I have seen this posted before where  they are having problems with biometrics or machine didn't scan right. So you go back in. No big deal. Just don't miss the appointment.

The most you would pay AT the Consulate would be for courier service, IF applicable to your Consulate.
 
The green card or new immigrant fee is paid online AFTER the visa is in hand.  Pay for the medical in cash, at the medical facility.

I don’t know if you can pay the visa fee at the embassy.  I only remember having the option to pay online.  We paid the medical fee at the doctor’s office, but gave no money at the embassy for anything. 

Finally...best of luck everyone❤

Hooray, it's back up! Happy for everyone here who was waiting! Thanks all for being a part of this thread and sharing information and being supportive. It helped more than you know!

Its Up! Finally!! Thank you!! I was able to get in !!! 

I contacted Travel-State Department on twitter and they said they expect the site to be running by Friday July 27th. https://twitter.com/travelgov/status/1022189867613212672?s=21

I just called in, roughly a 30 minute hold time. I noticed as I was holding and the music was playing it was getting choppy to the point of it basically being inaudible. If I had to guess, I think they're having some kind of network issues over there.
 
The call representative said there wasn't any time-frame for the site to be back up again unfortunately. 
 
As I had submitted the payments and all the documents already and just wanted to check the notices I had received Friday they were able to tell me what the notices were regarding via phone. They wanted translations for the Civil docs despite them being in the native language of the embassy they will be forwarded to which shouldn't be the case, so they are escalating it to supervisor for review.
 
The fun doesn't stop..

You should call in, they can tell you over the phone what the notices are regarding so at least you know what's going on.

I was also surprised to find I didn't have to submit the DS-261. It was straight to submitting payments, then doing the DS-260 and submitting IV/AOS documents.
 
We submitted a G-1145 form with the I-130 when we submitted to USCIS. I was wondering if because we did that the DS-261 wasn't required or they've just gotten rid of it altogether if you are submitting via CEAC.
 
Either way it was pretty straightforward.

I just called in, roughly a 30 minute hold time. I noticed as I was holding and the music was playing it was getting choppy to the point of it basically being inaudible. If I had to guess, I think they're having some kind of network issues over there.
 
The call representative said there wasn't any time-frame for the site to be back up again unfortunately. 
 
As I had submitted the payments and all the documents already and just wanted to check the notices I had received Friday they were able to tell me what the notices were regarding via phone. They wanted translations for the Civil docs despite them being in the native language of the embassy they will be forwarded to which shouldn't be the case, so they are escalating it to supervisor for review.
 
The fun doesn't stop..

I think that's more than likely what it is, unlike Facebook, etc. they know we need them more than they need us. 
 
For pivot cases however CEAC is required for submitting documents/processing the case so we are sort of at a standstill.
 
I may try calling today to see if the call center has any info on what's going on..

Surprises me it’s monday .. they’re open and the system is still down.

Hi All,
 
Went to https://ceac.state.gov/IV this morning after receiving an email notice that my case status had been updated. (I was actually receiving notices as the site was down) There's a message when you go to the site "The Consular Electronic Application Center – Immigrant/Diversity Visa portal is currently undergoing maintenance."
 
I'm just continuing to refresh the page throughout the day until it is back again. Was this scheduled maintenance, does anyone know when it may be up again? 
 
Thanks 
 
 

Hopefully tomorrow. 
 
I noticed it on 7/6 and the next day,the site was up 

Hi All,
 
Went to https://ceac.state.gov/IV this morning after receiving an email notice that my case status had been updated. (I was actually receiving notices as the site was down) There's a message when you go to the site "The Consular Electronic Application Center – Immigrant/Diversity Visa portal is currently undergoing maintenance."
 
I'm just continuing to refresh the page throughout the day until it is back again. Was this scheduled maintenance, does anyone know when it may be up again? 
 
Thanks 
 
 

The flip side unfortunately is you will wait a while to get the Case # and IIN. Most people report ~8-12 weeks currently.

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

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🤞🏻😁