SRS77

My case was complete at NVC January 12th. I contacted NVC January 21st and was told my case was shipped to the embassy January 20th. My status on the NVC website still says In Transit. I have tracked the case on DHL and I believe it was delivered January 26th. We have been approved for expedite by the embassy so NVC will not be scheduling our interview. Can I contact the embassy and verify they have received our case and inquire about scheduling an interview or is it better to wait to hear from them?

I also have not received a case complete email or letter from NVC yet. Is this normal?

Oh, if your case was expedited, then it varies by case how fast they ship out.

If you want to use the DHL trick, you need the date that NVC ships the case. Which means a call to them.

Ok thanks for the info! I will give it another day or two and make the call.

The case is usually shipped out the day after an interview date is assigned, but, in some cases, it can take up to a week or longer.

My case is expedited at the embassy so NVC isn't scheduling it, the embassy is. My case was just complete at NVC 1/12 so wondering if I should start trying to track it on DHL yet or make the dreaded call to NVC to check on it.

How long does it take NVC to ship a package to the embassy. I don't know how long to wait to call NVC to see if they have shipped it yet.

The embassy has approved an expedited interview so NVC will not be scheduling our interview, the embassy will be. I am not sure what the embassy will send us for instructions for the interview, the same letter NVC sends or something different. In the meantime while we wait for correspondence from the embassy I am trying to put together what to take to the interview. I don't understand this list of documents and their codes listed on the first page. Where is the Document Status Code Definitions? Page 3 of what letter, post, email, etc.?

Refer to the Document Status Code Definitions on Page 3 to determine the meaning of the document status
codes.

Document Name Document Status
CORRESPONDENCE INSTRUCTIONS C
1 - IMMIGRANT VISA APPLICATION PART 1 R
1 - IMMIGRANT VISA APPLICATION PART 2 R
2 - PASSPORT Y
3 - BIRTH CERTIFICATE O
4 - ADOPTION F
5 - MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE O
6 - MARRIAGE TERMINATION F
7 - COURT RECORDS F
F - FINANCIAL EVIDENCE Y
9 - MILITARY RECORDS F
10 - COLOMBIA POLICE CERTIFICATE O
FEE PAYMENT $
PHOTOGRAPH Y
F - PETITIONER MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE F
F - PETITIONER BIRTH CERTIFICATE F
11 - PETITIONER MARRIAGE TERMINATION F

It took a while to get through to NVC today 45 min. on hold. A very nice customer service person named "Anna" confirmed that as of today Jan. 12th we have Case Complete!!! 11-17 scan date for IV & AOS packs submitted together. Made it through USCIS 5 months...no RFE's - NVC -80 days since case # assigned ~ no checklists No Lawyers ~ just all the wonderful guidance offered here on Visa Journey's and 100's of hours of google searching. Thank you VJ and the internet...I can't imagine what this navigating this process would be like without you

45 minutes on hold for me too last night. I also called 75 times in a row before getting through to be put in the queue, getting a busy signal every time. Persistent to the point of insane! My mentality is they can make it as difficult as possible but they will not win, there is no giving up.

Hi all

I was trying to call nvc but phone is busy all day yesterday and today is the same , is anyone having this problem ? Scandate was 11/21 waiting cc. Thnx

I literally called 75 times in a row last night to confirm my case complete. Busy signal, hang up, call again....75 times. Then on hold for 45 minutes to speak to a rep for 3 minutes. Insanity. The key is don't give up, keep calling, you will get through!

Congratulations SRS77!!! Yay! we have the same timelines and I also called and confirmed Case Complete today!! 11/17 scan date of AOS & IV together. See you over on the "interview thread" We're getting through this!!!!

Congratulations to you too! It feels so great to be out of NVC with no checklists! I've already been approved for an expedited interview at the embassy (I am 37 weeks pregnant and PRAYING my husband makes it before our baby is born) so I am hoping to have an interview in the next few weeks. We are already done with the medical, just waiting for NVC to send the case to the embassy and get an interview scheduled. Good luck on the rest of your journey!

Hi Everyone~ Excited to report that I see 3 N/A's today (changed this afternoon) We have a 11-17 initial scan date for IV & AOS submitted together. I'm trying to get through to NVC now. I've noticed that there are two ways to "sign in" to CEAC and only the first site is where the "Paid" changes to "N/A" I'll let you all know if NVC says we have a case complete!

1. Immigrant Visa / Sign In ( This is where I saw the change to 3 N/A 's)

https://ceac.state.gov/IV/Login.aspx

2.

Immigrant Visa Payment Invoice Payment Center (Paid does not change to N/A)

https://ceac.state.gov/ctrac/invoice/signon.aspx

Just got off the phone with NVC, as of today case complete! Initial scan date on original submission of IV and AOS sent together was 11/17. I had "Paid" change to "N/A".

I just spoke to the NVC.

She said that they have received my packet but cannot confirm that the civil documents are there because my packet has not yet been reviewed. She then gave me the 60 day spiel.

I told her, the point of my expedite request is to obviously not have to wait for it to be reviewed and to get it through to the embassy. She ten told me my request was declined and I have to deal with it, I can send another request if I wanted to.

I guess I have to wait until someone picks up my file, confirms receipt of civil documents then submit another expedite request.

Which i dont see the point of if i have to wait anyway.

Im going to try and call the embassy directly and see what can be done. This is beyond ridiculous.

The embassy is the only one to make the decision about expedites. NVC only passes on your request and if approved by the embassy forwards the case to them thus skipping the 60 day wait. Since the embassy is requiring NVC to confirm civil docs it appears to NVC as a denial. I would go back to the embassy again and explain what NVC said because this is an obvious disconnect. NVC won't confirm and embassy wants confirmation. I would think you could email copies of the civil documents to the embassy directly as proof you have them. I don't see the point of the civil documents being something to hold up a decision about an expedite since the onerous now falls to the embassy to review civil docs anyway. Best of luck! I was denied my expedite by the embassy after being expedited for the I-130 at USCIS. The embassy did assure me that I would have an expedited interview. I am 9 months pregnant and my NVC scan date is Nov 17th, still waiting for review/response. Assuming no checklists and an expedited interview my husband might make the birth of our child. Such a bad system! Those of us that have spouses in countries not on the visa waiver program are challenged even further by this process. Add pregnancy making travel unavailable and it's an absolute nightmare situation. 7 months now since I last saw my husband. They should not separate families like this.

Calling is a pain in the a**e. Who honestly has time? Obviously this is super important but I massively resent having to take an hour out of my already-packed day to call just to be told "it's not 60 days yet".

I called at 6:59am (eastern time) got through to a rep in 3 minutes and was done with my two questions and off the phone in 9 minutes. Only call when they first open. I have never waited more than 20 minutes when calling in the morning.

I paid my IV fee on 11/17. Cleared my bank on 11/18. Still today my status says In Progress. I have no idea how long it takes for the payment to clear their system. I assume the standard 3-5 business days after it clears your bank. I plan to call Wednesday if it still hasn't changed. That will be 5 business days since it cleared my bank.

Today my status changed to Paid and I submitted the DS-260. Yours should be in the next day or two if you paid it on 11/19.

Please call NVC for that matter +1603 3340 700 just find out from my attorney she says this is an internal error they are working on it so it will takes about a week to verify it. Please call them for that matter so you can proceed your ds260 then can submit all ur support documents together for them to review for 60days

I called them just now. The rep told me it can take 7 business days and should clear today or tomorrow. Will call Friday if it hasn't, that would be 7 business days for sure. I asked if there was any internal system problems and she (of course) said no, not that she would necessarily know or tell me if there was. She said she could see it was still pending.

I mailed both packets of documents together already. She saw they were scanned last week. I also received the email that they were scanned and received. I wasn't anticipating this long of a wait for the IV fee to clear to be able to submit the DS-260, but glad to already be a week into the 60 day waiting period. I took the chance and submitted both using the AOS bar coded cover sheet. Fingers crossed and lots of praying that doing it this way won't cause delays.

Hi do u have any idea already paid the IV fee status still in progress paid on 19november2014 and I couldn't go thru for ds260 but AOS for petitioner status is PAID. How long more have to wait IV status turns to PAID so I can proceed DS260

I paid my IV fee on 11/17. Cleared my bank on 11/18. Still today my status says In Progress. I have no idea how long it takes for the payment to clear their system. I assume the standard 3-5 business days after it clears your bank. I plan to call Wednesday if it still hasn't changed. That will be 5 business days since it cleared my bank.

Did you write a 01 instead of 1? If you did I would suggest you correct it now instead of waiting 60 days... I asked to speak to a supervisor they said the review takes 40 something days... So if the supervisor still said no I would still have to send the corrected form.. So they suggested I send yeh corrected one now if the supervisor agrees it's okay then luckily it'll be all good if he says no I need to fix it then my 60 days time will ne rolling regardless cause I would have sent the corrections in... They said it's a legal contract and you're not supposed to put 01.. You know what's funny on my i864 and my dad's part i864a we have 01 but that was okay but still checklisted on my joint sponsors i864.. This is ridiculous..

Absolutely insane! I feel good about your supervisor review. Good idea to send in your corrections just in case, but certainly this isn't a true mistake. Especially since on two forms it was fine but another one it was not.

I wrote 01 on the 864ez. I also put 03 on the total, rather than just 3. Maybe since it was fine on other 864 forms it will also be fine on my 864ez. Has anyone else ever had this item checklisted specifically on the 864ez?

I'm going to keep researching and call and ask someone at NVC before I send in a corrected form. I am so hesitant to confuse these people. I have serious doubts in their training.

Guys I just called NVC and they said part 3 number 7 says "01" and it's not allowed to do that are they kidding me!? Isn't 01 and 1 the same thing what is the difference!?????

I am so happy for you girl!!! Yay!!!! Congratulations.. I'm here crying a storm.. I just called NVC and they said I wrote 01 but it is supposed to be written as 1.. I know you said u had a mistake like that on your correct form did you just have 1!??

I did the same thing on the I-864EZ. Is that the only reason for your checklist? They say to not leave any box empty so you fill a box and then it's a mistake. That is complete nonsense. I would call and speak to a supervisor.

My scan date is 11/17. Should I send an updated form with this correction since I still have time before they start to review my packets or will that just confuse them? Anyone else have experience with this particular piece of insanity?

I was invoiced for my IV bill yesterday, still can't pay online. Is this normal to have a delay with the online payment portal?

It seems like people are submitting their AOS before they pay their IV bill and even sending in their IV package before paying the IV bill. I was told to submit both packages together and I am still waiting to be able to pay the IV bill. I have only submitted the DS-261 last week. I have paid my AOS bill and have my AOS package ready to send. What is my best approach, send AOS now or wait until I pay IV bill? If I send in my AOS can I also send in the civil docs? Seems risky to send the civil docs without the IV bar-coded cover sheet.

I check daily to see if I can pay the IV bill yet but it still appears as $0.00 and no applicant name under the IV Application Processing Fees section of the Invoice Fees page of the website.

Anyone know if the police certificates are acceptable with only name or should the passport number also be listed? I have seen them both ways for my husbands country.

I am working closely with an aid in my congresswoman's office. I was told that NVC processing time is suppose to be down to 45 days by the end of this week. That isn't being released officially but they have been working on the backlog and that is the latest news they are telling congressional staff. I was also advised to submit AOS, IV package, and civil documents together at the same time because it makes reviewing them simpler thus speeding up processing time. Who knows if this is true or not, it contradicts what is on the VJ NVC wiki page about speeding up NVC processing times. Perhaps with less backlog this is now true.

Our USCIS case was expedited (the expedite was requested via the aid and approved) and the aid also requested an expedite via NVC at the embassy as well after our case reached NVC. It was denied after three weeks of waiting for a response from the embassy. I was able to speak to the embassy officer that denied the request and I was told it was because nothing had been started on the application with NVC, which again is a complete contradiction of what is on the VJ NVC wiki page about NVC expedites. I was waiting to hear a response before I started. Just goes to show that every embassy is a different bag of tricks. The embassy officer said to start with the normal process with NVC and re-submit the expedite request after they receive everything at NVC. I love how every box has to be filled in on every form even when not applicable yet they can make all other processes up as they go. Never ending nonsense!

I just wanted to share what I am being told from my congressional representative. Does feel good to be working with a government employee that actually works...with intelligence!

I experienced the same thing. I tried calling 15 minutes before they closed last night and received a recording that they were closed. I called at 7:05 eastern time this morning and got through. 30 minute hold time to speak to an operator. Call very early and be patient. If you don't receive a busy signal consider yourself lucky and don't hang up!

Thank you. I see your point. I was going off the vj guides for evidence supporting a bonafide marriage because we don't own property together or have a joint lease. My husband owns his house outright. However, this also goes back to your point about being in separate countries and not living together therefore not having a joint lease of joint or joint property ownership.

So for the I-130 petition they just want evidence of time spent together? Such as plane ticket receipts, boarding passes, my passport stamps showing I was in his home country? What about my certificate showing I converted to his religion? Should I send a copy of his house and land deed and a letter from the street ambassador saying I lived here for six months? The ambassador lives across the street from us. I see him daily. We took a trip to Kenya in February together. We both have passport stamps leaving and entering Tanzania and entering into Kenya. He also was required at the border to have one vaccine done and we have the receipt of that as well as the vaccine stamp and entry in his international (yellow) vaccine card, but no other receipts. Paid cash for our guesthouse, food, etc.

One other question, since we got married in Tanzania does USCIS require an international marriage certificate or will a Tanzania gov issued certificate be adequate? I haven't saw anywhere requiring a certified one. Not sure if they offer certified ones here. The US embassy website for Tanzania states "Once you are married in Tanzania, you do not have to register or confirm your marriage at the Embassy for it to be recognized in the United States."

My husband and I have been living in his home country of Tanzania for six months. We met last June and stayed in touch via email and phone. I returned five months later and we married three months after I arrived. I sent him money during the first half of our relationship via Moneygram and have been supporting us during our time in Tanzania. He has a small monthly income, all cash based. Life in Tanzania is mainly all cash based so we have no proof that I can think of for financial co-mingling. Will the Moneygram receipts prove previous financial co-mingling? What about my bank statements and ATM receipts during my time here (I've been keeping them for the last month or so)?

I tried to have him added to my US bank acct but of course he needs an SSN first. I need a resident permit in Tanzania to get on his bank account here. I can get residency but I would only be getting it to add my name to his bank account. There would be no other reason. He owns his house and there are no utilities except water that is provided by our neighbor and paid in cash. Electric here is not billed but rather pay as you go, and also purchased only with cash.

We plan to take a trip to Kenya this month and thought to use his MasterCard debit card and I would use my Visa debit card during the trip to show we both paid for things. Is this a good idea? Even finding places that accept Visa and MasterCard will be hard. Are there other ways to have financial co-mingling evidence in a mostly cash based life? I am not leaving Tanzania until the end of June, so I have some time to put together more evidence. I hope to file the I-130 petition upon my return to the states at the end of June.

We finally got our AOS interview for October 6th. We haven't gotten the written notice but the email notification says "On September 1, 2011, we mailed you an appointment notice for an interview for October 6, 2011, at NATIONAL BENEFITS CENTER." Where is NBC? I think our interview will be at our local USCIS office, right? Is this just a standard response?

I received my NOAs for AOS, EAD, and AP on June 25th and have not heard anything since, no biometric appointment, no updates on our case on the USCIS website. I see the July filers are now starting to get their biometric appointment letters. I am mostly concerned with getting the EAD approved. The website for my local office says it does not service EAD applications, this is done at the service centers or the national benefits center. In that case is it not a first come, first serve kind of processing method? Does anyone know if there is a way for me to contact the service center or national benefits center to check on our application? Are there other June filers who are also waiting on their biometric letter? Any info anyone has is greatly appreciated!

We filed June 22nd, NOA's marked received June 23rd, received NOA's in the mail June 27th. So happy to have this process started!!