Dodi

Once your NOA2 has been processed at the USCIS level, the NVC and DOS are the only way to really find out when/where your case was accepted until you (maybe) get a letter from the NVC or Packet 3 arrives. As one of my favorite vjer's likes to say "HumansTM" are hard to reach at the NVC and DOS helplines. ESPECIALLY at the DOS. I clocked half an hour of waiting through recorded messages and being disconnected for pressing the wrong option or trying to surf my way through it before I finally wrote down all of the RIGHT options and made myself a road map.

Someone just pm'ed me about calling for a case update at the NVC, so I thought I'd share my "road map" with the rest of you, in case you're tired of getting lost as well.

For the NVC:

K1's are not tracked through the AVR, EVER. They are processed like an immigrant visa, but they are NOT immigrant visas, so they fall into a completely different class of their own. Therefore you need an operator. To get there:

1-603-334-0700

Press 2 for Non-Haiti-Related issue (Please note that this will probably change after some time)
Press 1 for English
Press 5 for an operator

For DOS:

This is where you will be able to find out if your case was received at the Embassy/Consulate. They will not see your case in their system until the NVC has logged it in and applied a case number to it.

202-485-7600
Press 1 then 0 for a live operator.


I hope this helps everyone else who has to wade through the red tape to get to someone (hopefully) with answers. Please be aware that not all of them have the correct information, and you can call back and ask for someone else or request a supervisor if you feel you're being given misinformation (SOMETIMES this helps, sometimes not).

Once your NOA2 has been processed at the USCIS level, the NVC and DOS are the only way to really find out when/where your case was accepted until you (maybe) get a letter from the NVC or Packet 3 arrives. As one of my favorite vjer's likes to say "HumansTM" are hard to reach at the NVC and DOS helplines. ESPECIALLY at the DOS. I clocked half an hour of waiting through recorded messages and being disconnected for pressing the wrong option or trying to surf my way through it before I finally wrote down all of the RIGHT options and made myself a road map.

Someone just pm'ed me about calling for a case update at the NVC, so I thought I'd share my "road map" with the rest of you, in case you're tired of getting lost as well.

For the NVC:

K1's are not tracked through the AVR, EVER. They are processed like an immigrant visa, but they are NOT immigrant visas, so they fall into a completely different class of their own. Therefore you need an operator. To get there:

1-603-334-0700

Press 2 for Non-Haiti-Related issue (Please note that this will probably change after some time)
Press 1 for English
Press 5 for an operator

For DOS:

This is where you will be able to find out if your case was received at the Embassy/Consulate. They will not see your case in their system until the NVC has logged it in and applied a case number to it.

202-485-7600
Press 1 then 0 for a live operator.


I hope this helps everyone else who has to wade through the red tape to get to someone (hopefully) with answers. Please be aware that not all of them have the correct information, and you can call back and ask for someone else or request a supervisor if you feel you're being given misinformation (SOMETIMES this helps, sometimes not).

Once your NOA2 has been processed at the USCIS level, the NVC and DOS are the only way to really find out when/where your case was accepted until you (maybe) get a letter from the NVC or Packet 3 arrives. As one of my favorite vjer's likes to say "HumansTM" are hard to reach at the NVC and DOS helplines. ESPECIALLY at the DOS. I clocked half an hour of waiting through recorded messages and being disconnected for pressing the wrong option or trying to surf my way through it before I finally wrote down all of the RIGHT options and made myself a road map.

Someone just pm'ed me about calling for a case update at the NVC, so I thought I'd share my "road map" with the rest of you, in case you're tired of getting lost as well.

For the NVC:

K1's are not tracked through the AVR, EVER. They are processed like an immigrant visa, but they are NOT immigrant visas, so they fall into a completely different class of their own. Therefore you need an operator. To get there:

1-603-334-0700

Press 2 for Non-Haiti-Related issue (Please note that this will probably change after some time)
Press 1 for English
Press 5 for an operator

For DOS:

This is where you will be able to find out if your case was received at the Embassy/Consulate. They will not see your case in their system until the NVC has logged it in and applied a case number to it.

202-485-7600
Press 1 then 0 for a live operator.


I hope this helps everyone else who has to wade through the red tape to get to someone (hopefully) with answers. Please be aware that not all of them have the correct information, and you can call back and ask for someone else or request a supervisor if you feel you're being given misinformation (SOMETIMES this helps, sometimes not).

Once your NOA2 has been processed at the USCIS level, the NVC and DOS are the only way to really find out when/where your case was accepted until you (maybe) get a letter from the NVC or Packet 3 arrives. As one of my favorite vjer's likes to say "HumansTM" are hard to reach at the NVC and DOS helplines. ESPECIALLY at the DOS. I clocked half an hour of waiting through recorded messages and being disconnected for pressing the wrong option or trying to surf my way through it before I finally wrote down all of the RIGHT options and made myself a road map.

Someone just pm'ed me about calling for a case update at the NVC, so I thought I'd share my "road map" with the rest of you, in case you're tired of getting lost as well.

For the NVC:

K1's are not tracked through the AVR, EVER. They are processed like an immigrant visa, but they are NOT immigrant visas, so they fall into a completely different class of their own. Therefore you need an operator. To get there:

1-603-334-0700

Press 2 for Non-Haiti-Related issue (Please note that this will probably change after some time)
Press 1 for English
Press 5 for an operator

For DOS:

This is where you will be able to find out if your case was received at the Embassy/Consulate. They will not see your case in their system until the NVC has logged it in and applied a case number to it.

202-485-7600
Press 1 then 0 for a live operator.


I hope this helps everyone else who has to wade through the red tape to get to someone (hopefully) with answers. Please be aware that not all of them have the correct information, and you can call back and ask for someone else or request a supervisor if you feel you're being given misinformation (SOMETIMES this helps, sometimes not).

I guess maybe I should have titled this "K1 Shortcuts for calling the NVC and DOS" so people would realize this is a K1 only post. Hopefully it won't get moved anyway.

Once your NOA2 has been processed at the USCIS level, the NVC and DOS are the only way to really find out when/where your case was accepted until you (maybe) get a letter from the NVC or Packet 3 arrives. As one of my favorite vjer's likes to say "HumansTM" are hard to reach at the NVC and DOS helplines. ESPECIALLY at the DOS. I clocked half an hour of waiting through recorded messages and being disconnected for pressing the wrong option or trying to surf my way through it before I finally wrote down all of the RIGHT options and made myself a road map.

Someone just pm'ed me about calling for a case update at the NVC, so I thought I'd share my "road map" with the rest of you, in case you're tired of getting lost as well.

For the NVC:

K1's are not tracked through the AVR, EVER. They are processed like an immigrant visa, but they are NOT immigrant visas, so they fall into a completely different class of their own. Therefore you need an operator. To get there:

1-603-334-0700

Press 2 for Non-Haiti-Related issue (Please note that this will probably change after some time)
Press 1 for English
Press 5 for an operator

For DOS:

This is where you will be able to find out if your case was received at the Embassy/Consulate. They will not see your case in their system until the NVC has logged it in and applied a case number to it.

202-485-7600
Press 1 then 0 for a live operator.


I hope this helps everyone else who has to wade through the red tape to get to someone (hopefully) with answers. Please be aware that not all of them have the correct information, and you can call back and ask for someone else or request a supervisor if you feel you're being given misinformation (SOMETIMES this helps, sometimes not).

Once your NOA2 has been processed at the USCIS level, the NVC and DOS are the only way to really find out when/where your case was accepted until you (maybe) get a letter from the NVC or Packet 3 arrives. As one of my favorite vjer's likes to say "HumansTM" are hard to reach at the NVC and DOS helplines. ESPECIALLY at the DOS. I clocked half an hour of waiting through recorded messages and being disconnected for pressing the wrong option or trying to surf my way through it before I finally wrote down all of the RIGHT options and made myself a road map.

Someone just pm'ed me about calling for a case update at the NVC, so I thought I'd share my "road map" with the rest of you, in case you're tired of getting lost as well.

For the NVC:

K1's are not tracked through the AVR, EVER. They are processed like an immigrant visa, but they are NOT immigrant visas, so they fall into a completely different class of their own. Therefore you need an operator. To get there:

1-603-334-0700

Press 2 for Non-Haiti-Related issue (Please note that this will probably change after some time)
Press 1 for English
Press 5 for an operator

For DOS:

This is where you will be able to find out if your case was received at the Embassy/Consulate. They will not see your case in their system until the NVC has logged it in and applied a case number to it.

202-485-7600
Press 1 then 0 for a live operator.


I hope this helps everyone else who has to wade through the red tape to get to someone (hopefully) with answers. Please be aware that not all of them have the correct information, and you can call back and ask for someone else or request a supervisor if you feel you're being given misinformation (SOMETIMES this helps, sometimes not).

NVC = National Visa Center
DOS = Dept. of State (alternatively: Death of Sanity)

No, I don't have an email address for the SSA. I called the DOS and the USCIS and they both told me Peter was in the US Immigration system correctly, that it had to be a problem in the SAVE database, and to call the CBP. I called their 800#, and they confirmed that it was probably an error on their part at his POE and referred us to the local Deferred Inspection Site. We went there, spoke to an officer who used Peter's I-94 number to find him in the database and fix their error. (He'd been entered as a B2 instead of a K1, even though the POE officer wrote K1 three times on his passport and I-94.)
This is when the officer also did some digging and discovered that Peter's hard copy file had never been sent ANYWHERE, and nobody knew what had happened to it. He said calling Chicago to ask them would result in him being laughed at, since they get thousands of people through there every day, and that we'd have to submit his AOS paperwork and hope they could reconstruct his K1 file on their own from whatever digital copies they had.
We later found out that when the Embassy processed his visa they put his first and middle name in the first name field and his last name in correctly, so it looked like he had a double first name in the computer. However, on paper you wouldn't know the difference. The SSA wouldn't issue the SSN until they were able to get authorization from the DHS to do so because of this error. The DHS fixed it, and he got his SSN.
The database can be accessed and changed by the CBP and DHS. The SSA can only see what's there. If she's not showing up in the database at all, the CBP didn't enter her correctly. This would require her I-94 (yes, I know it's expired) and the help of someone from the CBP to do some digging and find out where she is. They probably won't do anything over the phone for privacy/security reasons. They'll need to see the passport/visa/I-94 in person.

Once your NOA2 has been processed at the USCIS level, the NVC and DOS are the only way to really find out when/where your case was accepted until you (maybe) get a letter from the NVC or Packet 3 arrives. As one of my favorite vjer's likes to say "HumansTM" are hard to reach at the NVC and DOS helplines. ESPECIALLY at the DOS. I clocked half an hour of waiting through recorded messages and being disconnected for pressing the wrong option or trying to surf my way through it before I finally wrote down all of the RIGHT options and made myself a road map.

Someone just pm'ed me about calling for a case update at the NVC, so I thought I'd share my "road map" with the rest of you, in case you're tired of getting lost as well.

For the NVC:

K1's are not tracked through the AVR, EVER. They are processed like an immigrant visa, but they are NOT immigrant visas, so they fall into a completely different class of their own. Therefore you need an operator. To get there:

1-603-334-0700

Press 2 for Non-Haiti-Related issue (Please note that this will probably change after some time)
Press 1 for English
Press 5 for an operator

For DOS:

This is where you will be able to find out if your case was received at the Embassy/Consulate. They will not see your case in their system until the NVC has logged it in and applied a case number to it.

202-485-7600
Press 1 then 0 for a live operator.


I hope this helps everyone else who has to wade through the red tape to get to someone (hopefully) with answers. Please be aware that not all of them have the correct information, and you can call back and ask for someone else or request a supervisor if you feel you're being given misinformation (SOMETIMES this helps, sometimes not).

Card production was ordered December 30th for EAD and AP!!!
Expedition is possible!!!!

NVC = National Visa Center
DOS = Dept. of State (alternatively: Death of Sanity)

Once your NOA2 has been processed at the USCIS level, the NVC and DOS are the only way to really find out when/where your case was accepted until you (maybe) get a letter from the NVC or Packet 3 arrives. As one of my favorite vjer's likes to say "HumansTM" are hard to reach at the NVC and DOS helplines. ESPECIALLY at the DOS. I clocked half an hour of waiting through recorded messages and being disconnected for pressing the wrong option or trying to surf my way through it before I finally wrote down all of the RIGHT options and made myself a road map.

Someone just pm'ed me about calling for a case update at the NVC, so I thought I'd share my "road map" with the rest of you, in case you're tired of getting lost as well.

For the NVC:

K1's are not tracked through the AVR, EVER. They are processed like an immigrant visa, but they are NOT immigrant visas, so they fall into a completely different class of their own. Therefore you need an operator. To get there:

1-603-334-0700

Press 2 for Non-Haiti-Related issue (Please note that this will probably change after some time)
Press 1 for English
Press 5 for an operator

For DOS:

This is where you will be able to find out if your case was received at the Embassy/Consulate. They will not see your case in their system until the NVC has logged it in and applied a case number to it.

202-485-7600
Press 1 then 0 for a live operator.


I hope this helps everyone else who has to wade through the red tape to get to someone (hopefully) with answers. Please be aware that not all of them have the correct information, and you can call back and ask for someone else or request a supervisor if you feel you're being given misinformation (SOMETIMES this helps, sometimes not).

Once your NOA2 has been processed at the USCIS level, the NVC and DOS are the only way to really find out when/where your case was accepted until you (maybe) get a letter from the NVC or Packet 3 arrives. As one of my favorite vjer's likes to say "HumansTM" are hard to reach at the NVC and DOS helplines. ESPECIALLY at the DOS. I clocked half an hour of waiting through recorded messages and being disconnected for pressing the wrong option or trying to surf my way through it before I finally wrote down all of the RIGHT options and made myself a road map.

Someone just pm'ed me about calling for a case update at the NVC, so I thought I'd share my "road map" with the rest of you, in case you're tired of getting lost as well.

For the NVC:

K1's are not tracked through the AVR, EVER. They are processed like an immigrant visa, but they are NOT immigrant visas, so they fall into a completely different class of their own. Therefore you need an operator. To get there:

1-603-334-0700

Press 2 for Non-Haiti-Related issue (Please note that this will probably change after some time)
Press 1 for English
Press 5 for an operator

For DOS:

This is where you will be able to find out if your case was received at the Embassy/Consulate. They will not see your case in their system until the NVC has logged it in and applied a case number to it.

202-485-7600
Press 1 then 0 for a live operator.


I hope this helps everyone else who has to wade through the red tape to get to someone (hopefully) with answers. Please be aware that not all of them have the correct information, and you can call back and ask for someone else or request a supervisor if you feel you're being given misinformation (SOMETIMES this helps, sometimes not).

Once your NOA2 has been processed at the USCIS level, the NVC and DOS are the only way to really find out when/where your case was accepted until you (maybe) get a letter from the NVC or Packet 3 arrives. As one of my favorite vjer's likes to say "HumansTM" are hard to reach at the NVC and DOS helplines. ESPECIALLY at the DOS. I clocked half an hour of waiting through recorded messages and being disconnected for pressing the wrong option or trying to surf my way through it before I finally wrote down all of the RIGHT options and made myself a road map.

Someone just pm'ed me about calling for a case update at the NVC, so I thought I'd share my "road map" with the rest of you, in case you're tired of getting lost as well.

For the NVC:

K1's are not tracked through the AVR, EVER. They are processed like an immigrant visa, but they are NOT immigrant visas, so they fall into a completely different class of their own. Therefore you need an operator. To get there:

1-603-334-0700

Press 2 for Non-Haiti-Related issue (Please note that this will probably change after some time)
Press 1 for English
Press 5 for an operator

For DOS:

This is where you will be able to find out if your case was received at the Embassy/Consulate. They will not see your case in their system until the NVC has logged it in and applied a case number to it.

202-485-7600
Press 1 then 0 for a live operator.


I hope this helps everyone else who has to wade through the red tape to get to someone (hopefully) with answers. Please be aware that not all of them have the correct information, and you can call back and ask for someone else or request a supervisor if you feel you're being given misinformation (SOMETIMES this helps, sometimes not).

Once your NOA2 has been processed at the USCIS level, the NVC and DOS are the only way to really find out when/where your case was accepted until you (maybe) get a letter from the NVC or Packet 3 arrives. As one of my favorite vjer's likes to say "HumansTM" are hard to reach at the NVC and DOS helplines. ESPECIALLY at the DOS. I clocked half an hour of waiting through recorded messages and being disconnected for pressing the wrong option or trying to surf my way through it before I finally wrote down all of the RIGHT options and made myself a road map.

Someone just pm'ed me about calling for a case update at the NVC, so I thought I'd share my "road map" with the rest of you, in case you're tired of getting lost as well.

For the NVC:

K1's are not tracked through the AVR, EVER. They are processed like an immigrant visa, but they are NOT immigrant visas, so they fall into a completely different class of their own. Therefore you need an operator. To get there:

1-603-334-0700

Press 2 for Non-Haiti-Related issue (Please note that this will probably change after some time)
Press 1 for English
Press 5 for an operator

For DOS:

This is where you will be able to find out if your case was received at the Embassy/Consulate. They will not see your case in their system until the NVC has logged it in and applied a case number to it.

202-485-7600
Press 1 then 0 for a live operator.


I hope this helps everyone else who has to wade through the red tape to get to someone (hopefully) with answers. Please be aware that not all of them have the correct information, and you can call back and ask for someone else or request a supervisor if you feel you're being given misinformation (SOMETIMES this helps, sometimes not).

Once your NOA2 has been processed at the USCIS level, the NVC and DOS are the only way to really find out when/where your case was accepted until you (maybe) get a letter from the NVC or Packet 3 arrives. As one of my favorite vjer's likes to say "HumansTM" are hard to reach at the NVC and DOS helplines. ESPECIALLY at the DOS. I clocked half an hour of waiting through recorded messages and being disconnected for pressing the wrong option or trying to surf my way through it before I finally wrote down all of the RIGHT options and made myself a road map.

Someone just pm'ed me about calling for a case update at the NVC, so I thought I'd share my "road map" with the rest of you, in case you're tired of getting lost as well.

For the NVC:

K1's are not tracked through the AVR, EVER. They are processed like an immigrant visa, but they are NOT immigrant visas, so they fall into a completely different class of their own. Therefore you need an operator. To get there:

1-603-334-0700

Press 2 for Non-Haiti-Related issue (Please note that this will probably change after some time)
Press 1 for English
Press 5 for an operator

For DOS:

This is where you will be able to find out if your case was received at the Embassy/Consulate. They will not see your case in their system until the NVC has logged it in and applied a case number to it.

202-485-7600
Press 1 then 0 for a live operator.


I hope this helps everyone else who has to wade through the red tape to get to someone (hopefully) with answers. Please be aware that not all of them have the correct information, and you can call back and ask for someone else or request a supervisor if you feel you're being given misinformation (SOMETIMES this helps, sometimes not).

Once your NOA2 has been processed at the USCIS level, the NVC and DOS are the only way to really find out when/where your case was accepted until you (maybe) get a letter from the NVC or Packet 3 arrives. As one of my favorite vjer's likes to say "HumansTM" are hard to reach at the NVC and DOS helplines. ESPECIALLY at the DOS. I clocked half an hour of waiting through recorded messages and being disconnected for pressing the wrong option or trying to surf my way through it before I finally wrote down all of the RIGHT options and made myself a road map.

Someone just pm'ed me about calling for a case update at the NVC, so I thought I'd share my "road map" with the rest of you, in case you're tired of getting lost as well.

For the NVC:

K1's are not tracked through the AVR, EVER. They are processed like an immigrant visa, but they are NOT immigrant visas, so they fall into a completely different class of their own. Therefore you need an operator. To get there:

1-603-334-0700

Press 2 for Non-Haiti-Related issue (Please note that this will probably change after some time)
Press 1 for English
Press 5 for an operator

For DOS:

This is where you will be able to find out if your case was received at the Embassy/Consulate. They will not see your case in their system until the NVC has logged it in and applied a case number to it.

202-485-7600
Press 1 then 0 for a live operator.


I hope this helps everyone else who has to wade through the red tape to get to someone (hopefully) with answers. Please be aware that not all of them have the correct information, and you can call back and ask for someone else or request a supervisor if you feel you're being given misinformation (SOMETIMES this helps, sometimes not).

Once your NOA2 has been processed at the USCIS level, the NVC and DOS are the only way to really find out when/where your case was accepted until you (maybe) get a letter from the NVC or Packet 3 arrives. As one of my favorite vjer's likes to say "HumansTM" are hard to reach at the NVC and DOS helplines. ESPECIALLY at the DOS. I clocked half an hour of waiting through recorded messages and being disconnected for pressing the wrong option or trying to surf my way through it before I finally wrote down all of the RIGHT options and made myself a road map.

Someone just pm'ed me about calling for a case update at the NVC, so I thought I'd share my "road map" with the rest of you, in case you're tired of getting lost as well.

For the NVC:

K1's are not tracked through the AVR, EVER. They are processed like an immigrant visa, but they are NOT immigrant visas, so they fall into a completely different class of their own. Therefore you need an operator. To get there:

1-603-334-0700

Press 2 for Non-Haiti-Related issue (Please note that this will probably change after some time)
Press 1 for English
Press 5 for an operator

For DOS:

This is where you will be able to find out if your case was received at the Embassy/Consulate. They will not see your case in their system until the NVC has logged it in and applied a case number to it.

202-485-7600
Press 1 then 0 for a live operator.


I hope this helps everyone else who has to wade through the red tape to get to someone (hopefully) with answers. Please be aware that not all of them have the correct information, and you can call back and ask for someone else or request a supervisor if you feel you're being given misinformation (SOMETIMES this helps, sometimes not).

Once your NOA2 has been processed at the USCIS level, the NVC and DOS are the only way to really find out when/where your case was accepted until you (maybe) get a letter from the NVC or Packet 3 arrives. As one of my favorite vjer's likes to say "HumansTM" are hard to reach at the NVC and DOS helplines. ESPECIALLY at the DOS. I clocked half an hour of waiting through recorded messages and being disconnected for pressing the wrong option or trying to surf my way through it before I finally wrote down all of the RIGHT options and made myself a road map.

Someone just pm'ed me about calling for a case update at the NVC, so I thought I'd share my "road map" with the rest of you, in case you're tired of getting lost as well.

For the NVC:

K1's are not tracked through the AVR, EVER. They are processed like an immigrant visa, but they are NOT immigrant visas, so they fall into a completely different class of their own. Therefore you need an operator. To get there:

1-603-334-0700

Press 2 for Non-Haiti-Related issue (Please note that this will probably change after some time)
Press 1 for English
Press 5 for an operator

For DOS:

This is where you will be able to find out if your case was received at the Embassy/Consulate. They will not see your case in their system until the NVC has logged it in and applied a case number to it.

202-485-7600
Press 1 then 0 for a live operator.


I hope this helps everyone else who has to wade through the red tape to get to someone (hopefully) with answers. Please be aware that not all of them have the correct information, and you can call back and ask for someone else or request a supervisor if you feel you're being given misinformation (SOMETIMES this helps, sometimes not).

Once your NOA2 has been processed at the USCIS level, the NVC and DOS are the only way to really find out when/where your case was accepted until you (maybe) get a letter from the NVC or Packet 3 arrives. As one of my favorite vjer's likes to say "HumansTM" are hard to reach at the NVC and DOS helplines. ESPECIALLY at the DOS. I clocked half an hour of waiting through recorded messages and being disconnected for pressing the wrong option or trying to surf my way through it before I finally wrote down all of the RIGHT options and made myself a road map.

Someone just pm'ed me about calling for a case update at the NVC, so I thought I'd share my "road map" with the rest of you, in case you're tired of getting lost as well.

For the NVC:

K1's are not tracked through the AVR, EVER. They are processed like an immigrant visa, but they are NOT immigrant visas, so they fall into a completely different class of their own. Therefore you need an operator. To get there:

1-603-334-0700

Press 2 for Non-Haiti-Related issue (Please note that this will probably change after some time)
Press 1 for English
Press 5 for an operator

For DOS:

This is where you will be able to find out if your case was received at the Embassy/Consulate. They will not see your case in their system until the NVC has logged it in and applied a case number to it.

202-485-7600
Press 1 then 0 for a live operator.


I hope this helps everyone else who has to wade through the red tape to get to someone (hopefully) with answers. Please be aware that not all of them have the correct information, and you can call back and ask for someone else or request a supervisor if you feel you're being given misinformation (SOMETIMES this helps, sometimes not).

Once your NOA2 has been processed at the USCIS level, the NVC and DOS are the only way to really find out when/where your case was accepted until you (maybe) get a letter from the NVC or Packet 3 arrives. As one of my favorite vjer's likes to say "HumansTM" are hard to reach at the NVC and DOS helplines. ESPECIALLY at the DOS. I clocked half an hour of waiting through recorded messages and being disconnected for pressing the wrong option or trying to surf my way through it before I finally wrote down all of the RIGHT options and made myself a road map.

Someone just pm'ed me about calling for a case update at the NVC, so I thought I'd share my "road map" with the rest of you, in case you're tired of getting lost as well.

For the NVC:

K1's are not tracked through the AVR, EVER. They are processed like an immigrant visa, but they are NOT immigrant visas, so they fall into a completely different class of their own. Therefore you need an operator. To get there:

1-603-334-0700

Press 2 for Non-Haiti-Related issue (Please note that this will probably change after some time)
Press 1 for English
Press 5 for an operator

For DOS:

This is where you will be able to find out if your case was received at the Embassy/Consulate. They will not see your case in their system until the NVC has logged it in and applied a case number to it.

202-485-7600
Press 1 then 0 for a live operator.


I hope this helps everyone else who has to wade through the red tape to get to someone (hopefully) with answers. Please be aware that not all of them have the correct information, and you can call back and ask for someone else or request a supervisor if you feel you're being given misinformation (SOMETIMES this helps, sometimes not).

1) The attorney you retained is a crook. I can state that, having never seen him, not knowing his name, based on 2 things:
a) his out-of-this-world, kick me in the face until I'm bleeding like a pig fee. For comparison, Visa Associates charges a $350 flat fee for the same service.
b) the VAWA nonsense.
Anybody who did his homework understands what needs to be done here, and I'll tell you what it is, free of charge.
If you don't live in harmony with your husband anymore, you need to file singularly, with a waiver. For your petition to be approved, you need to be divorced. So the first thing I tell you before going even to the bathroom is: get a divorce going before going to the bathroom.
Secondly, what you need to prove for the R.O.C. is that you entered, entered, yes entered the marriage in good faith. Nothing else. If you want to file based on VAWA, you need to do the same, but, in addition, in addition, you need to provide proof of the abuse. Now, why would you make this case more difficult as it has to be? You wouldn't, but your attorney does. Why? To milk you like a cow giving dollar bills, of course!
You need to get rid of the crook, and you need to get your divorce going, now. Immediately!
You file as soon as you are divorced. If you can't get divorced before your Green Card expires, file your I-751 one week to nine days before it expires. You'll get a 1-year extension and and RFE a bit later. That will buy you time, valuable time you need, although about ony 88 days. If you are not divorced by October, when the RFE time's up, ask again and I'll tell you what to do. Free of charge.

Volunteer work is ok, it is even recommended by many people. It will be much harder for your future employers to check references in your home country other than by email or extremely long distance phone charges, so having someone local who can vouch for your work ethic and willingness to learn can be beneficial in the end.
Volunteer work is not only good for you (learn a new skill, help others), but it also looks good on your CV.

You'd do better to call the senator and ask for the Immigration Liaison. It's easier to avoid a fax than a person in your ear. This way you know they've got your information and can email you the privacy release.
Good luck!