K-3 Approved - What next?

[David&Ludmila 0]

My I-130 and I-129F (K-3) was approved on Dec. 9, 2008. How do I track the progress of my K-3 visa through NVC?

I called the automated system and found a case number assigned to my I-130 petition, but there was no record of my I-129F petition. Is this normal? Does NVC just forward the I-129F petition to the foreign embassy without assigning a case number?

Some advice would be greatly appreciated!

[payxibka 10,047]

My I-130 and I-129F (K-3) was approved on Dec. 9, 2008. How do I track the progress of my K-3 visa through NVC?

I called the automated system and found a case number assigned to my I-130 petition, but there was no record of my I-129F petition. Is this normal? Does NVC just forward the I-129F petition to the foreign embassy without assigning a case number?

Some advice would be greatly appreciated!

you cannot track the I-129F systemically... you need to speak to a real person for that

[YuAndDan 153]

NVC assigns a case number, to the K-3 and sends it on to the consulate.

Many when having both I-130 and I-129F approved at same time use James Shortcuts for the I-130 and in many cases get the CR-1 visa to the consulate before the K-3 interview converting the K-3 into a CR-1. The CR-1 gets an INSTANT green-card upon entry to the USA, NO Adjustment of Status ($1010) needed.

http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/...s%27s_Shortcuts

If considering K-3 think carefully about it. CR-1 and K-3 tend to take about the same time, K-3 may save you about a month, however the K-3 has the added pain of adjustment of status, and it NOT a work authorized visa, so also has the added period of limbo waiting for EAD to be able to do things like take a job, get SSN, etc...

For the most part CR-1 tends to take a bit longer than K-3 to get if you prepare for NVC when they request I-864 fee, and Visa fee, as well as documents requested by NVC. In many cases the CR-1 petition reaches the consulate just before K-3 interview, which causes K-3 to get dropped and the interview becomes a CR-1 visa interview.

K-3:

I-130: $355

I-129F: NONE

Consulate: $131

AOS: $1010

($1496)

CR-1

I-130: $355

NVC I-864: $70

NVC Visa fee: $400 ($355+$45)

($825)

I see many posts from K-3 holders stating, "Wow this sucks, I am stuck at home because I don't have EAD, DL, etc, or I am having hard time getting added to bank accounts because of NO SSN." K-3 has a 90 day or longer period of limbo while waiting for EAD or Green-card.

K-3 was developed at a time when CR-1 was taking much longer that today, NVC has greatly streamlined the CR-1 process to the point where K-3 becomes irrelevant.

[himher 634]

202-663-1225 - takes a little patience but they are completely different from the CIS min-information line.

They are open until late evening, 10 or 11 pm eastern I think. As I recall, they only wanted the receipt number and a couple other things (DOB, etc).

It took about (3) weeks between approval at the service center and entry into the NVC system. It took about (5) days from NVC arrival and transfer to the embassy.

Congrats btw

[David&Ludmila 0]

202-663-1225 - takes a little patience but they are completely different from the CIS min-information line.

They are open until late evening, 10 or 11 pm eastern I think. As I recall, they only wanted the receipt number and a couple other things (DOB, etc).

It took about (3) weeks between approval at the service center and entry into the NVC system. It took about (5) days from NVC arrival and transfer to the embassy.

Congrats btw

Thanks! Is the "5 days from NVC arrival to transfer to the embassy" after entry into the NVC system? Or is the I-129F petition sent to the embassy before it gets entered into the NVC system?

[payxibka 10,047]

202-663-1225 - takes a little patience but they are completely different from the CIS min-information line.

They are open until late evening, 10 or 11 pm eastern I think. As I recall, they only wanted the receipt number and a couple other things (DOB, etc).

It took about (3) weeks between approval at the service center and entry into the NVC system. It took about (5) days from NVC arrival and transfer to the embassy.

Congrats btw

Thanks! Is the "5 days from NVC arrival to transfer to the embassy" after entry into the NVC system? Or is the I-129F petition sent to the embassy before it gets entered into the NVC system?

It is assigned a new case number therefore it MUST be in the NVC system... the difference is that it just does not make it onto the telephonic system

[himher 634]

They had our petition for (5) days after they received it - then it left the NVC for the embassy. So....it was (total) about (4) weeks from the NOA2 email to arrival at the embassy. At the time (around December, 2007) the big holdup was CSC problems with the shipping company, they were actually holding petitions on the loading dock for ground shipping to NVC until the crates were full. And yeah, we were biting our fingernails on a day-to-day basis also lol

202-663-1225 - takes a little patience but they are completely different from the CIS min-information line.

They are open until late evening, 10 or 11 pm eastern I think. As I recall, they only wanted the receipt number and a couple other things (DOB, etc).

It took about (3) weeks between approval at the service center and entry into the NVC system. It took about (5) days from NVC arrival and transfer to the embassy.

Congrats btw

Thanks! Is the "5 days from NVC arrival to transfer to the embassy" after entry into the NVC system? Or is the I-129F petition sent to the embassy before it gets entered into the NVC system?

[David&Ludmila 0]

I called the U.S. State Department (202-663-1225) about my I-129F (K-3) petition. They were very helpful (very different from the USCIS). I was told that my K-3 petition was forwarded to the foreign embassy (Minsk) on Dec. 12th. They said that since the K-3 petitions don't require processing at NVC, they don't assign a case number to this petition. It is simply forwarded to the embassy. Thus, no information on the automated system. Thanks for your help!

202-663-1225 - takes a little patience but they are completely different from the CIS min-information line.

They are open until late evening, 10 or 11 pm eastern I think. As I recall, they only wanted the receipt number and a couple other things (DOB, etc).

It took about (3) weeks between approval at the service center and entry into the NVC system. It took about (5) days from NVC arrival and transfer to the embassy.

Congrats btw

[himher 634]

They do assign a case number, or maybe it's just a visa number. Either way, you can get it over the phone. Ours had a 3-letter code for the embassy location and....hmmmmm....about 10 digits? That's a good thing to have as that will be the number referenced by the embassy while they do their thing.

[pushbrk 13,217]

They do assign a case number, or maybe it's just a visa number. Either way, you can get it over the phone. Ours had a 3-letter code for the embassy location and....hmmmmm....about 10 digits? That's a good thing to have as that will be the number referenced by the embassy while they do their thing.

Yes, they do assign a case number begining with the three letter code for the Consulate and the four digit year. And, they do a quick additional name check before forwarding. Occasionally a case is selected at NVC for detailed processing. Often this is based on the petitioner being in a sensitive government job at present or in the past. Again, this is quite rare for K visa cases but does happen.

K visas don't get into automated information system. You must talk to a real person.

Edited December 18, 2008 by pushbrk