Emgee

Hi! I have a pretty complicated case and I would greatly appreciate some insights from you, guys here at VJ...I was born in a US Territory (That's how I got a US citizenship and a US passport) but have lived in the Philippines most of my life. I am now married, we have a daughter and another baby on the way. Someone offered to help get us to the US by being our joint sponsor way back 2018. We started the paperwork for my husband and my daughter and got an approved petition on March 2019 then a case number by May 2019. Due to certain circumstances, we stopped processing and thought that our joint sponsor can no longer help us but just this January 2020, she wanted us to push through with our application and paid the visa fees and the AOS fees for my husband and daughter. A travel consultant have been assisting us since we started the process and gave us hope that we have a chance of getting approved even though I have never been to mainland US and am currently residing in the Philippines. He said he would assist me in processing for dual-citizenship or recognition as a Filipino citizen so I wouldn't have a problem with the Philippine Immigration for "overstaying". As for the affidavit of support, a joint sponsor who is in the US would suffice. To make things more problematic, I just learned that this travel consultant passed away last year. Taking his place is another person who told us that US immigration have been stricter and a lot of changes have been implemented. Since we also have a baby on the way, we need to work on another petition. I was told that processing times have been longer and in most cases, the petitioner has to be in the US with a stable job to get approved for a visa. Our goal is to move together at the same time if there's a way. Is this a hopeless case? Thanks in advance!

On 5/25/2019 at 5:26 AM, sunrisecouples said:

Praise God!

My I797 (NOA2) has been approved. My wife received it in a mail today but the USCIS website/casetracker app is still not updated yet. 

@durdana have you received your NOA2?

My NOA2 says notice date was 20th May 2019.

Thank God for this approval and the grace to go through the very long wait. 

It would have been exactly 1year tomorrow, since the NOA1.

Shout-out to everyone whose comments here was helpful to me someway.

Congratulations! 

11 minutes ago, CJO032418 said:

Probably for proof of financial stability. I submitted 6 months worth of pay stubs and 3 years of tax returns and a statement from the entity that pays my disability. I probably didn’t need to submit all that. But I worked 2 jobs up until last year and I live in a very expensive area with more than one person in my household so I wanted to make sure there was no question about my finances. 

 

As as you said everyone case is different. So your consultant might have a reason for asking for all that you listed. It’s better to send too much than not enough. 

 

Also the CEAC website does not list everything that is required. The state department website has a longer list for each country. Sounds like you have an experienced consultant. 

You're always on point, thanks for sharing your insights. I got stressed in the past days thinking whether to move forward with or without the help of the consultant due to the cost but having professional help gives me so much confidence and peace.

On 5/12/2019 at 11:33 PM, sunrisecouples said:

For those of those that are still wait8ng for USCIS, we can do with gathering all the necessary documents required by NVC, in anticipation of the next stage of the process. Can somebody state the list of documents we are required to provide the NVC and the exact fee we need to pay, after our case file goes from USCIS to NVC and after we receive our NVC case number. Emgee, Mike445, CJO032418, SenoJ.. We could do with y'all help. 

I have someone professionally assist us in these things since I am really getting stressed and confused with this process. Though I am still studying and researching on the NVC website as well as reading forums here at VJ. It would cost us extra but I can't risk committing a lot of mistakes on the way and incurring more delays. But I understand that people here in VJ would advise that asking for help from an attorney or consultant is not necessary. You can do it on your own. It's just that my case might be a bit more complicated than most of you in this thread. The affidavit of Support fee is &120.00 and the Visa application fee is $325.00. For the affidavit of support, our consultant is asking us to prepare the following:

On 5/11/2019 at 2:58 AM, CJO032418 said:

You will get an email if you provided an email address prior. Expect up to 8 weeks to get a case number AFTER the NVC gets your file. Then expect being unable to log on to CEAC for 3 to 14 days to start payments and submitting documents. 

 

However, with all that said you should still call the NVC at every step. Because too often they assign a number but delay or never send you a notice telling you so. And you can’t sign in and they won’t elevate the log in issues if you don’t call to complain. 

 

If the NVC rejects any of your documents, no matter what notice or explanation they provide, call them and have them explain on the phone what’s needed to correct the problem. Because often their notifications is nonsensical or missing. And every reject adds up to 3 additional weeks of delay. 

 

Read  the state department website completely while you wait. And reread it at every step. It’s a lot of information. Most of it is convoluted .... who can afford week after week delays over missing a step in the NVC process. 

 

Do a Senate and congressional inquiry if you have any problems or severe delays because the NVC won’t do anything about their egregious broken processes. 

 

Emailing them will get a pre canned response 2 weeks later. 

 

Better to call. Expect having to make up to 40 back  to back calls before you finally get thru and to wait up to an hour to talk to anyone. Most of them are rude and uninterested and uncompassionate. 

Hi CJ,  thanks for taking the time to share this valuable info! I already received my case number from NVC last week. I wish I really took time to read the steps in the NVC website ahead of time while waiting for NOA 2 and NVC letter. I depended too much on our agent/consultant. I have the case number and could already pay the fees and upload documents but haven't gathered them all yet due to certain circumstances. 

15 hours ago, Rosie88 said:

How do you receive de notice? 

Thru email both to me to the beneficiary

Hi guys! I just got our case number from NVC today!

6 minutes ago, Ginwill said:

Thanks for your response

It seems like a long wait for every new step in this immigration process.

The wait time is so stressful 

How crazy, I checked my mail after responding to you, I just received the letter from NVC! 

1 hour ago, Ginwill said:

hi my i-130 was approved on April 12, 2019 CSC 

my priority date is may 10, 2018

I am waiting for my NVC case number.

Has anyone got their NVC case number who got their approvals in the month of April?

My I-130 was approved mid March, sent to NVC on April 10, still haven't received the case number.

6 minutes ago, Mike445 said:

 I received it via email. My wife also received it via email.

Mike

That was fast. Congratulations! Maybe your case was sent to NVC right away. Our case took a while to leave USCIS. Still waiting for the case number.

1 hour ago, Mike445 said:

I got my NOA 2 in early April. My priority date was May/18/2018. Today I got my NVC case number! Woo! 

Mike

Hi Mike445! how did you get your NVC case number? I got my NOA 2 mid March but USCIS sent it to NVC on April 10, 2018. Did you receive it by email or did you call NVC? Thanks!

3 hours ago, Chrissy12 said:

 I  got  an  approval   in the  mail  today .  

Congratulations!

4 hours ago, German Shepherd said:

14 to 16 months start of the i130 to the finish line. With the current environment in the USA on immigration its  the more realistic timeline . I am not holding my breath for anything sooner for me . Came on a email to my wife first she is the us citizen.  And thanks! what was your first NOA?

NOA 1: May 14, 2018. How about you? 

21 minutes ago, German Shepherd said:

I am at the stage where we are getting all the stuff ready forms etc to send to the nvc . We got our case. Number today I thought we got that sooner but I was wrong .  From approval of our i130 to now has been 2 months and 10 days . On the nvc website I see they are working on cases from march 5th recived from uscis .so when we submit our stuff when will they look at it only god knows . Plus when  will be the final interview I mean it looks like from Feb approval to my final interview  in Canada as my personal  guess probably July 2019  so that will be 5 months . Hopefully nothing longer than that . When we first started this I saw a video on youtube guy was like 14 to 16 month process me and my wife where like ya right ours will be 10 months well we where sure wrong and the youtube  visa guy was sure right . Lmao 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience. We were so naive to also think ours will be done in 9 months. So the 14-16 months you are talking about starts from I-130 to visa issue? Kindly update your timeline or post updates, it really helps us get a better view of this process. I hope we get our case number as soon as you did (if not sooner). Congrats. Did you receive mail or email or did you call the NVC to get your number?

10 hours ago, German Shepherd said:

Try more like up to 8 weeks to get a case number now add in up to 6 weeks before Nebraska sends it to them .Nvc is massively backed up I was told . Petitions approved now will be greeted with a huge wall of waiting.  Be prepared for more waiting 

What stage are you in now German Shepherd? It took almost a month for USCIS to send our case to NVC. Still waiting for confirmation or welcome letter that NVC received it. I understand that it's now taking NVC around 8 weeks after receipt to assign a case number and invoice number, then a series of payments and submission of requirements, waiting for available interview date, etc. Is it safe to assume that in 6 months time this process would be done with? Or it's just really unpredictable?

32 minutes ago, sunrisecouples said:

Congratulations Emgee on your NOA2. What was your PD again? 

I think this is the 3rd time you congratulated me 😅. It's May 14, 2018.

2 hours ago, JMPM said:

Well they would need to call weekly unless you want to wait for the snail mail for the case number. 

 

You were in the Philippines all this time and you didn't file DCF? You would have been done in 1-3 months unless you didn't qualify 

Thanks for the tip! It's a different case for me, I can't use DCF.

15 minutes ago, JMPM said:

You're lucky you've escape Nebraska's grasp. Next steps are much quicker. After a week or two, call NVC to find out your case number so you can login and pay your fees and upload documents. Once you they accept it you can wait for the case complete and they'll schedule an interview. I don't think Manila takes super long with their interview processes. So basically you're almost at the finish line. 

Your comment about Nebraska made me chuckle a bit. haha. It took 10 months. Thank goodness, NOA 2 was an approval not an RFE. I don't want to get my hopes too high since I initially thought the entire processing from petition to visa could take 9 months only as I was told. So I can call NVC even if I haven't received anything in the mail or email yet? The problem is I'm in the Philippines, I'm the petitioner and someone who lives in the US would be a joint sponsor. We also employ an agent who is a travel consultant. Maybe I can ask them to inquire on my behalf?

forgot to quote

Just got an email update that our case was sent to the Department of State on April 10, 2019. It was approved last May 14, 2019. Does anyone have any idea regarding NVC timelines? If I'm not mistaken, NVC welcome letter comes next, then ID number and Invoice number? I kinda feel lost and don't know what to expect now that it's taking too long for processing and approval of cases in service centers. Is the next process any easier/shorter? The similar timelines I am looking at VJ are erratic and doesn't seem to make sense when compared.

On 3/30/2019 at 3:22 PM, May16 said:

Dear May fillers, 

 

Thanks to God, my petition was approved on 25th of March 2019. I checked through USCIS new website, the old website still says the case was received on May 16. I hope everyone gets approved ASAP. Best of luck.

 

  

 

 

Congrats! 

15 hours ago, sunrisecouples said:

Congratulations Emgee. It's another May filer to get off the list of those still waiting for the NOA2. Now you can move ahead and focus on the next stage of the process with the NVC. Hopefully the NOA2 for PD - 25th May 2018 will come soon. 

I'm trying to say that the online status doesn't update on time of the NOA 2. The actual mail comes first. So, don't get discouraged when checking online

On 3/25/2019 at 11:53 PM, durdana said:

I am on the same boat.. Just checked my status today in the morning and same message as yours Received case on May 25!!!! 

PD: May 14, 2018

NOA 2 date: March 14, 2019

Notified by co-sponsor that mail was received: March 19, 2019

Status online is unchanged up to now: "Case was received on May 14, 2018"

2 hours ago, LC & MS said:

Wow, congratulations! Your next step will be sent your case to NVC (Visa Center), normally Nebraska service center will be faster than other service center to send case to visa center, just in case, if you haven't receive any information from visa center after 60 days, definitely send email to ask and push, don't always wait.

No matter what, you can be happy and relief now because next steps will faster.

I only hope i can get an approve after so many months waiting.

God bless me😁 

Thank you! We still have a long way to go. Will see you in the next line (NVC). Wishing you the best! 

On 3/18/2019 at 9:14 PM, sunrisecouples said:

We urge other May filers who are yet to hear from the NSC,  to update or communicate with the rest of us here, as soon as you receive your NOA2. One of us (blue_angel_29) has received the NOA2. So that's 1 down, 7 or 8 more of us to go. 

I heard news from my co-sponsor yesterday that our petition have been approved! We used her US address so she's the one receiving the actual mail. The form (NOA 2) was dated March 14, 2019, exactly 10 months after Priority date May 14, 2018. I haven't received anything in my email. Hoping to hear about your progress soon fellow May filers! Will see you in the next line (NVC).