Electronic and Hard copy notifications from USCIS

[configuration 2]

Hi,

My fiance and I will soon be married and will file the I-130 petition for a CR-1 visa for me. I live in Canada, she lives in the US. Over the next few months, we will try to spend as much time together as possible, to the extent our jobs permit it. This may mean me spending a few weeks or months with her in the US, and her spending a similar amount of time with me in Canada. Until I get the visa, of course, at which point I will move to to the US.

I'm trying to get a sense of how much information is transmitted by the NVC or USCIS via regular mail, as opposed to electronic mail. There will be long periods when neither of us can check our regular mail at home since we will be away. Does this matter? Is any information sent by regular mail also automatically available online through our accounts?

Of course, I know that the NVC and the consulate will at some point send me important documents regarding the interview, and I will make sure to receive those. But I am talking about things like requests for more information, etc. which I suppose they could send to either her or to me, depending on the nature of the request.

Please let me know what you think. Thanks.

[Samantha78 117]

Well, if and when the petition is approved at USCIS, you will get an email/text alert as long as you include the proper form to receive this, but more importantly, you will want to know the hard copy has been received (which will arrive via postal mail) and you will want to put the away for safe keeping/future use.

Once at NVC, you can rely on email for that entire process - pay online, receive receipts online, etc.....and eventually your interview will be given via email.

[Inky 1,110]

You can create an account on USCIS and when you have your case number you can see updates on it ( sometimes - it is not always accurate and more often not than it is. )

https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/jsps/selectusertype.jsp

They snail mail all notices with full content - the online content is only a snip of notice and contains no contents of the notice at all. USCIS also does not tell you over the phone what the notice contains.

You will need to get the mail.

[Darnell 8,478]

if the G-1145 is filed with the I-130 - postal notification is un-necessary, and the need to chase after postal mail also is un-necessary.

However - the I-130 petition, leading up to a CR-1 visa - the receipts/approval notice is not useful for further processing at NVC and the Embassy IV Unit.

For a K-1 visa - the approval notice on the I-129F is needed for later processing - perhaps this is causing some confusion?

Edited February 16, 2012 by Darnell

[Darnell 8,478]

Of course, I know that the NVC and the consulate will at some point send me important documents regarding the interview, and I will make sure to receive those. But I am talking about things like requests for more information, etc. which I suppose they could send to either her or to me, depending on the nature of the request.

If you utilize EP for Canada at the NVC Document Intake stage, you and the petitioner will be driving the documents into NVC, without any real waiting (except the waiting for the NVC casefile #) . That first step to 'open up the pipe' at NVC requires a phone call, and there really is no big need to wait around for important documents to hit yer postal box / email box.

In the end, the appointment letter arrives via email to the two of you, but

rfe's at USCIS always are postal notification to the petitioner,

and checklist letters (NVC equivalent of a USCIS RFE) are emailed to the petitioner.

[sejr 2]

Just have your mail forwarded to someone you trust. Go to the post office and fill out a forwarding form, you can either have your name associated with that address along with an in care of designator (this is the name of the person that lives at that address). Or you can just tell them to forward your mail to wherever.

ok example.

your real address is

kelly Hilton

1515 run way rd

ridge, arizona

the forwarded mail would be

kelly Hilton

C/O mike smith

1645 milk dr

scottsdale, arizona

No sleep lost, when you get an email from uscis just tell the person to look out for the letter in the mail. This way you don't have to change address with uscis.

[USArmyWifey 2]

Through out the whole of the USCIS and NVC stages everything i recieved in the mail was completly out of date. I recieved a letter recently from the NVC asking me to appoint an agent even though that had been dealt with weeks before recieving the mail and over the following few weeks more post kept coming through which had already been dealt with online.

Pretty much everything they send you can be found either online or in an email/text message. The only things you need to make sure to keep safe are the NOAs you get sent from USCIS and we never recieved any FREs so i dont know how that would be dealt with.

[Darnell 8,478]

Just have your mail forwarded to someone you trust. Go to the post office and fill out a forwarding form, you can either have your name associated with that address along with an in care of designator (this is the name of the person that lives at that address).

This is extremely bad advice,

as

USCIS never allow for postal mail forwarding.

On most postal notifications, there's a note on the outside to the postmaster: DO NOT FORWARD.

[configuration 2]

Thanks for your replies, all. I think, based on your advice, I will be comfortable relying mostly on electronic notifications, especially as we won't be away from our mail for too long at any given time.

One last thing: I'm guessing that when the process reaches the consulate stage, it is much more important for me (i.e. the beneficiary) to be checking my mailbox regularly? Would this be true even if my spouse is the agent? If the USC is the agent, would the embassy send communication to that person, or would they insist on directly communicating only with the beneficiary (who is in the same country)?

Thanks.

[Darnell 8,478]

study Saylin's wiki page here on Canadien EP process. I think you'll understand a bit more about 'no postal anything'..

[configuration 2]

Wow, I just read that wiki page. Amazing!

Thanks for the info, Darnell. Now I am completely confident that it is not a problem to occasionally be away from my postal mail. I'll make sure to do EP for everything.

[Darnell 8,478]

excellent. make me some poutine, soonish !

[sejr 2]

This is extremely bad advice,

as

USCIS never allow for postal mail forwarding.

On most postal notifications, there's a note on the outside to the postmaster: DO NOT FORWARD.

How about you just post your opinion and let the person asking the question determine what advice to take or not take, I am sure they would not just do something without confirming first. I said no where that the poster would get uscis involved in anyway. keep it positive in these forums, this is not a place to pass judgement.

[Darnell 8,478]

So we're gonna stomp on opinions, then? OK ! Yer opinion is really bad for the OP, ensures that NOTHING will ever arrive .

[sejr 2]

So we're gonna stomp on opinions, then? OK ! Yer opinion is really bad for the OP, ensures that NOTHING will ever arrive .

My point was, because obviously you did not re-read my comment like the advice on your signature states. Just post what you think without bashing someonelse's opinion. Let the original poster decide what is bad or what is good. I'm sure they are smart enough to do that. How can you, a stranger to this person decide what is bad or good advice for them, that's for them to do. Like I said before keep it positive and nuetral.