Stand alone I-130 for stepchild(ren)

[lucy4 11]

Woo hoo! Such exciting times! What kind of things are you sending for the interview? I am only - so far - sending photographs, and I will include tax transcripts (we filed the I-864W but I would NOT be surprised if our embassy asks for the tax information anyway... better to be prepared, as that would be a total pain to try to get those from abroad).

I noticed you were approved on April 23. lucy4 and I were approved right after that, but are waiting and waiting with no interview date assigned yet. Apparently the cut-off for this month was something between the 23rd and 26th.

lucy4 - did you ever request the expedite for the interview? If not, I say now is the time! If you have been reading over in the June Interview thread, it looks like the only cases assigned interview dates in the middle of the month were expedites - according to recent trends. We are probably going to be waiting until the very end of May/beginning of June for a date to be assigned - which means that we may receive end of July interview dates! Or even August. Of course I hope this is incorrect and we hear something soon...

Hmmm... no I didnt. I just figured we'd be scheduled early June for an early July interview. August would be cutting it too close for me. I didnt realize we can request an expedite. How do you request that? Her grandmother's health, which was my reason for an expedite before, actually did get a little worse, and her grandmother left the country about 2 wks ago. She moved in with her maternal grandmother, who is already complaining about the expense and asking us for money. We are hesitant to send money right now because we are trying to pay for the rest of this process, which will more than likely cost a few more thousand between the medical and hotel and back and forth plane tix.

[evoria 19]

Woo hoo! Such exciting times! What kind of things are you sending for the interview? I am only - so far - sending photographs, and I will include tax transcripts (we filed the I-864W but I would NOT be surprised if our embassy asks for the tax information anyway... better to be prepared, as that would be a total pain to try to get those from abroad).

I noticed you were approved on April 23. lucy4 and I were approved right after that, but are waiting and waiting with no interview date assigned yet. Apparently the cut-off for this month was something between the 23rd and 26th.

lucy4 - did you ever request the expedite for the interview? If not, I say now is the time! If you have been reading over in the June Interview thread, it looks like the only cases assigned interview dates in the middle of the month were expedites - according to recent trends. We are probably going to be waiting until the very end of May/beginning of June for a date to be assigned - which means that we may receive end of July interview dates! Or even August. Of course I hope this is incorrect and we hear something soon...

Serenity - I am sending everything I sent to NVC and USCIS all supporting docuements. I am also sending I-864, I-864A and transcripts from both my husband and myself. I am on workman's comp so, I also asked my brother to do co sponsor forms as a back up. I know at the interview they can determine you need a co signer, even though you already had an approved AOS. But I am also sending pictures, western union receipts thats pretty much all I could think of.

[SerenityNOW 11]

the letter said this exactly :: The NVC recently received this petition. The appropriate agent

(applicant, petitioner, or attorney) will receive instructions for the

further processing of this petition within 6 to 8 weeks.

I emailed the Choice of Agent to NVC and did not sign anything, just said it was for each one of my kids, and my hubby will be person to contact and that I as their mother sign off on it.

I am like you, where I want to get money together, get plans made, hotels booked, medicals lined up etc....I hate this waiting game.

The messages they send appear to be inconsistent... FYI our acceptance message to our e-mail Choice of Agent said: "We received the principal applicant's DS-3032 (Choice of Address and Agent) form designating an address and agent. Instructions for paying the immigrant visa application processing fee and all future correspondence will be sent to the agent at the address selected on the DS-3032. ..." then the IV bill was invoiced a couple of days later.

Yours does appear to be a real response. If so, you are the first case I have heard of having a Choice of Agent accepted before receiving an NVC case number (though it makes sense that they would be able to do this - if you had a lawyer, that person is automatically your agent, long before you receive any NVC numbers). You should post your experience over at the May NVC filers thread. Many folks would love to do this if it shaves off a couple of weeks (which is how long it took my Choice of Agent to be accepted *after* I waited to receive the NVC numbers). You would still have to wait for the numbers to be invoiced/pay, but presumably your IV bill will come right after the numbers are generated if you have a Choice of Agent on file already.

[SerenityNOW 11]

Hmmm... no I didnt. I just figured we'd be scheduled early June for an early July interview. August would be cutting it too close for me. I didnt realize we can request an expedite. How do you request that? Her grandmother's health, which was my reason for an expedite before, actually did get a little worse, and her grandmother left the country about 2 wks ago. She moved in with her maternal grandmother, who is already complaining about the expense and asking us for money. We are hesitant to send money right now because we are trying to pay for the rest of this process, which will more than likely cost a few more thousand between the medical and hotel and back and forth plane tix.

I remember you had some serious complications with her care. I think the embassy has discretion in these matters and if they want to/have availability, they can fit you in sooner rather than later... you know, go over to the spouse NVC or Interview threads and ask there. I know that people have done it successfully. The only thing I am not sure about is whether you have to have a date scheduled first, then you request an earlier date - which won't help much if you have to wait 3 MORE WEEKS to even be scheduled.

I am now resigned to not hearing anything until the end of May and receiving an end-of-June to end-of-July date. grrrrrrrr End of July would STINK! Half the summer gone already. NOW I am kicking my own butt for dawdling a bit at the NVC stage. Serves me right for thinking I could have any control whatsoever in this process! I was worried to finish too soon (others with our same NOA-2 date had their interviews at the beginning of May).

c'mon end of June, END OF JUNE!!! Yes I am getting uptight about this. All my husband's family is getting antsy about plans and of course it is up to me to make them understand all these processes, and now my husband thinks I have ruined the summer because we didn't do NVC as quickly as possible.

[lucy4 11]

I remember you had some serious complications with her care. I think the embassy has discretion in these matters and if they want to/have availability, they can fit you in sooner rather than later... you know, go over to the spouse NVC or Interview threads and ask there. I know that people have done it successfully. The only thing I am not sure about is whether you have to have a date scheduled first, then you request an earlier date - which won't help much if you have to wait 3 MORE WEEKS to even be scheduled.

I am now resigned to not hearing anything until the end of May and receiving an end-of-June to end-of-July date. grrrrrrrr End of July would STINK! Half the summer gone already. NOW I am kicking my own butt for dawdling a bit at the NVC stage. Serves me right for thinking I could have any control whatsoever in this process! I was worried to finish too soon (others with our same NOA-2 date had their interviews at the beginning of May).

c'mon end of June, END OF JUNE!!! Yes I am getting uptight about this. All my husband's family is getting antsy about plans and of course it is up to me to make them understand all these processes, and now my husband thinks I have ruined the summer because we didn't do NVC as quickly as possible.

I had contacted the embassy as soon as our case was completed, and they told me the NVC schedules. So yea, Id probably have to wait til its scheduled. I remember having positive experiences with the embassy changing dates etc, so Ill definitely do that if necessary, but I'm still hoping for early July. It sucks, because then she still needs to go back home and wait for the passport to be sent out etc, which would mean late July as the earliest time she could be here, and maybe even later if we have to do dna testing. I really want to just get her here so she can be adjusted before school, and registered for school etc. But at this point, if we do get early July, I dont think I would expedite, because I would need time to make and pay for the travel arrangements.

I totally understand where you're coming from with his family, because they felt as though I didn't know what I was doing, or maybe even that I hadn't done anything at all, when we had to wait the 8 months for noa2.

This whole process is just frustrating.

[Clemjam 8]

Hi everyone, my husband is filing for myself and my 2 children aged 8 and 10.

We re at the NVC stage, both packages were delivered there 2 days ago.

The children are French, like me, but were born out of wedlocks, in England and have an English biological dad.

I am a little antsy about the interbiew stage, as the biological Dad has never supported them dinancially since our break up 7 years ago. I am wondering what kind of documentation I ll have to provide at interview stage...

[lucy4 11]

OMG! Guess what y'all? I just got my email. Yes May 10th and the interview is in pretty much 2 weeks. June 5th. Lord have mercy, be careful what you ask for. How am I gonna plan everything in 2 wks?

[evoria 19]

OMG! Guess what y'all? I just got my email. Yes May 10th and the interview is in pretty much 2 weeks. June 5th. Lord have mercy, be careful what you ask for. How am I gonna plan everything in 2 wks?

Congratulations, That is kinda how I felt.. You can do it, think positive. The main thing is getting the medicals done. Start putting things together, I understand the requirements for evidence is not as much as for a spouse. At lease I hope because I can not think of too much to show evidence.

[lucy4 11]

Congratulations, That is kinda how I felt.. You can do it, think positive. The main thing is getting the medicals done. Start putting things together, I understand the requirements for evidence is not as much as for a spouse. At lease I hope because I can not think of too much to show evidence.

Thanks Evoria. I can't believe it, feels so surreal. We were just discussing expediting earlier today. We all have to travel to a third country and the medicals have to be done there. So we have to book for at least 3 days before the interview date.

[SerenityNOW 11]

OMG! Guess what y'all? I just got my email. Yes May 10th and the interview is in pretty much 2 weeks. June 5th. Lord have mercy, be careful what you ask for. How am I gonna plan everything in 2 wks?

I just saw that in the interview list!!!!! Congratulations! That IS soon!

boo hoo, now I am lonely on that list, the only end of April approval without a date...

[SerenityNOW 11]

Hi everyone, my husband is filing for myself and my 2 children aged 8 and 10.

We re at the NVC stage, both packages were delivered there 2 days ago.

The children are French, like me, but were born out of wedlocks, in England and have an English biological dad.

I am a little antsy about the interbiew stage, as the biological Dad has never supported them dinancially since our break up 7 years ago. I am wondering what kind of documentation I ll have to provide at interview stage...

Hi! And welcome. I don't know the answer to this question specifically, but I would imagine that you would just need documentation that either you have sole custody or that the bio dad gives permission for the children to permanently immigrate to the United States. Probably you should contact your consulate to see what they have to say. Good luck to you!

[evoria 19]

Thanks Evoria. I can't believe it, feels so surreal. We were just discussing expediting earlier today. We all have to travel to a third country and the medicals have to be done there. So we have to book for at least 3 days before the interview date.

I am sending my husband 3 wks early. He is actually leaving tomorrow for the June 6th interview. He has to get the pictures, and the medicals done. We also as a back-up had custody papers made, just in case. I am praying that they do not ask for DNA. I do not think they will, but I am a person who worries about everything and like to control every situation. The fact that I cant go to this interview and control the situation is making me crazy. When we went for my husbands interview I had so much stuff, they CO's were laughing like you are serious. I just hate promissing a child something and then having to explain, why I cant. I think with Ghana it just scares me because the ínterviewer seems to try to pull anything out their hat to deny a case. For my husbands interview after having already presenting the AOS to the NVC, the CO asked for the tax transcripts. Luckily for me I am a member of visa journey and had it ready. She did not even look at it, she looked defeated and said you are approved.

[evoria 19]

I just saw that in the interview list!!!!! Congratulations! That IS soon!

boo hoo, now I am lonely on that list, the only end of April approval without a date...

There is sitll the possiblity that you could get an interview date. Lucy just got interview date yesterday. I am thinking positive thoughts.

[Back2real 4]

Hi All, Getting ready to apply for my 2 step kids 5 abd 9 from Jamaica on the I-130 CR 2 at the same time and getting the docs from their mother. My question is at any point will I need to send in their origional birth cert or origional passport? We are wondering if she should send us the origional birth certs and origional passports now or if copies of both will suffice. Definately do not want them to get lost in the mail but if at petition send off point or at NVC send off we need origionals of either it might just be beneficial to have the origionals of both now. I know I hear that copies are ok for I-130 and that you may need the origional BC's at NVC is that correct? and how about the passort? Is copies ok at I-130 and NVC and then have the origional passport for the interview? Any answers are appreacitated! thanks

[Back2real 4]

Also regarding DNA. we had a DNA test done for his daughter. do not have one for his son. His son has his same name and my husband was just recently added to both kids BC's as he was not on there prior and they were born out of wedlock to the same mother as they were never married. Would it be best to include the daughters DNA test in the I130 petition for extra evidence or just wait until it may be asked for at the embassy and if so provide it then? It was done by an Accredited place called DDC. Thoughts?