OKflyboy

Could be a glitch. But if you moved out of the service area, they will have to send your case to a different office, that might take time.

Did you call them and talk to a live person? I waited for my naturalization interview letter for 5 months, than called USCIS, and got the interview letter a week after the call. Sometimes they just forget about you.

So the USCIS timiline says that TSC is approving IR-5 in under 5 months. Means my father's petition can be approved any time now. Of course we had to wait for my mom's for 8 months when the normal processing time was five. Anyway, I won't be able to do the NVC part for my dad for another few months, since I will have to obtain his civil documents. The background check takes about 2 months, and he just ordered it last week. He did not do it earlier since my mom's almost expired while we waited. And he just got a divorce, so I'll need the originals of those documents, too. Mailing that stuff from Russia is very complicated and, even if possible, very expensive. Then there are the NVC fees that I can't afford at this time, because we are living off my husband's disability.

Looks like my dad is gonna have to wait about the same as my mom to get here...

blessed23 Philippines Sept 30, 2014 Oct 30, 2014

Okflyboy Russia Sept 12, 2014 Sept 15, 2014

I paid the fee on July 18. My mom entered on August 26. The GC arrived on September 28. So yes, about a month sounds right.

NOA 2 in less than a month? Is that even possible?

Then what happens if you lose the original?

They will replace it with a duplicate. But only one at any given time. No copies.

You may want to check with the Russian embassy/consulate to see if you are able to obtain the docs at the consulate. Some countries allow you to do this. For us, the DR consulate here in NY has a section for requesting birth, marriage, and all other kinds of records, they have them all online so we could get them the same day for only $10 each. Talk about convenient and cheap.

No, that unfortunately does not work with Russia. The BC exist in only one copy, the original. They do not ever issue other copies for any reason.

Yeah, for a child it's relatively painless since they don't need the police certificates, depending on the age, which are sometimes the hardest to get.

All other docs are about the same, BC, passport, medical, DS260, IV fee, etc.

Also I see that he was petitioned by your mom, is his dad listed on his birth certificate? Because he may need permission from the dad in order to exit the country and every country has different requirements for the travel of children.

Here is a link with required docs, the child would only need whatever applies to him:

http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/immigrate/immigrant-process/documents/submit/documents-to-submit-to-nvc.html

He does not legally have a dad.

Thank you. I'm mostly interested in the original documents I will have to obtain from Russia to send to NVC. Looks like it's just his BC and the adoption/custody documentation. The latter I already have.

It is awfully early in the process, but what are the civil documents for A2A minor? I have very limited ways of getting the documents delivered to me (pretty much by hand only), so I would like to know earlier rather than later so I can plan on delivery.

Are they the same as, say, IR-5, minus police certificate and marriage certificate? Basically a child only has their birth certificate for documents anyway.

Your husband can bring his parents. The parents (one of them) will have to file for the boy when they arrive in the US and become permanent residents. The kid will have to stay behind and wait for a visa (about 2-3 years after filing). He is fortunate to have two parents who can take turns living with him. My 7-year-old-brother only has our mom.

I have another issue with my Mom's NVC package I am preparing.

When I was filing the petition, my Mom hadn't had her passport yet. I put her first name in the petition, having spelled it the way I thought was correct. But after she obtained her passport, we saw her first name is spelled there in a different way - one letter is added. Now I have filled out the affidavit of support and I put her first name in it the way her passport says. And I am going to enclose an explanatory letter with the package, to let NVC guys know about the reasons of the discrepancy. Hopefully, that will be OK? What do you think and what would you do in this case?

You should be fine. When my kids and I were immigrating, our last name (Irish) and both my kids's names were horribly misspelled in the Russian passports. My husband of course put our names correctly on all the petitions and applications. He wrote to USCIS explaining that the Russian authorities think they know better how to spell foreign names:) We still got the visas with misspelled names on them, but we had no issues.

Transliteration rules change so often, lots of people have the same problem.

My bad on that i typed too fast without even looking back at that time

and i've not been able to edit it since

I was about to write like this " The days before you get NOA1 "

Excuse my English , it's not my first language

It's ok, you don't have to apologize. I just wanted to clarify for the person that asked.

Did I get it right, that I will have to obtain my PREVIOUS marriage certificate for my Mom's NVC package?

I have no idea if that is really possible... the marriage was terminated in my native country in 1994. I am not sure they will agree to give me the marriage certificate on the marriage, that doesn't exist anymore...

If you are applying for an IR5 (Parent of a U.S. Citizen) visa, you are required to provide:

1. Original or certified copy of your Petitioner’s birth certificate
2. Original or certified copy of your Petitioner’s marriage certificate from the Petitioner’s current and all previous marriages

Russia does not issue marriage certificates for terminated marriages. Might be the same in Georgia, since the law used to be the same back in the USSR. My mom got a "marriage note" on a standard piece of paper and an explanation letter from ZAGS as to why a certificate could not be issued. Worked fine.

How's TSC doing recently? Any updates for May filers yet?

I have petiotions and applications all over the place now:) Texas, Nebraska, and California.

It is stand for Priority Date

The day you got NOA 1 ( Notice of Approval )

Notice of Action.

And the priority date is not the day you got it in the mail, it's a few days earlier usually.

I mailed my dad's petition on May 28, and the PD is May 29, for example.

The case went to California Service center.

USCIS claims it takes 5 months to appove a LPR relative petition.

Does it actually ever happen in 5 months?

After waiting for an I-130 in IR-5 category to be approved for almost 9 months, I dare not believe.

I did not find a September thread here, so I figured I'd start one.

Sent I-130 packet off for my 7-year-old brother on September 12. Well, it's my LPR mother applying for him, of course, but she does not know English or use internet, so I'll be keeping track.

So what is the approximate wait? My brother has no other family at all, and he has special needs. So it is very difficult to leave him behind.

Visas are valid only for 6 months from medicals and not from the date the visa was issued.

Looks like your Mom's medical was done on March 18th, so her visa will expire on September 18.

It is good that your Mom is already there :)

She must have come on August 26?

Yes, August, of course.

Hm. I did not know about the medical date. I can understand the reasoning, but it still seems, for the lack of a better word, unfair. She only received the visa in June through no fault of her own, but due to bureaucratic mistakes. Not everyone can leave immediately.

Still good to know, though. Thank you. I'll remember that for my dad's case.

Something FYI.

Dunno if it's just the Moscow Consulate, but I found out yesterday (while getting i-130 papers ready for my brother) that my mom's immigrant visa was expiring on September 18. It was issued on June 6. Something must have changed and these visas are not valid for 6 months anymore. Or they specifically wanted my mom to miss her window... My mom does not know any English, so she never even read what the visa said. She got here on September 26. Had we waited another couple of weeks, thinking we had time, she could have been turned around.

So ask your parents to pay attention just in case.

My mom is here.

I'm moving on to the Bringing Family of LPRs forum and filing for my brother.

My mom's flight is booked for August 26. She will be flying into LA. It was the only available non-stop flight from Moscow. I will pick her up at LAX and we will fly back to Tucson together.

Unfortunately my 7-year-old brother was denied a visitor's visa yet again despite of my husband's doctors' letters and the personal intervention by Senator McCain. This is a separate sad story. He'll be staying with my friends back in Russia for a few weeks until my mom can return. Looks like we won't get to meet him for another two years or so.

I am excited about my mom coming anyway, of course. She has waited for a year and a half since I put in the petition. I have not seen her in 6 years.

I am beyond ecstatic!!! My dad passed his interview !!!

His interview was at 9:30am, so he got to the embassy at 9:00am. He first passed through security and then led to a window where a man asked him for his passport. The first question the man asked was "So, your son is petitioning you?" I had warned my dad that he might get a trick question, so immediately he said "No, my daughter is petitioning me". He then, asked what my name was and where he currently lives and then told him to sit down and wait for his interview.

One hour later, they called him and he went to another window where a lady asked him the following questions:

1. What is your petitioners name?

2. When was the last time you saw her?

3. Oh, she was born in Venezuela, did you spend significant time there? The answer was yes.

The only papers he needed was the passport, medical exam, pictures, letter of appointment, and letter of consulate appointment.

She then said, ok, go to this link and get the police certificate from Venezuela and email it to me. I will take your passport and you will get your visa in two weeks. You will not have to come to this office again. You are approved!

And that just MADE MY DAY!

Yay for Venezuela:)

It took my mom almost two months to get her amended police certificate... No emaling involved, all by hand, by train, and by regular mail.

I hope it goes fast for your dad.

I remember you asked me how I did expedite request. I looked for criteria in here http://www.uscis.gov/forms/expedite-criteria, wrote a letter, added some evidence and faxed it to Nebraska. Never paid any fees like someone told you here earlier. Hope this helps in any way

Thank you!

My mom got her passport with the visa today!

Unfortunately, that's not the end and she's not coming right away. I have to figure out what to do with my little brother. Between no other family in Russia, the kid having a serious disability, and my husband's cancer, we cannot afford (both financially and emotionally) to leave him behind and for my mom to go back to Russia after a couple of weeks. Besides, the political situation is getting worse. It might come to that, of course, and probably will, but I want to try and beg for a visitor's visa first. In a few months we would figure something out and they could go back together to wait for my brother's interview.

Finally took a good look at my dad's NOA-1. The case went to TSC. Darn. I've heard they're ridiculously slow...

My mom's passport got out of the consulate and is at the carrier office. Hopefully she'll receive it this week. With the visa:)

So we send all original birth certificates and marriage certificates and we do not get them back??? Why do they keep them? In Ukraine certified copies are not available, we only have originals...

Also, am I the only unlucky one who is waiting for DS-261 acceptance for over 2 weeks or is it a usual situation? I paid the AOS fee almost 2 weeks ago and IV fee in still not invoiced yet. Ahhh this waiting game is no fun....

Your beneficiary gets all the originals back at the interview. My mom got everything back.