Nick_Visa

Card Production Ordered, letter arrived today!

Will update my timeline accordingly.

Just a quick timeline update.

Did the 2nd biometrics on Feb 1st 2010, haven't heard a peep yet. Website still says "initial review".

Looks like about 2 months from the last biometrics appointment is a good time to except the next update from USCIS.

ELW, Jet lag is working it's wonders on me, nothing like waking up at 2AM wondering where you are haha.

Darnell, Thanks, I'll send the copy to the VSC so they'll have a record. If for some reason I don't get another appointment I'll setup an INFOPASS. If it comes to an Infopass appointment at least I can say I sent stuff to the VSC as soon as I could. The only person that can attend an Infopass appointment is the one applying for AOS right? If so I'd have to wait until my wife gets back anywho.

Also, I forgot to mention that the officer at the ASC said that if for some reason I didn't get another notice in the next month, that I could come in to the ASC when my wife gets back with a copy of the I-797 to get the biometrics done ad-hoc.

Update #2:

I went to the ASC bright and early this morning (2nd one in) and told them the situation of how we'd missed the redo biometrics appointment, he took the original, made a copy for me and said to expect another appointment in the mail. I asked if it was an issue since we'd missed the appointment and he said not a problem since we took care of it relatively quickly (appointment was supposed to be last weds, the 6th).

Looking through older posts circa 2007, it looks like the old I-797's had a statement that if you missed the original appointment date, you could go on any following Wednesday as a walk-in to have them completed. These older 797's also had a cutoff date, after which the application would be abandoned, that cutoff date looked to be about 3 months after the original biometrics date. They probably got rid of this wording on recent forms for obvious reasons of people continually missing the dates.

I'll send a copy to the VSC with an explanation cover letter as well.

Yet another learning experience!

Update: Looks like after some more reasearch here on the forums, others' who have missed a biometrics date just go to the ASC in person with the notice and explain the situation. Should I do that?

2 weeks at the earliest, ours came in almost 3. This seems to be an average right about now.

November Filer here.

Just looking for a little advice on how to proceed with an issue.

We received a biometrics appointment letter in Dec. and did a walk-in at the ASC to have the biometrics completed, that part went just fine. We actually had to do a walk-in because we were planning to be out of the country for a good month on vacation. We were relieved that we had the biometrics out of the way before we left.

I came back today from the vacation and there was another I-797C letter in the mailbox that said something to the effect of "the FBI was unable to process your fingerprint card" and it had another appointment to have the biometrics taken a second time. Unfortunately we were both gone when that letter arrived and missed the biometrics appointment on 01/06/2010.

I've read other posts and it doesn't seem like a big deal if you miss the biometrics appointment as long as you take action shortly afterward. I would think it would be less of a deal since we made it to the first one. I just wanted to verify what the best way to proceed is at this point. My wife won't be back until late in January so I've written a cover letter that states why we missed the biometrics appointment and that we'd like to re-schedule when my wife will be around. I plan on just sending the appointment reschedule request in the mail to the ASC and sending a copy to Vermont where we filed the I-751.

Is this the correct way to proceed? Should I go to the ASC in person (it's very closeby) or just mail it to them like the instructions ask?

Thanks for the advice!

Happy to report that the Application Service Center was gracious enough to do our biometrics as a walk-in today.

We'll be doing a walk-in this coming Monday for ours since we had previously made plans to travel.

I popped in the other day to inquire when the best time for a walk-in is. They said usually for them it starts to slow down around 2pm and the busiest time is for sure 8AM. Either way I've not heard of anyone being turned down for a walk-in (can anyone confirm this?) it's usually a matter of how long you're willing to waitas far as I can tell.

Update.

Of course, when I come home today, the biometrics appointment letter was in the mailbox. I guess it's only karma that I would need to worry a bit before it would come!

My only question now is, is it necessary for my wife to have her passport when going? Or will the green card do? Her passport is with the Japanese embassy for a tourist visa... We'll just do a walk-in and show them our flight itinerary showing we wouldn't be available for the original date.

Thanks for the wise words.

v333k:

Thanks for the reply. Hopefully it will arrive this week so we can head over to the ASC and get it out of the way before we leave.

If it doesn't come before we leave I'll have our trusty neighbor check the mail so they can read the dates and numbers to us. Then if we're still out of the country I can still call USCIS and tell them to move the date. (assumine uscis is the people to call and no infopass appointment is necessary to move the date).

Any idea if the USCIS email notification system will give all the information that is on the biometrics appointment letter? That way we can just check email instead of bothering our neighbors to look for the letter.

My motto: Chance favors the prepared mind.

Thanks again.

Hello Ladies and Gentleman.

We sent our I-751 package to VSC on 11/16 and received the NOA1 797-C on 11/23.

We'll be taking vacation soon and I'm concerned while we're away the biometrics letter will come and we'll miss the biometrics appointment. I'm trying to proactively avoid this sitution but feel like my hands are tied until the biometrics appointment letter comes in the mail. It seems like you need this biometrics letter (specifically its receipt number) to even contact USCIS or make an Infopass appointment.

From the looks of it, most people are receiving their biometrics appointment letter roughly one month after NOA1. Is that true? Or is the date everyone is posting in their timelines the actual biometrics appointment?

How can I get ahold of someone to say whether or not the biometrics letter has been sent out? If I use teh 797-C receipt number it isn't found in the USCIS system so it won't let me go any further on the phone. Am I too early?

Thanks

Pushbrk, thanks, I've updated my profile.

For what its worth my wife also attended graduate school for four years in the US (this is where we met), therefore she was issued an SSN. I included her SSN on our I-130. The SSN number is important since it has the ability to give a lot of information about her past easily (i.e. how much did she make, taxes, etc...)

Well, this it the beginning of our journey and the waiting game begins.

I wanted to post the contents of our I-130 packet sent DCF style to Beijing for others to use:

1 Cover letter

$190.00 Fee receipt paid at Shanghai consulate

1 2x2" photo of petitioner

1 2x2" photo of beneficiary

I-130 signed

4x G-325A for petitioner, all pages signed

4x G-325A for beneficiary, all pages signed

Notarized copy of petitioners US passport biography page

Notarized copy of petitioners valid Chinese residence permit showing 6mo.+ residence.

Notarial translation of Chinese marriage certificate

Notarized copy of beneficiary's valid Chinese passport

Notarized copy of Chinese marriage book

Certified translation of Chinese rental property agreement showing joint tenancy.

That's about it, I kept the package nice and neat and followed the assembly tips on visajourney. For proof of bonafide marriage we used the fact that we've been living together as our main evidence.

Thanks to everyone on this site!

Hello,

I also posted this on the candleforlove forums:

I am the USC who will be filing the I-130 in Beijing very soon. We have everything ready to file however I have just one question about Line B2 which asks for my address. I have searched high and low for an answer to this question with no clear answer. My wife and I are currently living together here in Shanghai so it makes sense to me to put my China address on line B2. Is there any reason to put a US address here (i.e. my families residence in the US?). For a USC doing DCF it only makes sense to me that I put my Chinese address on line B2.

Also, on I-130 Line 21, can I put our current address where we live together here in China or should I put the address when we lived together in school in the US (we weren't married yet in school)?

One other quick question about the G325A, during a 5 year period of time (my undergraduate school), I spent half the year at school in one state and half the year at work in another state. I've placed both addresses on my form G325A with the correct dates. I'm just worried they won't like the idea that the dates overlap. I have noted this clearly in my cover letter. The other option is, should I just put my fathers address which I used as a mailing address for these 5 years during my undergrad. I didn't in fact actually live at my fathers address for those 5 years during my undergrad however I used that address for everything official (drivers license, taxes, etc...)

Thanks!

Best,

Nick

Hello,

We plan to do DCF here in China. I've been working here for about 8 months with a valid Chinese work/residence permit so I meet the eligibility to go the DCF route. My question is that after we send all of our materials to the consulate in China am I free to return to the US to work permanently? What if my Chinese work/residence permit expires before the US visa is issued?

My intuitions, and what seems to make sense to me is that as long as you show that you are currently in China and have been working here for 6 months or more then you can do DCF. After you've filed the initial DCF package you should be free to head back to the states and do whatever you want? Is this correct?

Thanks,

Nick

Thanks for the great info,

Yeah we will do DCF while here in China, we need to make sure the timing is right however if I want to show them the offer letter from work. Also, my fiance was in the US for four years prior as a student so she has a tax record there, internships and whatever income the school gave her, not much however it was income. Right now I feel though her credit record isn't perfect since while in China she forgot one credit card back in the US, she's recently paid it off though, do they really care a lot about the credit record though?

I will use one of my sisters as a co-sponsor, then we should be all set, it wont hurt to have a nice offer letter in hand to show them too. As far as an address goes we both still receive mail in the US, it all goes to my dad's address so there is a lot of proof of residence there as well. My work will give me the offer letter a few months before I return to the US, so we can DCF before I go back to the states, then while back in the US hopefully I'll have time to get a few pay stubs sent back to China in time for her interview. That plus a co-sponsor should do it, am I being to careful? Like everyone that does this I just don't want to mess up.

After talking on here and hearing everyones knowledge its really helped to ease my mind!

Yodrak, thanks for clarifying the form info.

Best,

Nick

To clarify I meant the I-864 affidavit of support, not the I-134A cosponsor form. Also, after reading some more I feel it would be a good idea to simply have one of my older family members to be a cosponsor, just for some extra backup. Anything wrong with that?

Nick

It seems they are accepting I-130's at consular posts now? Anyone try to file one recently?

See this link http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2007/mar/82030.htm

Nick

Hi everyone, I have another question I've been confused about. I know that early last year consulates abroad stopped accepting the I-130 and they said you had to send the I-130 to a US service center. Recently however I read this: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2007/mar/82030.htm which says that on March 27th the consulates started accepting the I-130's again. Right now I'm working in China so it would be best to file the I-130 while here. If they don't accept the I-130 here in China can I simply mail it back to the service center in the states or do I need to fly back just to hand them the form? I've looked for a clear answer to this and haven't found something convincing yet Hope someone on here has some insight into this.

Best!

Nick

Hello everyone, I'm new to the forums, I'll give a brief story of our plan then go into my main topic.

I am a US citizen working in China for a US company (although paid in RMB). My fiance and I (she's Chinese) met back in graduate school a few years ago and came to China to work about 8 months ago. We are planning to get married in China soon and will be applying for the immigrant visa I-130. My only concern at this point is proof of income, since we graduated and directly came to China and are on semi-local salaries paid in RMB I haven't had a lot of cash going back to the states. We are however well educated (we both have Masters degress in electrical engineering from one of the best engineering schools in the states). My company will be sending me back to the states to work soon, and of course will pay me my full salary when there. Is it enough for the I-134A to show my degree certificate and my accepted offer letter from my company? Clearly with two masters degrees in electrical engineering there will be plenty of money to live on. I have kept offers from other companies when I applied for jobs when I only had my bachelors, is all of this stuff enough to prove to them my ability to provide for my future wife?

Best!

Nick