Esylvia

Hello!

I am sorry I have not updated in a long time!

My husband attended his medical exam on June 24th which was about 14 weeks from when we submitted the petition in London. He said the medical went pretty smoothly and it really only took I think 1.5 hours or something like that, so not too long. He did book his visa interview prior to the medical and was able to get one for July 8th at 9:30 am (he went down the night before), which we were pretty happy about. He attended his interview on July 8th and was approved on the spot! He said the interview went smoothly. He said they focused a lot on finances as at first they saw that I did not quite make enough to sponsor him, but thankfully we had a second sponsor.  Funny enough one of the questions they asked him was "why did you guys not get married sooner?" which he was not expecting haha. We brought a ton of paperwork and supporting documents to the interview, but he said only about 10% of it was even looked at and collected (better to be over prepared than under!). Overall, he was in and out within an hour not counting the time he spent waiting in line to get into the embassy. Just a tip, get there at least 45 minutes early as he said the line took quite awhile as I think they are doing a lot of interviews now that things have opened up more. He was late for his appointment due to this but thankfully it ended up being fine. 

My husband will now be arriving in the US on July 31st so I am very thankful that this process is coming to an end (that is until we need to reapply haha). Thanks everyone for all the help and wish you guys all the luck going forward!

On 6/18/2021 at 11:18 AM, saksnoot said:

Glad to hear you’ve gotten a helpful response! By any chance, have you tried to schedule the interview yet? I know you’re supposed to wait till after the medical to schedule it, but I’m curious about interview availability (as I’m sure you are).

I am sorry I am just getting back! We haven’t booked the interview yet as we are in the process of finishing the ds-260 form which we need to complete to book our interview. We are going to finish it tomorrow afternoon so we will be booking our appointment and I can let you know what the availability is. I don’t think you need to wait until after the medical just need to complete ds-260. My husband did look into the medical facility where it will take place and reviews did say not to book your interview to soon after the medical as some people had gone to their interview and the medical had not been received yet. I think we are going to aim to book it a week or week and a half after medical if that is possible and there is availability. 
 

Have a good rest of your Sunday!

36 minutes ago, Esylvia said:

Hello again!

 

So, great news again! My husband received a response to his email inquiring into an email notification. The visa office replied that they do not normally send information via email, but they did! We have our case number and my husband has booked his medical for next Thursday  Now to fill out the long ds-260 form! 
 

timeline so far: 

 

March 22nd: presented I-130 to the embassy 

 

June 17th: received case number 

 

July 1st: medical appointment booked 

 

I will continue to update as we move forward! Also, does anyone know if you definitely book your own interview appointment or is it given to you? 

Sorry meant June 24th is the medical!

20 hours ago, saksnoot said:

Great news! Glad they are being reasonably responsive and sticking to their stated timelines at the very least.

 

Apparently those waiting for interview dates who filed stateside are experiencing delays in London, so it’s good to know that the impact on our filings isn’t as significant as it could be. The cause is extended Covid restrictions and staff needing to work on or relocated temorarily to Cornwall for the G7 summit.

 

Also, I asked an attorney about the G-1145. It’s apparently just asking USCIS to tell you via text/email that the I-130 was filed correctly rather than by email, not any sort of indicator on when/if it’s approved/adjudicated. Whoever filed at the embassy between you and your partner was probably told the filing was completed, so all the G-1145 would have done beyond that was give you an email/text saying as much. Weird that they even asked for it really. 
 

Also, just wanted to say it’s great having everyone here update regularly. There aren’t many in our position, so the fact that we have found this small group is remarkable and really helpful, I’m sure. 

Hello again!

So, great news again! My husband received a response to his email inquiring into an email notification. The visa office replied that they do not normally send information via email, but they did! We have our case number and my husband has booked his medical for next Thursday  Now to fill out the long ds-260 form! 
 

timeline so far: 

March 22nd: presented I-130 to the embassy 

June 17th: received case number 

July 1st: medical appointment booked 

I will continue to update as we move forward! Also, does anyone know if you definitely book your own interview appointment or is it given to you? 

Hello guys!

So I have an update. As you know I sent an email on Monday (the 12 week mark) as we had still not received anything. I did get a response the next day stating that a letter will be sent in the mail about next steps, and to expect it within the next few days (it is great to finally hear something!). The only thing that is slightly annoying is that we have still not received an email notification even though I did submit to G-1145. This is annoying as, if our application was processed and we are being sent a letter, this must mean we have a case number. I thought that we would also receive an email with the case number so that we could move forward and book medical and interview, but seems we have to wait. I have sent an email to find out about this and if we will receive an email at all. 
 

As always I will keep everyone updated!

2 hours ago, saksnoot said:

I haven’t had anything yet either. @Esylvia if you don’t get anything after 12 weeks and a few days to allow for postal delivery, I’d strongly consider using the embassy contact form with both petitioner and beneficiary name, beneficiary mailing address, and statement that it’s been over 12 weeks since I-130 filing and your appointment letter said you’d hear back within 12 weeks. I’ve had the best luck getting responses not with the contact form but replying directly to the email with the appointment confirmation for the I-130 you’d have gotten. It may be with your partner or your attonery if you’re using one. Try to get that email address. I’m reluctant to post it here because I feel that the embassy would not appreciate it being made public.

 

@valmed if you want to try to get an update, I might recommend you do something similar using the contact form at the 8 week mark. That’s what the instructions online state for those who had their I-130 approved with USCIS in London. It involves playing dumb a bit, but quite frankly, approving the petition and then refusing to give any further instructions for 3 months is crazy enough to warrant this, in my opinion. Could also email send an email to the address you’ve received correspondence from. In this case, I wouldn’t send a reply to the appointment but as a new email thread so mention of 12 weeks doesn’t appear. In either case, it might be useful to have the email sent or contact email listed as your partners’ since it might make it seem a bit less like one person is continually bothering staff.

 

Just suggestions, but given the fact that direct filing is available because of time sensitive matters, I think we should be doing all we can to at least find out what the cause of delay is.

So today is the 12 week mark and we still have not received an email with case number and next steps, which is definitely disappointing. I have just emailed responding to the original appointment confirmation asking if we can get any case information/anything we can do to help the process along. I will let you guys know what response I get. 
 

I just don’t understand why it is taking over 12 weeks for them to process applications if all they really need to do is send out case number and next steps information. The delay is definitively frustrating, but hopefully I will get a response which can clear things up.

Has anyone had any updates? I have still not heard anything, but the 12 week mark is coming up on Monday so I will let you guys know if I hear anything (fingers crossed)! 

Hi everyone! 

I can see from posts that it seems that the consensus is that they are saying it will take 12 weeks from the day of filing (given that it was approved on that day) until we get an email about next steps and interview (hopefully will be less but as both of you got the same response I am not sure the likeliness of that). It seems crazy that is taking double the time as they are pretty much back running as normal right? It is a bit frustrating to have to wait, but I guess I applied 9 weeks ago now, so it will probably be another 3 weeks until we get an email with our case number. 

If anyone has any further updates or if they happen to hear earlier, post in here so we can all stay in the loop!

Hoping everyone will hear soon as I know how difficult long distance and waiting around is!

36 minutes ago, saksnoot said:

Today, I emailed the embassy to find out how they would contact us with next steps.

 

I got a reply stating that the beneficiary would receive a letter no sooner than 12 weeks from the day the I-130 was approved. The email also said that our I-130 was approved on the 26th of April, which was the day of the appointment to file.

 

I’ve asked whether our file has an associated LND case number and what that number is, given that our I-130 was filed in London and has been approved for 3 weeks already. I’ll update if I get a reply on that.

Thanks for sharing! Great that you heard back so quickly. I still have not received a response to my email and I was considering sending a follow-up. 

Wow its taking 12 weeks now? That’s much longer than what I have seen previously for other DCF cases (usually 5-6 weeks), but I guess it explains why it is taking a long time for us to hear back. I am pretty sure that mine also was approved on the day of just based off what the woman said, but I don’t know for sure. 

Just to be clear, you have found out from an email response from the embassy that it was approved? But you have not received the email or letter yet about next steps and interview?

I will update once I hear or get a response from the embassy!

Does anyone know as well if there are any restrictions on spouses from different countries coming into the US at the current time? or is it allowed as they will be coming in on a visa and receiving a green card?

On 5/9/2021 at 7:26 PM, saksnoot said:

Also replying here to say we filed under exceptional circumstances in London about a month after you. Hopefully we can all share knowledge. 
 

I was told that they couldn’t give a timeline for next contact other than “a matter of weeks.” When I pressed, the officer said they had been told 5-6 weeks usually but the situation is quite fluid at this period of time.

 

I imagine that between March and April, staffing and operation scale increased as things opened up. So for something in March, it’s likely longer than 5-6 weeks. I wouldn’t panic yet.

 

Also, (I’m think that) as opposed to if USCIS took the I-130, you don’t get a separate notice of I-130 approval before the consular section at the Embassy notifies you of your LDN case number and next steps. Historically, the gap between I-130 approval notice and LDN case number being sent could be up to 8 weeks. So if you’ll only be contacted now once the LDN case is assigned, that could mean a slightly longer wait too. 

Yes, would definitely love to share knowledge and our experiences!

Again, although it is hard to wait around for a response, it is good to know we are not the only ones in the same boat. Thank you for sharing your input as it does put me at ease a bit! Just feel anxious to hear and want to move forward with things!

Wishing everyone luck!

3 hours ago, valmed said:

Just replying to say we're in a similar position- we submitted the I-130 at the London Embassy in early April and they said it would be a few weeks before we would hear about the next steps. I also emailed last week with no response.

Hi! Thanks for responding. Although it is not fun waiting around, it is at least kind of good to hear that we are not the only ones experiencing a longer wait time! I am assuming it must just be that they are delayed due to covid and because they have started processing k-1 visas. Hopefully we will hear soon and I have heard that once you do get your case number it’s moves pretty fast after that, which is nice! 

Hello,

My husband (beneficiary) and I (petitioner) we’re accepted for the DCF process with the exceptional circumstance of a quick relocation job offer in the US. I handed in the I-130 at the US embassy in London on March 22nd (the same day that I left that country and as it happens my birthday as well—what a day!). I was told that everything looked good and to look out for an email that would explain next steps (medical exam and spouse interview). It has since been 7 weeks since then and we have still not heard a response. I even emailed last week and I have not received a response to that either. From what I have read online it seems that the time between submitting the I-130 at the embassy and receiving an email is usually much quicker, so I am worrying a bit. I did submit the email notification form. I did hear that they have now started processing K-1 visas again so not sure if this is adding an extra delay to responses? 

If anyone happens to have an knowledge around current DCF London processing times or anything else, please let me know!