VisaBound's US Immigration Timeline
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Petitioner's Name: Robert
Beneficiary's Name: Song Sook
VJ Member: VisaBound
Country: South Korea
Last Updated: 2018-05-22
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Immigration Checklist for Robert & Song Sook:
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USCIS DCF I-130 Petition:
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Dept of State IR-1/CR-1 Visa:
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USCIS I-751 Petition:
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USCIS N-400 Petition:
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IR-1/CR-1 Visa
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| Event |
Date |
| Service Center : |
Texas Service Center |
| Transferred? |
No |
| Consulate : |
Seoul |
| Marriage (if applicable): |
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| I-130 Sent : |
2017-09-01 |
| I-130 NOA1 : |
2017-09-01 |
| I-130 RFE : |
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| I-130 RFE Sent : |
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| I-130 Approved : |
2017-09-06 |
| NVC Received : |
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| Received DS-261 / AOS Bill : |
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| Pay AOS Bill : |
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| Receive I-864 Package : |
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| Send AOS Package : |
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| Submit DS-261 : |
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| Receive IV Bill : |
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| Pay IV Bill : |
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| Send IV Package : |
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| Receive Instruction and Interview appointment letter : |
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| Case Completed at NVC : |
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| NVC Left : |
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| Consulate Received : |
2017-09-01 |
| Packet 3 Received : |
2017-09-08 |
| Packet 3 Sent : |
2017-9-26 |
| Packet 4 Received : |
2017-9-26 |
| Interview Date : |
2017-11-20 |
| Interview Result : |
Approved
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Second Interview
(If Required): |
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| Second Interview Result: |
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| Visa Received : |
2017-11-27 |
| US Entry : |
2018-03-25 |
| Comments : |
i-130 DCF Processing Seoul field office took three business days. Excluding Labor Day. Questions asked of the Seoul NVC were answered within 2 business days. DS-260 took a little longer than we thought due to personal research about our visa history through NVC Seoul. Final Interview was fast and efficient. I took less than two hours from start to finish. People there were very friendly and courteous. The interviewer was quite nice to work with and extremely fluent in Korean. |
Processing
Estimates/Stats : |
Your I-130 was approved in 5 days from your NOA1 date.
Your interview took 80 days from your I-130 NOA1 date. |
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Port of Entry Review
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| Event |
Date |
| Port of Entry : |
Los Angeles |
| POE Date : |
2018-03-25 |
| Got EAD Stamp : |
Yes,Passport Stamp |
| Biometrics Taken : |
Yes |
| Harassment Level : |
0 |
| Comments : |
Quick and painless. Separated spouse from beneficiary for visa confirmation and registration. Total time around 10 min. |
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Member Reviews:
Consulate Review: Korea
Review Topic: Direct Consular Filing
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
November 20, 2017 |
| Embassy Review : |
Location: Seoul Consulate, South Korea
Experience: The process was very nice. From start to finish it took us about 2 hours. The staff is friendly, courteous and helpful. We arrived around 35min early and had to wait for the doors to open at 7:30am. They are sticklers for opening up shop on time.
Arriving Early: Getting to the Embassy early is always a good thing. It helps you calm down and think a little. We arrived around 35 min early and as a result we were the first to be interviewed. For us being early paid off as the line grew quickly after around 7:10am with as many as 20 to 30 people waiting by 7:30am
Bathroom Access: In short, there is none until the Embassy opens at 7:30am. Local neighborhood amenities are quite limited around the Embassy as well. So, plan accordingly. My wife was so nervous about the interview that she went looking for one right after arriving only to find there was no bathroom access until it opened. She had to look around a bit to find one. In the end she found a Holly’s Coffee shop that was open. I would suggest you google the Embassy location and study the neighborhood for local amenities before leaving
Interview Staff: Very professional and friendly. The first person who took our documents and prepped us for the interview was a Korean American female and was very charming and amicable. We found the attitude very reassuring and helped calm some nervous jitter. The second consulate officer that did the interview was caucasian with near perfect Korean. He was to the point yet friendly. So, no need to worry if your english is not very good. The state department trains their people well.
Payment: As of November 20th 2017 the interview fee was 325.00 USD. The fees were increased in December 2016. Please remember to bring exact cash as they do not give nor make change. The cashiers window on the 2nd floor only opens at 8:45am. So, if you are early like we were you may have to wait around 20 min for it to open. Once open it is very quick.
Process: The process is quite straight forward.
1. Enter the main entrance and check your electronics, have your bags X-rayed and receive your visitors badge.
2. Proceed to the 2nd floor and as you enter the room turn right and go to the reception desk to check in and get a sticker applied to your passport. To make this go faster have your color photos at the ready along with your passport.
3. Head up to the 3rd floor and have a seat and wait for your name to be called. Names are called according to when your passport was registered with the secretary on the 2nd floor.
4. When you name is called go to the the window specified and hand it your documents for prescreening verification. They took all of the documents specified in the visa checklist and after verification returned everything except for the I-864, Tax Transcripts and the Color Photos. They did not keep anything from the photocopy collection that we had. We were advised to keep things handy just in case the Consulate Interviewing Officer wanted to see anything specific. If you have any document issues at this point they will inform you of them and tell you what to do. If everything checks out you are told to go down to the 2nd floor and pay your immigration fee. You will get two receipts. One, is for the Embassy and the other is for your records.
5. Head back to the 3rd floor and turn in your receipts to any available open window and remember to secure your receipt in a safe place. Do not throw it away.
6. They will as you to take a seat and wait until your name it called for biometrics.
7. When called they are supposed to take fingerprints and then ask you to take a seats again and to wait for your name to be called for the actual interview. In our case they were done at the same time.
8. Usually the CO will ask one or both of you some questions and then inform you of the result. For us, only my wife was questioned. They asked her only one question related to a previous green card she had and then the interview was over. She was very impressed by the Korean ability of the CO and was very happy with how things went.
Of course, it should be understood that you milage may vary. Our case was somewhat special in that we had already gone through this once before so that may have factored into how our interview played out. We don't know for sure. It's just speculation at this point. Just a hunch. |
| Rating : |
Very Good |
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Timeline Comments: None yet, be the first!
*Notice about estimates: The estimates are based off averages of other members recent experiences
(documented in their timelines) for the same benefit/petition/application at the same filing location.
Individual results may vary as every case is not always 'average'. Past performance does not necessarily
predict future results. The 'as early as date' may change over time based on current reported processing
times from members. There have historically been cases where a benefit/petition/application processing
briefly slows down or stops and this can not be predicted. Use these dates as reference only and do not
rely on them for planning. As always you should check the
USCIS processing times to see if your application
is past due.
** Not all cases are transfered
ver 5.0
