lmslovesdjr

I married my Aussie fiance this past Sunday (we had the most wonderful wedding!) and I am wondering when I should change my name. We are getting our papers for AOS ready, and since I'm the US citizen, and will be taking his name.. would it be better for me to do this BEFORE and have my old and new names both on there? or just leave my current last name and change it when I've finished all the AOS stuff?? In other words, would I have to make any changes to our case paperwork if changed my name after/while it's being processed?

Update:

VISA APPROVED YESTERDAY!! Sydney, Australia! My sweetie gets here in a week :dance: :dance:

His interview is today!! Luckily after all the chaos with flights from Melbourne to Sydney, it appears he has made it there. Now to wait a few hours to hear about the interview. So exciting! Wishing him luck!

Update: VISA APPROVED!!!!!

His interview is today!! Luckily after all the chaos with flights from Melbourne to Sydney, it appears he has made it there. Now to wait a few hours to hear about the interview. So exciting! Wishing him luck!

Yep, turns out our lawyer got confused and didn't fill it out online to get the barcode. She has re-done it correctly and sent it to me. The thing that bugs me is that the original DS-156 she filled out for us was a 2010 form, while the online form with the barcode from http://evisaforms.state.gov is a 2008 form. I don't understand why they would want an obsolete form, but I hope it's okay anyway.

Never mind, my mistake. It just looked like it was a 2010 form as the lawyer had datemarked it 02/2010 on the bottom of the first page in the same font used on the form. Geez.

Still, though, the DS-156 they have available from the State Dept site says it expired on 5/31/2011, so I've emailed the Consulate to ask if that's going to be acceptable.

Also V&T, to answer your other question-- yeah, our Pkt 4 checklist had all the other normal stuff as well. I was just posting (or rather, Laura posted-- we both use this account) the DS-156 thing because it was the only abnormality on the checklist to us.

Thanks!

Yep. You must have not included all the pages. When you do the DS-156 online it prints a page with a barcode. You must have forgotten to include that. Just do the form online again and print it again and take EVERYTHING that prints to the interview. Don't stress too bad though because when i did my interview someone there forgot a form and there was a computer they could use to do the form (doesn't mean DON'T do the form, just know if you stuff it up it's not the end of the world ).

There were other things to bring though right? Like passport, visa fee receipt and the envelope thingy...

Congrats!!

Yep, turns out our lawyer got confused and didn't fill it out online to get the barcode. She has re-done it correctly and sent it to me. The thing that bugs me is that the original DS-156 she filled out for us was a 2010 form, while the online form with the barcode from http://evisaforms.state.gov is a 2008 form. I don't understand why they would want an obsolete form, but I hope it's okay anyway.

We got our P4 and interview date!!!! June 14th. On the checklist it states:

FORM DS-156: Download Form DS-156 OR see attached instructions if by mail. **completed incorrectly you should have completed this online and obtained a 3rd page with a barcode.

Any clarification on what this means?

Thanks for your info! REALLY hoping to hear soon!

Ok, so it was received at the consulate on May 25.. apparently our attorney did not give us the advice/proper address to address it with ATTN XXX on the front. SO, it took 2 days to get it to up from the mail room..... And there are no phone numbers to call about inquiries? The number we called said they only handled non-immigrant visas. We've already sent an email, took 3 days to get a reply, saying they'd received the papers and were about a week behind in processing. And they only give appointments on Tues mornings?! I'm starting to freak out that it will take MONTHS to get an appointment at that rate. I've sent another email for more clarification. It just seems this is a bit out of the norm from other peoples time ranges. I hope they don't mean they process ALL immigrant visas on tuesday mornings only, because that will take forever!

Thank you!! and thanks for the info, sounds like it won't be too long.

How quickly should we expect to get packet 4? An email was provided.. so I assume they'll just send it that way.

P3 was overnighted to Sydney yesterday.

I called about four or five business days later.

Alright, sounds good. Thanks for the advice

So now that I've got it (OMG still can't believe I'm out of the CSC hahahaha) how long until / when should I contact the NVC? I'm still waiting on my hard copy. I received my text and email yesterday.

Thank You. SO happy right now!

FINALLY APPROVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (L) :dance:

Thanks for the replies! Yeah, I asked for my call to be escalated and they said there was no one higher up they could give it to. I knew it wasn't true. But wondered why they didn't. I'll keep trying then! And yes, I did get a confirmation number for my service request. If I explicitly say 'Could you please put me through to a tier 2 representative' will it get me better luck? Cause I just asked if there was anyone higher up I could speak with.

Wow, congratulations Kimo! I totally agree...CALL, CALL, CALL until you get them to put in a service request for you! it works, as proven by the CSC actually e-mailing me a response to the service request that was put in for me.

Ok, so it looks like I spoke to a tier 1 person and they put in a service request. Now, are there two levels of service requests? How can I get through to a tier 2 person? will this make any difference? I.E. do they file a different or higher sort of service request? or is it all the same? Thanks guys.

I was on hold for ~40 minutes when I finally spoke to someone. To start things off she didn't have the address that I put on the I-129F for the mailing address. Instead she had my current mailing address. I put a different one down (parents apartment) since when I filed I was about to move and will be moving again before the Visa is approved. Additionally the NOA1 was sent to my parents.

As has been mentioned previously the petition has to be 30 days past due in order for them to file a service request. For us that means once we pass the new estimate (another 10 business days) given by CSC our only option for pushing back is to contact our Congressman.

So instead I asked her whether or not our petition was on someones desk and she was able to confirm that, so I can at least hope for it to be approved within the next 10 business days.

More helpful than what I got. I called back again and they clarified a little more. The second person was better. I do have a service request in currently. So there is more than one level of service request? The original lady said I should call back in 10 days. And they both said I should hear something about the case within 30..... They said they know nothing about my case status or any details and couldn't tell me any reason for a delay, or where it was. They couldn't tell me any reasoning at all.

Ok, so I called USCIS and didn't quite fully understand what the service rep. was telling me in regards to my case.

I told them my priority date and receipt date were Aug. 26 and that I was past the five month mark. She said something about how from the date they received it, there were 2-3 weeks were it hadn't gone into processing ( I think of her way of saying the CSC hadn't caught up to our time frame???) and because of that I was not past my time frame, I repeated to her again that we are 5 months from our receipt date and I guess she put in some sort of service request to the CSC, did not say what for, or when I'd hear a response and just said to call back in 10 days or so, and I should get a response from someone in 30 days. Vague, confusing and not very helpful.

Alright, since tomorrow will after my 5 month mark I will be on the phone first thing in the morning. I want results, and I will try my best to get some answers.

Ok guys, today is our 5 month mark. Fingers crossed for something by the end of the day... but I want to know, What's the most effective way to get through to the USCIS and get some sort of response and information? Any tips would be appreciated. Also, do I have to wait until tomorrow, since then it'll be 'past' 5 months, or would they be able to inform me of anything today, as it is 5 months right now. I want my NoA2!!!!!!!!!!!

We hit 5 months tomorrow. Still no sign of it.

Congratulations on all of the recent approvals!

Yes congrats to everyone! I WANT MY MTV.. No, I WANT MY NOA2! Please please anyday now! We're Aug 26.. come on CSC let's go!

Getting really really really excited and anxious for ours!!! Seeing so many dates similar to ours pop up on the list already is REALLY encouraging. I fully believe that it may show up at any day, any minute! Can't wait!!!!!

Where did you find this information? Thx

See Igor's list under: Immigration Timelines, Processing Status