DylanandLaura

We wanted to update everyone with our timeline. We expect to receive the card within the next 2 to 4 weeks. 

Paid Immigrant Fee September 10th, 2019

Port of Entry: October 31st, 2019

"Card is being produced" April 25th, 2020.

With Colombia banning entry of all foreigners and Citizens for 30 days, I would say marry here and adjust status. The change of circumstances was extreme and shouldn't be looked down upon in the eyes of an immigration officer. 

2 hours ago, Mr and mrs KIDD said:

Hi guys it’s been 156 day I paid for my green card my status hasn’t changed still payment was received, called USCIS I was told to make inquiries on my case I got the response below,I’m confused on what to do should I wait for the 60 days, keep calling them or involve my senator? 

143 days here, still waiting...

140 days here. Submitted an inquiry to customer service at 121 days. Still nothing, they said they have up to a year to produce the card... Nearly died hearing that. Any advice? I asked about infopass or anything we can do and they said just wait. 

Still waiting as of October 31st, 2019. It says the immigrant fee was paid. My wife needs the card for peace of mind entry and exit to Colombia... When are they going to get this process over with????

POE 10/31/2019. Still waiting here...

October 31st here. Still waiting... 

11 hours ago, ek1357 said:

Hi 

 

I am considering writing to USCIS to cancel my K1 application (so far I have received NOA1). I am instead going to have a quick wedding in the UK and go down the DCF route. 

Does anyone know or have experience with cancelling an application and whether this will effect future applications? If there’s any chance cancelling an application gives us any kind of black mark I’m not sure it’s worth it and I might as well just continue with the K1 route. 

 

Thank you!  

Just a heads up. When I sent a cancellation letter to the USCIS for a K1 for the ending of a prior relationship... I sent the letter in November 2018 and didn't receive a response from the USCIS until March 2019. When I filed the I-130 for my current spouse, I attached a photocopy and explanation of the cancelled K1 explaining the relationship with the prior fiance had ended many months ago and I sent a cancellation letter to the USCIS. You should be fine, the USCIS won't punish you for sending a K-1 and cancelling it for the same girlfriend. They tend to review petitions of serial filers more stringently (someone who has filed for 4 separate beneficiaries).

I am a licensed Financial Advisor in Florida. I don't think you should put this as your asset because you are just the "custodian" of the account and not the beneficiary. The minor or child is the beneficiary and the only person with claim to the money. By depositing money into the UGMA account, you gifted the money to the child and if you withdraw it for personal use, you would be in breach of Fiduciary Duty as a custodian. The money you deposited for the child is irrevocable and only for the benefit of the child. 

On 10/18/2019 at 2:35 PM, DylanandLaura said:

I wanted to share a successful CRBA appointment at the Bogota Embassy so others have a future reference. My wife and I had a baby in early September and we booked the appointment for the CRBA that same day our daughter was born for October. On the day of the interview we entered the embassy through the American Citizen Services entrance, which is separate from the Visa entrance. They had three exterior security checkpoints and in the second checkpoint the security officer took our cell phones. We then entered the actual embassy and made a left to the American Citizen Services section. You are required to get a ticket and wait for your name to be called. During the first conversation with a consular officer, they check to see you have the CRBA/passport application with photo, passports and ID of parents, marriage certificate (divorce if you have been), original birth-certificate from the notary, supporting documentation proving physical presence such as college transcripts, high school transcripts, tax returns, certificate of movements and any other supporting documents. After the consular officer verifies you have all the documents to proceed, you are handed a paper detailing the fees to be paid for the CRBA, Passport and DHL shipping. In all, it was $210 for the passport and CRBA and $20.000 pesos for DHL, you can pay in pesos as well. You wait to be called again to pay your fees and after that there is an interview. The interview was intense and the consular officer asked many questions such as:

• What elementary, middle and high school did you attend? Where was each of these schools?
• What university did you attend? For how long and what did you study?
• Do you live in Colombia? And if you do, for how long?
• Have you traveled abroad anytime during your life? And for how long?
• Where were you born? What was the name of the hospital?
• How long did you live in this city?
• Where do you work? How long have you worked there? (as well as previous employment)
• Are you married? How did you meet your spouse? Where did you get married?
• Among a few other questions...

 

At the end of the interview the consular officer said I met the physical presence requirement and my baby's application would be approved. They stated it would take between 2 to 5 weeks to receive the documents and passport back. Hope that helps anyone preparing for CRBA at Bogota. 

We received the passport and CRBA today. Total of 8 days from Interview to delivery. I think this was much faster than normal... 

1 minute ago, marahm18 said:

Ours was similar. We made the payment Monday and it was debited today. How long did it take until it said "paid" on CEAC? Our payment was taken but it still says "in process" 

So my timeline says 5/30 paid fees, 6/05 submitted IV and AOS docs. If I remember right, I submitted docs the same day they became available to upload. I think another 1 to 2 days and you will be able to access the upload portal on CEAC and it will show paid. 

57 minutes ago, marahm18 said:

The NVC payment has already been taken from our account but is still "in process" on CEAC. 

 

Does anyone know how long it takes to change from "in process" to "paid" after the money has been taken from your account? It has already been 3 business days. 

It took me 3 business days. So, made the payment on a Thursday night and it was debited by next Tuesday... 

2 hours ago, Sea Leslie said:

Do they need passport style photos from both of us at the interview and if so, how many do they need a piece? 

I believe my wife had 2 passport photos for the interview. Just the beneficiary needs the photos. It will say on the embassy website what each embassies requirements are. 

Just now, Sea Leslie said:

Does it have to be the size of the passport photo 

It needs to be a passport style photo. The size doesn't matter I believe. I submitted a large pdf photo of my wife, passport style and it was accepted. They are just trying to make sure you have the photos for the interview, I read in the past you could just insert a document explaining you would bring the photos to the interview. I'm surprised they gave you a checklist for that. 

That's a normal message, best to bring a filled out I-864 with a joint sponsor to the interview to avoid administrative processing/221g. 

35 minutes ago, Aiydee said:

What photographs are required here? I am uploading the civic documents for the beneficiary - my spouse.

Please advise. Thanks!

A passport style photograph...

Based on that scan you should be good. Make sure the black dots or squares show up on the transcript scans..

Yes, we saw families with their children in the embassy. Shouldn't be a problem! 

1 hour ago, Rocio Torres said:

Hi,

We have our case number yesterday and we paid the fees already.  I would like to know how long it could take to have an appointment for the interview.

 

Thx

After you submit the documents to the NVC it can take from 3 to 5 weeks for them to review and approve them. If you receive a request for evidence for additional documents at the NVC add another 3 to 5 weeks. Once the NVC is done pre-processing your case it depends on the Embassy for an interview letter. For my country Colombia, it was a month for the Interview letter and an additional month waiting for the actual interview. For other countries with a long wait list such as Mexico, waiting for an interview appointment can take from 6 to 12 months. 

RFEs are common at the NVC stage. Since you have been at the NVC stage since April it may be time to consider firing the lawyer and doing the rest of the process yourselves. You can call the NVC to ask why the divorce and police certificate were rejected, yet accepted all the other times. You need to call the NVC number many times until you get through, often the holding times on the phone can be 30 mins to an hour. Once on the line ask to speak to a supervisor because of how your case has been at the NVC and the documents should not have been rejected. 

Again, using a lawyer is your personal preference, many of us have had visas issued without the help of a lawyer doing it ourselves. My wife and I decided to save the money because we had a straight forward case and I would never pay someone money to fill out papers for me. To each their own. 

Just now, Skpanda801 said:

I havent received anything .....so frustating 

If you CEAC says the case is at the embassy, reach out with an email...

Yes or No... No if the visa is issued prior to November 3rd. Yes if you require an additional interview after November 3rd or you reschedule, or possibly if your visa isn't issued in a timely manner. The policy stated it would only affect consular decisions when the visa was issued after November 3rd. Straight from Whitehouse.gov:

(i)     any alien holding a valid immigrant visa issued before the effective date of this proclamation;

meaning you need the visa issued before November 3rd for it to not apply to your case.

15 minutes ago, Skpanda801 said:

Do you get an email confirming that the Embassy received  your  case?

Depends on the country, but for Colombia we received an email from the embassy indicating they received the case. 

I wanted to share a successful CRBA appointment at the Bogota Embassy so others have a future reference. My wife and I had a baby in early September and we booked the appointment for the CRBA that same day our daughter was born for October. On the day of the interview we entered the embassy through the American Citizen Services entrance, which is separate from the Visa entrance. They had three exterior security checkpoints and in the second checkpoint the security officer took our cell phones. We then entered the actual embassy and made a left to the American Citizen Services section. You are required to get a ticket and wait for your name to be called. During the first conversation with a consular officer, they check to see you have the CRBA/passport application with photo, passports and ID of parents, marriage certificate (divorce if you have been), original birth-certificate from the notary, supporting documentation proving physical presence such as college transcripts, high school transcripts, tax returns, certificate of movements and any other supporting documents. After the consular officer verifies you have all the documents to proceed, you are handed a paper detailing the fees to be paid for the CRBA, Passport and DHL shipping. In all, it was $210 for the passport and CRBA and $20.000 pesos for DHL, you can pay in pesos as well. You wait to be called again to pay your fees and after that there is an interview. The interview was intense and the consular officer asked many questions such as:

• What elementary, middle and high school did you attend? Where was each of these schools?
• What university did you attend? For how long and what did you study?
• Do you live in Colombia? And if you do, for how long?
• Have you traveled abroad anytime during your life? And for how long?
• Where were you born? What was the name of the hospital?
• How long did you live in this city?
• Where do you work? How long have you worked there? (as well as previous employment)
• Are you married? How did you meet your spouse? Where did you get married?
• Among a few other questions...

At the end of the interview the consular officer said I met the physical presence requirement and my baby's application would be approved. They stated it would take between 2 to 5 weeks to receive the documents and passport back. Hope that helps anyone preparing for CRBA at Bogota. 

15 hours ago, Trynaimmigrate said:

 I scheduled a "American Citizen Services" appointment at the embassy in Lima Peru. My child was born in Colombia. Will the embassy in Lima accept my CRBA and passport application? There is no appointment available in Bogota CO for the next 1 year+ 

You must schedule an appointment at the Bogota Embassy. All the CRBA interview slots fill up on the first or second day of the month, example: if you want an appointment for December, you must schedule the appointment on November 1st or 2nd. Hope that helps!