Stand alone I-130 for stepchild(ren)

[lucy4 11]

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiice!!! Congratulations for surviving the process and I can only imagine how happy you are!

I have a quick question for you (I skimmed this thread but there are more than 650 posts - sorry if you have talked about this!) - you applied in early March of last year and are just now getting the approval, so about 10 months total. Do you think that is the normal processing time now? Or did your case take longer for some reason? I am trying to estimate how long this process will take, and I had told his family about 5 months, but maybe 5 months is the average for only the USCIS part? Ugh. We are going to miss another summer if this takes more than 8 months. I tried to time it so he could start school at the beginning of a school year. Oh well. Nothing I can do now except make sure I have everything ready to go as soon as we get the first approval.

Our petition was sent to the MSC for some reason. At least it is finally "in the system" and I can check for status updates (the notifications didn't work for most of our previous applications).

You never can tell with USCIS. Hopefully processing speeds up, and you are able to get through by the summer. From November to August should be okay... but then again I submitted mine to USCIS at the end of July and still havent heard anything. I hope they pick up the pace on the processing now that the holidays are over.

[SerenityNOW 11]

You never can tell with USCIS. Hopefully processing speeds up, and you are able to get through by the summer. From November to August should be okay... but then again I submitted mine to USCIS at the end of July and still havent heard anything. I hope they pick up the pace on the processing now that the holidays are over.

UGH, July?! I'm so sorry to hear that.

I just hate that I can't make any plans at all. My husband will be moving - to another state, so we debating about whether to keep our rental house in California so we have a home address and are also in a good school district. Also, depending on timing, will his son attend school here in Cal. or in Hawaii... complicated decisions to make for a 16-year-old who has never even been permitted to enter the United States.

Everyone I speak with is shocked when I tell them that my husband's kids are not allowed to visit him here (denied tourist visas) and that we have to go through such a lengthy process to get the younger son here. The older son is out of luck - just turned 21, and we didn't realize before that that he couldn't get a tourist visa. Such a frustrating situation that there is nothing between a tourist visa and full-on immigration. All we wanted was for them to be able to visit in the summers. I feel like my husband has missed out on so much of his kids' lives by marrying me and moving here. We didn't realize that the kids could never visit when we moved to the U.S. There was no chance of us immigrating them at the same time as my husband, as their mother was not ready for that at all.

Anyway, I am going back to waiting again. I hope to see some approvals in this thread soon!

[sancruz 26]

UGH, July?! I'm so sorry to hear that.

I just hate that I can't make any plans at all. My husband will be moving - to another state, so we debating about whether to keep our rental house in California so we have a home address and are also in a good school district. Also, depending on timing, will his son attend school here in Cal. or in Hawaii... complicated decisions to make for a 16-year-old who has never even been permitted to enter the United States.

Everyone I speak with is shocked when I tell them that my husband's kids are not allowed to visit him here (denied tourist visas) and that we have to go through such a lengthy process to get the younger son here. The older son is out of luck - just turned 21, and we didn't realize before that that he couldn't get a tourist visa. Such a frustrating situation that there is nothing between a tourist visa and full-on immigration. All we wanted was for them to be able to visit in the summers. I feel like my husband has missed out on so much of his kids' lives by marrying me and moving here. We didn't realize that the kids could never visit when we moved to the U.S. There was no chance of us immigrating them at the same time as my husband, as their mother was not ready for that at all.

Anyway, I am going back to waiting again. I hope to see some approvals in this thread soon!

Just make sure you have everything ready to go once you get to NVC. We filed the first week of July and got approval quickly but got slowed down at NVC because we didnt have everything ready that we needed. It took us a while to get a passport for my stepdaughter because of all of the authorizations and approvals that had to be done for the biological mom to get the passport without my husband being present. It took us a full three months to get through NVC but would probably have only taken a month and a half if we had everything ready. Got case complete December 26th and now just waiting for interview which we are hoping will be next month. We are about 7 months into this process right now. Good Luck with your journey hope everyone starts moving onto NVC very soon! Sending good thoughts to everyone!

[Kazulie 132]

I sent off the final packets to NVC and I feel like I could spend my day on the toilet!!! I am soooo nervous!!! I just KNOW I made 3680 mistakes and they are just going to throw away my petition because morons shouldn't file for foreigners to come to the States!!!

Lol ok, breathe Julie, breathe.

Everything will be ok! If I screwed up, they'll RFE me, right? Right.

Ps. Look at my signature!!!! So much greeeeeeeeeen! Lol

[sancruz 26]

I sent off the final packets to NVC and I feel like I could spend my day on the toilet!!! I am soooo nervous!!! I just KNOW I made 3680 mistakes and they are just going to throw away my petition because morons shouldn't file for foreigners to come to the States!!!

Lol ok, breathe Julie, breathe.

Everything will be ok! If I screwed up, they'll RFE me, right? Right.

Ps. Look at my signature!!!! So much greeeeeeeeeen! Lol

LOL, yes they will send you an email and tell you what they need but i always called everyday just to check. Once they said they had sent out a letter to me i just asked what it said and they would tell me so i could get on it as soon as possible. The email always followed a few hours or maybe a day later. Watch what they say they need from you though. One letter they sent said they needed marriage certificate and police clearance for my stepdaughter and she is only 3. It took them probably 2 weeks to review that and have it removed from our checklist. Good Luck to you. I hope everything goes well and happens quickly!

[Poonkiemama 0]

Well....we received our interview date (December 27th) and traveled all the way down (from Oregon) to Jamaica for the interview. Everything went GREAT and we were APPROVED! It took one week and one day to get the visa delivered from DHL and we ALL flew home on the 8th. We were held up for about 2 1/2 hours in immigration in Miami, but other than that it was smooth sailing. The embassy folks were impressed with our complete and organized packet of information and they had no questions at all to ask our daughter(13) or my husband. It is a huge relief that we did not have to do DNA!

Thank you everyone for your posts on this forum. I checked it everyday and have followed the progress of each of you as well as finding valuable information posted by you. Best of luck to you and the reuniting of your families. It is an amazing feeling to now know that our family is exactly as is should be - together - and I wish for a speedy and successful resolution for the rest of you as well.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

[Kazulie 132]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

Wow!!! How are the kids?? How are they liking the States?

I'm sooooooooooooo happy that they didn't give you a DNA test! Excellent!! I pray we are that lucky!!!

[beejay 123]

So happy to see all the activity in this thread

Congrats to poonkiemama!!

Psdavid- I hope the AP doesn't take long to complete. You can check to see if your visa has been approved/issued online Here

Thanks again for all the support. I'm here in PH getting everyone ready and I'm so happy this moment is finally here. I'll definitely be sticking around to see everyone else get to the finish line

[SerenityNOW 11]

Well....we received our interview date (December 27th) and traveled all the way down (from Oregon) to Jamaica for the interview. Everything went GREAT and we were APPROVED! It took one week and one day to get the visa delivered from DHL and we ALL flew home on the 8th. We were held up for about 2 1/2 hours in immigration in Miami, but other than that it was smooth sailing. The embassy folks were impressed with our complete and organized packet of information and they had no questions at all to ask our daughter(13) or my husband. It is a huge relief that we did not have to do DNA!

Thank you everyone for your posts on this forum. I checked it everyday and have followed the progress of each of you as well as finding valuable information posted by you. Best of luck to you and the reuniting of your families. It is an amazing feeling to now know that our family is exactly as is should be - together - and I wish for a speedy and successful resolution for the rest of you as well.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

SO HAPPY TO HEAR THIS! Now that I peeked my head into the immigration forum again, I have that familiar anxious feeling, so I am always pleased to hear of a happy ending. I hope your daughter is really happy in Oregon.

[SerenityNOW 11]

Hi, me again. I am getting consumed with figuring out this process, now that I started it. I know we probably have months to go before even the first approval, but my husband and I might be moving soon, so I want to have as much lined up in advance as possible. I finally re-located the NVC guides, got those forms printed out, and found out what info I was missing.

Here are the (hopefully quick) questions I have:

1) Is there any official authorization from the other bio parent that is required for the child to leave his or her home country? I know my husband has some kind of document from his ex-wife allowing him to take his son across international borders (but maybe only within the European Union, so I'm not sure if this covers leaving the EU....). I just wasn't sure at which stage this occurs, and if there is an official document, or it is country-specific.

2) At what point are you informed that a DNA test is required? After the whole package reaches the embassy? Or is it @ the NVC stage? I doubt there is any way to prepare for this, but if my husband's ex-wife will have to take the child to the capital for this, I want to get her used to the idea.

3) Actually I don't know if a child requires the medical exam as my husband did - is the medical exam required for a child? If so, the bio mom is not going to be too happy about all these trips to the "big city". (Hopefully my husband and/or I will be able to go when the interview is scheduled, and help with these logistics.)

Thanks so much for lending your expertise!

Edited January 14, 2013 by SerenityNOW

[asset 0]

Hi all, just a quick question, I recieved a checklist from nvc for i864w to be sent in for my kids, i completed them and sent it with the AOS coversheet from the payment portal instead of the checklist coversheet, would that be a problem? Thanks so much for your replies.

[cgayle 1]

Hi, me again. I am getting consumed with figuring out this process, now that I started it. I know we probably have months to go before even the first approval, but my husband and I might be moving soon, so I want to have as much lined up in advance as possible. I finally re-located the NVC guides, got those forms printed out, and found out what info I was missing.

Here are the (hopefully quick) questions I have:

1) Is there any official authorization from the other bio parent that is required for the child to leave his or her home country? I know my husband has some kind of document from his ex-wife allowing him to take his son across international borders (but maybe only within the European Union, so I'm not sure if this covers leaving the EU....). I just wasn't sure at which stage this occurs, and if there is an official document, or it is country-specific.

2) At what point are you informed that a DNA test is required? After the whole package reaches the embassy? Or is it @ the NVC stage? I doubt there is any way to prepare for this, but if my husband's ex-wife will have to take the child to the capital for this, I want to get her used to the idea.

3) Actually I don't know if a child requires the medical exam as my husband did - is the medical exam required for a child? If so, the bio mom is not going to be too happy about all these trips to the "big city". (Hopefully my husband and/or I will be able to go when the interview is scheduled, and help with these logistics.)

Thanks so much for lending your expertise!

Hi

I contacted the Embassy in Jamaica about the DNA testing. It cannot be done in advance and it will not be determined if it is needed until the actual interview. You may also want to get the child's school records to have available for the interview. Hope this helps.

[SerenityNOW 11]

Hi

I contacted the Embassy in Jamaica about the DNA testing. It cannot be done in advance and it will not be determined if it is needed until the actual interview. You may also want to get the child's school records to have available for the interview. Hope this helps.

Thanks! I didn't realize it wasn't determined until the time of the interview... I had assumed it was done with the medical. Good to know. Also about the school records; I'll make sure they have all of that in place.

[velrich 50]

Our visas were approved and issued so we are finalizing our plans to get the kids here. Final hurdle!

To answer your question you will need separate I-864 forms for each child.

Happy for you Beejay! :dance:

[sancruz 26]

I have a quick question. I keep reading on other forums where people emailed the embassy to schedule their interview. Did any of you do this or did you have to wait for NVC to schedule your interview? Our case was completed on Dec 26th and they told me they schedule interviews the 2nd week of each month for the following month. We didnt get an interview scheduled last week but i was told they havent been told to stop scheduling yet so im still keeping my fingers crossed that we will get one soon. Just wondering if anyone else scheduled their own interview through the embassy or if that only works with fiance visas?