kellyc

You cannot extend an I-94 that was issued to a K-1... sorry....

Well, the one thing I misquoted is that my husband's I-94 form doesn't expire until JULY 25. So it's not even expired yet, but still she says it has to have a 6 month expiration date on it. Now what?

Will they accept his biometrics appt. letter? That shows he is here legally, at least for now.

I don't believe that they will. There are only a few ways of showing real id, and the foreign passport route must have the I-94 being valid for 6 months remaining. I wish they were easier and would allow proof of legal residence, especially with everything else we have to prove it. Thanks for your reply.

You cannot extend an I-94 that was issued to a K-1... sorry....

Well, the one thing I misquoted is that my husband's I-94 form doesn't expire until JULY 25. So it's not even expired yet, but still she says it has to have a 6 month expiration date on it. Now what?

Still does not change the answer I gave...

The problem is that Texas (and other states for that matter) have begun to apply the provisions of REAL ID. If a Texas DL is the the only thing that will give you what you need for the school, based on the facts you have shared you appear to be SOL until you file AOS and receive EAD.

I'm afraid you are correct. There is a link for the drivers license reciprocity agreement that includes South Africa. Unfortunately my husband's SA license expires in November of this year. So we have to just wait I guess-- he does have an international license to drive on in the meantime. Thanks for your help, although I wish you could have solved the issue for us! The DPS is no help at all.

You cannot extend an I-94 that was issued to a K-1... sorry....

Well, the one thing I misquoted is that my husband's I-94 form doesn't expire until JULY 25. So it's not even expired yet, but still she says it has to have a 6 month expiration date on it. Now what?

My husband from South Africa and I were married May 17, 2008. We went to the Texas DPS to file for a driver's license the first week of June but were turned away due to the fact that he did not have a SSN (which I thought was wrong at the time). Now that we have his SSN (official card) and have already filed for AOS and received his biometrics appointment letter, we decided again today, July 1, to go get the DPS route going. Well, now they say that he needs an I-94 that has a 6 month expiration date on it since his expired on June 25, just 6 days ago. This doesn't seem possible because all K-1 visas and I-94s expire in 90 days. So they said they will not grant him a driver's license at all under the conditions although he has a passport, SSN, international driver's license, etc. This can't be correct information, otherwise no K-1 immigrant could ever get a license!

We're confused and irritated to say the least. My husband starts studying at university next month and needs to have a Texas driver's license. Please send any suggestions/advice on how you received your driver's license. Is there a way to have another I-94 sent? Can you extend one? Who do you contact to do so if needed?

Thank you for your time and help!

Please let us know how your interview went! My fiance's interview is on Tuesday, so any advice/information would be appreciated. Thanks!

I know that you contacted me via PM, but when I try to respond, it says that you are not receiving messages via the board. Thank you very much for your message. I am looking forward to hearing about your experience at Johannesburg Consulate on February 14. My fiance's interview is February 19, so that will be a great help to know how yours was handled. He already had his interview, and it took a week to get the blood work back from the doctor, so I'm glad to hear that your doctor has promised it sooner.

Hope all goes well!

Hello,

My fiance has his interview on February 19 at the US Embassy in Johannesburg, South Africa. We haven't seen each other since last March. He only has one set of plane tickets and stubs to show as proof at the interview. I have not been to South Africa to see him for several reasons. First, I am a school teacher at the private school which I own and run, and I only have a few holidays that are long enough to make the trip. Both of those long holidays this past year were supposed to include our wedding! So neither of us made reservations to meet each other. By the time we realized that the USCIS was stalling on approvals and then kept our approved file on the mailing dock for 5 weeks instead of mailing it, it was too late to make plans for either of us to visit one another. We had a December 22 wedding planned which was messed up by the USCIS and then again our January 19 and February 16 possible wedding dates were scratched due to them not mailing our packet and then running into the holiday weeks.

So now we are at a place where his interview is next month, and I am back teaching again and can not go visit him. The earliest would be March, but that won't help with proof at the February 19 interview.

I'm wondering how many of you have only met your fiance(e)s once and how many of you did not see your fiance(e)s for up to 10 months before the interview date. We have thousands of e-mails to show as well as hundreds of phone calls, lots of letters and packages, along with all the necessary proof of support, tax forms, etc. We have one set of pictures which were taken when he was here last March but nothing more up to date than that. We are engaged, and I do have my ring and our engagement ring receipt. I will be able to send receipts and plans for our May 17 wedding with both of our names on it as well to show that I am working towards him being here.

Any suggestions/advice for the interview? Anybody else experienced the same situation at their interview and been fine with a logical explanation of timing issues such as we have incurred?

Thanks in advance.

Ours took 42 days from CSC to NVC. I hope none of you have to go through the torture that we did!

It took 36 days from NOA2 to have our case forwarded to the NVC. It was finally received at the NVC yesterday, 6 days later. We are very thankful that it is finally there, and at the same time, we have been so delayed that it will be a miracle if my fiance can be here by the time he needs to begin studying at the university in January. Congratulations to all of you who have already had your interviews scheduled or completed.

I agree with MR2NICE about calling USCIS. After you are approved, they seem to be more helpful when you call them. I wish you good luck!!

Thanks to your suggestions, I got through to USCIS and actually spoke to a very sweet human being who informed me that my petition is still in the staging area, unfortunately. But at least I know where it is and that they know where it is! Up until today, I was convinced that it was lost because no one could tell me anything. Thank you very much for making the suggestion to use the RFE trick. I will be doing that again tomorrow to see if they've finally mailed it out since this coming Monday will be 5 weeks! AAAAHHHH!!

The RFE line is more helpful when I called. They were able to tell me that it was in the "Staging Area" waiting to be sent out. It took 35 days for NVC to receive our case. Give the RFE line a try.

1-800-375-5283

Follow these prompts:

1, 2, 2, 4, 2, 1 Then enter your receipt number and press 1 to verify that it is correct. Press 1 again.

Thank you so much! I will do that tomorrow!

please call uscis-csc thru rfe trick and ask them on what's going on with your case.

God bless you...

I have called USCIS but have always gone the "approved and have general questions" route. Do you think the RFE trick would be any different or more helpful since I've already been approved? Thank you for your response.

kellyc we are in the same boat. i am just hoping that we get the mail from NVC soon.

I'm sorry you are in the same boat with me. It's not a fun boat, is it? I'd prefer a speedboat in comparison with this seasickening tugboat!!

On October 29, 2007, our I-129F visa petition was approved after 150+ days of waiting. We were sent an approval notice stating the date of approval and that the petition had been sent to the NVC. Today is the 31st day since our approval, and our petition still has not arrived at the NVC. In these past 31 days, there have been other petitioners approved, sent to NVC, forwarded to embassies, and already had their interviews. Therefore my conclusion is that my petition has been lost/ “misplaced.”

I have called NVC numerous times and have been told that it has not arrived, that they have no record of it and can do nothing about it until 90 days have passed. I have called USCIS numerous times and have been told that they have no information to give me except it was approved, but other than that, they have no idea what is going on. They suggest calling the NVC who suggest calling USCIS. Perfect example of the right hand having no clue what the left hand is doing and vice versa.

Today I called the Department of State Visa Headquarters in DC and got a very rude operator who started the conversation by raising his voice at me and giving me definitions of terms before he even knew my name or my case number. Once his yelling was over, I patiently asked if he could help in anyway with my situation or if he could give me a suggestion as to who to call to actually get some help. He told me that there was nothing he or anyone else could do. I asked him why there is such inconsistency with the mailing of petitions as they relate to approval dates, and he told me that my guess was as good as his, and if I knew the answer, he would give me a job. Oh, and he made sure to tell me not to hesitate to call back if I had more questions….right.

So in other words, no one knows where in the world our petition is. And no one is willing to help find it.

All the things that could go wrong with a visa petition have gone wrong with ours. There has not been one consistent thing yet. The worst part is that my fiancé has been accepted to the PhD program at a major university in Texas, has been offered a scholarship, but must be at the university no later than January 9, 2008. This would have been no issue had any one thing gone smoothly with our petition. If he can not be here by that time, then we will have to wait for 4-5 months to have him arrive in the US so that he can keep his current job and save money for when he begins studying next August. Now we are in the worst situation of our lives and have no where to turn to for help. Even my district US Senator’s office has come up short.

I am very happy for all of you who have had smooth processes, and to all of you who are still waiting to get to NVC, I feel your pain. If anyone has any suggestions on what to do next, please don’t hesitate to respond. Don’t worry…I’m not going to yell or be rude.

YEA!! I just got off the phone with the Dept. of State and our paperwork was received by the Tokyo Consulate and packet 3 was mailed out today to my SO!! I finally feel like we're getting somewhere!!

Congrats on your progress. We are on day 29 of waiting to get to NVC, and I am so frustrated and distraught. There are so many people who have been approved after me and through NVC two weeks earlier and already have interview dates. Right now, NVC won't tell me a darn thing except that they have no record of my file and to wait up to 90 days. CSC won't tell me a darn thing except to read me the notice which is a lie since they clearly HAVE NOT sent my file to the NVC and to inform me that they have no way of telling if it has been sent. And they won't let me speak to a supervisor since they are too busy!! I am beside myself...I have no idea how in the world you got to speak with so many supervisors when your petition was not anywhere close to being as long as mine and how they were so willing to help you. Please give me any suggestions?!

I'm not sure what you are talking about. Mine was at 29 days also when I called and I know how you feel. I saw everyone approved after me...up to 3 weeks after, go thru NVC and have interview dates already when I was told mine was no where in sight. I called and got a supervisor, because it had been 10 days since they say it was mailed out (as I was told by 3 officers)...no longer in the mail staging area where it sat forever. They said it was mailed on 11/6 and as of my phone call on 11/15 (exactly 4 weeks from approval date) no one had any idea where it was and I was told it must've been misplaced, that's when I asked to speak to a supervisor. The following Monday afternoon, I called NVC again and was told that it had been found, entered and processed and was mailed out that day 11/19. So mine was at the SAME EXACT time frame as yours and maybe I got lucky speaking to a supervisor, but I called the USCIS customer service center, not CSC and explained my situation, and the dates and names of the officers I spoke to each time I called and said I needed some help because I couldn't believe they'd just "misplace/lose" my paperwork.

Trust me, I KNOW how frustrating this is as I just went through the same ordeal. Some officers will tell you when it was mailed or where it is currently and others won't say a darn thing. Many people have gotten helpful/not so helpful officers..you just have to keep calling and bugging them. I did. Good luck and pm me if you have any questions

Oops, I didn't look at the right date for your NOA2. Sorry...I was in no way minimizing your wait. I will send you a PM with a few more questions, if you don't mind. Thanks for your input and suggestions.

YEA!! I just got off the phone with the Dept. of State and our paperwork was received by the Tokyo Consulate and packet 3 was mailed out today to my SO!! I finally feel like we're getting somewhere!!

Congrats on your progress. We are on day 29 of waiting to get to NVC, and I am so frustrated and distraught. There are so many people who have been approved after me and through NVC two weeks earlier and already have interview dates. Right now, NVC won't tell me a darn thing except that they have no record of my file and to wait up to 90 days. CSC won't tell me a darn thing except to read me the notice which is a lie since they clearly HAVE NOT sent my file to the NVC and to inform me that they have no way of telling if it has been sent. And they won't let me speak to a supervisor since they are too busy!! I am beside myself...I have no idea how in the world you got to speak with so many supervisors when your petition was not anywhere close to being as long as mine and how they were so willing to help you. Please give me any suggestions?!

Yes, I did...everyday for the last 2 weeks! I don't think I will be receiving my letter tomorrow when they have no record of it tonight. Boohoo.

we got approved a day after u and we had no touches since then and when we called csc they told us nothing either....finally called today and nvc said they received it on 21st and sent it to the embassy the same day...so try calling nvc instead hopefully your petition already went through them too

I called NVC earlier today and they still did not have any record of my case. So I don't think mine has come and gone. In fact, it hasn't even come yet according to them. I really hope to hear some good news on Monday. Do they work on Saturdays? Congrats on your petition getting through so quickly.

We were approved on October 29, and NVC still has not received it! It will be 4 weeks on Monday. USCIS won't tell me a thing...they say it is impossible to tell me if it has been mailed already. I don't see how some of you are getting your dates!

I hope you receive your letter tomorrow. Did you talk to a live operator at NVC?

Yes, I did...everyday for the last 2 weeks! I don't think I will be receiving my letter tomorrow when they have no record of it tonight. Boohoo.

We were approved on October 29, and NVC still has not received it! It will be 4 weeks on Monday. USCIS won't tell me a thing...they say it is impossible to tell me if it has been mailed already. I don't see how some of you are getting your dates!

Well, I finally got through to NVC after trying for 5 hours..still no record of receiving my case! I called late last night and then kept trying today for better news, but no. I called CSC again this morning and they assured me it was sent out on the 6th. I told this to the lady at NVC when I finally got through, that tomorrow is 4 weeks from receiving my NOA2 and that people approved up to 3 weeks later than I, already have their NVC case numbers. She just said sorry, we have no record of your case.

Thanks, I just needed to vent with friends who understand my frustrations!

I'm sorry to hear that yours still isn't there yet. We were approved on October 29, and everytime I have called CSC, they have told me that there is no way to know when a case has been sent to NVC! So I have no idea how you and some others have been able to find that out. Please let me know if there is anything in particular.

They are not being honest with you. I called twice and was given a date both times. Many other people have called and have also been given a shipping date. Good luck if you call again.

I just called again today, and the operator told me that there is no way to tell when it has been sent. She said that it can take up to 60 days for it to arrive at NVC, and if it goes past that, then they can bring it to their attention!! AAAAHHHH!!! Thanks a bunch. Amazingly enough, I got through to the NVC this evening and was told that it could take up to 90 days to get there! They are really making this ridiculous, aren't they!? It's only been 18 days since my approval, so I'm not worried, just curious as to where I can find out if it has been sent, hopefully in the next couple of weeks.

Well, I finally got through to NVC after trying for 5 hours..still no record of receiving my case! I called late last night and then kept trying today for better news, but no. I called CSC again this morning and they assured me it was sent out on the 6th. I told this to the lady at NVC when I finally got through, that tomorrow is 4 weeks from receiving my NOA2 and that people approved up to 3 weeks later than I, already have their NVC case numbers. She just said sorry, we have no record of your case.

Thanks, I just needed to vent with friends who understand my frustrations!

I'm sorry to hear that yours still isn't there yet. We were approved on October 29, and everytime I have called CSC, they have told me that there is no way to know when a case has been sent to NVC! So I have no idea how you and some others have been able to find that out. Please let me know if there is anything in particular.

hi everyone! we just got our NVC case number today - MNL2007XXXXXX. i think, uscis sent it last nov 1 to NVC and NVC got it on Nov 8.

just be patient and we will all have our cases sent to NVC.

God bless us all!

I am so happy!!! :dance: :dance: :dance:

We got it to NVC too!!!!! On the same day!!! My recommendation is to call right after 6 PM Eastern time. Absolutely different treatment. No rush to get rid of callers giving them BS info. The rep was so nice , answered all my questions. I am very happy today again

Congratulations to all who got movement lately!!!!

Congratulations to all of you who are now at NVC! How did you find out when your case was actually SENT to the NVC? I've called CSC and they have told me that they send them out immediately after approval and show no records of sent dates. This seems contradictory with those of you who say that they are staying at CSC and then being sent weeks later, so basically sitting on a shelf again. I've called NVC and have been told to call back later everytime.

We had a touch everyday for 3 days after our approval on Oct. 29 but none since then. Does your online case show a touch when the case has been forwarded?

So just curious to know how those of you found out what day your case was sent from CSC to NVC.

I'm working on getting all the paperwork together to send to my fiance. I have a few questions. Help is definitely appreciated

1. To which address does the updated fiancee letter of intent need to be addressed?

2. Can someone tell me which exact tax forms that I will need to send. I am self-employed and own my business, so I'm not sure what to do about the letter from employer except to write one myself and explain my business.

How long is average timing to receive the hard copy of NOA2? I was approved on October 29 and did not receive my hard copy during the week. I also never received a confirmation E-mail, but my online case status shows approved on October 29.

WOOHOO! I had this waiting for me on my online case status this afternoon:

Receipt Number:

Application Type: I129F, PETITION FOR FIANCE(E)

Current Status: Approval notice sent.

On October 29, 2007, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E). Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service.

I still have not received an E-mail. It ONLY took 152 days to approval from filing on May 31 at TSC!! The estimated time on my timeline was November 9. When I applied, it estimated approval in August (which was reasonable at that point), then moved to mid-September, and then when it hit October, I decided to quit checking until we got approved. It was just too depressing. I'm glad I did! I had the blessing of having my fiance on the phone when I read this message, and it was so special for the both of us.

I will be continuing to pray for all of you who are still waiting for your approvals, and remember that God has all things planned, and although it is very trying, we must keep our faith in Him.

Woohoo! I just checked my case online status and found the following update:

Receipt Number:

Application Type: I129F, PETITION FOR FIANCE(E)

Current Status: Approval notice sent.

On October 29, 2007, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E). Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service.

YEAH!! It only took 152 days from filing at the Texas Service Center!

I had the pleasure of checking this online while my fiance was on the phone which was so very special to us both. I hope that all of you who are still waiting receive your approvals soon. Keep praying and being faithful...God is great!