otta

On 12/15/2021 at 7:22 PM, otta said:

Mom's timeline:

 

Fee paid: 09/11/2021

Entry: 10/17/2021

SSN arrived about a week after entry

Still waiting for GC (case status is still "fee received") ☹️

 

When the status changes to "card being produced", does the system still send an e-mail or text notification?

Card in production: 01/06/2022 (82 days since entry; did not receive an e-mail or text notification)

Card received in the mail: 01/13/2022 (this was priority mail with a tracking number, but we of course didn't know the number - seems for USCIS use)

Fingers crossed for all those still waiting!

Mom's timeline:

Fee paid: 09/11/2021

Entry: 10/17/2021

SSN arrived about a week after entry

Still waiting for GC (case status is still "fee received") ☹️

When the status changes to "card being produced", does the system still send an e-mail or text notification?

I empathize; spent almost 2 weeks trying various scanners and dozens of setting combinations to try to get the best possible quality under 2MB; it was such a headache. It's a crapshoot and one just never knows. 

Did you try more than one scanner? We found that quality/size balance was worst from public scanners in places like Fedex Office and mostly had no luck trying to compress good quality larger files using Adobe Acrobat or online services. We did find a scanner at my office that worked well enough for the most part, and also at a professional photographer's office, that had good equipment. Depending where you are, it may not be easy to look for other scanners right now, but perhaps there's a different machine you could try.

Lastly, maybe try a smartphone scanner app? (One of NVC suggestions; maybe can allow you some more options to play with?) I've seen some stunning PDF scans from those.

Update: my mom just got a DQ! So NVC is still processing parents / siblings, though who knows how their place in line for interview will be affected by the freeze on green cards for these categories. In any case, so far at least things are moving at NVC!

Another post in a different thread also reports a DQ (spousal visa) after submitting on Feb 24, again almost a week after my IR-5 submission. Not feeling good about it but will wait to see until posted NVC timeline goes past the date I submitted...

Wondering the same thing. Based on the posted timelines, my IR-5 application should be coming up for NVC review in a few days (though they barely moved last week, from Feb 11 to Feb 13 applications...) I'll post if I hear something / not hear after they've moved past my submission date, but would love to hear if others have had their docs processed (qualified or returned). I'm very worried if they stopped processing parents completely, this will lead to massive delays for us.

Edit: Just saw in another thread someone (with a spousal app) got a response and they had submitted Feb 26. This is a few days after I submitted my application. Per NVC website, they are still going through older applications (Feb 13 as of Monday) so hopefully there's still a chance.

Have a similar question. They're processing submissions from Feb 11th as of today, and the application of my mother, who I'm sponsoring, went in about a week after that. I really hope they're still reviewing parents' paperwork. I hope I'll hear (a DQ or otherwise...) next week, but if I don't, will know that they've stopped even processing paperwork for the groups currently banned from getting immigrant visas, like parents of citizens.

If anyone's parent (or sibling, or another temporarily banned subgroup) gets an update from NVC in the coming days, please share, so we know if they're still reviewing these groups' docs! Thank you!

Wow that's great! So happy for you! Thanks for sharing. Now you gave us all hope that we might be the lucky ones to hear earlier than anticipated too 🙂

7 hours ago, evetruj said:

Hello, does anyone knows, how long will take for NVC to get in touch to us after USCIS approved your case? I petitioned my mother and she was approved by USCIS in October 2019 and her case was sent to NVC but didn't get anything from there yet. I tried to call and it's always busy and not respond to my email.

thank you

So you got a notification from USCIS that case was sent to NVC? It sounds like it usually takes a few days to arrive at NVC (though I've read about horror cases where this apparently got delayed too) & then current file creation timeline is posted by NVC here: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/nvc-timeframes.html My case adhered to that timeline, and I think most do (mine was approved late December, sent out a few days later, and got an email from NVC in early February). As of today, they're creating cases received by NVC on January 15, so long after your case should have been received. Sounds like it's extremely difficult to reach them by phone, but I'd keep calling. Also check your email account (both petitioner & beneficiary, if you provided both emails) for an email titled "Notice of Immigrant Visa Case Creation" - maybe it went into spam?

I didn't have any errors while uploading docs over several days, and now with just 2 documents to go, I can't upload the most recent (required) tax return/transcript. But AOS form did upload right after. Went back to try the tax return again, and still the security exception. I thought I lucked out but nope; caught up to me too. I also got the same error when trying to log in at one point, but went through a minute later. For the upload error, changing browsers and playing with settings doesn't help so far.

I just submitted DS260 and am working on civil docs submission, and wanted to confirm I have this right.

CEAC is asking for "Petitioner's birth certificate" and then just "Birth certificate" - I assume "Petitioner" refers here to the applicant / beneficiary / intending immigrant, and the "birth certificate" alone is asking about the sponsor's birth certificate? (I'm a child sponsoring a parent, so I have to submit mine too). It's confusing because the page also asks for "Petitioner's marriage certificate" but everything else doesn't say "Petitioner's", e.g. "Photographs", "Passport bio page", "Death certificate", "Police certificate".

Thanks in advance! I'd hate to wait 2 months for initial review just to find out I got something like this wrong...

Did you work this question out? I logged back in today and my answers for travel history were wiped again! Even though I'd logged back in a couple times before and the travel info was there, it's now gone again...

9 hours ago, Fr0210 said:

thanks, is it to the beneficiary ? 

In my case it was both to petitioner & beneficiary, as I provided both our emails on the I-130 stage.

9 hours ago, Fr0210 said:

Do you know if I have to start the process online before receiving the e-mail from NVC ? or do i have to wait ? 

I don't think you can start the process in CEAC until you get the e-mail, because that's how you get login information for CEAC. You can definitely start gathering documentation though etc.

25 minutes ago, DreamThinkLive said:

2 months?😞 How can you tell what they are reviewing at the moment?

They post updated timelines every week: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/nvc-timeframes.html

That's a bummer. It is a very temperamental form... Good luck; I hope it works out soon.

2 hours ago, JuJu83 said:

I know this is an old thread, but it's a nightmare the travel history info is reset every other day and I need to re-enter the same info again. Has anyone know the workaround or is it browser specific issue to cause it? I am using Firefox. TIA.

This happened to me in Firefox just days ago, multiple times with this very question! Finally had to enter each country, hit "save" at the bottom (not the "next" button), enter the next country, save again and so on, and it saved it for good. Or hopefully Chrome works better, as recommended above. But this question had me thinking I was going crazy, because info kept disappearing.

Btw, this is potentially an important question. USCIS, for example, has a new policy of rejecting forms that have any fields left blank for some visa types (see this article in the Washington Post a couple of days ago). It's worth being careful and keeping an eye on how the Dept of State / NVC is handling such frankly minor / irrelevant aspects of applications.

I'm planning to manually write in "N/A" everywhere on the I864EZ form when I print it to sign, but would love to hear if others have had any experiences or received any advice related to this. This would all really be much easier if the I864EZ form allowed one to enter "/" and comply with instructions...

From the WaPo column:

Quote

(...) Over the past few months, the Trump administration has quietly been rolling out a Kafkaesque new processing policy for select categories of visas: If any fields on a form are left blank, it will automatically be rejected. Even if it makes no sense for the applicant to fill out that field. For example, if “Apt. Number” is left blank because the immigrant lives in a house: rejected. Or if the field for a middle name is left blank because no middle name exists: rejected, too.

 

It’s not clear what problem this new policy was intended to solve. In response to a detailed list of questions about the purpose behind the processing change, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) sent only a vague statement saying applicants “must provide the specific information requested and answer all the questions asked.” (...)

 

The policy change, at first affecting just asylum applicants, was announced without fanfare on the USCIS website sometime in the fall. “We will not accept your [application] if you leave any fields blank,” reads a note you wouldn’t know existed unless someone told you where to find it. “You must provide a response to all questions on the form, even if the response is ‘none,’ ‘unknown’ or ‘n/a.’ ”

 

Then, days before the New Year, USCIS added a similar notice for U-visa applications. In both cases the processing changes were effective immediately — even if documents had been mailed in before the policy was announced. (...)

This is the video https://ceac.state.gov/IV/Docs/HowToUploadAndUpdateDocumentsVideo.html

 and the link can be found at the bottom of the page when you are on the Affidavit of Support upload / submission page.

I haven't submitted my application yet or been qualified, but I watched a video on the CEAC website about uploading docs and their example was a passport, including the full info page and a part of the page above, so something btw your image 1 and 3. The video is from 2015 though so who knows if that means anything.

I plan to submit something that looks close to image 3. It probably doesn't matter much, as long as it's in color and vertical page orientation, as they don't like / may reject docs that have to be rotated, per scanning instructions & others' comments on the forum. Orientation seems to be the important part.

I'm filling out the I-864EZ and instructions state "If a question does not apply to you (for example, if you have never been married and the question asks “Provide the name of your current spouse”), type or print “N/A,” unless otherwise directed." There's a bunch of N/As are entered in the I-130 previously, like middle names, in care of, interpreter & preparer info, and so on. But the electronic form I-864EZ does not allow to enter the "/" symbol. So I can either leave these blank, type in something like "N-A" or manually write in the "N/As" when I print the thing out to sign.

Any advice, esp. from folks who recently successfully got through NVC processing? What did you do? If I had to guess, NVC is more likely to cause issues over scans than a question like this, but I don't want to technically fail to comply with instructions... Thank you!

I haven't submitted yet but planning to submit in a few days, just 2017, 2018, 2019, so 3, not 4 years. I am worried about submitting too much, because that might also generate the risk that something actually important will be overlooked... I have joint returns with multiple W2s, 1099s, employer letters; just way too much documentation.

Any idea if people voluntarily submitting optional tax transcripts from years 2 and 3 also should submit all related W2s and 1099s if filed jointly? I'm assuming that's only the case for most recent tax year, since the 2 previous years are optional, but I'm not really sure.

Really going gray overthinking and trying to anticipate everything I may have misunderstood, or NVC staff may misunderstand / miss / be confused by 😨

The attorney said it's totally fine to submit with 2016-2018 taxes at this time, but I do want to also use 2019 (in part out of fear that when NVC comes around to reviewing my docs in late April, after the tax filing deadline, they may then just ask for 2019 taxes). She confirmed that's fine too, just to remember all W2s and 1099s (if submitting copy of return rather than transcript), for both spouses if a joint return, even if only one is the sponsor for the intending immigrant (like in our case). She confirmed that one can't update the docs after submitting, so must be sure when clicking the submit button.

She said it's unfortunately not uncommon to get the "checklist", to be asked to revise something, and it happens fairly regularly even when attorneys file and documentation is in order. She said they might come back asking for a 2019 transcript, or we might just be told that the applicant should bring it to the interview. No way to know in advance. She said that in her experience, the review of resubmitted documents tends to be faster than initial review, which contrasts with the impression I get on this forum, where people say you go back to the end of the line if you have to resubmit something. But overall, she described CEAC as "crazy" and "incredibly frustrating", which is consistent with all I've read about it here 😕 Also stressed about the process.

1 minute ago, tsabbas said:

Hi,

 

I'm in the same predicament. We filed taxes over the weekend and won't have our transcript for a few weeks but want to get the process going!

 

We have tax transcripts from 2016 - 2018 which is technically all we need but I wanted to include 2019 as it's more current and will hopefully avoid a request at the interview.

 

I think what we are going to do is upload transcripts for 2017 & 2018 and the tax return with supporting docs for 2019 and then send over the tax transcript for the interview in case they ask for it. Our income has been fairly consistent over the last 3 years so that will hopefully help.

 

Not sure if that helps you but we can keep each other posted as to how it goes!

Thanks for responding! I'm still waiting for one document to file taxes, hopefully in a few days, but also don't want to wait another 3 weeks for transcript to be available, though would like to use 2019 taxes. My plan is currently similar to yours, provide transcripts for 2017 & 2018, and for 2019 full return with W2s and 1099s, as instructions specify. I hope they don't come back asking for a transcript, because that would be a delay, but it's a gamble.

I heard from someone via private message that after submitting they don't see an option to update anything online. I also have a consultation with an attorney tomorrow and plan to ask about this approach, so will share if I hear anything useful.

1 minute ago, katkoota said:

Looks like they are no longer stating the date the documents they are currently reviewing were submitted... unless I’m just overlooking it?

I've been looking for it too. There's a link to "NVC timeframes" at https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/nvc-timeframes.html which links to nvc.state.gov/submit or https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/collect-and-submit-forms-and-documents-to-the-nvc/step-6-submit-documents-to-the-nvc.html which links back to the old page which gives an error... Hopefully a fix is coming, there's a bunch of dead links in this new version, though good to see that they seem to have updated some instructions & screenshots, making them more accurate.

These old links are working for me either, but there seems to be similar content going through here: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-1-submit-a-petition.html and here https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-8-scan-collected-documents/step-9-upload-and-submit-scanned-documents.html and so on. Looks like maybe they just updated the website?