Wait...what????

[Glyn and Kathy 288]

So, we filed our I-130 by DCF in London back in April. Received notification by email that our petition had arrived...essentially saying "The Petition(s) for Alien Relative (I-130) that you recently submitted to this office has been

received and filed on April 19, 2013." Then it went on to state that the current processing time for the I130 is 3 months. Never got anything in the mail...until today when I received notice of approval of Relative Immigrant Visa Petition....and that our petition has now been forwarded to the Consulate. Did I miss something? Or did I just think I read three months because its been less than 1. Is this our NOA1 or NOA2??? So lost

[TexasHoldEm 0]

Hi there,

yes you received NOA2 here. I am also going through the London DFC and got approved on April 30th. Now waiting for NOA3 which is Packet 3. It will take 4-5 weeks, still havent gotten mine!

Once you get your next letter (you wont have to do anything at this stage) you have your case number and can book your medical.

Good luck!

[Glyn and Kathy 288]

Wow, that's great! I totally wasn't expecting it this quickly. Guess we'd better send off for hubby's police certificate Thanks for your help!

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Hi there,

yes you received NOA2 here. I am also going through the London DFC and got approved on April 30th. Now waiting for NOA3 which is Packet 3. It will take 4-5 weeks, still havent gotten mine!

Once you get your next letter (you wont have to do anything at this stage) you have your case number and can book your medical.

Good luck!

Wow, that's great! I totally wasn't expecting it this quickly. Guess we'd better send off for hubby's police certificate Thanks for your help!

I have a random question. Have you tried calling DOS to find out your LNDXXXX case number? No clue if they would find you by name since you didn't get the traditional USCIS case number. Probably too soon for Kathy. Just curious if it would be possible to get the number before the letter arrives. I guess London generates the number, so that would have to be done before it would show up on DOS computers. It's kinda like K1s calling NVC and getting their LND number so they can book the medical. Calling DOS works too for K1s. I was curious if DCFs ever thought about trying it. Edited May 15, 2013 by Nich-Nick

[TexasHoldEm 0]

Yes I have tried calling the embassy.

What you get when you do DCF is this: the London Embassy does not generate the Case Numbers, it is USCIS back in the US that does that. They send the number over to LND and they put it in their system then send you the packet 3.

You can try calling them weekly for an update, but I have been calling for 3 weeks now and they are still saying they have not received the number from USCIS yet because it is in transit between the US and the UK. But they are really nice and tell you to call back next week for an update.

Really you are only saving a few days possibly as once the embassy gets the number, they send out the packet 3 within 1 day.

I see what you mean though: This is also my intention of calling weekly as I want to get the medical done and over with, which you can only do with your case number.

After that I am unsure how long it takes to get an interview, but I have seen most DCFers here have it within 10 days of the medical, most much earlier than that.

DCF really is much much quicker than regular filing so far I must say.

About 2 weeks after filing the initial petition I filed a request to expedite and got approved the next day. The only thing taking so long is now waiting for the case number.

Scary though because they could still delay you at your interview when you are sooo close to getting your visa in hand if they dont like your docs such as the affidavit, which we do not send in before the interview. Scary Scary!! This is the part I worry most about!!

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Calling the embassy is expensive. I meant the Dept of State in the US. It's free for them to answer the phone and talk to you. Wonder why they said they are getting a number from USCIS. The USCIS doesn't generate the LND case numbers. It's a Dept of State case number. USCIS generates EAC or WAC numbers for petitions filed in the US. When they approve and hand off to NVC, it's in the hands of the DOS, and a new case number issued.

[TexasHoldEm 0]

We are inside the UK and calling the embassy is not very expensive. It only becomes an extortion line when youre outside the country.

I dont think the case number is generated by the department of state, as the application apparently never leaves the UK if it is made via DCF (NOT what I thought previously!! - Called the embassy again this evening for my weekly update and asked ) - it gets processed by the USCIS field office in London, then transferred to the embassy. This process is the thing we are all waiting on at the moment, it can take up to 5 weeks. But because they are in the same building and use the same computer system, it is not advisable to try to call the USCIS field office instead of the embassy (so my friendly scottish customer advisor told me).

So basically, keep calling the embassy (it's the 0900 number, not the 020 number), hit extension 3 right away and my calls never last longer than 2 minutes and I never get placed in a queue so....

good luck!

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

My confusion--

You said

1. they are still saying they have not received the number from USCIS yet because it is in transit between the US and the UK.

2. I dont think the case number is generated by the department of state, as the application apparently never leaves the UK

?????? What is in transit between the US and UK if nothing happens outside the UK?

I understand how DCF works. USCIS field office in London has office space at the embassy building. They are not part of the embassy. They are under two separate government agencies. USCIS approves the petition then hands off to the Immigrant Visa Unit, where you apply for a visa and interview.

USCIS (petitions), Customs & Border Patrol, ICE >> Dept of Homeland Security

NVC, embassy, consulates (visas) >> Dept of State

Anyway, I was only curious if anybody had ever contacted DOS and gotten information. Sounds like that would be a "no".

[TexasHoldEm 0]

Like I said, I PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT the case number would come from the US.

Now, after calling the embassy, I was informed the USCIS in London does in fact do the processing.

So I do not know of any DCFers calling the DOS - does anyone else know? Would be of interest to me too, what sort of information they have for DCF filers.