Welcome Letter Step by Step

[danielenglish 3]

Hi everyone!

After having answered in another thread I thought that opening a new - dedicated - topic wouldn't hurt since I am desperately seeking for information.

I am the petitioner for my wife's FB2A and her PD is april 09 2014.

AS you know, the NVC has recently started to send the welcome letter and I received mine three days ago.

Although I am still not able to pay the AOS fee, I would really love to start gathering and organizing all the documents the NVC asks in the welcome letter because some of them may be difficult to get especially because both me and my wife currently live in a different country from the one we were born (I am in the US and she is in England).

On this regard, if I am pretty sure that all the documents listed in the "FINANCIAL DOCUMENTS" of the welcome letter apply to me (I am the petitioner and therefore the burden of proof that I am able to economically support my wife is on me), I am not as sure about the documents named under the "SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS" 's part of the above mentioned letter.

My big question is: do these documents (for example: birht certificates, police certificates and so forth) apply to me, my wife or both of us?

Like I said, we do not live in our country of origin and getting some document may take a lot of time...

If you guys are so kind to clarify this matter for me I would extremely appreciate because I feel a lot of pressure on me right now and I just want to help things to go fast (and not to get them stuck) and I cannot wait to have my wife with me after such a long wait.

I believe that breaking down the required documents mentioned in the welcome letter would be of huge help for anyone who is dealing with this frustrating process by him/herself.

Thank you, a lot, in advance from the bottom of my heart.

Daniele

Edited May 22, 2015 by danielenglish

[brits1998 3]

The Supporting documents are for your wife (beneficiary). So her Birth Certificate, Police Record, etc. The NVC stage is really about the beneficiary and not the petitioner. Even the Financial Documents are really for you to prove you can support your beneficiary so that she won't be a charge on the state (US Economy).

[brits1998 3]

It can be very daunting so just relax and take your time and complete your stuff thoroughly and this will in turn hopefully avoid checklist from NVC that will delay your case. Also, take a look at the following link as it's very helpful.

http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/EZGuideSpouse

[danielenglish 3]

brits 1998, thanks a lot for your answer

I have just read the guide you linked.

I am pretty fine with the Financial Documents I have to collect but am a little bit confused about the Supporting Documents my wife needs to gather.

The first thing that makes me unsure is that my wife is from Iran - where she lived until she was 17yo, then moved to Italy - where she lived 12 years (also getting the italian citizenship) and, most recently, moved to England where she has been living for 1 year and half now.

That said, I am wondering whether or not she must provide some document (for example the Police Certificate) from all the three mentioned countries.

Do you guys know what we need to do about that?

As you can imagine, from the answer of my question depends the lenght of the whole process because getting some document may be not that easy for her.

The other thing is that I am not sure what some document - listed in the Supporting Documents's part of the welcome letter - means.

For example: 1) "Court and prison record" --> thankfully, my wife has never had issue with the law and therefore I am wondering if such a document applies to her; 2) "Police certificate" --> I believe that - unlike the "Court and prison record" - this document can be requested regardless of having had problem with the justice. Is that correct? 3) "Petitoner Documents" --> which kind of document about me does she need to send to NVC ? (in the welcome letter that is not said).

As you can see, I still do not have the situation clear and - although I will follow your suggestion (I will take my time and complete all the documents the best as I can) - I would love not to make any mistake due tue misunderstanding..

If you guys can help me with that I would really, really, appreciate.

Thank you!!

[yleniuccia89 1]

brits 1998, thanks a lot for your answer

I have just read the guide you linked.

I am pretty fine with the Financial Documents I have to collect but am a little bit confused about the Supporting Documents my wife needs to gather.

The first thing that makes me unsure is that my wife is from Iran - where she lived until she was 17yo, then moved to Italy - where she lived 12 years (also getting the italian citizenship) and, most recently, moved to England where she has been living for 1 year and half now.

That said, I am wondering whether or not she must provide some document (for example the Police Certificate) from all the three mentioned countries.

Do you guys know what we need to do about that?

As you can imagine, from the answer of my question depends the lenght of the whole process because getting some document may be not that easy for her.

The other thing is that I am not sure what some document - listed in the Supporting Documents's part of the welcome letter - means.

For example: 1) "Court and prison record" --> thankfully, my wife has never had issue with the law and therefore I am wondering if such a document applies to her; 2) "Police certificate" --> I believe that - unlike the "Court and prison record" - this document can be requested regardless of having had problem with the justice. Is that correct? 3) "Petitoner Documents" --> which kind of document about me does she need to send to NVC ? (in the welcome letter that is not said).

As you can see, I still do not have the situation clear and - although I will follow your suggestion (I will take my time and complete all the documents the best as I can) - I would love not to make any mistake due tue misunderstanding..

If you guys can help me with that I would really, really, appreciate.

Thank you!!

Hi Daniel, this is exactly the same thing as when you win the lottery (or when you apply for a fiance visa). For the Police certificates you have to submit the "Casellario Giudiziale generale" and "Certificato dei carichi pendenti" and you have to request one for every State she has lived for more than one year, from when she was 16 years old. So in her case you need one from Iran, one from Italy and one from England.

The court and prison records are required ONLY if she's been convicted so you do not need to provide it.

You can find these info here http://italy.usembassy.gov/visa/iv/application.html#prc

Ylenia

Edited May 23, 2015 by yleniuccia89

[danielenglish 3]

Hi Daniel, this is exactly the same thing as when you win the lottery (or when you apply for a fiance visa). For the Police certificates you have to submit the "Casellario Giudiziale generale" and "Certificato dei carichi pendenti" and you have to request one for every State she has lived for more than one year, from when she was 16 years old. So in her case you need one from Iran, one from Italy and one from England.

The court and prison records are required ONLY if she's been convicted so you do not need to provide it.

You can find these info here http://italy.usembassy.gov/visa/iv/application.html#prc

Ylenia

Thanks a lot Ylenia, it's been very kind of you!!

So now, the only thing I would like to know is what they mean by "Petitioner Document" and.."Photocopies".

And in fact, although "Photocopies" may be pretty much self explanatory, I am wondering if they are referring to a photocopy of some specific document or just in general.

Speaking of which, do you guys know if the fact they only say "Marriage Certificate" means they require the original or a photocopy may be enough?

I am asking that because I clearly remember when I sent the documents to the USCIS, I did send a photocpy and not the original.

Is this case different?

Thank you for contributing in this!

[KiritoW 3]

You don't have to send the original documents to NVC anymore , you are required to bring the original documents when you have visa interview.

[danielenglish 3]

KiritoW, thank you for the clarification!

Does it mean that by "photocopies" they just mean those I will make for the: passport, birth certificate, marriage certificate and police certificate?

Plus, do you guys know what they mean by "Petitioner Document"?

Do they refer to the documents I will include in the AOS package or they mean something else?

Thanks a lot!!

[danielenglish 3]

Hi guys,

After having been helped by (very kind!) members of VJ, I have the situation much clearer and thought that doing a kind of "recap" may be helpful for those that are on the same boat, dealing by themselves with a frustrating process and I also would like to ask you some other clarification

Let's start saying that I am still not able to pay the AOS fee and this makes me wonder a lot.

1) How can be possible that such an important issue with the system has not been fixed yet?

Under these circumstances, is sending the money by mail (cashiers check or money order) our only viable option?

If so, is "NVC Fee Processing Center P.O. Box 790136 St. Louis, MO 63179-0136" the right address?

2) About the "Financial Documents", the only thing I am still uncertain (but it is probably due to the fact of being a bit paranohid) is that I won't be able to send the tax return for the "three most recent tax years".

Like some of you would remember, I started working only in october 2014 and therefore I have just filed the tax return for the 2014 so far.

However, on this regard on VJ I was told that the "either just the last year OR the last 3 years of tax information of petitioner may be sent" (thing that has been confirmed by USCIS).

2) IRS Tax Transcript: I sent a mail three weeks ago to the IRS of the city I live but have not received an answer yet.

The mail got probably lost or they sent it to the old address; I have already re-sent the mail but I would like to know if some of you guys got the Tax Transcript online (someone told me it is the same).

The other doubt I had while filling the I-864EZ was with questions number 18 (entry the gross income before taxes) and 19 (put the total gross income).

3) With regard to form I-864EZ, all of you strongly suggest to fill each gap, although not applicable.

However, there are lines that there is no way I can fill; for example the part about the immigrant I am sponsoring.

My wife does not have Social Security Number and Alien Registration Number; what am I supposed to do here?

Leave it blank or writing "N/A" by hands?

4) Once I will have all the documents (it is going to take me some time, especially for the "Police Certificate" that my wife must get from three different countries), does it matter if she (that is in England) sends everything to me and then I send the entire envelope (with the 2 packages) to the NVC?

Somewhere in the forum I have read that "it doesn't matter where the package is sent from (either in the US or abroad). As long as NVC receives it, that's all they care about" but I would love to receive a confirmation from you

Thank you!!

[milimelo 4,481]

Given that PDs from OCT 2013 are only getting interviews in June, not quite sure what's the rush to get the paperwork in.

Hold off on it until later in the year to get started. The police certificates do have expiration dates so you may be in the situation to have to get new documents when she finally has her interview date. Same goes for your I-864(EZ) - you can do it now but you will have to re-do it come interview time especially if she interviews around Feb or later in 2016.

You do know you can get your tax transcripts off of irs.gov after you set up your log in?

[danielenglish 3]

Given that PDs from OCT 2013 are only getting interviews in June, not quite sure what's the rush to get the paperwork in.

Hold off on it until later in the year to get started. The police certificates do have expiration dates so you may be in the situation to have to get new documents when she finally has her interview date. Same goes for your I-864(EZ) - you can do it now but you will have to re-do it come interview time especially if she interviews around Feb or later in 2016.

You do know you can get your tax transcripts off of irs.gov after you set up your log in?

Hi milimelo, thank you for your reply.

You actually hit on a good point because I was thinking quite the same.

And in fact, these days (where I feel such a pressure on me), I am wondering what changes - in term of lenght of the process - if I send the NVC all the documents in one week or in two months.

I believe that the only difference is in case one gets a checklist because the sooner you send the documents the more time you have to resend and let the process going BUT other than that I am really not sure what is the advantage of rushing.

With regard to the Police Records, you are right, they have an expiration; however, I need to send them to the NVC - regardless of the interview.

I mean, like you said, if the interview will be scheduled for the end of the year 2015 or the beginning of 2016, I will request updated Police Certificate BUT I still need to send those certificates to NVC..

I did not know I can get my transcript after I set up a log in; thank you!