NVC Question

[kelnjohn 3]

Hey Guys,

If someone would be so kind as to check out the following exert, which I took from the travel.state.gov website, and dumb it down a little (or a lot) for me, I would be ever so grateful.

How Do I Know if My Priority Date Meets the Most Recent Qualifying Date? And What Does That Mean?

If your Priority Date is earlier than the Qualifying Date for your visa class and your foreign state chargeability, your Priority Date meets the most recent Qualifying Date and your petition is ready to begin processing at the NVC. Learn more by reviewing the Visa Bulletin.

I actually found the Visa Bulletin equally as difficult to understand. For background on our process thus far, we are VERY early days, we sent in our petition to the USCIS on the 27th (ish) of July, it was received on the 3rd of August in Chicago, and was approved on the 17th of August. Not being impatient, was really just curious as to the 'normal' process times for the NVC to make their initial contact by mail to the petitioner/beneficiary. Just educating myself. Thanks for reading.

(Kel portion of kelnjohn)

[Thomas&Cleofe 358]

Well, let me put your mind at ease......your prority date means virtually nothing.

You are a citizen of the United States

Being a USC....there is an unlimited number of spousal visas available.

Your spouse will be qualified to apply for the visa as soon as all documents are submitted and reviewed at NVC.

[d434qte 1]

I dont think u r alone with not being able to understand the visa bulletin. I dont really think that u need that bulletin. I "think" its more for other visa class (non family). Of course i could be wrong. Once nvc gets ur case things move faster even though they say that any papers they receive from u take 20 days to process. As u can see in my timeline below we have been at nvc now for almost 2 months just waiting for interview date now.

[kelnjohn 3]

Thanks for enlightening me guys. One could lose their mind with all the crazy jargon, so it's fantastic having people to turn to. Anyway, MUCH appreciated. kel

[2HeartsR1 1]

Hey Guys,

If someone would be so kind as to check out the following exert, which I took from the travel.state.gov website, and dumb it down a little (or a lot) for me, I would be ever so grateful.

How Do I Know if My Priority Date Meets the Most Recent Qualifying Date? And What Does That Mean?

If your Priority Date is earlier than the Qualifying Date for your visa class and your foreign state chargeability, your Priority Date meets the most recent Qualifying Date and your petition is ready to begin processing at the NVC. Learn more by reviewing the Visa Bulletin.

I actually found the Visa Bulletin equally as difficult to understand. For background on our process thus far, we are VERY early days, we sent in our petition to the USCIS on the 27th (ish) of July, it was received on the 3rd of August in Chicago, and was approved on the 17th of August. Not being impatient, was really just curious as to the 'normal' process times for the NVC to make their initial contact by mail to the petitioner/beneficiary. Just educating myself. Thanks for reading.

(Kel portion of kelnjohn)

The priority date is the date that you filed your I-130 petition and I believe for the I-129f visa it is the same, but I am not 100% sure about the I-129f (if there is eve a priority date). Not understanding the process at the time I filed, I filed both the I-130 and I-129f. I have now received the NOA2 for both the I-130 and the I-129f. On the NOA2 for the I-130 there is a section listed as PRIORITY DATE and it is the date I originally filed the petition. On my NOA2 for the I-129f there is not a priority date listed. For non-family type visas, there is an allotted number given out for each country and for each type of visa which is where the priority date comes into play. Once the specified number of visas has been given out for a given year, those who applied and are still waiting have to wait until the next year. This does not apply to I-130 visas as those are not limited. I do not think that applies to I-129f's either, but I am not sure on that. The fact that your petition was received and approved in 13 days (if I understood you correctly) is utterly amazing, because it typically takes approximately 5 months give or take to get approved at USCIS. Did you get a NOA1 or a NOA2? If it is the NOA1 that just notifies you that your petition was received. If it is the NOA2 it will tell you if USCIS approved your petition, and if so Congratulations! Best wishes for the rest of your journey.

[kelnjohn 3]

The priority date is the date that you filed your I-130 petition and I believe for the I-129f visa it is the same, but I am not 100% sure about the I-129f (if there is eve a priority date). Not understanding the process at the time I filed, I filed both the I-130 and I-129f. I have now received the NOA2 for both the I-130 and the I-129f. On the NOA2 for the I-130 there is a section listed as PRIORITY DATE and it is the date I originally filed the petition. On my NOA2 for the I-129f there is not a priority date listed. For non-family type visas, there is an allotted number given out for each country and for each type of visa which is where the priority date comes into play. Once the specified number of visas has been given out for a given year, those who applied and are still waiting have to wait until the next year. This does not apply to I-130 visas as those are not limited. I do not think that applies to I-129f's either, but I am not sure on that. The fact that your petition was received and approved in 13 days (if I understood you correctly) is utterly amazing, because it typically takes approximately 5 months give or take to get approved at USCIS. Did you get a NOA1 or a NOA2? If it is the NOA1 that just notifies you that your petition was received. If it is the NOA2 it will tell you if USCIS approved your petition, and if so Congratulations! Best wishes for the rest of your journey.

Thank you so much for the welcomed response, and also the well wishes. We got our first communication from the USCIS which included a receipt number for the monies paid. We registered on the USCIS site, and when we logged in on the 17th it said it our petition had been approved. We were super dubious because we too had heard it takes months to get through this part of the process. We then just this past friday (new zealand friday, so a day ahead of the U.S) received in the mail a very formal looking letter which confirmed the approval, and advised our petition had been sent to the NVC in New Hampshire. Perhaps now our process will slow down to a snail pace because we got the first step completed in record time. :/ (i selfishly hope not but it seems only fair that I experience the lengthy wait now, given others wait months for the NOA1 to be approved)

Best of luck to you with your journey too. Thanks again for the response