EternalForeigner

Thanks for the tip! I just hope it's enough.

20 minutes ago, Chancy said:

 

It's the welcome letter that NVC sends to the petitioner and beneficiary.  The email starts with "Greetings from NVC", and mentions the need for police certificates for processing the visa case.  You should have received it around the same time as the NVC case creation email.

 

Thank you for your response. 
I’m looking through that email now but there’s no explicit mention of the the police report. It only says civil documents and there’s no information aside from the case number. Would that still be sufficient?

54 minutes ago, kiwirst said:

All quiet on the Denver front it seems, noticing that Texas filers in January are getting movement on their interviews and approvals which is great news.

 

From those that have done their interview in the Centennial office, has everyone had a same day oath on approval? Is it mixed?

 

I'm applying on the 5 year but have been eligible through K1 for over 5 years.

My friend had his interview last January and would've been offered a same-day ceremony but he had to get it scheduled due to a name change.

Hello,

I'm trying to get a police certificate from Bahrain for the NVC process but they want the "information packet sent from NVC" as part of the general requirements, as they said the US Embassy there doesn't provide a request letter. Does anyone know what the info packet from NVC is? I didn't receive anything like that in the US nor did my family members in Bahrain.

You can check the language here (colored it purple):

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country/Bahrain.html

Quote

 

Police Certificates

Available

Fees: 1 BD

Document Name: Good Conduct Certificate

Issuing Authority: Ministry of Interior, General Directorate of Crime Detection & Evidence, Department of Criminal Information

Special Seal(s) / Color / Format: White paper, English on left, Arabic on right, stamped and signed at the bottom of the paper in the middle. Photo of applicant included.

Issuing Authority Personnel Title: Varies, typically Director General

Registration Criteria: Must be a Bahrain citizen or resident with valid CPR card/residency permit.

Procedure for Obtaining:

General Requirements:

• Copy of a valid passport
• Personal photo with white or grey background
• Letter from the entity wishing to employ the applicant or the requesting party.  In the case of an immigrant visa applicant, U.S. Embassy Manama does not provide this letter.  Applicants may simply use the information packet sent from NVC.
• Original fingerprints of the fingers and palm if the applicant is outside the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Special Requirements for Non-Bahrainis (in addition, to the general requirements)

• Copy of the Bahraini ID Card (CPR)
• Copy of the residence permit (residence permit in Kingdom of Bahrain is required for 6 months in continuous manner)

Certified Copies Available: Yes

Alternate Documents: N/A

Exceptions: N/A

Comments: Available through Bahrain embassies abroad.  For those abroad, this service is provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Information can be found on their website.  May be issued in electronic format, and can be verified through their website.

 

I was able to finally submit it using Firefox on my phone (in a private tab after clearing cookies etc).

5 hours ago, throwaway3982 said:

I have been experiencing the same issue on CEAC Status checker for the past 12 hours. Have you managed to fix it?

Not at all. I message state.gov's help center a few days ago and they haven't responded.

16 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Have you cleared cookies?

Did that and everything else revolving around it. Didn't help me at all, unfortunately.

Trying to apply for a relative but every time I try to submit the info on the official DV lottery site I get this message:

Quote

The requested URL was rejected. Please consult with your administrator.

Your support ID is: XXXXXXXXXX

I've tried different computers, operating systems and internet browsers but it's been like this all week. I followed a YouTube guide that supposedly fixed it but it didn't work for me. Any ideas and how to help?

3 hours ago, Lloydh123 said:

Interview and oath ceremony the same day. Approved. The whole process was easier than expected. Hope this helps.

Congrats! When did you send your initial application btw?

9 minutes ago, Eli_za said:

Last time I called they told me I have to mail my certificate (honestly don’t feel comfortable doing so).   In person appointments are not giving in my area. (Houston, Tx). 
 

what state are you at? 

I'm in the outskirts of Denver, Colorado, and I got it done at a small suburban office. When I tried to call in September, the call wasn't even going through, and then it was giving me an error message like I was trying to call a disconnected line. So I dialed the number probably about 30 times in a span of 15 minutes to make it go through. And after going through the usual "press X" messages, I think it took 5-10 minutes to talk to a person.

What you can do is try to call a different office that's within driving distance from you and see if they're taking in-person appointments. And if they do offer appointments, ask them how long it'll take for them to call you for an appointment. In my case, they said a week, but it actually took a week and a half.

28 minutes ago, Eli_za said:

Is anyone else waiting on social security office to update citizenship status? 

I already did it and you can see my post about it here (I meant Monday Oct. 4th):

Oct 4th*

I got it done today through my local office. I called them on Wed. Sep. 22 and they put me in line to be called for an appointment. They called me yesterday Mon. Oct. 5 and said I could come the next day (this morning). They said it'll take 2-4 weeks to get my new card.

Oct. 4, 2021: received my naturalization certificate. 

3 hours ago, noname1234 said:

I just realized that my child's passport is going to expire,  expire in May 2022.  With currently process time, I think i need to renewal it now and expedite.

 

one question, should expedite fee and application fee in separate check or can be combine in one check?

 

Any passport application fees or expediting fees or 1-2 delivery all get combined into one check for the state department. When you get done with the application online, it’ll tell you the exact amount to be written on the check. There are also several few calculators online. 

One person tried this today with the following edits and corrections:

Quote

 

1. 14 days before your trip, you need to schedule an appointment in a travel agency with the passport agency.
2. Appointments are not easy to get, but there is tricks.
3. Wake up at 7:45 eastern time
4. @7:55 am call the passport number 877-487-2778 (This have to be exactly 14 days before your plane ticket or less. If less, it will get harder to find an appointment)
5. Click 1 (For English), then 1 (New Passport), then 2 (To continue). That is 112
6. Listen for the options, and notice that it say click 4 3 to repeat this menu
7. Click 4 3 to repeat, and keep doing this while watching your watch
8. When your watch hits exactly 8 :00 am, then hit 2 1 (for travelling within 14 days option)
9. Now you will be waiting for an agent. If you are very lucky, you will be waiting few minutes or maybe as long as 15-20 minutes.
10. If you did not hit the 2 1 option exactly at 8 am, you may have to wait for more than an hour and half

Edited to add: When calling, be sure to have your complete travel info, including flight information and booking confirmation number because they will ask for it.

 

6 hours ago, MYV said:

Hi, did you pay for expedited shipping?

Yes I paid for 1-2 day return shipping. 

On 9/23/2021 at 4:23 PM, EternalForeigner said:

Sep. 23: Passport book arrived, next-gen passport regular book. Label on envelope says Charleston, SC.

Sep. 25: Passport card delivered. 

A few days ago I called my local social security office and most of the time it wasn’t even getting through or connecting. After attempting to dial about 30 times in a row, it finally rang. I think I waited maybe 10 minutes before I talked to an employee. I thought I’d be scheduled for an appointment during the call, but instead he took my info and scheduled me to be given a phone call for an appointment next week. He said there were about 10 people ahead of me to be called for appointments for that particular office. So now I have to wait until I get a call back from them and figure out when I can go in. 

On 9/21/2021 at 11:09 PM, EternalForeigner said:

Now it says “Shipped” and added a tracking number (still Sep. 21 here). 

Sep. 23: Passport book arrived, next-gen passport regular book. Label on envelope says Charleston, SC.

56 minutes ago, .yana said:

I had a tracking number which was at 'Label Created - not shipped yet' status on 9/21, then on 9/22 USPS system crashed and no tracking was available at all for few hours, then back to 'Label Created' then instantly to 'Out for Delivery' and 'Delivered' within 30 minutes lol

 

And didn't even show up in my informed delivery 🤷‍♀️

I’ve always heard the packet always shows up on informed delivery as the following, probably for security reasons:

4 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Just got it yesterday!

 

Strangely, it arrived in a Priority Mail envelope but there was no tracking number...🙄

I think from everyone’s experience, it seems like the passport book is the only one that gets tracking, right?

I got the USPS “delivered/in mailbox” false alarm that many have been getting. Went to check and there was nothing, which makes sense as our US mail usually gets delivered in the afternoon. And none of the other pieces of mail I’m expecting to see (courtesy of informed delivery emails) are there either. So I guess they have a pattern of false alarms on that front. 

2 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

The airline staff checked all that stuff before you board the plane (like they would with visas etc)*

You have no contact with border officers when you use egates (unless something goes wrong and it tells you to “seek assistance”, for there was one border officer with a couple of people in line). I’m assuming “the system” links your passport number with the PLF on your way in. 
 

 

*btw for flights to the US, BA (and assuming some other airlines) use an app called Verifly. You upload all the Covid etc stuff onto there per trip, it gets checked, and you get a green online pass on your phone that you just need to show the gate agent rather than a bunch of forms - very quick and efficient.

I am familiar with VeriFLY as it’s used to schedule TSA slots to go through security on your own in Denver. And I knew that the airlines check everything when you check in for your flight; I was just surprised that there weren’t any additional covid checks at the UK border for those going through the egates, but it seems like they’re satisfied as long as the PLF is linked to the passport as you said. 

1 minute ago, SusieQQQ said:

Well, you need to test before you fly and they check the vax/test/PLF (form) stuff before you fly, not after you land. Took me less than 5 minutes from arriving at the egate line to getting through, it was busy but there are a lot of gates and the process is quick. There looked to be 200-300 people in the “all other countries” queue (a big emirates double decker plane landed around the same time as us - I’d come from Europe and most of the people on my flight must have been brits or EU or otherwise able to use egates) so yeah, that definitely saved me some time.

So were there border officers checking for PLF/proof of vax/covid test before or after the egates?