August 15th deadline

[Benjamin44 10]

Alright guys. Not sure what to think right now. We submitted our i-130 and g-325's yesterday.

I came home from work today and got a letter asking for DS-230, I-864, and DS-2001. What does that mean?

I know we have to do police records but does that mean they accepted our I-130?

Great news! It seems like your I-130 has been approved on the spot. Usually, the request for those forms comes as part of what's called "Packet 3". Is that what you got in the mail? Packet 3 means the I-130 has been approved. Since it's only been a day- I doubt it was regular postal mail- one day seems very fast for postal mail to arrive- and I'm going to assume you were talking about an email, in which case the Consulate was just being nice and front-loading the request so you can get started. Either way, submit the DS-2001 to them they can schedule the interview. Also get going on the police certificate in the meantime.

Good luck!!

[Hoptastic 1]

Great news! It seems like your I-130 has been approved on the spot. Usually, the request for those forms comes as part of what's called "Packet 3". Is that what you got in the mail? Packet 3 means the I-130 has been approved. Since it's only been a day- I doubt it was regular postal mail- one day seems very fast for postal mail to arrive- and I'm going to assume you were talking about an email, in which case the Consulate was just being nice and front-loading the request so you can get started. Either way, submit the DS-2001 to them they can schedule the interview. Also get going on the police certificate in the meantime.

Good luck!!

It was in the mail. I know...freaking crazy. Physical mail, 24 hours after submitting. It was a a couple forms and some information about the next steps. We need to get a Japanese police record which is going to take 2 months so should we send in the ds-2001 yet?

The other question I have is for our police records. My wife lived in Canada for 11 months and 2 weeks on a working holiday visa. Getting a Canadian police record is going to take at LEAST 150 days. We were hoping we could bypass this since the dates line up in our favor. We have her passport to prove it too. So can they still request it?

[RyanNI 0]

Sorry to gate crash your thread but Don't want to start a new one as it's along the same lines as yours.

I rang the UK consolate today re: DCF, the girl I was taking to had never heard of the Aug 15th deadline! Do I put this down to her lack of knowledge or is there no deadline for London DCF?

I live in Northern Ireland with my American wife. If we were to go down the DCF route I will have to fly to London (twice? one for medical and one for interview), would I be wiser just going down the normal route (Chicago lockbox) as it would save me money on flights etc?

Any help would be grately appreciated

[Hoptastic 1]

Sorry to gate crash your thread but Don't want to start a new one as it's along the same lines as yours.

I rang the UK consolate today re: DCF, the girl I was taking to had never heard of the Aug 15th deadline! Do I put this down to her lack of knowledge or is there no deadline for London DCF?

I live in Northern Ireland with my American wife. If we were to go down the DCF route I will have to fly to London (twice? one for medical and one for interview), would I be wiser just going down the normal route (Chicago lockbox) as it would save me money on flights etc?

Any help would be grately appreciated

All are welcome. From my readings on here and the US's websites, all this ends on the 15th. After the 15th, any I-130 has to be sent to Chicago.

We contacted the consulate directly by email just asking about direct consulate filing and they immediately booked us an appointment. From there, we went down and submitted a couple of forms and that's where we are now.

In the paperwork we have gotten back, we've noticed it's very personal. They know who we are and my wife's background. I'll keep you updated.

[milimelo 4,412]

Alright guys. Not sure what to think right now. We submitted our i-130 and g-325's yesterday.

I came home from work today and got a letter asking for DS-230, I-864, and DS-2001. What does that mean?

I know we have to do police records but does that mean they accepted our I-130?

Yes, these forms are required for issuance of immigrant visa - so good news!

[danthai 0]

What's happening August 15 is that anyone living in a country that does not have a local USCIS office must go through the Chicago lockbox, but if your resident country has a USCIS office then the DCF process will still be available. As an example, I live in Thailand, which has a USCIS office, so DCF will still be available to me after August 15, but if I lived in Malaysia I would no longer be able to do DCF in Thailand as was availble before August 15 as there is not a USCIS office in Malaysia. Better yet here is what the USCIS said:

WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced that effective Aug. 15, 2011, petitioners residing in countries without USCIS offices will be able to file a Petition for an Alien Relative (Form I-130), with the USCIS Chicago Lockbox facility. This will increase the efficiency of the relative petition filing process and give USCIS more flexibility in managing its workload. Previous regulations permitted these petitioners, who comprise about 5 percent of all I-130 petitioners, to file with USCIS or the U.S. Department of State at their local U.S. embassy or consulate. Under the new regulation, published today in the Federal Register, petitioners residing in countries without USCIS offices may file a Petition for an Alien Relative based on the addresses provided in the revised form instructions…

[danthai 0]

What's happening August 15 is that anyone living in a country that does not have a local USCIS office must go through the Chicago lockbox, but if your resident country has a USCIS office then the DCF process will still be available. As an example, I live in Thailand, which has a USCIS office, so DCF will still be available to me after August 15, but if I lived in Malaysia I would no longer be able to do DCF in Thailand as was availble before August 15 as there is not a USCIS office in Malaysia. Better yet here is what the USCIS said:

WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced that effective Aug. 15, 2011, petitioners residing in countries without USCIS offices will be able to file a Petition for an Alien Relative (Form I-130), with the USCIS Chicago Lockbox facility. This will increase the efficiency of the relative petition filing process and give USCIS more flexibility in managing its workload. Previous regulations permitted these petitioners, who comprise about 5 percent of all I-130 petitioners, to file with USCIS or the U.S. Department of State at their local U.S. embassy or consulate. Under the new regulation, published today in the Federal Register, petitioners residing in countries without USCIS offices may file a Petition for an Alien Relative based on the addresses provided in the revised form instructions…

[RyanNI 0]

What's happening August 15 is that anyone living in a country that does not have a local USCIS office must go through the Chicago lockbox, but if your resident country has a USCIS office then the DCF process will still be available. As an example, I live in Thailand, which has a USCIS office, so DCF will still be available to me after August 15, but if I lived in Malaysia I would no longer be able to do DCF in Thailand as was availble before August 15 as there is not a USCIS office in Malaysia. Better yet here is what the USCIS said:

So it will continue to be available to us as I live in the UK which has the London USCIS office? Is this correct?

[milimelo 4,412]

So it will continue to be available to us as I live in the UK which has the London USCIS office? Is this correct?

Yes, in your case, you will mail the application to the USCIS address in London vs. submitting it in London embassy.

[Ausio 0]

it means that they have accepted your I-130 petition. Download and fill up the form DS-230, DS-230230

print it out (you cannot save it)

Send it back as soon as possible.

Start compiling the documents that they have asked you to collect such as birth certificate, I-864, police clearances (Certificate of good conduct)and so on. Make copies of of them too

After you have collected the all the required documents, send the form DS-200 by email or post(it indicates that you have all the requested documents at hand).

Most importantly read the package that you received with the letter

cheers!