hplusj

The Department of State is a US governmental agency which handles a number of different operations, including visas and consular affairs.  That part of the agency is referred to as the NVC.  You can learn more at https://travel.state.gov/

1 hour ago, widude said:

 How long does the NVC have the package before it goes to the embassy.? Philippines in my case.  I’m sure it can vary, 1 month? 2?

 

 How is one informed of new NVC receipt number?
 

 Once you have the receipt number, can steps be accomplished before it gets to the embassy? Like fill out that DS-160? Maybe that police report, if required, Philippines again.

 

  Just trying to keep things proactive. 

I can answer in terms of general K1s, though as you noted, embassies can vary, so perhaps someone who went though Manila will weigh in.

DS-160s once completed are valid for a year.  It's good to file them close to your appointment, so everything is current.  Some embassies require you to wait to file until they receive your case, but I'm not positive Manila is one.  

For police clearances, get them going now.  Sometimes they can take weeks, even months to receive, again depending on the country.  I would recommend going through the checklist of items required by your embassy on the Department of State website and work on collecting all necessary documentation for the interview.

22 minutes ago, JimmyX said:

We're continuing to learn about each other as far as how we deal with documents and being patient in the process, so all is not lost.

Oh my gosh, isn't THAT the truth?  Fiance and I feel like although our marriage will be full of challenges for years to come, this is like trial by fire.  I love him more than I ever did, and especially in such a difficult time.  He is 100% my rock.

Here we go again...

My fiance and I have both sent NVC "inquiries" this week, mine on Wednesday and his yesterday.  Mine received the standard reply of "we'll send it when we send it", and I don't expect we'll hear anything on his until next week.

And I hope they addend it with that blessed K1-FTP.  Fingers crossed.  We are at fourteen weeks now, At NVC.

8 hours ago, ShawnSpiker said:

Is it too bad to put affidavit letters from friends and family from both countries before they ask RFE, is it too much? is it better or unnecessary?

https://www.uscis.gov/i-129f

Please read the checklist of required initial evidence

Missing affidavits would not cause an RFE.  When submitting the I-129F, there is no financial affidavit.  You will fill out the I-134 and provide to your fiancee when they attend the embassy interview.

10 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

i wish them well but please have her sign up for VJ.  there''s a lot to know and u seem to concentrate on 1 issue only

does this Muslim man know he can't work for an extended time to AOS? 

Seconded, it's questions like this that are vital to giving the best advice, and a friend of the USC is not going to have the answers.  She really needs to be here.  No judgements.

On 6/6/2024 at 5:09 PM, widude said:

 I gotta say, I received a letter today!!! They had my email, they have my cell number, but the notice came today, approved May 30th, on to the NVC. 😊😊.

 

  I never heard any other peep out of them, that’s ok, as long as things move along. Now I’ll start to study the next steps. I have a feeling things ‘should’ move a little faster now, hopefully. 

As someone at the NVC stage seeing people pass us, I will warn you, the next stage isn't necessarily as cut and dry.  And there's no website like TMVN to even track your place.  

Nevertheless, stay positive and I wish you the best of luck in the next stage!

Long story short, my fiancé and I have our approved K1 petition sitting at NVC with a case number issued.  It has been almost fourteen weeks (over three months) since it arrived there.  Our consulate in South Africa/Johannesburg has been requesting cases and receiving shipments every fortnight, many of these cases being sent only having sat at NVC for 3-4 weeks.  Speaking with the approved couples (also K1 visas), they do not meet any expedite criteria, and are simply being selected before us.

My question is, in pursuing communication with the NVC through their inquiry form, is there a recommended way to convey to them that if there is no issue with our case, we would like ours sent in the batch next week? I am thinking about how to construct this so I can send it out tomorrow, and would love other members' feedback on their attempts to move their case from NVC and what (potentially) worked for them.

Currently, I am thinking case number + principal applicant name + date of NOA2 issuance (5 March 2024) at the top.  The rest of the text would be something like:

"We were informed that our consulate in Johannesburg is requesting shipments from NVC.  We request that our case be added to the next shipment, and a K1-FTP letter issued to the petitioner, <insert my full name and email>. 

The principal applicant, <insert his full name> has all supporting documents and is ready to schedule a medical appointment.  He is also ready to travel to the appointment in Johannesburg at the earliest convenience of the consulate.  Thank you for your assistance in advancing our case."

Thoughts?  We appreciate any constructive feedback.  The inquiry is being submitted, unless someone can provide proof that it might hurt our chances of our case being sent for some reason.

19 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

This may be helpful.  He should be fine if he follows the CBP guidelines.

 

Good Luck!

 

https://www.help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-1444?language=en_US

Super useful, thank you so much!

Hey all:

Can someone clarify the best way someone immigrating can deal with existing prescriptions?  My fiance has a blood pressure med he takes, and is going to see his GP this week in advance of his visa medical.  He'd like to know what kind of refills to ask for, if any.  

I will be adding him to my medical plan after we get married of course, but will he be okay bringing a couple months' supply overseas to tie him over until we can get his new doc/prescription set up stateside?

1 minute ago, Confusedtinybird said:

 

It's not really run by Americans.  When we were there years ago there were many different Nationalities working there. I have been to several Embassies throughout Africa and it's run very well. Very organized.

 

The Embassy is run very different than Home Affairs. We did DCF so cant really advise on K-1 too much.

 

Just a side note- It's also mostly called Jo'burg or Jozi. Ive never heard it called or spelled Jo-berg.

 

The timelines are really hard to go by. The Embassy will let you know when they are ready for you.

 

 

Thanks for your feedback.

35 minutes ago, makfc said:

@hplusj thanks for sharing the info & shedding some light on the process. In one of your earlier posts you mentioned cases would next be selected on 6/25. Is that all visa categories or only k-1? How did u get to that determination? Any idea when joburg typically announces the monthly batch of interview letters? From what I've read it's the beginning of every month

Every month the VJ mods start a new thread in this forum for cases moving from NOA2 to embassy: the OP always sheds light on what information we have on this stage.  Included is a calendar highlighting the shipping dates from NVC to the embassies.

The 2024 calendar they've shared shows that cases are selected and shipped every other Tuesday and Wednesday, based on if the embassy provides space in their workload.  The last shipping dates were on June 4th and 5th, so we just advance a fortnight to find the next ones: June 18th/19th.  And so it goes.

For the heck of it, I tried emailing the embassy again with a new tactic.  It provided interesting results and gave a bit of insight into the embassy's perspective:

Hello:

6 hours ago, makfc said:

@hplusj did u ever receive your IL yet?

 

I'm DQ'd 20 March IR5 visa and still no interview insight. Seems relatively long compared to others. 

No, others have continued to received theirs before me.  Joberg is requesting newer K1s than mine.  Not sure why.

My fiance and I have both submitted inquiries to the NVC asking for the issuance of our K1-FTP.  Got a cookie cutter response as per usual but we'll probably send one the Friday before next shipment (6/21, with cases selected on Tuesday 6/25) in the hopes that it jogs their memory.

Sending inquiries to the embassy itself has proven just as fruitless.  They direct us right back to NVC.  So we're in a constant volley of pointed fingers, while our case continues to sit in limbo for no perceivable reason.

We're at twelve weeks now.

5 hours ago, User1993 said:

Yes, they are going to my embassy, we have a chat group where we update each other and alot of people are getting their case sent over just 2weeks after being sent to nvc.

You are not the only one.

I am also in a chat group that tracks cases going to the same embassy.  So far I have seen three cases from my contacts, advance to Johannesburg before me.

One of them is in this thread, saying they had to wait a while.  😂  No shade to them, but they waited very little time.  For Joberg it's been said the average time is four weeks.  Our case has been at NVC for twelve now.

I recommend sending the NVC a request for a K1-FTP through their inquiry form.  No proof it works, only that the cases that advanced before me did that in at least one instance.  My fiance and I are trying the same method, in hopes they put us back in line for our embassy's requests.

11 hours ago, Kaendier said:

The NVC recieved our case on March 20th and just a few minutes ago we got an update that the case is now in transit!

Congratulations to you!

We are still waiting.

58 minutes ago, Boiler said:

I self sponsored my K1 so that would not be correct.

Were you the USC?  Can you speak to the OP's situation so they can better understand?

23 minutes ago, Boiler said:

I have come across one or two cases where the K1 has been used as a visitor visa but normally the plan is for the K1 to stay here.

That's fair but it takes two seconds to type this from the get go.

100% for K1, BUT expect that increase to 125% for AOS, so aim for that

Was that so hard

1 minute ago, ShawnSpiker said:

Thank you.

Has anyone asked if you are a US citizen yet?

You have talked a lot about "in my country"... you do know that the sponsor welcoming the fiance into the US, has to be a citizen, right?

Just now, Boiler said:

Do you not want to adjust?

Uh

Why am I being asked?  The question was about the K1.

That opens other questions about what the USC needs to provide for AOS, but that wasn't the question at hand.

Maybe provide context if that's something you deem relevant to all cases

1 minute ago, ShawnSpiker said:

Thank you.
If I put intimate pictures, they may think we are married not engaged. Am I right?
Such as pictures of us cuddling in front of the TV or in the bathtub.

please not the bathtub, no, that is WAY too much

5 minutes ago, ShawnSpiker said:

Are 10 years age difference acceptable for the immigration "USCIS and embassy"
I am 40 years old and she is 30 years old.

They don't care about age, as long as both are adults and the relationship is bona fide.

12 hours ago, SundryCoder said:

I received a response from NVC today:
 

To Whom it Concerns:

 

The National Visa Center (NVC) has received your petition from U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services.  Your NVC case number is [].  Due to your petition type, you will not receive a request for fee payment or document submission.

All case parties will be notified when this petition is forwarded to the assigned U.S. Embassy/Consulate General.

For the most up to date information about the U.S. Embassy or Consulates current operating status, please visit their website at https://usembassy.gov.

The correct case number is [].

Anyone know what this means for our process?

Yep, it means you pay fees and submit docs directly to your embassy.  NVC has other visas where they take payment or docs; not the K1.

4 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Being a USC

 

Look up I 864P

 

Also see guides

Isn't I-134 lower requirements than I-864 though?  It's 100% above federal for K1 I thought

20 minutes ago, J.M. said:

Nothing will be sent to her at all until after the interview, when they send her passport back.  For that delivery, you will either give the delivery address or choose from a fixed list of pick-up locations when you schedule the interview.  The embassy *might* send her a welcome letter and pamphlet, but it probably won't arrive before she is already out of the country.  As was mentioned before, just put her new address on the DS-160 when you fill it out.

 

Don't worry about updating her address until you fill out the DS-160.  You'll be fine.

This is extremely useful, great to have a resource who knows the Manila procedures, since embassies are so particular.

Dina and Bill take note, and review J.M.'s feedback/timeline closely.  

5 minutes ago, DinaBill said:

 

From the VJ K1 flowchart. Items 7 and 8 sound like stuff will be sent to Dina. This is where my concern lies.

 

 

You have submitted the I-129F, which is the petition for the K1 visa

Your case is at USCIS.

The above chart is for when your petition is approved and sent to NVC.