David Holmes

3 minutes ago, OldUser said:

Hi @David Holmes what's I-571?

If you're talking about I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, then no. It can be filed within 90 days window or after (in exceptional circumstances, vacation is not a good reason).

 

File it within 90 days of card expiration. You should get 24 months extension letter before your travel.

 

You will lose fees and application will be rejected if you file early.

 

Good to know.  How do we get the 24 months extension letter?  I did not know there was such a thing

My wife's 2yr GC expires 5/30 and we were hoping to attend a wedding in Bali in July.

Can we file the I-571 now?  Or do we have to wait until the 90-day window prior to expiration opens? 

3 hours ago, OldUser said:

What's the Resident Since date on your wife's GC? Is expiration date exactly 2 years after Resident Since date?

 

How long have you been married when wife got her GC?

 

She may need to file I-751 to remove conditions. She cannot skip this step if her residency is conditional.

5/30/2021 to 5/30/2023

We'd been married since 7/25/2019.

Sounds like I-751 is our route, thank you.

This is a question about timing.  My wife's first GC expires in May.

We have a wedding to attend in Bali in July.

I'm thinking we should renew the GC rather than go for citizenship at this time.  Would you agree?

2 hours ago, nastra30 said:

Don't you have your own family members that can help? or you may want to start looking into child/day care.

I do not

Got my Filipina wife here to US last year on a GC and we already have 2 babies born here (1 month and 13 months). We have our hands full and are getting no sleep.

We would like to bring her sister and her sister's daughter (16) here to help with the babies.  Ideally for a few years at least.  Three questions:

What visa type would we apply for?
Who is the petitioner?  Me, the US Citizen, or my wife, the GC holder?
Is the wait time longer than getting my wife here (that was about 1.5 years)?

Thanks everyone, I love this website.
 

5 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

When the visa is issued ,  u will pay the $220 green card processing fee

 

https://www.uscis.gov/forms/filing-fees/uscis-immigrant-fee#How_to_Pay_the_Fee

ooooh, this is good info!  It mentions an A-Number.  Do you only get that after the interview, and if so, how do you get it, email?

We got my wife here from the Philippines last year, and started the process for her son.  We're nearing the end, as he has his embassy interview next week.  We got a long, automated email from NVC with a list of things to do/check, and one of them is "be sure you paid your fee."

> Immigrant visa applicants who have not paid the visa processing fee at the National Visa Center should pay with the Embassy’s Consular Cashier. The schedule of fees is available at https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/fees/fees-visa-services.html. 

Are they referring to the fee that we paid at the start of this for her son?  Or are they talking about some other fee incurred close to the end of the process?  How do I see if I've already paid?  Or should I just not worry about it, and pay them with a CC on the day of the interview if they ask for it?

My wife and I went through the miserably long process from late 2019 to an eventual GC in mid-2021.  Now we're going through the same process for her son.  Have the interview wait times improved in the past few months?

Just wanted to give an update to anyone who sees this in the future.

Turns out that when I had filled out the ustraveldocs.com profile, I had accidentally used the wrong (old) passport number.  Therefore when the visa was issued to the (new) passport, there was no associated delivery address and the delivery was delayed.  Still not clear on where it got hung, at the embassy or the courier, but we finally got it unstuck by call both agencies dozens of times.  It was quite frustrating and delayed us by an additional five weeks.

But we have the passport/visa now.

49 minutes ago, Phil967 said:

About how long did you wait from interview to “issued”?

About a week.  Interview on Apr 1, email stating Issued on April 8.  Eventually got the passport on May 19!  I recognize that was partly my fault for entering the wrong information.   

Just an update on my case.  Wife finally has her passport back. 

What I think caused this 6 week delay: when I filled out the ustraveldocs profile, I had accidentally used my wife's OLD passport number.  So when it came time to get send the passport back, they, or the courier, were unable to look up the delivery address.  Once we figured this out, and changed it (and then made 20 more frustrating phone calls), the situation resolved.  

MAKE SURE YOU FILL OUT THAT DELIVERY PAGE PROPERLY.  DON'T BE TANGA LIKE ME.

1 minute ago, Phil967 said:

 I spoke with someone and all that I got was the default speech telling me that they can’t determine the timeline and that it is in processing. 

That was my experience tonight as well.  I asked for a supervisor, but he was busy on another call.  I waited 30 minutes, and tried three more times but wasn't even able to get one of their useless agents.  It's now been 40 days since her interview.

6 minutes ago, TerraceJW said:

Our medical was sent to the embassy on February 24th and our interview was April 8th we had the same problem. They finally updated our case to "Issued" on May 7th. We are awaiting the visa to be delivered now.

We've been waiting 31 days since ours was marked "issued".  So far.

20 minutes ago, TerraceJW said:

Ours finally got issued after I called the embassy and demanded to talk to a supervisor, he helped us get it issued after 3 weeks of waiting. If you are calling from the US you can call the embassy at 703-520-2235.

Hi TerraceJW.  Did you actually receive your passport back, or did they just mark it as "issued"?

Also about that number; I've called it at least 8 times, and after choosing some options the system puts me on hold for 10 minutes and then hangs up on me.  Is it because I chose the English option and not the Tagalog option?  What's the secret to even getting to a person?  

@TerraceJW  My wife had her interview (and passed) on April 1.  On April 8 they sent us an email that her Visa had been marked ISSUED, but we never heard anything after that. We've tried calling all their phone numbers about 20 times. I check the email status (passportstatus@ustraveldocs.com) every day but it still says no status.  My wife is 6 months pregnant so we really need her to fly SOON.

Is there really nothing we can do?  This is Kafkaesque.

 @Phil967Where did you read that it is taking 60 days?

p.s. It's slightly comforting to know that others are stuck in the same limbo; I was starting to think that they'd just lost the passport!

Still no news.  Called NVC, they can't help, but they said not to be worried.  We are now approaching a full month since her interview, and we were hoping to fly her to the US next week!  Any ideas?

40 minutes ago, payxibka said:

Is the ceac status showing "issued"?

Yes

The asawa had her interview on 4/1 and passed.  On April 8th they sent us an email saying they were approving a visa to be issued.

Now its 4/25 (26th there) and the passport status is still "no status" meaning the embassy still has it.  2go confirms they haven't received it.

Is this long a wait pretty typical now?  

We can't get through to embassy on any phone line or email or chat or anything, and she's quite pregnant so we're going out of our minds.  

I would fly over there and bang on their door except (a) would probably get shot and (b) I think there's still a travel restriction.

What would you do if you were me (or us)?

2 hours ago, Chancy said:

 

Is this the tracker you're checking?  https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx

 

That tracker says "Issued" and cites the case last updated as 4-5, now 20 days ago.

I was talking about the email portal passportstatus@ustraveldocs.com; I read about it here on VJ.  Include your passport number on the Subject line and it auto replies with the status.  But if the status is "no status" then it means it's still at the embassy. 

Either way, still no passport and no word. We're under the gun with this baby.  How long is this part taking now?  Is it tracked in the timelines?  Should I be calling them every day now?

So it's been 24 days since her interview in Manila, and 17 since they said they were sending her visa back to us, but it still hasn't arrived.  The courier says they don't have it, and the email portal just says "no status update" where I hear means its still at the embassy.

Does VJ track how long this typically takes?
 

I feel like our progress bar is stuck at 99.95% complete!

39 minutes ago, Chancy said:

By the way, you did not mention if your wife already completed CFO counseling.  Do make sure that she gets her CFO sticker or certificate as she will not be allowed to board the plane without one.

 

The process starts with an I-130 petition.  As to whether you or your wife should be the petitioner depends on your answers to JFH's questions above.

 

Whoa, what is CFO counseling?  Where can we find more information on this?

And he was 8 when we married, and is 10 now. How does that affect who is the petitioner, and does it affect timelines or likely outcomes?

1 hour ago, JFH said:

How old is her son? How old was he when you married his mother?

He was 8 when we married, and 10 now.

My wife had her Interview a few days ago at the Manila consulate and she passed!  Now just waiting for her Passport to come back to her with the Visa, and then travel to the US after that.

At some point we might want to get her son over here as well.  What's the process for that?  Does she become a petitioner?  What is the paperwork track?

Hey everyone!  Good news.  She got up at 3am, hired a car to Manila, and did the walk-in, and it worked!

She has her medical now, well in advance of the interview.  Now we're just collecting our papers and getting ready for the BIG DAY. Wish us luck!