S2N

Yes, that’s almost always the best outcome, but some of them like to know you’ve done something first. Best is to call them and see what they need.

Even if the earlier petition was closed by NVC, theoretically an I-130 is valid until withdrawn or revoked by USCIS. Also looks like it was a pre-adjustment of status I-130 where they never filed the I-485 based on some of OP’s responses, so it might be floating around somewhere in the USCIS ether since it never would have left them. Its probably worth sending USCIS a formal letter withdrawing the previous I-130 with all identifying information available just so the old I-130 is officially dead within their records. Can even include phrasing like “if not already closed by USCIS…” before the withdrawal. OP can file a FOIA request for the I-130 records as well, which USCIS has historically been pretty quick at handling. I’m sure there’s some identifying information they could use to find it, even if only a social. They were able to find my mom’s hard copy A-file 35 years after naturalization in a district court when they had previously lost all information except her maiden name, parents names, date of entry, and A# in the great USCIS digitization of immigration records of the early 2000s 🙄 USCIS is surprisingly good at finding records they misplace once you force them to.

What @rbv_shard explained. First time you owe there’s no penalty, but otherwise $999 will guarantee no penalties and interest. Speaking from a purely economic standpoint the “perfect” return would be to owe $999 every year in perpetuity because of time value of money. I’m sure someone could figure out a better way to go from owing $0 one year to the optimal amount owed the next, but takes too much thought for my brain before coffee and would be a bit too cute. The other safe harbors also exist, but $999 will be your most consistent one. Of course, everyone should follow the law and aim to pay estimated taxes/withholdings so $0 is owed as payment of refund on 4/15.

Mine was ready next day. I owed less than $500; which I count as a win, time value of money… in case anyone is interested the “perfect return” from an economic standpoint is owing $999. That’s the amount you’ll never owe penalty and interest on. Government is giving you a $999 interest free loan instead of the other way around. Can’t say I don’t like refunds, though 😅

Husband entered again today after having an approved I-130 (and therefore A#.) Used MPC. He showed his cellphone and passport to the CBP officer and was literally waved through with a hand at the Miami airport without a single word being spoken.

They’re useful for anytime you’re dealing with a rejection for a mismatch or if you’re filing for an ITIN the first time. Basically anything involving tax IDs/SSNs. Electronic filing is vastly superior in every other case, but mismatch on electronic filing due to new SSN of recently arrived foreign spouse. Is one of the niche cases where they prove their worth. Bringing the new social security card to the appointment also might be helpful.

Agreed, but would recommend doing it again on paper in a tax payer assistance center (link). These are the circumstances where an in-person paper return can be useful as the employees can see the history of the return and troubleshoot in-person.

If you got divorced, started dating, and then got married after dating less than a year while there was still a pending I-130 for your ex-wife, that’d also raise questions.

Yeah. They sped through January. We were approved 14 days ago and I filed January 1st. I’m sure there will be slowdowns, etc. but it’s been trending towards less than a year. You could see March in a few weeks at the current pace.

Looks like they’re making quick work of January!

Yep. Means it got sent to NVC. I received the NVC welcome letter two days later.

Congrats!

Thanks. Did this and it arrived a few hours after.

NVC just sent us an email telling us to submit our documents online, which said we should have already received a welcome notice with case number and invoice. I was able to make out the case number from the subject of the email, but both of us have searched all of our email folders and spam folder and can’t find anything with an invoice number on it. Reached out to NVC, but also wanted to check if anyone had seen this before.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised by Todd Blanche’s response to this case. He seems to be able to read the room. The Good case you could interpret the videos several ways, and the DHS argument was that it was clearly an in-policy shooting and you had career officials who thought that as well (which doesn’t really matter — DHS internal policy isn’t the law, but I digress. Matter for a civil court to deal with 2 years from now.) The video on this one just looks like cold-blooded murder of an American citizen by an immigration enforcement official, and there’s nothing coming out that looks good for DHS. Even if that turns out not to be the case, it’s what most of the public is seeing right now. That’s why Trump and GOP senators are moving so quick to throw Noem and Bovino under the bus on it. An investigation ran by the woman who called a man shot 10 times in the back while he was prone on the ground a “domestic terrorist” isn’t going to be taken seriously in these circumstances, and I’m glad DOJ political leadership gets that the tone here matters for the credibility of any investigation. Really hope they pry their jurisdiction back in the case from HSI and we get a report most people can have confidence in.

Its going to be under HSI, not the FBI. FBI normally investigates LEO shootings, and to be honest I’d be fine with them doing it because at least Todd Blanche seems like he gets there was a potential issue. Slash, within the FBI they’re still pretty apolitical. DOJ has its issues but the rank and file do try to stay impartial still. I think it’s a pretty big conflict with HSI doing it given that Noem is also their boss and she’s blurred the lines between the various DHS agencies by declaring that they’re all focusing on enforcement within the US now.

Fwiw, I’ve also had this issue.

Orwell based it primarily on the Soviet Union, because he viewed Soviet-style communism as the primary form of totalitarianism in the world when he was writing. His idea was more of what a totalitarian state would look like in the English-speaking world than communism itself, even if it was the model. People also frequently forget he was a socialist. This was the same man who wrote Homage to Catalonia, which is anti-communist, but also very left-wing.

Like I said, I think it’s incredibly stupid to take a gun with you to a protest — whether it’s a left-wing one or a right-wing one. It is legal, though. I’m not really sure your analogy holds here though as the CCH wasn’t the one who fired any shots. Someone having a gun on then when they (appear to be) restrained on the ground isn’t a reason to unload 10 rounds into them, and if that’s all they can produce as reason for the shooting it’ll be an issue. I think that’s my overall issue with the “well why was he there???” questions. Let’s say he was a plant or a domestic terrorist or whatever. LEOs don’t have the legal authority to shoot a restrained individual, which from all indications we’ve seen so far this guy was. They might have the right to detain and charge, but simply resisting arrest with a concealed firearm (which is essentially what DHS is claiming happened), shouldn’t end in him getting shot. Like I said, let’s have an investigation and see where it goes, but what DHS has come up with so far doesn’t inspire confidence.

We agree. I think having a gun on you in these circumstances is stupid, but that isn’t reason to shoot someone. I also think it’s odd that many of the people who supported an expansive 2A reading previously are not using this as justification for killing him. The current law is if you have a permit, you can concealed carry. Even if you’re going to be around LEOs. The issue with state/local investigations is that DOJ could have any potential charges removed to federal court and then dismiss it. I’m for an independent investigation, but I’m also aware of the reality that if the state or local government does it, DOJ will override any investigation. That’s why I’d prefer Congress to get involved.

Also, if people prefer an analysis of the videos by a right-leaning source here’s the WSJ analysis.

As I said on the other thread, let’s have a full investigation and see where it shakes out. I think it’s incredibly stupid to bring a firearm with you to a protest for any number of reasons. From what I recall though it is legal, and one of the reasons given for the expansive gun rights we have in this country by those who support a broad second amendment is that it protects from government tyranny. I think that’s a bad argument, but if that’s what we’re going with it seems odd to me that him having a legal firearm that it looks like he never took out is being used by the government as justification for killing him. We’ll see where the investigation goes. As I said on the other one, I would prefer an independent investigation commissioned by Congress because I have zero faith in the federal government to investigate itself after the last year. The MAGA crowd wouldn’t trust a local investigation and there’s supremacy clause issues there as well.

They mail/issue the letter before they update the timeline. Once you see the letter you’re fine. You can use the date listed there. The real date that matters is when they send to NVC, which is up to two weeks after approval.

Looks like today they did the straightforward cases with PDs 12/31/24-1/2/25. Current case rate being starting 2-3 new PDs a day and working through any backlog of cases with extra administrative items. If you’re left behind don’t worry — the government has a lot more data in the databases on my husband and me than most people that would make my case by definition straightforward even ignoring what we’ve upoloaded. I would suggest tracking on Reddit/Discord/Facebook though to see what the current newest approvals are. VJs estimate is (imo) skewed by us getting complex cases here. Use current data to plan for the earliest on average, and use VJ data to plan for the 80th percentile approval timeframe.

Approved. Got the “still processing your case” email an hour ago. Checked 10 minutes ago and the approval notice was in my documents. Approval date: 1/22/2026 PD: 1/1/2025 Original SC: Nebraska Approving SC: Texas