bck86

It’s $675 if you file by paper (mail) or $625 if you file online which is the recommended way. But keep in mind, that is just the I-130 filing fee and there are several other costs and fees associated with this process.

My wife was approved this morning. This long arduous process is done, at least the parts dealing with the embassy and what not. 🥳😭 Still feeling shock, not yet reality. 

No, you don’t need to send anything by email. Once you submit all the forms and required docs, you just wait and you’ll get an email. I got two — one saying we were DQ and one saying we had a new message and to log in to CEAC to see it. The message in CEAC simply repeated that we were DQ.
 
If you’re still waiting to be DQ, make sure that the status of your docs says SUBMITTED and not just UPLOADED.

Good luck! Please tell us how it works out. When I was searching for other threads on VJ people asked the question but never gave us a follow up. 

Thanks for this info! I think I’ll file for an extension so I can go with my Option 2 and hope that if they get to us before I get to Thailand in May-ish to file the taxes, they’ll accept that I have requested the extension. 
 

You’re right, it says there’s no penalty for not filing by April 15 if you don’t owe taxes. I was posting here to check my understanding.
 
I appreciate your knowledge across these forums, and I think based on everyone’s answers here and my own understanding, I’m going to go with filing an extension and then Option 2 of filing MFJ at a CAA when I go to Cambodia and Thailand in a few months.

Thanks for this info! I think I’ll file for an extension so I can go with my Option 2 and hope that if they get to us before I get to Thailand in May-ish to file the taxes, they’ll accept that I have requested the extension. 
 

You’re right, it says there’s no penalty for not filing by April 15 if you don’t owe taxes. I was posting here to check my understanding.
 
I appreciate your knowledge across these forums, and I think based on everyone’s answers here and my own understanding, I’m going to go with filing an extension and then Option 2 of filing MFJ at a CAA when I go to Cambodia and Thailand in a few months.

DQ’d five minutes ago! Now we wait on Dublin. A great day. 

Update from me: We are DQed today and Case status is "At NVC"
 
Docs submitted 13th Jan 2024
Documentarily Qualified 19th Jan 2024
 

Yes....except that the IL email comes from NVC.  This is the process after DQ:
 
1. Case is DQ'd by NVC.
2. Case then enters NVC queue for your consulate and waits at NVC.
3. Consulate informs NVC of available interview date for upcoming month.
4. NVC schedules interviews for cases at the front of the line.
5. NVC schedules your  interview when your case reaches the front of the queue for that consulate.
6. NVC notifies person of interview date via email.
7. NVC then sends case to consulate.
After the interview is scheduled, it can take several days to several weeks for the consulate to receive the case.

Approved earlier this afternoon. Filing date was 1/28. 

Got NOA2 Approval today.
 
PD: Jan 17, 2023
NOA2 Approval: Dec 15, 2023
 
 

AHH got our approval today!
 
PD: Jan 17, 2023 Approval: Dec 14, 2023  
Almost 11 months exactly, which was our very original estimate when we submitted! No email, just logged in and saw the "actively reviewing" date was updated to today. The myProgress tab still says "taking longer than expected" but approval was in the Documents section. 😄 

AHH got our approval today!
 
PD: Jan 17, 2023 Approval: Dec 14, 2023  
Almost 11 months exactly, which was our very original estimate when we submitted! No email, just logged in and saw the "actively reviewing" date was updated to today. The myProgress tab still says "taking longer than expected" but approval was in the Documents section. 😄 

We got ours too! Looks like it was approved on Dec 8th, but no email, so we had to login and check the documents tab. Congrats everyone!! 

We just got approved from January 12th!!!! No email was sent. I just logged in and checked! 

Just got our approval! Logged in, saw a new "Actively Reviewed", and the approval notice was under "Documents".
Hilariously the estimated time, which had been "taking longer than expected" since the summer, went back up to 4 months on the same day it was approved.
 
Didn't get any email about it, so definitely keep checking  

Sent 1/6/23, Approval 12/7/23. Texas service center. No K3 or expedite.

Hang on friends, the next step is within reach!
 
 
 

I-130 for wife and two sons approve 11 months. Jan 5 to Dec 4. 

If you scroll up, someone was approved a few weeks ago but is still waiting on another approval before moving forward. I'm in the same boat as you—been stuck at "taking longer than expected" since July 9. ☹️

For me, getting married in Utah was quicker, easier, and significantly less expensive.
 
To get married in my husband's country, I would have had to get an FBI report from here, go to the US Embassy there to get a copy of my passport notarized, go to the Ministry of Interior/Foreign Affairs so he can apply for marriage to a foreigner, wait for the approval (sometimes months, but if you have $$$ it can be faster), submit it to the village chief, wait for a 30 day "announcement" period, etc. Then when I called my local county clerk's recording office to ask if my international marriage license would be registered/accepted here in the states, first she said I would just get "re-married" here (which I think was wrong) but then backtracked and said that I would need to file something like a "recognition of marriage," I can't recall the exact name. It was way too much hassle, time, money, and uncertainty.
 
With the Utah ceremony, we had our license and ceremony in a matter of a week for a little over $100, and it's fully and automatically recognized in the US, which was the most important factor for us since this is where we will be living. We were both physically together for the ceremony, which meant that within days after our wedding, we were able to file our I-130 with our digital marriage certificate that was emailed to us.

I, too, initially filed an I-129F (November 2022), then decided to switch to I-130 (January 2023). Lost a couple months, but feeling so much better about all of it. Getting married via Utah was easy and now there are no questions as to whether we are "too married" or "not enough engaged" to be approved for a fiancé visa. I sent a withdrawal letter for the K-1 in February and about a month later, I got an "acknowledgement of withdrawal" notice. We haven't been approved yet but so far everything seems to be going smoothly and I feel so much better about our situation. I wouldn't want to spend the next 12+ months being anxious about it.

For me, getting married in Utah was quicker, easier, and significantly less expensive.
 
To get married in my husband's country, I would have had to get an FBI report from here, go to the US Embassy there to get a copy of my passport notarized, go to the Ministry of Interior/Foreign Affairs so he can apply for marriage to a foreigner, wait for the approval (sometimes months, but if you have $$$ it can be faster), submit it to the village chief, wait for a 30 day "announcement" period, etc. Then when I called my local county clerk's recording office to ask if my international marriage license would be registered/accepted here in the states, first she said I would just get "re-married" here (which I think was wrong) but then backtracked and said that I would need to file something like a "recognition of marriage," I can't recall the exact name. It was way too much hassle, time, money, and uncertainty.
 
With the Utah ceremony, we had our license and ceremony in a matter of a week for a little over $100, and it's fully and automatically recognized in the US, which was the most important factor for us since this is where we will be living. We were both physically together for the ceremony, which meant that within days after our wedding, we were able to file our I-130 with our digital marriage certificate that was emailed to us.

Translation is not needed at NVC stage for documents in Cambodian, if interview is in Cambodia.  

Same, no translation for interview if in English or the local language already.

For me, getting married in Utah was quicker, easier, and significantly less expensive.
 
To get married in my husband's country, I would have had to get an FBI report from here, go to the US Embassy there to get a copy of my passport notarized, go to the Ministry of Interior/Foreign Affairs so he can apply for marriage to a foreigner, wait for the approval (sometimes months, but if you have $$$ it can be faster), submit it to the village chief, wait for a 30 day "announcement" period, etc. Then when I called my local county clerk's recording office to ask if my international marriage license would be registered/accepted here in the states, first she said I would just get "re-married" here (which I think was wrong) but then backtracked and said that I would need to file something like a "recognition of marriage," I can't recall the exact name. It was way too much hassle, time, money, and uncertainty.
 
With the Utah ceremony, we had our license and ceremony in a matter of a week for a little over $100, and it's fully and automatically recognized in the US, which was the most important factor for us since this is where we will be living. We were both physically together for the ceremony, which meant that within days after our wedding, we were able to file our I-130 with our digital marriage certificate that was emailed to us.

For me, getting married in Utah was quicker, easier, and significantly less expensive.
 
To get married in my husband's country, I would have had to get an FBI report from here, go to the US Embassy there to get a copy of my passport notarized, go to the Ministry of Interior/Foreign Affairs so he can apply for marriage to a foreigner, wait for the approval (sometimes months, but if you have $$$ it can be faster), submit it to the village chief, wait for a 30 day "announcement" period, etc. Then when I called my local county clerk's recording office to ask if my international marriage license would be registered/accepted here in the states, first she said I would just get "re-married" here (which I think was wrong) but then backtracked and said that I would need to file something like a "recognition of marriage," I can't recall the exact name. It was way too much hassle, time, money, and uncertainty.
 
With the Utah ceremony, we had our license and ceremony in a matter of a week for a little over $100, and it's fully and automatically recognized in the US, which was the most important factor for us since this is where we will be living. We were both physically together for the ceremony, which meant that within days after our wedding, we were able to file our I-130 with our digital marriage certificate that was emailed to us.