Garu

I got touched today. Nice! I haven't been touched in such a long time that I don't even remember what it feels like. Me like it!!!

Excellent! Great news!!!! Congratulation!!!!

Brad, so what happened? Did they status change to paid yet? Maybe it will change by Tuesday. Please let us know.

I check the payment page periodicly by putting the NVC case number and the INN on the sign in page and saw that finally the bill for the IV was online. I imediately paid the bill and was hoping to see the PAID the next day instead I saw payment status as unpaid. I called NVC and got thru....apparently the bill was not acutally generated yet so my payment was not applied to the NVC case....they are going to see if a supervisor will apply the payment to the case and also told me if they do it will take an additional 10-14 days OUCH Big mistake...even bigger if i made a $400 donation if they dont apply it to the case!!!!!!!! Anyone else have this happen? If so what happened?

Everyone's payment is being processed like that. If you read the payment page note on the right, is clearly states that it will take 2 business days to clear and apply. Mine did same too, next day after the payment it said "not paid", day later changed to "paid". Just wait another day, do not try to pay again and do not worry, tomorrow or Monday it will clear the bank and change to "paid".

You are fine. You have no problem.

In your case the overstay penalty doesn't apply because you did not overstay more than six months. With an overstay of less than six months all you lose is your 10 year B1 visa and have to apply again if you want to come as a tourist. The embassy might not give you another B1 just to set an example since they can claim you are more likely to be an intending immigrant and they don't have to justify their decision to anyone.

By getting married to a USC and applying for the 130 you are already intending to immigrate so the embassy no longer has to be concerned about the intending immigrant issue.

I think this is directly dealt with on question 30, section H of the DS-230 Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration form.

The applicant is supposed to answer YES if any of these conditions which would exclude an individual for admission into the U.S. are met.

Section H reads: "An alien who was previously ordered removed within the last 5 years or ordered removed a second time wihtin the last 20 years; who was previously unlawfully present and ordered removed within the last 10 years or ordered removed a second time within the last 20 years; who was convicted of an aggravated felony and ordered removed; who was previously unlawfully present in the United States for more than 180 days but less than one year who volutarily departed within the last 3 years; or who was unlawfully present for more than one year or an aggregate of one year within the last 10 years".

Specifically, the section applicable to the overstay situation reads:

"who was previously unlawfully present in the United States for more than 180 days but less than one year who volutarily departed within the last 3 years; or who was unlawfully present for more than one year or an aggregate of one year within the last 10 years".

You can/should/must answer NO to that question because nothing applies to you. You were NOT unlawfully present in the U.S. for more than 180 days (you were unlawfully present for about 90 days). Since there is no time penalty for cases of less than six months, the question does not apply to you.

For those that overstayed between six months and a year then the verbiage "more than 180 days but less than one year who volutarily departed within the last 3 years" takes care of it. If they overstayed between six months and a year and have been out of the U.S. for more than three years then they can answer NO to the question; all is well. They paid the time penalty. In other words they did not depart "within 3 years"; they departed "over 3 years ago".

For those that overstayed more than a year then the section "or who was unlawfully present for more than one year or an aggregate of one year within the last 10 years" kicks in. So, unless they have been out of the U.S. for more than 10 years they would have to answer YES which would be a problem. There are waivers than can be requested as other people have mentioned but I have no idea how effective those are.

PLEASE DO POST YOUR RESULTS AFTER YOUR INTERVIEW so anyone in your situation can benefit from your experience.

Good luck.

I'm here

This is the link for the list of transferred and pending/completed cases.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pkS...y2biBfPF5nP6JZw

To the best of my knowledge, I and Garu are the only K-3 filers who have been transferred from VSC to CSC. In both our cases, only the I-130 was transferred; the I-129F remained at VSC. I'm posting this for the benefit of Garu and any other K-3 filers who were transferred to CSC.

I recently moved and submitted an online change of address request for both my I-130 and I-129F. I've now received a letter from CSC confirming that they've changed my address on my I-130. However, I also received a letter from VSC that said the following:

"We have received your request for information on your Petition for Alien Fiance (Form I-129F); however, your Petition for Alien Relative (Form I-130) for the same beneficiary is still pending. Therefore, it is no longer necessary for you to pursue the Petition for Alien Fiance (Form I-129F) and it has been closed."

So I'm now officially on the CR-1 path, and I suspect any other K-3 transferees will be as well. I'm actually kind of happy, given how much the NVC process has been sped up with the online shortcuts.

Wow. this is amazing. thanks for posting the update. Their response makes no sense! Of course the 130 would be pending! As it is on all cases that have both the 130 and 129 submitted. The level of incompetence this people demonstrate continues to amaze me. Actually, maybe they are brilliant. Perhaps it is alot more difficult to try so hard to screw things up than to just do it right the first time.

Personally, I would have preferred (and was hoping) they kept both petitions open so at least there were two chances of getting approved versus one. I don't know if it is good or bad news what they told you. I am just extremely dissapointed and disheartened that my transferred petition hasn't been touched since 08/21. So right now I'm mad at everything and everyone. Well, except nice people like you who post valuable information here.

Wow 1 USD= 45 rupees

Last month it was around 41 rupees when my husband sent me money

I hate to say that but please people this is visa journey; you could discuss this money issue somewhere else in the Internet or here in but in different forum.

Come on. Take it easy. Give us a break please. Technically you are correct in that there is another forum on VJ for this kind of discussion but I think we all get sort of tunnel vision with the one forum we are reading constantly (be that the K1, K3, or CR1-IR1 etc) and don’t think much or visit the remaining forums.

If people sometimes post off-topic comments or threads here I think it's because we need a little light hearted reading in the midst of all the stress and frustration we are experiencing. Sometimes you just get sick and tired of threads about problems and people getting approved in 21 days or people not getting approved for two years and just need a little break with something else and this forum specifically becomes our support community for anything we want to say.

Good luck with your endeavors and please fill your timeline so we can all benefit by comparing your dates to ours.

Skype records? How did you get that? Did you keep manual records or is there some sort of report you were able to run or they ran for you?

I would be interested since we use Skype all the time. Please let us know. Thanks.

Good luck with your interview.

i was one of the first batch of vsc transfer to csc, and i actually have lost interest to check uscis site. lately i have been busy w/ business travel, and got the email of approval last night with approval date of 9/10

makes me wonder if the whole process only takes about one month or so to process, and all the application at vsc just collecting dust.

Congratulations and thank you for sharing your approval.

Regarding your second paragraph; there is a section somewhere in this VJ forum with comments from someone who used to work at the USCIS office and I think he said it actually takes 15 minutes to adjudicate a petition. The rest of the time, they are just collecting dust. Pittyful.

I have paid for everything - he is a student and there are practically no jobs there. Nepal is the world's poorest country outside of Sub-Saharan Africa. If I was looking for Mr. Provider I guess I would have looked in a different country LOL...

My mom married my stepdad when she was a struggling single mom and he took care of her for a few years, paid her nursing school tuition, etc. Later when he was dying of emphysema(he was sick for 13 years) there was a point when he couldn't even walk out to the driveway with an oxygen tank - my mom paid all of the bills.

For now I carry him, there may come a time when he carries me. We are a team.

Excellent and beautiful answer Pattu Rani. I think this is what it is all about. You demonstrate the correct feelings we should have as a couple. Thank you for sharing your parents experience as well.

Tambayboyz, please fill out your timeline so we can compare your dates with ours. Thanks.

Anyone else that was transferred aug 6 that is not approved yet? or is just me that left behind again...I sent my petition on Oct 2007.

everytime u call uscis is so demoralizing. its just the same bs. call back in 60 days..blah blah blah..one said that those who were transferred, cali is following the vermont processing dates..i was like huh?

so what is really the point of the uscis customer service?

oh well..

take a look at this link for a list of people transferred in August.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pkS...y2biBfPF5nP6JZw

Last touch for me was 08/21. Anyone transferred 08/13 or 08/14 still waiting for approval?

check it out here : http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pkS...y2biBfPF5nP6JZw

Thanks. I forgot about that spreadsheet. Thought it wasn't being maintained any more. Thanks to the people that are keeping it up. It is a very helpful tool.

throw in the towel? are you kidding me? you can consider this as a REAL test of your love for one another.. we have been waiting over 1 year on our decision and also done a writ of mandamus.. and I will continue to pursue the government until she is here.. I'm sorry, but you barely even got your NOA1 just a month ago.. I am going to fight to the death to bring her here.. I'm not scared of the government.. they couldn't even catch one man in the mountains, if you know what I'm saying.. I should start faxing again soon if nothing comes up with the lawsuit.. only 16 more days (out of 60) though.. so NEVER GIVE UP, don't let USCIS control your lives and who you want to be with.. I seen a few people just give up the fight because it was too much for them to handle.. I say to bring the battle to them, and not let the battle come to you..

Dream Love, I know you are frustrated and venting but come on, you have been in this process for about six weeks and you already have both petitions filed and acknowledged and your file has been touched. It took me over eight weeks just for them to acknowledge receipt of the 130 with the NOA1. Didn’t anyone tell you the expectations of how long it would take to get this done?

Did someone brainwash you telling you things like “don’t worry, it will be done in a few weeks, or you can get married and come back to the U.S. with your spouse”? I wouldn’t be surprised if people told you this because they tell me all the time. Unfortunately, that is some people’s perceptions. It makes no sense for them that families can be willfully separated by USCIS for unreasonable amounts of time and that their processes are unjust and do not follow their own guidelines; some people can’t handle the truth. So they just think life is beautiful and everything happens quickly. But our reality is different.

Gogo, I don’t know much about your story other than the last few posts I have read regarding the writ of mandamus but your ordeal and the time you have waited and your struggles with USCIS should serve as an example and comfort to all of us and give us strength to continue.

Last touch for me was 08/21. Anyone transferred 08/13 or 08/14 still waiting for approval?

I got approved, September 8th, can somebody update me.

Yeahhhh!!!!

Long wait, hope NVC goes smooth.

Congratulations!!! Thank you for posting your approval; I was transferred on 08/14 and last touched on 08/21 like you and have been going crazy since. It is reassuring to see you approved.

We have been using James' Shortcuts to get to our interview faster but I am curious on the copies of the W-2s and the Federal Tax Returns required for the last 3 years.

We have copies of our 2005-2007 tax returns but when you submit your forms with the I-864 are we submitting photocopies or do they have to be the originals? We didn't order copies from the IRS yet. Can we just get copies from our accountant and submit those?

Hi jedinite,

If you read 864 instructions it clearly says that you have to send 1 year COPY of the 1040 tax return with relevant schedules, not 3, and not transcripts. It says that you have to send 3 years ONLY if you feel that it will help your case (if you had less then needed last year, etc.). Transcripts are OPTIONAL if you do not have copies.

W2 or 1099 should be copies, as you are supposed to keep originals for yourself, they do not expect you to send them.

Seems like James shortcuts and Loto guide have incorrect tax info, and confuses a lot of people here. Someone should correct them, or post corrected info.

Also it's not a good idea to volunteer more info than needed. It might confuse them into thinking you are not meeting requirements or have other, unstated reasons to provide more info than required, and can cause them to issue rfe.

So, it any case, 864 form instructions are the ones you should carefully follow.

Notwithstanding what form 864 says about just sending tax returns for one year, I wonder if the package information received from NVC specifically asks for three years of tax returns. It seems everybody sends three years.

As we know form 864 is used for other things in addition to immigrant petitions so maybe in other cases one year is good but NVC might want to see all three years worth of returns.

Hopefully someone who is further along the process and received the 864 information package from NVC can say something.

I need guidance and some words of wisdom from fellow VJers.

I just want to be with my husband, and wait with him during this process. I have spoken with my parents about co-sponsoring, and they are fine with it. I have also built good savings that i do not expect to touch until he arrives even if i decide to stay in the US or go to be with my husband.(this is just to have some financial security) My husband already has a job waiting for him once he arrives (his company wants him to continue working for them with a satellite company in the US). So, i feel confident that I should be able to go and wait out with him the process. Can anybody please offer me their opinion/expertise?

THANKS!

Interesting opportunity. I would suggest you make 100% sure co-sponsoring is not a problem (meaning the income ratios of your parents are satisfactory, they have properties, assets, etc) and if it looks like there is no problem at all, then go to Colombia temporarily.

As a U.S. Citizen you would probably get your passport stamped with a tourist visa for a few months when you get there (I get 90 days every time I go to Peru and I have been there nine times in one year with no problems from either Peru or the U.S.). So if your time expires, you can go out to a nearby country for a quick vacation and come back.

The main benefit I see of you spending time there is that you will be in his “turf”. His country, his culture, which after all, is part of who he is. This will help you to get to know that side of him; of his world. Is not the same when you go as a tourist of when you go to visit him for a little while knowing you will be returning, or when you went for the wedding; it’s not the same.

If you are new to his culture you might find yourself lost sometimes and find many day-to-day things that make no sense to you because we do it differently. He will have to become your “cultural attaché” I still can’t get over a frigging guy making noise with a whistle all over the neighborhood early in the morning selling fresh bread door to door! But they love it there! This will help you to be more understanding when he is here because he will be facing many new things just like you did when you were there. And in his case the change will be permanent; not temporary.

When I go to Peru, I blend with the regular people and perform day to day activities (go to supermarket, the mall, drycleaners, movies, etc) just as if I lived there. It has not been easy at all. But it makes it a lot easier for me to understand the drastic change that a person has to go through when they move to another country; everything is new, everything is different. I think I will be more patient and understanding when she is here because I have experienced 5% of what she will experience.

This applies of course if you are not Colombian. If you are and lived there enough, then you already know the cultural differences. Either way, I would have given anything to be able to spend this time together with my wife in her Country. It will make the wait time and the dealings with USCIS 1000% more bearable. If you are not Colombian and you both have a little bit of spending money I recommend you do quick trips in the Country; get to know places that only locals know; let him show you what he likes and makes him proud of his country. Get to know his friends, his hangout places. Enjoy your time there!

Good luck to you.

Buy plane ticket.

Get on plane.

Hug the loved one.

I literally feel sick to my stomach when I read about people getting approved in “21 days???” when I have been waiting almost 11 months. I don’t get mad at the lucky people; I don’t blame them.

I get mad at an unjust bureaucracy that supposedly works for “the people” and yet tells you one thing and does another and doesn’t care about lying to the people it is supposed to represent and serve. It makes no sense at all that new cases get worked on before old cases. A computer system can keep track of application received dates and queue them for processing in such order with no problem at all. It is one of the most basic concepts of computer processing and even manual administration processes as a whole; FIRST IN, FIRST OUT.

I get mad about life/destiny/whatever for allowing two people who want the same thing and are following the same exact path to be treated totally differently for no apparent reason at all. One gets approved and gets to be with his loved one quickly and the other must wait and wait and struggle and suffer.

Then I think about God and that there is a reason for everything, and that all challenges are opportunities to grow, and the big one; that “it is all a learning experience” and that there must be a higher reason or purpose for the separation, and that we must accept our destiny and have faith, and that at the end every thing happens for a reason and will make sense, and that we must be patient and have trust and think positively.

And it all sounded great and inspiring when I used to tell other people. But know that I’m living it; now that it is happening to me; it makes no sense and it all makes me sick to my stomach. All I know is that I have spent another day apart from the one I love. All I know is that it is night again and I wasn't there to hug her and kiss her good night.

Zidane, I see that two K3 applicants had been transferred from VSC to CSC, but they leaved the I129 at VSC, its VJ´s members Mathman and Garu, they had applied both I130 and I129 in January. Let see if more K3 also going to be transferred.

That is correct. I am desperately waiting for approval of anything at this time and will post results. It seems only the 130 petition was transferred because the 129F has not been touched. So my guess is that theoretically, CSC could process the 130 or VSC could process the 129F independently of each other.

Zidane, I was not aware that USCIS would even talk to you about your request to transfer a petition. It seems they transferred older petition but not all of them and even the transferred petitions at CSC do not seem to be worked on in order.

So if you want to call USCIS again and push for a transfer, (your call; I have no idea if it is a good or bad idea), then tell them to transfer your 130 petition and just leave the 129F as is. You don't need to cancel it.

Good luck to you and us all.

what USCIS date would you consider if you were transfered to California? The date currently posted for California or the date from Vermont since the application was originally filed in Vermont? I would guess Cali because you are there now but who knows.

jummy!!!! that's great!!!!! congrats!!!! I feel like I'm all alone now.

I heard McCain's new healthcare program includes free Viagra for everyone; yes!!!

Excellent!!! Top of the World!!! Congrats!!!