Stand alone I-130 for stepchild(ren)

[lucy4 11]

I paid this fee as soon as my husband picked up the passports. Not sure if the processing is finished once the kids enter the country. I am stuck in the "accepted" stage of the processing.

Hmmm... I didn't really have any plans on paying that.

[SerenityNOW 11]

Thanks for the update. My stepdaughter actually received her passport today. There was a package with it, and a letter about the $165 fee which MUST be paid before traveling to the US. Did anyone actually pay this prior to traveling?

NOPE! My stepson is here, never paid the fee. They didn't even ask us whether we paid the fee or not at POE ...

Interesting - the USCIS website (updated 5/28) NOW only says you should pay before leaving - BEFORE, it said the fee didn't have to be paid before entry, it would just "delay" receipt of green card.

There are some other changes to that web page too!! I speculated that they were going to close that loophole of Child Citizenship Act kids who don't need to have a green card and sure enough, there is new text there:

Exemptions

Children who enter the United States under the Orphan or Hague adoption programs, Iraqi and Afghan special immigrants, returning residents (SB-1s), and those issued K visas, are the only categories exempt from paying the fee.

Since my stepson is a US Citizen now, we didn't plan to ever pay this fee, unless they somehow require it when we apply for his US passport. According to the DOS's own instructions, he doesn't need an actual green card to apply for a passport and - according to the USCIS's own announcement - that Immigrant Fee is not for legal PR status in the first year - BUT now they have added that it is for "maintenance of the immigrant visa package"!!! So - as I had also predicted, they will find a way to collect this fee from us.

[SerenityNOW 11]

Question for you folks whose kids have already arrived: Did their SSNs arrive automatically in the mail? We were under the impression that because we ticked the box on the DS-230, requesting it to be sent that it would be (as it was for my husband), and that is also what we were told at POE.

Last night my husband was reading through the materials sent by the embassy with the visa package and there is a note that it will be automatically sent.... blah blah, UNLESS you are under 18 years old, in which case you have to go to a SS office.

We can certainly go to the office, but it's totally a pain in the butt and half a day wasted if we don't need to. Especially if we get there and they tell us it will be mailed to us.

[lucy4 11]

Question for you folks whose kids have already arrived: Did their SSNs arrive automatically in the mail? We were under the impression that because we ticked the box on the DS-230, requesting it to be sent that it would be (as it was for my husband), and that is also what we were told at POE.

Last night my husband was reading through the materials sent by the embassy with the visa package and there is a note that it will be automatically sent.... blah blah, UNLESS you are under 18 years old, in which case you have to go to a SS office.

We can certainly go to the office, but it's totally a pain in the butt and half a day wasted if we don't need to. Especially if we get there and they tell us it will be mailed to us.

Good question. Let me know the answer when you figure it out.

[katraska78 6]

After 61 days of not knowing what the heck was going on with our case, and having contacted everyone -except for the Presudent- we received an email from the NVC saying that they have received it. I called and -of course- they said they have it, but not on their system....I wonder how much longer will it take for them to generate a case number!!!!

[Worriedmominoc 0]

After 61 days of not knowing what the heck was going on with our case, and having contacted everyone -except for the Presudent- we received an email from the NVC saying that they have received it. I called and -of course- they said they have it, but not on their system....I wonder how much longer will it take for them to generate a case number!!!!

Hi KataandFreddy, . Nvc receive our case too last June 10, after 55 long days of waiting! Geez,!well, until now theres no case number, i called nvc everyday and the keep telling me to wait for 10-20 business days.!. Good luck to us.! And congrats to all the parents thats already done with their journey.(:

[ppihtr123 68]

Medical complete! Progress!

[Worriedmominoc 0]

Just finished called NVC, yay, case number assigned and invoice identification number assigned...

Now, finally moving forward.

[katraska78 6]

Just finished called NVC, yay, case number assigned and invoice identification number assigned...

Now, finally moving forward.

Just finished called NVC, yay, case number assigned and invoice identification number assigned...

Now, finally moving forward.

Really? Wow! Perhaps I should call tomorrow? I'm so happy for you! congrats!!!

[Worriedmominoc 0]

Thank you, Yes, keep calling, i didnt expect anything today coz they told me 10-20 bus days, i was so happy when the lady told me that yes case number assigned.good luck

[katraska78 6]

Thank you, Yes, keep calling, i didnt expect anything today coz they told me 10-20 bus days, i was so happy when the lady told me that yes case number assigned.good luck

Thanks! I'll keep you posted! Let me know how the rest of your journey go

[katraska78 6]

Yay!!! I called the NVC today (honestly, I thought it was pointless) but surprise, surprise! I got our case number, plus the IIN!!! Yay! We're so happy. I got home and I sent my son the Choice of Agent's email based on the template on the Wiki Guide. I really hope they send us an email saying they have accepted it, so we can go on the portal and pay, and send the packages, so we can move quicker than we had up until now!!!

[SerenityNOW 11]

Sort of a non-answer for the Social Security card question.... I had the info from the embassy saying that since my stepson is less than 18, we have to go to an SSA office. I called the SSA, waited on hold for the better part of an hour only to get someone who told me "Most likely..." we would have to go the office. So we did. Waited there for a while (not too bad, less than an hour) to be told that the SSN was issued on June 19 and should arrive in the mail in the next week. So, for anyone not in a big hurry to receive the card, you might as well wait as it will probably just show up, even for those under 18 years old.

BUT - there is usually a "but", right? - they messed up my stepson's name!! AAAAAAAAARGH. SSA said we have to correct it with USCIS. AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGH again! Can you imagine how hard this is going to be? THEN we have to go back to SSA to get the name on his SS card corrected.

What happened was that "immigration" (who exactly I am not sure, at the airport i assume, as his visa is correct) ran his first and middle names together, like "Johnjason" instead of "John Jason," or "John J." or just "John" (as it really should be for the FIRST name...). The woman at SSA was able to go in the system and change the first name to include a space and a capital letter, so like "John Jason" as the first name. Not sure how this is going to affect the passport application, as he doesn't have two first names, he has one first name and one middle name - not unusual at all .... not sure why it caused a problem...

Edited June 25, 2013 by SerenityNOW

[Worriedmominoc 0]

Thanks! I'll keep you posted! Let me know how the rest of your journey go

I did also email the ds3032 following the template today,i got an auto response. Hopefully they will accept it,.

And this afternoon, i got email from nvc for the aos invoice, so i did pay that,.. I actually thought that they had to accept your ds3032 before you can pay the aos, but i guess im wong. Right now is in process. Wondering how long do i have to wait for it to show paid.!

Anyway, good luck to us, im actually using i864w, my husband is the petitioner,(step dad) since im still a permanent resident when we submit the petition, i just had my interview/test for naturalization last june 24, i did passed but i still have to wait for my oath taking,..so i really dnt know if the i864w will work,

Keep me posted.

[katraska78 6]

I did also email the ds3032 following the template today,i got an auto response. Hopefully they will accept it,.

And this afternoon, i got email from nvc for the aos invoice, so i did pay that,.. I actually thought that they had to accept your ds3032 before you can pay the aos, but i guess im wong. Right now is in process. Wondering how long do i have to wait for it to show paid.!

Anyway, good luck to us, im actually using i864w, my husband is the petitioner,(step dad) since im still a permanent resident when we submit the petition, i just had my interview/test for naturalization last june 24, i did passed but i still have to wait for my oath taking,..so i really dnt know if the i864w will work,

Keep me posted.

I can't believe how much our cases resemble each other! I just signed in to the paying portal, and was able to pay the AOS bill. It says it will probably take 2-3 business days for it to show the "PAID" message. I'm going to check again tonight and tomorrow morning. Then I'll over-night the AOS package that I have sitting on my desk all ready . I'll keep you posted