I-797 notice of action

[microcse1 1]

Good Day All,

I submitted an I-130 for for my Mom and my two brothers back in 2012, and I never heard from USCIS till yesterday, they sent me three I-797 notice of action saying " The above petition has been approved. We have sent the original petition to the Department of State National Visa Center.(NVC), 32 Rochester ave, Portsmouth, NH 03801-2909. NVC processes all approved immigrant visa petitions that need consular action. It also determines which consular post is the appropriate consulate to complete visa processing. The NVC will contact the person for whom you are petitioning (beneficiary concerning further immigrant visa processing steps.."

my questions:

- what is my next step ?

- is there any other forms that I need to submit ? and what is the cost ?

- my mother is in the US for a visit, does she has to go back to the original country and finish the process or start it from the US?

- my brothers are not in the US, they did not receive anything yet from USCIS, do they have to contact the consulate?

Thank you for your time responding to my question.

Regards,

Sam

[dwheels76 5,468]

Good Day All,

I submitted an I-130 for for my Mom and my two brothers back in 2012, and I never heard from USCIS till yesterday, they sent me three I-797 notice of action saying " The above petition has been approved. We have sent the original petition to the Department of State National Visa Center.(NVC), 32 Rochester ave, Portsmouth, NH 03801-2909. NVC processes all approved immigrant visa petitions that need consular action. It also determines which consular post is the appropriate consulate to complete visa processing. The NVC will contact the person for whom you are petitioning (beneficiary concerning further immigrant visa processing steps.."

my questions:

- what is my next step ?

- is there any other forms that I need to submit ? and what is the cost ?

- my mother is in the US for a visit, does she has to go back to the original country and finish the process or start it from the US?

- my brothers are not in the US, they did not receive anything yet from USCIS, do they have to contact the consulate?

Thank you for your time responding to my question.

Regards,

Sam

Well first congratulations on such a speedy petition for your family.

- what is my next step ? Now you have some reading to do. Here is the wonderful NVC Process Wiki. While your petitions make their way to NVC read up. http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/NVC_Process

- is there any other forms that I need to submit ? http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/NVC_Process

and what is the cost ? $88 covers all 3 petitions for the Affidavit of support and $230 for each Immigration Application so that's 3.

- my mother is in the US for a visit, does she has to go back to the original country and finish the process or start it from the US? She has to go back yes

- my brothers are not in the US, they did not receive anything yet from USCIS, do they have to contact the consulate? Why would they receive anything? You said you got 3 approvals that comes to you because you are the petitioner.

Read the NVC Wiki so you can start getting all your documents together. You have 3 packages to prepare so you have some work to do.

[Ian H. 207]

Did you file for your mother and brothers separately or in one petition? If your brothers are minors and you included them in your mom's petition, they wouldn't be able to immigrate because parents of USC aren't allowed to bring derivatives. If you file for them separately and they were all approved, you could only bring your mother at this time, because the priority dates are not current for the siblings of USC. Could you please clarify?

[microcse1 1]

Dwheels76,

I can't thank you enough for the speedy answer. I will go over the links that you provided and get the stuff ready.

Once again thank you

Sam

Well first congratulations on such a speedy petition for your family.

- what is my next step ? Now you have some reading to do. Here is the wonderful NVC Process Wiki. While your petitions make their way to NVC read up. http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/NVC_Process

- is there any other forms that I need to submit ? http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/NVC_Process

and what is the cost ? $88 covers all 3 petitions for the Affidavit of support and $230 for each Immigration Application so that's 3.

- my mother is in the US for a visit, does she has to go back to the original country and finish the process or start it from the US? She has to go back yes

- my brothers are not in the US, they did not receive anything yet from USCIS, do they have to contact the consulate? Why would they receive anything? You said you got 3 approvals that comes to you because you are the petitioner.

Read the NVC Wiki so you can start getting all your documents together. You have 3 packages to prepare so you have some work to do.

[microcse1 1]

I filed a petition for each one of them, if their cases are approved why my brothers have to wait? if the priority dates are not current for my brothers, why did they approve the petition ?

Did you file for your mother and brothers separately or in one petition? If your brothers are minors and you included them in your mom's petition, they wouldn't be able to immigrate because parents of USC aren't allowed to bring derivatives. If you file for them separately and they were all approved, you could only bring your mother at this time, because the priority dates are not current for the siblings of USC. Could you please clarify?

[Ian H. 207]

They don't always approve the petition based on the priority dates for family preference categories. For example, my LPR cousin petitioned her husband and it took 2 years for them to approve the petition because the priority dates for spouses of LPR's was taking 2 years. They could have taken 6 months, 9 months, or even a year to approve the petition. If they would have taken less than 2 years, her husband wouldn't have been able to continue with the NVC process until his priority date became current.

According to a USCIS rep I spoke with one time, they do this to process petitions of immediate family members faster since it was unnecessary to process petitions which didn't have current priority dates before those of immediate relatives of USC's.

Since you petitioned your mom back in 2012, it shouldn't have taken that long, but it's probable that the CA service center is backlogged. She doesn't have to wait for a visa to be available, therefore she can proceed with the NVC process.

Your brothers, unfortunately would have to wait until their dates become current and that is taking 11 years currently, much longer if they're from a country subject to the per country quotas.

However, there is a faster way for your brothers to come and plenty of people do it this way. Rather than petitioning for your brothers directly, your mother can petition for them as soon as she enters the US as an LPR. If they are over 21, it is taking about 7 years, longer if they are from one of the oversubscribed countries. If they are under 21, it would take about 2 years.

This would of course results in two more petitions being filed with a fee of $420 each, but it would be faster than if you petitioned for them yourself. I would have your mother file those petitions if it means having your brothers here several years sooner. It doesn't matter that you already petitioned them for your mother to be able to do so.

One last thing, if your brothers are married then your mother wouldn't be able to petition them unless she is a USC, which would take much longer. If that's the case I would just wait for the dates to become current and bring them as siblings, that way they can bring their spouses and minor children.

I'm sorry that you were under the wrong impression. I know it's frustrating being away from your family for so long, especially when you thought that they were able to proceed with the immigration process so soon.

I filed a petition for each one of them, if their cases are approved why my brothers have to wait? if the priority dates are not current for my brothers, why did they approve the petition ?

[Ian H. 207]

Also, I forgot to mention, it is better for your mother to apply for the immigrant visa abroad than to adjust status. It makes the process much smoother because USCIS frowns upon adjusting status under a tourist visa.

[microcse1 1]

IanHalliwell186, Thank you for your input,

I just want to inform you that I called once the USCIS trying to get the status of my mother's petition and why it is taking so long, I have been told that I have to prove that she is actually my mother, so I mailed them a translated birth certificate, and also I asked them if they can speed up the process for my brothers petition, they told me that is not possible and it might take them over ten years just to approve it. but I received three letters this week from USCIS approving all three cases, I guess the case cannot be approved unless there is an available visa .

your thought

Regards,

Sam

Also, I forgot to mention, it is better for your mother to apply for the immigrant visa abroad than to adjust status. It makes the process much smoother because USCIS frowns upon adjusting status under a tourist visa.

[Ian H. 207]

I just want to clarify, the availability of the visa has nothing to do with your petition being approved or not. They verify that a family relationship exists between you and them with the documentation that they require. Once they do that, the petition is then approved.

However, even though there is no visa available for your brothers now, their petitions were already approved by USCIS and they will be able to continue the immigration process when their priority date becomes current. The NVC will hold your brothers' petitions until visas are available for them.

You just have to make sure you notify the NVC of any address changes you or your brothers have so that you can be notified when their cases are ready to continue processing.

Like I said before, your mother can always petition them when she becomes an LPR as long as they are not married, that way the process can be several years faster. Also, remember to keep track of the priority dates in the visa bulletin.You're welcome and I'm glad to help!

IanHalliwell186, Thank you for your input,

I just want to inform you that I called once the USCIS trying to get the status of my mother's petition and why it is taking so long, I have been told that I have to prove that she is actually my mother, so I mailed them a translated birth certificate, and also I asked them if they can speed up the process for my brothers petition, they told me that is not possible and it might take them over ten years just to approve it. but I received three letters this week from USCIS approving all three cases, I guess the case cannot be approved unless there is an available visa .

your thought

Regards,

Sam