Huge confusion

[FreddY2081 0]

Hello everybody!!!

Here is my situation:

My wife is an american citizen, born and raised in NY, and she has dual cityzenship (italian and american)

I knew her in 2001, she decided to come to italy, and she came to live in my parents house with me.

In 2005 we decided to get married in Italy, after 3 years we had our first baby, that has born in italy in march 2008, but has dual cityzenship, because we registered him to the us embassy like an american born abroad, so he has SSN and american passport as well.

My wife after 8 years living in Italy feels the need to go to the US, so we decided in jan to move there, where she has her family.

I went there in dec 2008 for vacation, and left jan 2009 to come back to italy, she an my son staied in the us, where she filed the petion. She filed the I130 and g325.

Today its exactly 4 months from the approval date of Vermount service center, and im still waiting to get a call from the us embassy to get the interview.

Everything I wanted to know, is it normal that I have to wait this time? What do I have to expect when the embassy is going to call me for the interview??

Im still confused about this, because in italy the information line of the embassy has a time limit for every call of 8 minutes, and while listening to all the recorded voices, u dont have even the time to explain ur situation that the line falls, and if u call again ull have a different guy answering....

Everything i want is to ask for information, then if anyone here has clear infos i will be very happy to hear him.

Thank you very much

[payxibka 10,047]

Hello everybody!!!

Here is my situation:

My wife is an american citizen, born and raised in NY, and she has dual cityzenship (italian and american)

I knew her in 2001, she decided to come to italy, and she came to live in my parents house with me.

In 2005 we decided to get married in Italy, after 3 years we had our first baby, that has born in italy in march 2008, but has dual cityzenship, because we registered him to the us embassy like an american born abroad, so he has SSN and american passport as well.

My wife after 8 years living in Italy feels the need to go to the US, so we decided in jan to move there, where she has her family.

I went there in dec 2008 for vacation, and left jan 2009 to come back to italy, she an my son staied in the us, where she filed the petion. She filed the I130 and g325.

Today its exactly 4 months from the approval date of Vermount service center, and im still waiting to get a call from the us embassy to get the interview.

Everything I wanted to know, is it normal that I have to wait this time? What do I have to expect when the embassy is going to call me for the interview??

Im still confused about this, because in italy the information line of the embassy has a time limit for every call of 8 minutes, and while listening to all the recorded voices, u dont have even the time to explain ur situation that the line falls, and if u call again ull have a different guy answering....

Everything i want is to ask for information, then if anyone here has clear infos i will be very happy to hear him.

Thank you very much

You won't get a call from the consulate until you finish all preliminary processing at NVC... NVC should have sent out a form DS-3032 "Choice of Agent" form that is the beginning of the prelim processing... From there you complete most of the steps "stateside" and then and only then is the I-130 forwarded abroad for the interview

[FreddY2081 0]

Hello everybody!!!

Here is my situation:

My wife is an american citizen, born and raised in NY, and she has dual cityzenship (italian and american)

I knew her in 2001, she decided to come to italy, and she came to live in my parents house with me.

In 2005 we decided to get married in Italy, after 3 years we had our first baby, that has born in italy in march 2008, but has dual cityzenship, because we registered him to the us embassy like an american born abroad, so he has SSN and american passport as well.

My wife after 8 years living in Italy feels the need to go to the US, so we decided in jan to move there, where she has her family.

I went there in dec 2008 for vacation, and left jan 2009 to come back to italy, she an my son staied in the us, where she filed the petion. She filed the I130 and g325.

Today its exactly 4 months from the approval date of Vermount service center, and im still waiting to get a call from the us embassy to get the interview.

Everything I wanted to know, is it normal that I have to wait this time? What do I have to expect when the embassy is going to call me for the interview??

Im still confused about this, because in italy the information line of the embassy has a time limit for every call of 8 minutes, and while listening to all the recorded voices, u dont have even the time to explain ur situation that the line falls, and if u call again ull have a different guy answering....

Everything i want is to ask for information, then if anyone here has clear infos i will be very happy to hear him.

Thank you very much

You won't get a call from the consulate until you finish all preliminary processing at NVC... NVC should have sent out a form DS-3032 "Choice of Agent" form that is the beginning of the prelim processing... From there you complete most of the steps "stateside" and then and only then is the I-130 forwarded abroad for the interview

Ok, this means that the process times of the VSC (in this case 6 months) are the times after wich the form will go to the NVC?

After that I will have to wait till the NVC send out the papers to the embassy, right?? If thats the case, is there any way to know how long this is going to take??

Thank you for the ultra quick answer

[imaisha 1]

Are you sure that you got an approval notice?

If she applied in January then what you most likely received 4 months ago was your NOA1, the notice stating that they have received your petition and it is pending.

Did the letter specifically state that your petition was approved and forwarded to the National Visa Center?

The processing time for the I-130 is currently about 6 months, so if you mailed it in January you can expect your approval around July. If you fill in a timeline VisaJourney will give you a more accurate prediction based on the approval times of others here.

[imaisha 1]

Also, if your wife filed only an I-130 and not an I-129f then you will be applying for an IR-1 visa rather than a K-3. That's a good thing, you'll get an immigrant visa, it just means that there is more processing done at NVC than for the K-3.

You should read the guides above and also this: http://www.visajourney.com/examples/NVC_Pr...wchart_v1-2.pdf which explains the process at NVC after your I-130 is approved, as well as this: http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/...he_NVC_ShortCut. Those are some shortcuts to get through NVC faster and it'll give you an idea of the forms and certificates you can work on gathering while you are waiting for your approval.

Some people can get through NVC in a month or less, for others it takes 2 or 3 months. Preparation really helps with that step so do read up on the links above.

Edited May 26, 2009 by imaisha

[FreddY2081 0]

Are you sure that you got an approval notice?

If she applied in January then what you most likely received 4 months ago was your NOA1, the notice stating that they have received your petition and it is pending.

Did the letter specifically state that your petition was approved and forwarded to the National Visa Center?

The processing time for the I-130 is currently about 6 months, so if you mailed it in January you can expect your approval around July. If you fill in a timeline VisaJourney will give you a more accurate prediction based on the approval times of others here.

your right, i explained myself the wrong way.

The petition was RECEIVED by the VSC in Jan 27th, and now is pending.. My wife also filed the I129F that was receive by VSC in Feb 6th.. and if the NOA1 is the receipt with the case #, then yes, she received it...

I will fill the timeline as you suggested to..

[payxibka 10,047]

Are you sure that you got an approval notice?

If she applied in January then what you most likely received 4 months ago was your NOA1, the notice stating that they have received your petition and it is pending.

Did the letter specifically state that your petition was approved and forwarded to the National Visa Center?

The processing time for the I-130 is currently about 6 months, so if you mailed it in January you can expect your approval around July. If you fill in a timeline VisaJourney will give you a more accurate prediction based on the approval times of others here.

your right, i explained myself the wrong way.

The petition was RECEIVED by the VSC in Jan 27th, and now is pending.. My wife also filed the I129F that was receive by VSC in Feb 6th.. and if the NOA1 is the receipt with the case #, then yes, she received it...

I will fill the timeline as you suggested to..

You have some waiting time yet before the petition is approved... with that, you have time to learn the process

[imaisha 1]

Definitely use this time to do some more reading on here and learn some more about the process.

Because you got married in 2005, you're eligible for an unconditional green card if you go for the IR-1 visa. I would really suggest you consider going that route only. The K-3 does not really save any time anymore as the I-130 and I-129f are usually approved on the same day and the LingChe shortcuts (linked in a previous post) will save you weeks at NVC. It will save you money in the long run (you won't have to adjust status when you arrive) and you'll be work authorized as soon as you enter the country.

Do some more reading to see if it's right for you though and read through the regional forum for Italy as well as the embassy reviews to see if the K-3 would be easier for you because of your specific location.

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

Freddy, I can say from experience that the spouse visa takes about 9 to 12 months for completion. So, if you have just started in January, you'll might be completed somewhere along, late October to December.

There is plenty of information on this site to help you thru the process. Good luck going forward.

[FreddY2081 0]

Definitely use this time to do some more reading on here and learn some more about the process.

Because you got married in 2005, you're eligible for an unconditional green card if you go for the IR-1 visa. I would really suggest you consider going that route only. The K-3 does not really save any time anymore as the I-130 and I-129f are usually approved on the same day and the LingChe shortcuts (linked in a previous post) will save you weeks at NVC. It will save you money in the long run (you won't have to adjust status when you arrive) and you'll be work authorized as soon as you enter the country.

Do some more reading to see if it's right for you though and read through the regional forum for Italy as well as the embassy reviews to see if the K-3 would be easier for you because of your specific location.

THe problem is that i really think im already into a K3 process... LAter on i will print out all the informations of the links u sent me, and ill learn about the shortcut..

Till today, we oonly had confused informations about the whole thing, only now im strating to understand something...

[FreddY2081 0]

Freddy, I can say from experience that the spouse visa takes about 9 to 12 months for completion. So, if you have just started in January, you'll might be completed somewhere along, late October to December.

There is plenty of information on this site to help you thru the process. Good luck going forward.

I wish I bumped into this website long time ago... To tell you the thruth I was really hoping with all my heart to come to the US in september, but as im reading on these pages I strongly doubt it could ever happen, even if that would be around 9 months of waiting...

[imaisha 1]

Don't worry about starting out with the K-3 process. I did that too, filed my I-129f and all that, even doing the paperwork the embassy requests for that visa.

You can decide later on and either just ignore the I-129f (which is the form that results in the K-3) and only follow the I-130 (which is the form that results in the IR-1) or pursue both and take whichever one happens quicker for you.

You're not beholden to anything yet. The nonimmigrant visa won't cost you another penny until you actually go in for your interview (whereas you pay all the immigrant fees to NVC before that interview date is even set) so it might be worthwhile to consider doing them both!

[FreddY2081 0]

Don't worry about starting out with the K-3 process. I did that too, filed my I-129f and all that, even doing the paperwork the embassy requests for that visa.

You can decide later on and either just ignore the I-129f (which is the form that results in the K-3) and only follow the I-130 (which is the form that results in the IR-1) or pursue both and take whichever one happens quicker for you.

You're not beholden to anything yet. The nonimmigrant visa won't cost you another penny until you actually go in for your interview (whereas you pay all the immigrant fees to NVC before that interview date is even set) so it might be worthwhile to consider doing them both!

Yeah, thank God we dont have big money problems, so I will try to understand both processes, so that I'll be prepared for anything...

[payxibka 10,047]

Definitely use this time to do some more reading on here and learn some more about the process.

Because you got married in 2005, you're eligible for an unconditional green card if you go for the IR-1 visa. I would really suggest you consider going that route only. The K-3 does not really save any time anymore as the I-130 and I-129f are usually approved on the same day and the LingChe shortcuts (linked in a previous post) will save you weeks at NVC. It will save you money in the long run (you won't have to adjust status when you arrive) and you'll be work authorized as soon as you enter the country.

Do some more reading to see if it's right for you though and read through the regional forum for Italy as well as the embassy reviews to see if the K-3 would be easier for you because of your specific location.

THe problem is that i really think im already into a K3 process... LAter on i will print out all the informations of the links u sent me, and ill learn about the shortcut..

Till today, we oonly had confused informations about the whole thing, only now im strating to understand something...

You are in a parralel process (both IR/CR AND K-3)... I-130 is for IR/CR... I-129F is K-3.

[FreddY2081 0]

Definitely use this time to do some more reading on here and learn some more about the process.

Because you got married in 2005, you're eligible for an unconditional green card if you go for the IR-1 visa. I would really suggest you consider going that route only. The K-3 does not really save any time anymore as the I-130 and I-129f are usually approved on the same day and the LingChe shortcuts (linked in a previous post) will save you weeks at NVC. It will save you money in the long run (you won't have to adjust status when you arrive) and you'll be work authorized as soon as you enter the country.

Do some more reading to see if it's right for you though and read through the regional forum for Italy as well as the embassy reviews to see if the K-3 would be easier for you because of your specific location.

THe problem is that i really think im already into a K3 process... LAter on i will print out all the informations of the links u sent me, and ill learn about the shortcut..

Till today, we oonly had confused informations about the whole thing, only now im strating to understand something...

You are in a parralel process (both IR/CR AND K-3)... I-130 is for IR/CR... I-129F is K-3.

I finally got the picture, they probably adviced her to apply for both processes in order to see wich one would have been faster... Btw, only now I understand that...