cndrbk

On 2/22/2020 at 9:07 AM, OrihimeandIchigo said:

Hello all im hoping you could help me. I'm very confused about this part in the Pre Interview Checklist. It says to bring Original or certified copies of birth certificates for all children of the principal applicant (even if he or she is not accompanying). Is this for people who are filing for multiple applicants and their children? Or just in general even if the interview and application is just for ONE person?

 

 

 

Hello!
Your post was from a while ago but was the applicant's kid's birth certificate required at the embassy? Did you/your spouse bring it? Thanks!

On 1/16/2022 at 4:45 AM, Public Charge 101 said:

Hello VJ family I hope everyone is doing well. I'm hoping that someone on here can help me. Thank you in advance.

I resubmitted our documents to the NVC on October 1st 2021 and today I got an email. All documents except for one which is the i-864 the signature and date form. It says that I have to resend it again which will be the third time. I don't know what the problem can be that it keeps getting rejected. I was wondering can we just take it to the appointment instead of having to wait for another 3 and a half months. Please help 🥺 thank you

 

When did you submit the docs for the first time? And after replacing some rejected docs, how long did it take them to review?

I’m asking because I just replaced one doc.. in my case, it was a birth certificate. I got to speak with a supervisor on the phone. She said to replace the rejected doc with the same exact doc and put “this is the only obtainable doc at the moment. I’ll get the required one for the interview.” But she said she couldn’t tell me when it’ll be reviewed… 

thank you 

Hi all,
 

I’m the USC petitioner of my husband’s CR1 visa. Our docs are being reviewed by the NVC at the moment. 

Everything seemed to be accepted except my husband’s birth certificate. They rejected it saying that it wasn’t issued by a correct authority. We checked the country specific requirements and it seemed that the doc we uploaded was actually fine. 

I called the NVC today and talked to a couple of officers. The first officer said that the birth certificate looks fine. She’d send a message to a supervisor for a review. It will take up to 6 weeks for them to give us an answer. This officer said not to replace the rejected doc now as we wait for a supervisor review because this will put us back to the back of the line. 

After this call, we got 2 emails from the NVC. When we signed in, we saw that they added 4 documents under “required” and marked them missing. One of them is birth certificate. 3 of them had been already accepted. (Passport bio page, police record and military record). 

I called the NVC again to see what to do about this, and the officer started talking about the rejected birth certificate. She said that even if a supervisor agrees that the doc we submitted was correct, after we get an answer from them, we’ll have to replace/reupload the rejected doc because they cannot change the status of the rejected doc to “accepted” on their end. Is this true?

So my questions are:

1

Should we or should we not replace/reupload the rejected doc while we wait for a supervisor review? (Is it better to do it now or wait until we hear back from a supervisor?) 

2

After a supervisor review, do we still have to replace the rejected doc and have to wait extra 3 months for the new doc to be reviewed? (The current doc process time at the NVC is 3 months.)

3

Re: missing docs

The agent said that this is most likely a glitch and they’re aware of things like that. But she also said that we can select “not available” from the drop down and put “this doc has been accepted” in the comment section for each of those “missing” docs. And she said we could hit “submit” again = extra 3 month wait. Do we actually need to do this? Or do they fix the glitches? 

Any info is much appreciated. 

Thank you very much 🙏🏼

Our I-130 was approved - 

US Citizen for Spouse 

15 hours ago, nikmak said:

Hi! After you filed K3 at Texas lockbox, how long did it take them to send you any kind of confirmation that they have received your application? 

Hello!

I sent it out on 8/28 via FedEx.
They received it on 8/31.(I saw that on FedEx tracking + On August 31, 2021, we received your Form I-129..)

On 9/3, the online status changed to "Case Was Received."

I got a text message on 9/6 saying they received it. 

I BELIEVE that I received the physical letter on 9/7 or 8.

Hope it helps

2 minutes ago, Steffen & Rafael said:

Thanks  no I didn't send a K-3. I thought it would've been another $535 lol. I didn't know it was free. However my I-130 was approved in like 66 days so I guess I didn't need to file the K-3 anyways. Good luck on yours!

ohhh, I see. Wow that was very fast. Congrats again, and thank you.

On 7/21/2021 at 11:41 PM, Steffen & Rafael said:

Never mind. I just saw my NOA2 notice from the USCIS website! My case will now be moved to the NVC stage.

Congrats!

Did you send K3 also? If so, how soon/long after filing K3, was your I-130 approved? Thanks!

8 minutes ago, Machinecorpse62 said:

hello, 

 

thanks!

 

acrually my case was reviewed on September 15 and on 16 it was approved so one day only. I filed k3 in July so after two months. K3 does help in this current time during the pandamic. Only thing I am worried about is the long wait we will have to wait once the case is completed at nvc for interview at Islamabad Pakistan 

I see. Thank you.
I got excited when the status changed to actively reviewing but it hasn't even been 1 month since I submitted K3.. so I guess I'll have to be more patient.

Good luck with the NVC stage and hope your process after that will be smooth. 
Thanks again!

On 9/16/2021 at 5:29 PM, Machinecorpse62 said:

130 approved 9-16-2021 filed on may-2-2021 texas service center with k3 as well. Now waiting on nvc 

Congratulations!
How long was your case being actively reviewed? And how long after filing K# was it approved?

Thanks!

2 hours ago, Strawberrymermaid said:

Hi @cndrbk! Okay so I retract my statement, I thought maybe the I-129F did not help, but I got approved today. PD March 5, NOA2 August 27, so just under 6 months. Others at Potomac that don't send it in wait 10-12 months so almost twice as long. I do think it helped. I did not put in the Mexico embassy in that section because I was just using the I-129F to try to push the I-130 to get looked at faster. I actually didn't even see that was a requirement until now. I do think it helped in my case. But I also think Potomac is going a little faster than they were last year. Who knows if it helped or not. But I thought it was worth a shot. Fingers crossed for you!!

Congratulations @Strawberrymermaid!! That's great news. I'm super happy for you. You've been very sweet and kind since day one, and I appreciate it a lot.

When did you file I-129F (for K-3) again?

I'm putting together I-129F right now as well. I hope it's gonna help us too.

Congrats and thanks again!

20 hours ago, DaveAndAnastasia said:

Note that all K-3 applications are administratively changed into CR-1 applications; no K-3s have been issued in over a year, and for years before that the total number for the entire year was in the single digits.

 

There are intermittent internet rumors that applying for a K-3 makes your CR-1/IR-1 application go faster, but I've never seen any hard data on this, and it means file an extra form and paying more fees.

Thanks.

It doesn't cost anything if you have filed i-130 already, just fyi.

You're right but some filers from spring this year are getting approved after they sent i-129f. It may just be a coincidence but if there is a chance, I'd def do it too.

On 5/2/2021 at 12:28 PM, Strawberrymermaid said:

Hello! I wanted to share my experience getting married to my Russian husband in Mexico. It was actually a fairly easy process. ❤️ I went the resort route but there’s another nice girl that went the wedding planner route, maybe she can share her experience if she feels comfortable! 
 

Note: each state in Mexico has different requirements. These are the requirements from Quintana Roo (Cancun area)
 

Where: We went the resort route and got married in Cancun. I felt like going this route was helpful because they take care of all the legalities, paperwork, and blood tests for you. The resort was pretty terrible at communication until we got there and then it was amazing. It was expensive but it was worth it. 
 

Flights: At this time Turkey and Russia still had flights operating between them so he flew Turkish airlines. I imagine now the hardest thing would be finding a flight but you could probably transit through Europe as long as it doesn’t go through the US at any point. I flew Delta, super easy flight. 

Time requirements:

Bride and Groom must be in Mexico 3 business days before wedding. Arrival day and wedding day don’t count. 
Bride and Groom must both be divorced for at least a year. We have both never been previously married so this didn’t apply to us. 

 

Documents needed: 

- Tourist cards (they give you these on the plane to Mexico. Don’t lose them!)

- Copies of both passports 

- Blood test. They did this at the resort. I felt very safe and it wasn’t sketchy or anything in case someone is worried about that. They test your blood for STDs and HIV Etc. 
- Witnesses. There must be 4 witnesses who have also been in Mexico for 3 business days. However, the resort can provide these for you. Some do it free of cost and others do it for like 25-50 dollars per person. 
what you DONT need: apostille birth certificates. It says online you need this and I was freaking out because I wasn’t sure my husband could get this from his hometown. We didn’t end up needing it. 
 

Other info:

- Get your marriage certificate translated to English, again the resort did this for us. 

- For US purposes you do not need an apostille. You can apply for I-130 without it. For Russia, you do need it. It took us like 3-4 weeks after the wedding to get, she mailed it to my house. It was also like 500 dollars 😅. 
- Russia also is very particular about translations and such. The husband or wife in Russia will need to get it translated there, notarized there too. You cannot get it translated in Mexico or the US and then try to send it there. They need it translated in Russia and notarized by a Russian notary. 
- While it’s tempting to switch from K1, it’s a different beast. With the I-129f, all applications (well most) pretty much go to one service center, California. You know within 5-8 months it will most likely be processed. The vast majority at least. The I-130 can go to 5 service centers and you don’t get to pick. From what I can see, they also don’t tell you when they transfer them and processing times are all over the place. Like you could be waiting for uscis to process it anywhere from 2 months to 3 years. There’s a very lucky few who seem to get processed in 2-3 months while most others wait around a year a more. They also tell everyone that you are at Nebraska online (which seems so exciting), but surprise it’s elsewhere and you have to call or ask Emma to check. So you will be waiting a while and must be patient. Just keep that in mind. ❤️
- It’s also slightly complicated to get a private visa right now to visit in Russia, if you don’t already have a tourist visa or some other document allowing you to travel there. You must have all the right copies and translations of everything which can take awhile. We got married in February and still haven’t gotten everything we need as the research is extensive and hard to figure out. But we are about to get to the end and I’m applying for one soon. They are also only issuing 1 or 2 time entry 90 day visas right now. 
 

hope that helps!!! Good luck everyone. 

Thanks for sharing and beautiful picture indeed
I've messaged you before.. thanks always for your kind responses. My husband and I also got married in Mexico. We filed I-130 in May this year and now we're considering I-129f.

I have a quick question about I-129f. 

 Page 8, Part 2, Items 62a-b Consular Processing Information. (Your beneficiary will apply for a visa abroad at the US Embassy or US Consulate at:)

Did you put Mexico City, Mexico since you got married in Mexico?

I was reading the instructions and I saw:

NOTE: Under US immigration law, a foreign national who marries a US citizen outside the US and seeks a K-3 visa must apply for the K-3 visa in the country where the marriage took place. (Page 6, Paragraph 5)

Thank you in advance

14 hours ago, JigneshBabu1992 said:

any additional info on this? I have the same situation.

Hello @JigneshBabu1992

Actually... I noticed that the info about the service center disappeared on my account, so I contacted USCIS via chat. They told me that my case was transferred to Potomac, which has a longer wait time

Hi all

We filed in May 2021 also.

Case filed (online): 05/08/2021

NOA1: 05/08/2021

Nebraska Service Center (But on the receipt, I see the Texas address...?)

Good luck to all!

@Kay & Evan @KLL

hello!

Our situation is a bit different and sorry for posting it. We have a question about civil union Spain and are having a hard time to find an answer.. so I hope you don’t mind asking you our question here

I’m trying to file the form I-130 for my partner who’s a resident in Spain. He has a history of civil union in Spain. We’re wondering if we need to include that as his marriage history, or since it seems it’s not really a marriage in Spain, we don’t need to list it as a marriage history. 
 

if you know, please let me know. Or point me to where we can find answers. (Should we contact the US embassy or consulate for a confirmation?)

thank you so much in advance!

Hey guys!

We got married successfully in Cancun also

So.. for the immigration purpose, we use the simpler certified copy of the marriage certificate + translate that, correct?

Thanks again!

12 minutes ago, payxibka said:

Based on this logic,, I guess that means people who obtain US citizenship after their marriage are SOL, because their marital certificate will have a nationality other than US.

No. Those lawyers were just saying that if I have US citizenship, it'd be better to say that I'm a US citizen on the marriage certificate when I try to bring my family here as a US citizen. They are aware that US allows dual citizenship and there's no rule about this, but they were just recommending me not to complicate the case.

1 minute ago, Babu Frik said:

where in Mexico are you getting married?

 

The Cancun area.

The Civil Registry sent us a contact of one of the judges there, and we've been trying to make arrangements. I hope everything goes well

Btw, I have another name question.. So in the US, if I want to have my last name and my spouse's last name, I'll have to connect them with a hyphen, like Jane White-Brown. But in Mexico, like other Latin countries, can't you have it like Jane White Brown? If I do that in Mexico, what's going to happen on the papers in the US when I try to change my name? Will "White" have to go to the middle name section? 

Should I change my name to "White-Brown" to follow the US format even when I get married in Mexico to avoid confusions?

Sorry it's unrelated but I just wondered.. 

Thanks!

Thanks for those who responded.

Just fyi..
i've spoken with a few lawyers and more lawyers recommended NOT to put a nationality other than US for this kind of situation. 

Thanks again!

21 hours ago, Strawberrymermaid said:

Hi!

 

To change my name, I had to have my marriage certificate and translation. I had to send to social security office, wait for my new card, then go to the DMV with my new card and get my new license. From there you have to call your bank, apartment, medical offices etc and manually update your name in their records. Passport is what I am going to do last because I don't want to not have my passport in the next few months so I can travel to see him.

 

Apostilles are not needed for the US Government to recognize the marriage. However, my husband is from Russia and Russia does require apostilles which is the reason we got it. I am still unsure of all the apostille requirements and why it differs but it was quite hard for us to get. I had to find someone from the state of Quintana Roo to go down and get it and get it translated and notarized. You will just need to ask the judge/ court in Mexico for the apostille document and they should be able to take care of it for you.

Thank you so much for answering my questions in details. I really appreciate it.

Understood re: apostilles.. We'll figure it out.

Thanks again!

Hi guys,

Can I join the conversation as we're planning on getting married in Mexico also

Just a question in general.. when you got married in Mexico, and if your family name changes, what do I need to do when I come back to the US?

Why/For what purpose do we need the apostille? 
(and will we know what to do to get it and certified copies?)

We got in touch with the civil registry and they gave me a contact of a judge. We're planning on getting married without a planner/resourt.

Sorry to jump into your conversation... but I'd appreciate your help.

Thanks so much!

On 3/16/2021 at 12:27 AM, JKLSemicolon said:

You submit the I-130a as an attachment with the online I-130. If the beneficiary is not currently in the US, it doesn't need to be signed.

 

You can save and come back later with the online I-130.

 

The I-864 comes later, after USCIS approves the petition and sends the case to the National Visa Center.

 

Read this guide for an overview of next steps:

 

 

Thank you so much! I appreciate your kindness for taking time to respond.

On 3/16/2021 at 10:17 AM, Babu Frik said:

Check out the guide for a general overview

 

All forms you would file with paper you would file online.

 

Yes you can stop and continue later, it doesn't all need to be at once.

 

 

 

Thank you so much. This is very helpful.

Lawyers make is sound like we need them.. but it looks pretty straightforward.

Hi all,

I'm sorry for asking basic questions but when you file I-130 online, do we need to submit I-130A? And when do I submit I-864?

After filing I-130, will I know what the next steps are?

Also, will I be able to save and complete later?

Thank you!

Hi thanks for the comment. 
Yes, I was talking about the future certificate. 
Because to register the marriage in my home country, it’ll be better if the certificate states that I’m from there, and not US.