Swafford

I believe the only place where NVC number was absolutely needed was for medical for Ukraine. 

Yes! For DR, you need to submit DS160 first because you need THAT conf # to proceed and pay Visa fee. Then you need MRV # (receipt # for Visa fee payment) to proceed with scheduling appts...no need for NVC # for any of the above mentioned.

No, you enter receipt number when you make traveldocs account and schedule appointment. It what ties your DS-160 and payment together. There is no fee for DS-160. 

This is correct.  I know in Ukraine specifically, you definitely gotta wait until the next day.

The system does allow you to see when the next appointment would be available.  I was happy to see the next opening was on Monday March 4.  That was at least encouraging. 

When the fee it's paid un person, gotta wait 24 hours to use receipt and schedule appts.

Can't even blame ya! I had a system down for calling and emailing them lol you need these small goals to keep your sanity lol

You should try to call! Most likely they should have your case number by now.

Just finished, nothing yet on our NOA2 dated 2/1/2019

Another day of crossing one's fingers and hoping 2/1 arrivals show up at the NVC.

Thank you all for replying and based on your answers I can see how this is different for many people and the fact that they can look at that makes me worry. I would not care if I didn't have the FB page but since we do that might be a problem. We might have to revisit that idea of staying single on FB and not having any pictures of us together. We don't want to make that change but we might have to if there is a chance that they might ask and then decline the visa. 

Well, 28 days so far that the NVC hasn't received our case. NAO2 date of 1/29/2019. Go figure. At this point, as an American Citizen, I know I'm not the only one who would love to throw more money at this process so different agencies can either have proper staffing or buy more stamps. K-1's could easily be a three to four month process total with all parties willing. In the digital age, most of that time would probably be getting medical reports, in-person interviews, or physical in-house police checks. It's easy to get frustrated with the current procedures in place. I don't know how many more times I'm going to have to hear the "USCIS TECHNICALLY HAS 90 DAYS TO SHIP YOUR FILE OUT" or "IT CAN ACTUALLY TAKE UP TO 6 WEEKS FOR THE NVC." Well, too bad...everyone is going to keep calling. You want to know why? Because with these timelines there's zero accountability, transparency, and trust in the process so people continue to use up call agents and various other resources. It's a vicious cycle.

While I am waiting for the hard copy of my NOA2 to arrive in the mail, I have started researching all the documents I will need to send my fiance and I keep seeing something about a P3 letter.  Can someone please explain what this is, and if there is one for Serbia (I have gathered that it is country specific)?

I'd start calling around 3 weeks. average is 24 days. Once your case number is assigned at NVC, schedule medical. You can't schedule it without this number. Scheduling interview will happen once your packet leaves NVC or after CEAC shows as ready, depending on how backed up your particular embassy is. some people can get appointments days after, some people the soonest date is a month out.  Doing your electronic DS160 can be done at any time, because it just requires your receipt number, not your NVC case number. 

Sometimes I laugh at myself for being so anxious.  We've been waiting for SO long and we realize we are extremely close.... but it seems the intensity for closure has gotten far greater the closer we get.  I feel similar to what you've described, it's not that I don't realize it's close, my anxiety is caused by realizing how easily things seem to get off track without anyone even realizing it's happened.

We got our NOA2 approval notice today! Excited to begin the next steps now 

Another day of crossing one's fingers and hoping 2/1 arrivals show up at the NVC.

It's only a date and it doesn't have an affect on any part of the process to the interview and to visa issuance. The only thing that most people use that date for is to update their timeline here on VJ.

My USCIS case still shows up as "Received" and every 2 weeks I get e-mails there were no changes on it. Even though we now have visa physically in the passport. At the same time you see articles like this https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article226630564.html

Well, it's expected because the longer it goes, the more time has been invested and the more you've had to deal with the nonsense. The system is truly chaos. Nothing is integrated properly. One office can't track what another is doing and everyone has a different answer for you. 

Another day of crossing one's fingers and hoping 2/1 arrivals show up at the NVC.

Another day of crossing one's fingers and hoping 2/1 arrivals show up at the NVC.

I waited for my NVC number before completing my DS-160 only to find out they specifically asked for the petition number given to me by USCIS. I’ll post a screenshot of the wording tomorrow for everyone.

We used NVC number to do DS-160, but some people use WAC number from USCIS. I believe either is fine. You do need NVC number for medical though. Keep in mind your local embassy instructions trump all of that. Ukrainian ones seems to be pretty lenient with timing of things. 

I emailed the embassy in Kiev about this issue and they verified the PC was good for 12 months.
 
3. POLICE CERTIFICATES: Applicants aged 16 years and older must submit a police certificate from the country of nationality and the country of residence at the time of visa application, if the applicant has resided there for six months or more. (For example, an 18 year old Russian citizen residing in Ukraine must present a police certificate both from Russia and Ukraine). Police Certificates from Ukraine should be “FULL” («ПОВНА»), not “SHORT” («СКОРОЧЕНА»).
Fiancée visa applicants must present a police certificate from all countries where they resided for 6 months or more after the age of 16, including the republics of the former USSR.
A police certificate must also be obtained from the police authorities of any place where the applicant has been arrested for any reason, regardless of how long he or she lived there. Police certificates must cover the entire period of the applicant's residence in any area. A certificate issued by the police authorities where the applicant now resides must be of recent date when presented to the consular officer. The term "police certificate" as used in this paragraph means a certification by appropriate police authorities stating what their records show concerning each applicant, including all arrests, the reasons for the arrests, and the disposition of each case of which there is a record. In Ukraine the certificate must be obtained in the oblast centers from the Departments of Information Technology at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, or in the local MIA service centers. The police certificate is valid for ONE YEAR.
All police records issued for visa applicants who have changed their names need to bear all the names applicants have used. These include maiden names and names from previous marriages. If the name was obtained through means other than marriage or divorce, it should be listed on the police certificate as well. Certificates issued solely under the applicant’s current name will not be accepted.