calvinch

I'm in a similar situation. We filed a I-130 from Australia, then moved to the US and applied for AOS while sending in the I-130 NOA1.

After submitting the I-485, we received the NOA1 for I-485 with the priority date of the I-130 filed from Australia, so I had thought that the two applications were linked up in their system.

Recently the I-130 was approved, and followed by a notice that it had been forwarded to NVC a week later. I called the help line and got a tier-2 who mentioned that I should file a I-824, which not only was it going to cost another $400, but also did not have an option to recall the approval from the State Dept back to USCIS. The form seemed to have been designed to send the petition onward to NVC for beneficiary still abroad, not for when the petition was sent to NVC where it should have stayed with USCIS when the beneficiary had moved to the US.

I have an InfoPass appointment scheduled on Friday to sort this out, hopefully. Anybody else in a similar situation?

NOA2 today finally from Nebraska. However we ended up filing AOS from the US, so maybe that has something to do with it.

http://www.uscis.gov/news/uscis-extends-relief-measures-filipino-typhoon-victims

I sympathize with the typhoon victims, but that makes no sense. Not everyone in the Philippines was affected by the typhoon and beneficiaries should have to prove or at least swear on an affidavit of being directed impacted by it to be expedited. For example, if someone sat out the typhoon in an air-conditioned house in northern Manila where there was little or no damage, why does s/he qualify for an expedite?

This is exacerbated by the sheer amount of Filipino beneficiaries compared to other countries, which means the rest of us are now delayed for weeks.

Again, I sympathize with the victims and they deserve expedites, but one should at least be required to apply for an expedite.

I wouldn't mention anything about the I-130 in process, unless asked specifically. The key to dealing with border agents is to be polite and never provide more information than requested.

Anyone who has had to get an Australian police certificate and has no arrests or convictions or anything, can you let me know if it says "no disclosable court outcomes" on it?

Yep. On ours (applied with NSW police force), it says:

This is to certify that there are no "disclosable court outcomes" or outstanding matters recorded against the name and/or fingerprints of...

Count us in as well. Filed from abroad, routed to Nebraska Service Center.

Pretty sure a CBP officer isn't going to go through the stamps and sort out what's what. My spouse's passport is practically covered from front to back with stamps and they're illegible at this point.

Doing a bit of research, there appears to be a system called APIS that airlines submit the passenger manifests to upon departure from the US. So even though nobody is stamping passports leaving the country, DHS is still privy to this information. I'm not sure what would happen if somebody drove to Canada or Mexico and flies out that way, but I wouldn't be surprised if those two countries share information with the feds upon entry into their respective countries.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=719375

We're in similar situation ourselves, except my spouse has been abroad for over two years. In the meantime we continue to file US and State income taxes, maintain bank accounts and credit cards, etc the whole nine yards. Since she's a national of a visa waiver country, we'll probably just apply for an ESTA and hope we won't be asked about her green card.

I'm curious as to how immigration knows how long people have been abroad, as the US doesn't have exit controls. They might track flights out of the US, but people can always drive to Canada and fly from there.

Hypothetically, if we just turned up and said we've only left the country for two weeks, how would they know?

hi ya calcheng

there are a few other things to consider too...if you get a friday interview and your fiance doesn't live in the sydney area (meaning other state) get her to stay the weekend and pick up the visa on the monday..

also there is a thing called public holidays that gets in the way too...because the american embassey gets the american public holidays plus the australian so look out for that also..

also there has been a few aussie's that received their passports in the mail longer than sharyna about a week i think it was...so if your fiance can stay longer or go back the next day to pick it up in the afternoon...i would do so...

good luck to you both hope the interview isnt too far down the track ...what with this apec meeting thing going on ...

hi sharyna.. what type of coffee are you after...i buy the international roast from the link i told ya about...

hope everyone is going well ohh ohhh tomorrow vylex and mrs vylex get married again whoooo hoooo...

cant wait to see some pics vylex if ya dont mind sharing...

take care all

kath

thanks kath and sharyna!

Out of curiosity, how long does it take to get the actual visa after a successful interview for I-129F? We're trying to book her one-way ticket to here now and refundable fares totally suck

Thanks sharyna and vylex. We'll go ahead and email them to see if we could be put on a waiting list or something. Sharyna why did you need an ID card? You'll just need the police certificate right?

Thanks for your feedback Kath and hollywood. Since our interview is scheduled all the way in Oct, I suppose there would be no harm in getting the police certificate from Japan anyway (if only to appease imbeciles), seeing that time is something we have plenty of. I am more annoyed at the fact that we have to wait until Oct for our interview... since our K-1 petition is only valid 4 months from issuance it will expire in Oct so we were told to fax in a request to Sydney extend it. So basically we are filing for an extension because they are telling us to file it, not because we need or want to. Why can't they just grant us one automatically since it wasn't our fault APEC decided to be in Sydney this year? Stupid.

How long is it typically until interviews? I see some people here that get their interviews a month after sending the interview request in for Sydney. My fiancee sent the interview request in last week and hers was scheduled on Oct 10. Not only that, but they are requesting a police certificate for Japan, where she only spent 10 months, not 12. What gives?

I live in San Mateo (Bay Area!)! I don't need to relocate

What? Then that's illegal. Just report them to the proper authorities and move on. No need to sue for the right to work at a hostile workplace.

I have some interviews going on, but it's slow. I have to come back for 3 interviews and stuff like that. A lot of companies simply emailed me that they want to hire people from the Bay Area only (aka people who were born here). That makes me mad, but I can't change that I'm not a Californian.

I think what they meant is that they don't want to pay for your relocation. I grew up in the Bay Area and never heard of anybody not wanting to hire anybody outside of the area.

G'day

Long time reader first time poster on this thread.

Backgound on me: well i'm an aussie who went to America for a holiday and met the love of my life, i stayed there longer then she came to Australia where i proposed. Now we are in the process of getting a K1 Visa for me. I got the NOA 17th may 2007 and now are waiting for the NOA2. I am actually flying back to America on August 1st as i couldnt wait any longer!! all i have to do is get through the immigration and i can finally see my girl.

My question relates to people who are allready in the States really...I have read conflicting things on this: When can i work over there once i land with the Visa in my hand?

Has anyone got the POE, EAD stamp? or is that wishful thinking?

Thanks heaps

Jonathan

I've read on this board that it's inadvisable to attempt to enter US while the K1 is in progress. You may be denied entry at the border if their computers show that you are in process for a K1 and as such you may be tempted to stay illegally. Though if you're going to try it anyway you should supply ample paperwork showing your ties to Australia (e.g. letter from employer stating that you're employed and vacationing from what to what date, bank statements).

An update: my fiancee just received her forms (packet 3?). Sorry to hear the those of you who are still waiting for NVC to pull their collective heads out of their... sandbox. Just hang in there, your time will come.

Well, NVC still does not receive my application.

Guess I'm back in the waiting game.

what can I say? I just sit back and wait. I'm used to it anyway.

Anybody, March filers (NOA2s) please let me know if NVC receives your papers yet.

Thanks

Ism

I just got my NOA 2 in the mail and NVC letter stating that they received my packet and will now be forwarded to Sydney consulate. Both of these letters showed up at the same day because they didn't bother mailing out an NOA2 until I called to ask what the dealio!

According to your sig your lawyer filed at the wrong service center. Huh?? But anyway, I don't know how you guys do it. Congrats!

In my case it was the CSC, and judging from your file date, probably CSC for you too. Of course, if it's NSC then I think you'll be forwarded there automatically, if the change of centers has registered in their systems. Good luck!

How do you do the RFE trick?

Call the USCIS at 18003755283 and select RFE route. You will then be forwarded to your service center of choice where somebody will eventually pick up.

Just called using RFE trick. Turns out it was approved on 4 June, the day of our first touch. Woohoo! This was a lot quicker than the 90+ days I was expecting. I'll start hassling NVC next week to see if the petition has left for the Sydney Consulate. Thanks VJers for your support!

Half of March filers aren't even approved yet (myself included), according to http://k1visastats.com/March.htm . Eventually all our times will come.

We haven't gotten any approvals yet either, snail mail or email. Of course there are a few that filed after us that have already been approved, but judging from the other posts on here this thing can be pretty random. I'll wait till next week to call NVC.

Awesome! Thanks!