justcheckin

First and foremost the US consulate in a foreign country can only handle applications for people who are either citizens or legal residents of that country. In other words there should be no problem with processing your case in Bolivia but not in Spain.

How did you even manage to get through to this stage of processing?

I got a question on those prepaid envelopes. My wife's interview appointment letter doesn't say anything about it. Also there is no mention of it under consulate-specific instructions on travel.state.gov.

Have they changed their procedure in Montreal?

Also, my 13 month old daughter has her interview at the same time. We are going to have to bring some food for her as the wait might be long. Is it going to cause an issue with the security there?

And one more I forgot to ask. If that envelope is needed then can we have just one for both my wife and daughter?

I got a question on those prepaid envelopes. My wife's interview appointment letter doesn't say anything about it. Also there is no mention of it under consulate-specific instructions on travel.state.gov.

Have they changed their procedure in Montreal?

Also, my 13 month old daughter has her interview at the same time. We are going to have to bring some food for her as the wait might be long. Is it going to cause an issue with the security there?

Guys,

I'm not on the timeline but just wanted to let you know that my wife just got an interview date.

Her case was completed by NVC on August 4th, 2009 and the interview date is Jan 13, 2010. So it's going to be 162 days since came completion when we go to the consulate. Please feel free to add me to the timeline.

Hi Justchecking and welcome,

I would be happy to add you to the list but I need to know what your NOA2 date was

NOA2 - April 6th 2009

Guys,

I'm not on the timeline but just wanted to let you know that my wife just got an interview date.

Her case was completed by NVC on August 4th, 2009 and the interview date is Jan 13, 2010. So it's going to be 162 days since came completion when we go to the consulate. Please feel free to add me to the timeline.

Same happened with my daughter's petition. I called the California center and told them my daughter was abroad and the case was to be sent to NVC. It was USCIS's error. In any case it took them 3 months to forward it to NVC and I have called multiple times and sent numerous e-mails.

And you didn't have to send the I-824 to the USCIS? Cause the approval time for it on CSC is around 3 months, so I'd rather not pay the fee and do it by phone calls and infopasses if it's going to take around the same time for them to fix it. Anyone else has any experience on this?

Initially USCIS told me I need to submit I-824 but I didn't want to do it because it was their mistake. Why pay $300 something to have them do what they should have done originally. Just be persistent and follow my advice. However it would be good to see how your I-130 was filled out by the lawyer. If the lawyer specified your US address and a local immigration office, then USCIS did whatever it had been instructed to do. So if that's the case you may not be able to get away without an I-824.

Yeah, we did call the USCIS, but the operator just repeated what it was written in the NOA2, which is that we have to send them the I-824.

Same happened with my daughter's petition. I called the California center and told them my daughter was abroad and the case was to be sent to NVC. It was USCIS's error. In any case it took them 3 months to forward it to NVC and I have called multiple times and sent numerous e-mails.

Here's how you can get to the operator to explain the issue:

1. Call the 1-800 number for USCIS

2. Follow the path for case status

3. Once the system tells you your status wait for more prompts and answer that the system didn't have any info on your case. This is of course not true but will get you to the right agent.

4. They will most likely forward you to a supervisor.

Always right down the date, time, name and number of the rep you're talking to. Also ask them for a service request number.

You can also try to follow instructions here:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00045f3d6a1RCRD

And make sure that the address on the I-130 was abroad and that the answer to question 22 didn't indicate a local immigration office.

After three hours of looking and looking ....... when can we file the N-400 ? She has recieved the notice of Permanent Resident ( 10 year green card ) date of decision was 11-4-09 and her admission date was 8-22-09.

The more I read the more lost I get .

If permanent residency was obtained through marrying a US citizen you can file N-400 3 years after the permanent resident status was granted. So 3 years from 11-4-09 in your case. I believe you can actually file the application 90 days before that date which would be 8-4-12.

My daughter's case was approved at the beginning of August. The NVC still hasn't received it. I'm trying to force USCIS to finally send it. How about that?

It's been 2 months already and mine hasn't been received at NVC yet despite multiple calls to USCIS and their assurance they'll do it.

Their official line is that it might take up to 90 days to send an approved petition to NVC.

As someone else has already mentioned we cannot expect that DOS will solve the issue at the Montreal consulate anytime soon. Those institutions are very inert and do not react to changing conditions fast enough. If they did, they wouldn't have allowed the consulate to get understaffed. It's not like 80% employees quit at the same time without notice. Whoever allowed this to happen which I would think is the consul general should face the consequences. We have all the right to be pissed off with people at Montreal and DOS who are in control and didn't do enough. The regular folk working at the consulate cannot be blamed. If it's really true that so many people quit, then they must have done it for good reason (incompetent and indolent management most likely).

I'm just wondering why they cannot give some higher priority to immigrant visas. Canadians don't need visas to travel to the US so only visa applications they handle there are immigrant, work-related or tourist visas for landed immigrants. Now it doesn't take long to get an interview for a tourist visa - probably 2-3 weeks. I am aware that the processing of immigrant visas must be more thorough and is more time consuming but honestly do you think they actually look at your application prior to your interview? And besides that NVC does all the document collection for them and all they need to do is review those while talking to you.

So what I'm saying is that it's not too fair to prioritize tourist visas over immigrant ones. After all if a tourist doesn't get to see the U.S side of the Niagara Falls in October it has much lighter consequences than not being able to be with your spouse and children for months.

But let's look on the bright side and thank God we're not in Mexico because you may end up waiting for an interview in Mexico City for more than a year and this is simply due to the sheer number of applications. On the other hand it means that they are understaffed as well.

Ideally there should be a maximum wait time for an interview as well as USCIS processing. We are all paying quite a lot of money for their services. They don't really do us a free favor.

Who actually schedules the interview at the consulate? Is it NVC or the consulate?

I mean when the case is completed at NVC do they send the documents to the consulate immediately and then the consulate gets back to them with a date or does NVC drive it?

My wife's case was completed on August 4th and no interview date yet. When I call NVC they give me the handbook reply about scheduling on the second week of each month for the following month.

Canadian citizens fall under a similar category as people who entered without inspection. An immigration judge must make a ruling that such a person indeed overstayed and needs to be deported. Unless you go back to Canada and on the way back to the US admit you overstayed previously.

I don't recommend overstaying or lying but since this discussion has gotten so much technical then I decided to mention this technicality.

Here's a link: http://www.canuckabroad.com/forums/do-i-ne...u-s-vt5123.html

Calling won't hurt. It may possibly even help. I called the CSC about my daughter's case about 4 months after the receipt date and asked them if the case was being worked on. I had a reason because my wife's petition had already been approved and sent to NVC and I wanted these to cases to catch up there (which by the way didn't happen anyway). So the guy said the case hadn't been assigned to anyone but a week later it was approved. I don't know if it helped but maybe they're able to flag a case for processing if it's getting close to the end of the 5 month window?

Yeah I called. The details are under the link in my original post but the gist is that the California Center approved this application for adjustment of status by mistake and it should have been consular processing. They said they would rectify it but it's just taking too much time.

I know that it usually doesn't take USCIS more than 2 weeks to forward an approved I-130 to NVC. In my case it's been 2 months already. The details are here: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...c=218566&hl

I was wondering what was the longest time you guys waited for your approved case to be transferred to NVC?

try calling the NVC

I did multiple times and they have not received the case yet.

My daughter's petition was approved on August 3rd. I received a NOA2 which said that it was going to be processed through the adjustment of status track. My daughter is in Canada and we had properly filed I-130 indicating consular processing in Montreal.

Anyway, I called the USCIS California Center around August 20th. The agent said she was going to put in a request to have this case forwarded to NVC but she didn't give me any service request number just said to call back in a week or so and admitted that it was their mistake. So the following week I call CSC again and they say that the application is physically on a way somewhere and they cannot do anything with it until it reaches the destination. But the agent on the phone says she will see to that petition being forwarded to NVC and asks me to call back in 2 weeks after Labor Day. So again I call them on Wednesday after Labor Day. This time the guy at CSC doesn't want to tell me anything just says to call the USCIS again and tells me what options to dial on the menu. I do that and get through to another agent to whom I repeat the whole story. She asks me a lot of questions whether I received any service request number (which i haven't) or any communication form USCIS, etc. She puts me on hold for 10 minutes or so and then says she cannot help me but will put me through to a supervisor - an immigration officer.

So I have to lay out the whole situation to that guy once more and he seems like he doesn't want to be bothered with anything pretty much letting me know that I've been pestering USCIS with my inquiries. I say that it was their mistake and I only want it fixed because my wife's case is completed at NVC and my daughter's case hasn't even gotten there yet. Anyway he finally tells me that on September 1st my daughter's application was marked to be sent to NVC and it should get there in up to 50 days but most likely by the end of September. I ask him to clarify it the petition has been sent to NVC or only marked for sending and he says only marked for sending and says there's nothing else he can do for me and practically hangs up on me.

It's good to know that something is happening but I'm still frustrated. Time is being wasted, I have to keep on following up and when I do the USCIS treats you like they're doing you a favor by even explaining their own mistakes to you.

Anyway, has this happened to anyone on this forum? How did it turn out?

Thanks,

Luke

I made the same mistake and I called the California Service Center, they told me to send them a letter explaining that I had missed Question 22 part B. But once they received the letter they just sent it back to me saying if they need further paperwork they will request it. So I guess its a waiting game now till the approval comes to find out what the next step is.

Justcheckin-Did you receive a NOA2 for your daughter already? Or was your paper work shipped even before you got your NOA2?

The petition was approved on August 3rd (NOA2). It instructed us to adjust status and that's the problem.

They could see the details of the petition in their system (such as an overseas address) but they can't physically send the petition to NVC.

According to a USCIS rep (800 number) they shipped my application in a crate with thousands of others to some sort of facility. In order to send it to NVC they will have to receive it there and pull it out. This is why nothing can be done at this point until the file physically gets out of that crate.

And yes the explanation was that since my daughter's address is abroad and she's not in the US she is not going to adjust status and this should have been captured by USCIS before deciding about the adjustment of status.

The form is poorly designed and it should have a separte field to select what you want to do and not lump the adjustment of status and consular processing together in one question.

The attorney should have known better which is why I'm firing him.

Did you consult the Example Form here on VJ? They are wonderful resources that can guide you along the way.

Looking at the example form you would want to answer with the location of the embassy/consulate where the interview will take place.

The problem is I'm using an attorney who instead of peace of mind is giving me a constant headache. I think they didn't enter anything for the question about adjustment of status versus consular processing. I know the form is really bad because there should be a specific question where you could check off what you want to do but listing a foreign address of the beneficiary as well as the fact that the beneficiary has not entered the US at all should suffice.

In any case USCIS on the phone today said no I-824 is needed because I did not intend to go the adjustment of status path. Well, I hope they will do exactly what they said and send the petition to NVC.

I'm firing the attorney by the way.

i did a search and found this:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...uestion+22+I130

it's a frequently debated issue on vj

maybe some ppl have some recent experiences they can share with us because i am interested in knowing as well

It has just happened to my daughter's approved petition. They said her I-130 indicated adjustment of status which is not true because she's outside of the US and we didn't specify adjustment of status elsewhere. In any case the petition is now in limbo and USCIS is saying they will change it to NVC on their own but who knows if they will. Obviously a foreign address should be a good enough indication of consular processing. I'm supposed to call them again in 2 weeks.

Are you sure the operator said "instead?" Everyone gets an A-number, it can be found on the NOA2 for your petitions, even non-immigrant ones like the I-129f, so there's nothing wrong there. I know there have been some delays recently in sending petitions off to NVC but two weeks seems excessive. Sorry, not sure why they're still holding on to it though...

Thanks for your reply. I called the USCIS again. It turns out the person I had spoken too before didn't know what she was talking about. The other rep said that the case had already been sent to NVC. It was approved in California on 8/3/09 and supposedly sent to NVC the following week. That means it's been only a week since they sent it. He also said that it may take up to 30 days to have an approved I-130 entered into the NVC system.

I filed an I-130 petition for my infant daughter and it's been approved by the USCIS. I have been waiting for NVC to receive the case but 2 weeks had passed and they still had no record on it. Since the case was supposed to go through consular processing in Montreal, the USCIS should have forwarded this approved case to NVC. I called USCIS today to find out if they have done that.

A USCIS rep told me that they had not sent it to NVC but assigned an A-number instead. I don't know what that means but I was under the impression that you only get an A number if you're registered as a resident alien in the US (or maybe once you get an immigrant visa). They said they will look into the issue but I'm a bit worried that it will delay the processing of my daughter's case.

Anybody had a similar experience?