kopwin

20 hours ago, Nashmusah said:

I will advise you to be patient everything will be fine. 

The National Visa Center (NVC) sends a welcome letter to applicants after receiving their petition from USCIS. The welcome letter includes fee invoices, case numbers, and invoice numbers. The process of getting a welcome letter usually takes 30–60 days, but can sometimes take up to six months. 

Thank you very much for the info! 😺

Hi everyone, I have not received the welcome letter from NVC, so I submitted a public inquiry and got the invoice ID. I was able to log into the CAEC website and access the "Summary Information" page, but after clicking 'PAY NOW' under 'IV Fee,' no name is listed under 'IV Application Processing Fees' (Total Amount Selected: $0.00). Does this mean NVC has not created my case, or should I contact them? Thank you.

3 minutes ago, karishma said:

my mum got approved on 2 may 2024 and i received email on 7 may 2024. physcial letter came a week later. my dad is still no approved. filled for both of them on same day april 22 2023. i dont know its taking long for him. i also paid my fees on 11 may 2024 and now since monday i cant login to feel in the DS260 or any other forms. It gives me URL not registered error. anyone facing this.

Wow that's really fast! Congrats!

Hi everyone, how long does it take now to receive the welcome letter from NVC after the case was sent to the Department of State? NVC's website says, 'As of May 13, 2024, we are working on cases that were received from USCIS on April 4, 2024.' I remember it used to take 1 to 2 weeks earlier this year. Has the case creation time increased? Thank you

9 minutes ago, appleblossom said:

 

What correspondence are they reviewing? That's odd too. 

 

You can use the 'ask Emma' on the USCIS website, and I'd probably also try the NVC enquiry form too, just to double up! Good luck. 

I've asked numerous reps about that status, and all of them said not to worry about it. I also contacted NVC last week and they have submitted a request to USCIS to get my file. I'll chat with Emma today. Thanks!

6 hours ago, appleblossom said:

Really odd! Personally I’d use the contact form rather than phone so you have it in writing. What does your status say? 

😂 The phone rep gave me a reference number for the record. Does USCIS have a contact form?

The status is "Correspondence Was Received And USCIS Is Reviewing It". It's been like this since the approval. I've asked the USCIS rep to check the status, and she said it shows as approved. 

Sorry for bumping this. I called the USCIS contact center today, and the agent told me that my case is pending to be shipped to NVC as of Feb. 12, which conflicts with the information I received from TSC that my case is still going through security checks (as of Feb. 21.) I also asked the agent what 'security check' means, and she explained that it simply means my case was held at TSC before Feb. 12 and is now scheduled to be shipped. She confirmed my case has been completely approved, and no additional review is needed. Now I don't know who I should believe. 😂

20 hours ago, appleblossom said:

I know it was approved in Sept, but your timeline and previous posts say you applied in 2019?! If that’s right then 4 years is not normal even with Covid, and neither are security checks between petition approval and NVC transfer. So it seems you’re being delayed at every stage and there may be a reason for that - a FOIA request may shed some light. 

😂 Yeah, it's been a long wait. The 2019 PD is from my first petition, and I recaptured that for my current I-140, which was approved more than 5 months ago. I apologize for the confusion.

19 hours ago, appleblossom said:

Just so you can see the quoted ‘normal’ processing times - 

 

For the I-140 - less than a year https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/

 

And for transfer to NVC and receiving the Welcome Letter - a couple of weeks https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/nvc-timeframes.html

 

If you’re not aware of any complicating factors that may be holding things up (a previous overstay, criminal record etc), then I’d investigate further personally. 

Thank you again! I have a clean history so I'm not sure why USCIS is holding my I-140. The only thing I could think of is a recapture of an earlier PD. They even told my congressman that my case was transferred to NVC last month. 

It's the first time I've been told that my case is going through security checks. When I contacted TSC several weeks ago, a different officer informed me that my case is good to go and helped escalate it with NVC. I'm confused about the conflicting responses from the same office.

On 2/21/2024 at 6:21 PM, SalishSea said:

There is no way to expedite or waive the security checks, unfortunately.   You just have to wait it out.

Thank you SalishSea! Do you happen to know how long such security checks typically take? 

10 hours ago, appleblossom said:

I totally agree with @SalishSea, but I also think there's something very unusual going on with your case. Your I-140 took well over 4 years to be approved it seems? And that's not normal at all. So personally I'd do a FOIA request and try and find out what has been happening with it in case it continues to impact your application. 

 

Good luck. 

Thanks for the info! I apologize but I didn't update my timeline. My I-140 was approved in September 2023 (not 4 years ago 😊). It seems most people got their I-140 transferred to NVC within 1 or 2 months after the approval, but mine has been delayed for more than 5 months 😂.

Hi everyone, my I-140 was approved more than 5 months ago, but it has been stuck at TSC since then. I've tried getting help from the USCIS contact center, NVC, ombudsman, and my congressman, but none of them seem to help. Last month, USCIS responded to my congressional inquiry that my case was sent on that day. However, I waited for another month and haven't heard anything from NVC. I then reached out to NVC two days ago and was told they've never received my file.

Today, I received a response to my service ticket from a TSC officer, saying, "We have placed your case on a processing hold because the required security checks remain pending. Until we receive the results of these security checks, we cannot move forward on your case."

Is this normal? I'm confused as my case has already been approved, and I received NOA2 last September. Not sure what "security checks" mean and how long the process will take. This is a new thing, and all my previous inquiries with USCIS received similar responses that my case is queued to be transferred to NVC. Should I be worried, and are there any actions I should take to expedite this? Thank you!

5 hours ago, appleblossom said:

 

I suspect the person you spoke to just didn't have access to that info if it was only sent yesterday - it won't even have been logged yet. Most cases are sent electronically these days, but it'll be in a queue once received. You'll need to be patient, but hopefully will get the Welcome Letter in a few weeks. 

 

Good luck. 

Thanks a lot! I'll try to be patient 😊

My I-140 was approved 4 months ago, and my congressman just heard back from USCIS that my case was transferred to NVC this morning. I then called the USCIS contact center to confirm, but the representative couldn't find the record of shipment. The online status still remains as "Case was approved..." Could USCIS lie to my congressman, and if not (hopefully), does USCIS ship approved I-140 documents to NVC by mail, and how long will the shipment typically take? Thank you!

Just an update on my transfer delay: I still haven't received the welcome letter. It has been over 70 days since the approval. I submitted an inquiry to NVC last week, and here is their reply: "The correspondence submitted is currently under review. An appropriate action will be taken once this review is completed."

Does anyone know what it means by saying "under review"? I'm a bit confused, as a USCIS agent last week told me that my case has still not been transferred yet.

17 hours ago, sophie22 said:

It's about a month, not that huge a delay, but if it becomes more than 2 months, then I'd say definitely contact NVC and USCIS (Emma) to ask about it.

Thank you sophie22! I'm eagerly waiting for the NVC Welcome letter 😂

13 minutes ago, appleblossom said:

You’ve not filled in your profile/timeline which is worth doing if you can, so people that want to help can see it. What category and what is your Priority Date? 

Thanks, appleblossom! I'll update my timeline. I'm on EB-2, and my priority date is May 6, 2019 (current).

How's everyone's timeline now? Has TSC's issue been fixed? My I140 was approved late September but the case status has remained as "we approved your I140..."

Hi everyone, I have a question regarding the USCIS case status update process.

My I-140 was approved over a month ago, but the online status has remained as "we approved your Form I-140..." I've spoken to several USCIS agents, and all of them explained that approved petitions are automatically sent to NVC, and the online status might not be updated. They were also unable to verify whether my petition has been transferred.

Does this sound correct? Should I not be concerned about the lack of updated case statuses?

Thank you!