Stand alone I-130 for stepchild(ren)

[dancehallquana 5]

congrats ps david!!!!!!!!!!!!! i know that you are on top of the world

sorry things are going so slow lucy4, there doesnt seem to be much rhyme or reason to how things are done sometimes.. It wouldnt hurt to try the expedite as someone mentioned.. i really hope the grandmother is okay until she gets the care she needs.. blessings

[PSDAVID 2]

Thank you everyone for your congrats, it does feel really good to know that i have my visa in hand.

At the same time I feel a little nervous, this is like a new chapter in my life, is like HUGE you know, everything is going to change, i need to improve my english cuz is not that good, i want to work in my career field (IT), gain experience, etc so i have a lot to do so im going to start as soon as i can

Any advise or recommendation would be great LOL

[katraska78 6]

Thank you everyone for your congrats, it does feel really good to know that i have my visa in hand.

At the same time I feel a little nervous, this is like a new chapter in my life, is like HUGE you know, everything is going to change, i need to improve my english cuz is not that good, i want to work in my career field (IT), gain experience, etc so i have a lot to do so im going to start as soon as i can

Any advise or recommendation would be great LOL

Take it easy, don't stress that much. Your English is good. You're young and probably you'll find a job soon. If you can, enroll in a Community College and take a couple of classes. That will definitely help you get an entry level position on your field. Good luck on your new life!!! Enjoy!

[keljopy 1]

After talking things over the past couple of months, my husband (who has been here just over a year now) and I, along with his kids' mother have decided we should bring his three kids to live here with us. After reading through this thread and all the documents I think we mostly know what we're doing, but I do have a couple questions for anyone who has done this with more than one child at once:

1. If we submit them all in the same envelope and list them on part D for petitions for other relatives will they be "linked" together and go through the service center/NVC/interview/etc. together? Ecuador pretty much requires us to be down there for the interviews and we probably don't have enough vacation time (and don't want to waste money) to go down there 3 different times for interviews, so we want them to be done together if we can.

2. For the documents needed for all three (my birth certificate, our marriage certificate, support docs like western union receipts and skype logs, etc.) do we need to include a separate copy for each child's petition or can we include just one copy in the packet?

3. Also, a more general question, we are trying to time it so the interview is sometime after our 2nd anniversary (January) and we bring them here sometime between the end of their Ecuadorian school year (February) and the beginning of our US school year (September) to help the transition in their education. I'm thinking our best bet is to send things of as soon as possible and then when it gets to the NVC we can delay in sending back the AOS and/or DS-230 stuff for a few months as needed to get the timing right. Am I correct that we can delay things there for a few months without consequences if we need to?

[SerenityNOW 11]

After talking things over the past couple of months, my husband (who has been here just over a year now) and I, along with his kids' mother have decided we should bring his three kids to live here with us. After reading through this thread and all the documents I think we mostly know what we're doing, but I do have a couple questions for anyone who has done this with more than one child at once:

1. If we submit them all in the same envelope and list them on part D for petitions for other relatives will they be "linked" together and go through the service center/NVC/interview/etc. together? Ecuador pretty much requires us to be down there for the interviews and we probably don't have enough vacation time (and don't want to waste money) to go down there 3 different times for interviews, so we want them to be done together if we can.

2. For the documents needed for all three (my birth certificate, our marriage certificate, support docs like western union receipts and skype logs, etc.) do we need to include a separate copy for each child's petition or can we include just one copy in the packet?

3. Also, a more general question, we are trying to time it so the interview is sometime after our 2nd anniversary (January) and we bring them here sometime between the end of their Ecuadorian school year (February) and the beginning of our US school year (September) to help the transition in their education. I'm thinking our best bet is to send things of as soon as possible and then when it gets to the NVC we can delay in sending back the AOS and/or DS-230 stuff for a few months as needed to get the timing right. Am I correct that we can delay things there for a few months without consequences if we need to?

Hi and welcome! I am only in the middle of this process myself .... but I have done a lot of reading around here

1. I have heard of family applications going at different speeds through the process, but it should all come together with the interview. Additionally - and I need to research this more as we may need to utilize this option - I think it is reasonably easy to re-schedule an interview for *later*, so maybe you can change any earlier interviews to the latest interview date. I hope that all works out for you! We have a similar situation for not wanting to fly more than once to Bulgaria; we would love for the interview to be around the time that my stepson is free to leave (after early June). We want to be there for the interview AND we don't want him to make his first airplane flight in his life (with a transfer in Germany) alone.

2. You don't need to include a lot of support documents in a child's application. In fact, it is not even a requirement that you have ever met them. {I assume you are petitioning for the kids as the USC, not him as a PR?} So what is required is proof of your relationship to your husband and his relationship to the kids. This proves your relationship with your stepkids. The biggest burden of proof will be that he *is the father* of the kids. We are bringing a lot of photos to the interview, showing Dad and kid through his life. Hopefully we won't be required to submit a DNA test, as that adds a lot of time and expense to the process.

AH - is your husband not on his kids' birth certificates and trying to demonstrate a relationship with them? If that is the case, then I would think that one set of documents would be enough to send, but who knows with these people. Maybe someone in the same situation can weigh in. If his name is on the birth certificate and he was married to the mother of the kids, I would just hold on to those documents and have them available for the interview. But that's just my opinion. We sent nothing extra and we had no problem with USCIS. Some people send lots of extra stuff.

For the required birth certificates and translations, etc. I would include a copy for each application, so each package can stand alone if they get split up somehow.

3. Yes, you can drag your feet a bit at NVC (I did this with my husband as I was living in his country and didn't want to leave!). BUT - you have 6 months to activate the visa after it is approved at the interview, so that should give you a lot of flexibility. If you don't have the same issue we do - wanting the interview to occur around the same time as the kids are free to leave - I would try to get through NVC and interview in a timely manner just in case there are issues with the case and it takes longer than expected. You are aiming to have them here this year, by September? Or next year? Five to seven months is "normal" from start to finish (we are approaching 3 months already and we don't even have our NVC case numbers yet and we were a "fast" approval by USCIS) but lots of people have been waiting longer than that. There is also the dreaded DNA test that can add weeks and weeks to your timing, and you don't find out if they want that or not until the interview.

Do the kids all have passports already? That seems to be the biggest holdup for the NVC documents. Also, the notarized letter of consent from the birth mother if your husband doesn't have sole custody. Talk to other Ecuadorians about that, it varies country by country.

Good luck to you! That must be exciting, getting three kids at once. Do you already have kids? I am only getting one kid, and he is already 16, but it is still quite exciting

[keljopy 1]

Thanks so much,

Yes, I am petitioning for them as the USC. My husband is on the birth certificate, but he was never married to their mother, though they lived together for 8 years. We just thought we'd send copies of the extra stuff we had (since I've been saving it anyway) for extra evidence of his relationship to them, to try and avoid needing DNA testing later on.

Our only reason for delaying the visa is that we'd like them to get their visas after Jan 20, 2014 so that they are IR2 rather than CR2, to avoid the hassle and expense of removing conditions for the three of them down the road. Our goal is to have them here between February and September of 2014 (although earlier may be better than later since it gives more time to work on English before starting the next grade). Originally we were going to wait a few months to send the petitions, but I was thinking it might be better to just send them off as soon as we get them together (probably will be next month by the time we get their birth certificates from Ecuador between Carnival and slow mail) so we aren't stressing about time in the case of any service center slowdowns or RFEs or whatever else. The kids don't have passports yet, I figured we'd work on that while the petitions are sitting at the service center, as well as finding out how to go about getting the notarized letter of consent in Ecuador.

Yes it's very exciting, they are 10, almost 13, and almost 16 now. I've met them a couple of times now (as well as waved on skype many times) and they're pretty good kids. I don't have any kids myself so I'm a tiny bit terrified, but mostly really excited, and of course my husband is very excited as well since being away from them has been the hardest part of adjusting for him.

[katraska78 6]

After talking things over the past couple of months, my husband (who has been here just over a year now) and I, along with his kids' mother have decided we should bring his three kids to live here with us. After reading through this thread and all the documents I think we mostly know what we're doing, but I do have a couple questions for anyone who has done this with more than one child at once:

1. If we submit them all in the same envelope and list them on part D for petitions for other relatives will they be "linked" together and go through the service center/NVC/interview/etc. together? Ecuador pretty much requires us to be down there for the interviews and we probably don't have enough vacation time (and don't want to waste money) to go down there 3 different times for interviews, so we want them to be done together if we can.

2. For the documents needed for all three (my birth certificate, our marriage certificate, support docs like western union receipts and skype logs, etc.) do we need to include a separate copy for each child's petition or can we include just one copy in the packet?

3. Also, a more general question, we are trying to time it so the interview is sometime after our 2nd anniversary (January) and we bring them here sometime between the end of their Ecuadorian school year (February) and the beginning of our US school year (September) to help the transition in their education. I'm thinking our best bet is to send things of as soon as possible and then when it gets to the NVC we can delay in sending back the AOS and/or DS-230 stuff for a few months as needed to get the timing right. Am I correct that we can delay things there for a few months without consequences if we need to?

Hi!

Welcome to the forum. Good luck with your process. I'm Ecuadorian too. My husband, the US citizen is petitioning for my 19 year old son.

I was concerned about the fact that my husband would have to go down there to the GYE Consulate and be present at my son's interview, so I asked around and was told by a very helpful senior member on this forums, who went through hell @ this Consulate, something that really made sense to me: the spouse case is already approved, so it will probably be okay if my husband didn't go with my son to the interview, but -just to be on the safe side of things- to write an email to the Consulate and ask them if it is necessary or mandatory that my husband attends my son's interview.

I did this and got an email three days later with their response: it is not necessary, not mandatory the presence of the US citizen during the interview, but he's welcome to attend if he wishes to do so.

I have forwarded this email to my son, and he will print it, and take it to his interview.

We filed December 7, 2012. Got our NOA 1 on the 11th, and ate now waiting for approval.

I hope this information is useful to you.

[keljopy 1]

Hi!

Welcome to the forum. Good luck with your process. I'm Ecuadorian too. My husband, the US citizen is petitioning for my 19 year old son.

I was concerned about the fact that my husband would have to go down there to the GYE Consulate and be present at my son's interview, so I asked around and was told by a very helpful senior member on this forums, who went through hell @ this Consulate, something that really made sense to me: the spouse case is already approved, so it will probably be okay if my husband didn't go with my son to the interview, but -just to be on the safe side of things- to write an email to the Consulate and ask them if it is necessary or mandatory that my husband attends my son's interview.

I did this and got an email three days later with their response: it is not necessary, not mandatory the presence of the US citizen during the interview, but he's welcome to attend if he wishes to do so.

I have forwarded this email to my son, and he will print it, and take it to his interview.

We filed December 7, 2012. Got our NOA 1 on the 11th, and ate now waiting for approval.

I hope this information is useful to you.

Thanks, we really hope to be there for the interview(s) just to make sure they have all the paperwork they need and everything and prepare them for it and also so their mom doesn't have to take them since she also has a younger daughter to take care of too, but it is good to know that if the interviews get split up or something and we don't have enough vacation time we should be able to do the email thing.

[SerenityNOW 11]

Thanks so much,

Yes, I am petitioning for them as the USC. My husband is on the birth certificate, but he was never married to their mother, though they lived together for 8 years. We just thought we'd send copies of the extra stuff we had (since I've been saving it anyway) for extra evidence of his relationship to them, to try and avoid needing DNA testing later on.

Our only reason for delaying the visa is that we'd like them to get their visas after Jan 20, 2014 so that they are IR2 rather than CR2, to avoid the hassle and expense of removing conditions for the three of them down the road. Our goal is to have them here between February and September of 2014 (although earlier may be better than later since it gives more time to work on English before starting the next grade). Originally we were going to wait a few months to send the petitions, but I was thinking it might be better to just send them off as soon as we get them together (probably will be next month by the time we get their birth certificates from Ecuador between Carnival and slow mail) so we aren't stressing about time in the case of any service center slowdowns or RFEs or whatever else. The kids don't have passports yet, I figured we'd work on that while the petitions are sitting at the service center, as well as finding out how to go about getting the notarized letter of consent in Ecuador.

Yes it's very exciting, they are 10, almost 13, and almost 16 now. I've met them a couple of times now (as well as waved on skype many times) and they're pretty good kids. I don't have any kids myself so I'm a tiny bit terrified, but mostly really excited, and of course my husband is very excited as well since being away from them has been the hardest part of adjusting for him.

Got it! But I am not helpful about letting you know if you need duplicate copies for each petition. Honesty, I would prepare them such that each petition can all stand alone at this point - with just a few representative copies of money sent, etc. (with the whole giant pile available for the interview if it is requested). Also in your case, since you are not in a hurry, an RFE would not be a big deal so you can always send more if they request it.

So if you applied March 1, let's say. Best case scenario, they get approved in 60 days or so (I've seen faster, but it is unusual). That would put you at May 1. Another month to get all your NVC numbers (which might be slightly optimistic; that timing appears to be quite variable). So June 1. You could drag a little at this phase, say another month (that's what I did with my husband ) - July 1. Case complete with no problems, let's say you got a super-quick interview for August 1 (also probably highly unlikely though that was the timeframe for my husband's interview; even the NVC operator commented on it being really quick!). If the kids interviewed on that scheduled day and were approved, they would have until Feb 1(6 months from the date the visa was granted ) to enter the US. If you had to to a DNA test, the 6 months starts AFTER the visa is approved..... all this is a long way of saying that your timing should be OK if you drag your feet a little, since all my bureaucratic estimates were very optimistic.

Of course - Murphy's Law - your case will go super-fast while all the spouses who are desperate to be reunited will take forever

You won't know how fast your case is approved by USCIS until you apply, then you can: 1) delay a bit extra in sending your documents to NVC 2) request a later interview date and/or 3) wait almost the entire 6 months for the kids to actually immigrate.

It's nice that your stepkids will have that long break, February till whenever they come here. I just found out that my stepson's school goes till the end of June (so we are going to have to drag our case out to try to get a June interview!) and school here starts in mid-August, so we won't have much time for traveling around before he has to start school. I also have no other kids so this will be so fun to have him around. I lived in Bulgaria for a while so I did get to know him - though that was almost 5 years ago and I have barely seen him since then because HE COULDN'T EVER GET A TOURIST VISA, oh well.

Kudos to you for thinking ahead. The process with my stepsons has all happened really quickly, as their mom just recently realized that she shouldn't have been so controlling in not allowing us to start sooner. Sadly, the older son is already over 21 so no good options for him if he keeps getting denied a tourist visa.

[sancruz 26]

Getting so excited and nervous. Our interview is a week from today!!

[SerenityNOW 11]

Getting so excited and nervous. Our interview is a week from today!!

I haven't been in here much since we don't have any NVC numbers yet... Two days till your interview. So exciting! It will all be over soon. Fingers crossed for no DNA test. Post everything about your experience, I look forward to reading about it... GOOD LUCK

[sancruz 26]

We got to Honduras on Tuesday. We had our interview this morning and it was approved!!!! We are over the moon. We were told to come back today to pick up her visa. As soon as we have it in hand we will be changing our flights and buying her ticket. Hoping to be back home by tomorrow night!!

Tips for the interview: This forum has been priceless to me. I have lived on this site for the last 7 months. When we went to the interview I had all of my papers in a 1" flexible binder. I had all papers in clear page protectors labeled on the outside with the information that was included in each one. When they called us back she had looked through everything already and asked both my husband and I several questions. We didn't have pictures of my husband and stepdaughter together but what we did have was pictures from all of our internet calls with her. I just took pics of the screen everytime. Our daughter is only 3 and you could see how she has changed over time and gotten bigger. Also my husband had longer hair in some and shorter in others. We worried that they would still want pictures showing them physically together. She didn't. She told me we were so smart to take those pictures. She said everyone says they Skype but we don't really know if they do. She also said that we were very organized and she appreciated it. She didn't even ask for copies of receipts for money we've sent even though we had 3 yrs worth or phone records showing the phone calls back and forth. The only other thing she asked was if we had a authorization letter from the mom saying we could take the baby with us to the United States and asked if it was notarized which it was. She took it and said basically your visa has been approved. Congratulations you have a beautiful family. We were told we could go back this afternoon and pick up the visa. SO Happy!! Thank you to everyone who has provided advice on this site it was a God send for us.

[katraska78 6]

We got to Honduras on Tuesday. We had our interview this morning and it was approved!!!! We are over the moon. We were told to come back today to pick up her visa. As soon as we have it in hand we will be changing our flights and buying her ticket. Hoping to be back home by tomorrow night!!

Tips for the interview: This forum has been priceless to me. I have lived on this site for the last 7 months. When we went to the interview I had all of my papers in a 1" flexible binder. I had all papers in clear page protectors labeled on the outside with the information that was included in each one. When they called us back she had looked through everything already and asked both my husband and I several questions. We didn't have pictures of my husband and stepdaughter together but what we did have was pictures from all of our internet calls with her. I just took pics of the screen everytime. Our daughter is only 3 and you could see how she has changed over time and gotten bigger. Also my husband had longer hair in some and shorter in others. We worried that they would still want pictures showing them physically together. She didn't. She told me we were so smart to take those pictures. She said everyone says they Skype but we don't really know if they do. She also said that we were very organized and she appreciated it. She didn't even ask for copies of receipts for money we've sent even though we had 3 yrs worth or phone records showing the phone calls back and forth. The only other thing she asked was if we had a authorization letter from the mom saying we could take the baby with us to the United States and asked if it was notarized which it was. She took it and said basically your visa has been approved. Congratulations you have a beautiful family. We were told we could go back this afternoon and pick up the visa. SO Happy!! Thank you to everyone who has provided advice on this site it was a God send for us.

So happy for you! Congrats!!!

[beejay 123]

Sancruz - Congrats!! Sounds like the interview couldn't have gone any smoother! So exciting you won't have to wait that long for the actual visas. Do you have plane tickets yet? I wouldn't worry about what happened to us at the airport happening to anyone else - that was pretty country specific and most other countries don't have rules/procedures for their citizens to exit their own country. You could double check by calling the airline to see what they require for documentation for minors leaving the country. Big smiles for you and your family

Quana! - How goes NVC? Seems like you are on track for a summertime arrival. My kids started school and thank goodness it has been going well. They both like school and the younger one usually describes his days as 'great!' - which is a miracle I am grateful for. The older one likes school but has been taking more time to adjust to the academics and language switch. Day by day it seems to be getting easier. They both have been making friends and have classmates to eat lunch with and have had invitations to play outside of school. I think we would be having a much more difficult time if school wasn't going well. I want to say that the fact we took our time and picked a school that we felt would be sensitive to their situation and was as small as possible for our area that they would be supported and 'looked after' helped but I think we also just got lucky with our choice and their classes/teachers.

lucy4 - SerenityNow gave you excellent advice. How is everything? Were you able to expedite your petition? I think you have reason and that is your best course of action. I think you were still waiting for approval for your petition so make sure to follow up and request an expedite at each stage of the process VSC, NVC then embassy. I really hope you can get this resolved quickly. Keep us updated.

Congrats PSDAVID! Glad you can let some of the stress about your interview go and now just focus on preparing for your big move.

Welcome keljopy! I think CR vs IR issuance is dictated based on arrival at POE. So as long as they arrive after the 2 year anniversary they should be ok. Reminding the officer during POE that they are eligible and should receive the 10 year greencard should take care of that. Being away from his kids was also difficult for my husband. It's so nice to finally have them here.

Kazulie - Any news??? Did I miss an update?

[lucy4 11]

lucy4 - SerenityNow gave you excellent advice. How is everything? Were you able to expedite your petition? I think you have reason and that is your best course of action. I think you were still waiting for approval for your petition so make sure to follow up and request an expedite at each stage of the process VSC, NVC then embassy. I really hope you can get this resolved quickly. Keep us updated.

Hi Beejay, Im still here. Serenity did give me excellent advice, but unofortunately I havent been able to follow up. I asked my M-I-L for some type of medical paperwork showing her heart issue, and she hasnt been able to provide me with any. I dont know if its exaggeration on the my husbands brother's part, or what, but Ive just been sitting tight.

I think this is soo freaking unfair the way they are processing these I-130s, but what can I do. I even thought about filing again since it seems that people are being approved within two months, but I dont have the money to throw away.

-Still frustrated.