cbro

I would say it depends on your specific case, as to whether or not you would benefit from having an attorney.  They don't help speed any of the processing per se, unless they help up front to clear any issues that otherwise would delay you had you not had them spot them out!

Due to the COVID 19 and quarantine issues, it is not that simple now, but it used to be.

Well mine supposedly is being processed in their "integrated operating environment":
 
"On September 27, 2019, we received your Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, Receipt Number IOE#, and mailed you a receipt notice. It is being processed at our Integrated Operating Env location. The notice describes how we will process your case. Please follow the instructions in the notice. 
 
But the NOA1 notice was sent from Nebraska... I did submit paper forms.

I went through the exact same thought process as you did.  I mean exactly.  Right down to the "forget something to get the blue slip".  Our interview was November 2.  We went ahead and did the interview like you have.  In the end we just decided that we will move in March instead of June.  My wife has a 14 year old daughter.
 
It was also a dilema for us because our two year anniversary is April 28 so we are moving less than two months from our chance to get IR1 instead of CR1 so we will have to adjust status which you won't.  Even then for us it was decided to just move.  Daughter will have two months in school in the small town where I have a house and then we will move to the city over the summer and buy a new house.  This school year will be kind of a bust but she can recover.  There's a lot of Vietnamese in the new city and the school is more geared to ESL for Vietnamese students.  Conversely, she will be absoluely, positively the only non-white in the school district where I have a house now.  But, she will get a chance to improve her English for a couple months and then start fresh the following school year.
 
It's a little easier decision for us because I still maintain a house and all of its costs in US and we are also paying rent and all costs in Vietnam so our total outlay each month will drop several thousand dollars each month which offsets the cost of adjustment of status in two years.  On top of that, I'm just ready to get back home.  Due to COVID I have been stuck in VN since January.  Normally I go back to US two weeks every two months.  That gives me a culture break.  I've beeen going a bit stir crazy being stuck here straight through this year.
 
If you just want to activate since you are in Hong Kong have you looked into a short trip to Guam?  It is considered a POE. I have no idea if you can get flights to and from there but if possible from HK it's a short flight and you can activate the visas and return to HK.

WOW.  I am now having this issue, ridiculous they can't figure this out.

Thank you... Yes everything is different, for Australian it seems fingerprints not necessary.  Also we are not living there now so we can't get there unfortunately either...
 
"Australian Federal Police certificates based on fingerprints are preferred, but a certificate not based on fingerprints is acceptable if it shows all aliases ever used."
 
I think I picked the wrong category the first time around.  I think i picked 35  ;-(
 
 
In same section under Purpose of Check, select Code ‘33’ – Immigration/Citizenship – for supply to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. DO NOT SELECT Code ‘35’.

Seems like all they did was run your spouse's name through their court database for any criminal cases. In that case (no pun intended), it would definitely get rejected for being incomplete disclosure. 
When I went to the Police station for my Certificate of Character in Trinidad & Tobago when my husband applied for me, I was taken to a separate room, fingerprinted, swore an affidavit about the document being submitted to Police HQ being true and direct information provided by me, signed said document and was told to contact them in 2 weeks for follow-up as these take time to come back to the local police station in my area.
The results came back that my name was not involved in any illegal activity, my fingerprints were not collected in relation to any criminal investigation (past and present) but only at the US border - they actually knew I got 10-pointed in FLL airport when visiting!
 
Possibly have your spouse contact them to clarify what is needed and let them know it is for immigration. I explained what I needed it for because there were different forms that the Trinidad police fill out for different situations....certs of character for employment are very different from those you submit for immigration and I was not aware until I told the officer as he thought it was an employment one I needed  

Interview set for 28 July! If any other VJ are there - don’t be Shy to say hello! I’ll be there with a toddler! Wish me luck! 

Yes there is no requirement from USCIS or NVC or State Department that the applicant and petitioner have a joint bank account.  As mentioned, it can help prove a bonafide marriage but there is other "evidence" that can be used to help prove that as well if needed!

Yes there is no requirement from USCIS or NVC or State Department that the applicant and petitioner have a joint bank account.  As mentioned, it can help prove a bonafide marriage but there is other "evidence" that can be used to help prove that as well if needed!

Yes there is no requirement from USCIS or NVC or State Department that the applicant and petitioner have a joint bank account.  As mentioned, it can help prove a bonafide marriage but there is other "evidence" that can be used to help prove that as well if needed!

I was wondering how they determined the phases, I have been looking everywhere for it, thanks for sharing. Hopefully Victoria can put out their hot spots, it sucks that our process is determined by relying on the general public to do the right thing 🙄

when any of them open no one will have to ask
it will be on the news,  announced in facebook,  on the TV and radio
and if anyone wants to know if VJ members have recd a notice of an appointment it will be on the portal of that country on the right side (if all will do timeline and keep it up)   / where it says upcoming interviews
 
when borders open and countries feel safe,  we'll know 
right now some of our states have tried to phase into opening but have had to back off and rethink,  cancelling beach openings,  firework gatherings ,  and even cancelling part of the big oath ceremonies that were to be 4th of July news
 
it is sad but we here are not the only ones affected  and we need  to remember to keep the faith and look to a brighter future
 
good luck you all

Neither the hard or soft copy is ever needed, unless you never hear from NVC.  If that happens, either will do.

I got DQed today!!

Been a reader here for some time but I felt it's the right thing to do to post my update, to give someone hope, especially for IR-5

PD- JULY 22ND 2019
RFE on I130 APRIL 17th 2020- Issue with my Birth certificate
RFE response submitted - April 23rd
I130 APPROVED -1st May
NVC CASE NUMBER CREATED -1st May
Paid AOS/IV FEE - 1st May
Payment complete -6th May

AOS FORM Submitted - May 24th

IV Form Submitted - 1st time - 30th May.

Reason: I called NVC around the 20th of May to confirm what the Photographs section means- Passport or photographs between me and my dad.
The representative said I can ignore that section that it's not being used anymore.😒

After I submitted, my gut kept telling me to do more research on that section, and forums said you need to include passport photo of the beneficiary in that section

Called Customer service 5th June to ask again, and the lady gave me same answer as the 1st representative😑. Then I got a call from their supervisor , wanting to recertify the information.
She said I need to submit passport photo for beneficiary

Resubmitted 6th June (figured it was better to be late by 1 additional week than get RFE)

DQ Email - 25th June!!!

And our case had been created with the NVC already. Logged in. Just need to pay fees so we can get started

Yay! Congrats on the approval finally. I was on vacation the other week so just saw this. I still think the address thing is quite funny. 

Amazing, thank you.
 
 
Thanks to everyone with advice so far, I feel a lot better than I did an hour ago.

Yup just started with the NVC stuff.

Yes, for once you do say something correct.  A proper read would be beneficial to...you.  Instead of just chiming in mayb a proper read of what i actually wrote might be beneficial to everyone. 

Originally Nebraska, transferred to Texas Feb. 23. We put in an inquiry on May 28 due to case being outside of processing time, received a standard response yesterday and our noa2/approval on our myuscis portal late last night. 

My account, inbox... Good luck!
 
(this is not my address, USCIS made some kind of admin mistake and updated this as my address, its actually theirs and its where my 130 approval was sent hahahaa)
 

Same here! Looks like they batched processed a bunch of them late today.  It was still processing a few hours ago.

Finally got our I-130 approved!
 
PD: 30th Sep 2019 Nebraska
NOA 2: 5th June 2020
 
US Citizen filling.
 
Date changes:
 
May 6th 
June 4th
June 5th
 
didn't received any email. checked this morning visa tracker app and it shows it was sent to Department of State. Then i check online and it shows a new date update 5th June and when i see in documents it shows the approval notice. no service center changed.
 
 
 

Approved today... on to the next step.  Too bad they sent the notice to themselves... I told them my address was a mistake they made recently and had an open ticket, but i guess they approved it before fixing my address: