Paying IV Fees by Mail - Is This Really My Only Option Right Now?

[timpoong27 5]

on the application for the crba you have to list all the years you've been in the U.S., yes your correct you don't have to petition the baby but you do need to meet a few requirements to pass your U.S. citizenship onto the baby it's not a just "oh I'm a U.S. Citizen so my baby has to be",

Link for general info on it http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/abroad/events-and-records/birth.html

It is true, glad to know more about this. Thank you.

[timpoong27 5]

yeah exactly what I mentioned, only one parent is a U.S. Citizen in this case so gotta prove the 5 years .

yeah but in this case am sure he is 5 yrs already since to be a US Citizen u need to stay 5 yrs here in the US. It also says even not 5 yrs even just a month as long as you prove to them that you are not just visiting in the US (if you are a US Citizne already). It depends on the circumstances about proving .

[judesky1 6]

Just reading all this have given me lots of information i cudnt find for months about this situation. Really glad i have you guys and visa family although some explanations are a bit confusing but i have been in the U.S for 5 years i do visit Nigeria is the past 5 years i have been in the U.S but the longest i stayed out of the U.S is 1 month and i have only been to Nigeria 3 times the rest has been jus 3 weeks because i go over there to visit my wife and family. So in my situation i have been living in the U.S for 5 years now and i came into the country tru diversity visa lottery which gives you permanent residence after 5 years you re now eligible to apply for citizenship which is were I'm at now...really appreciate all the cobtributions Atleast now i do know there's a great chance our baby will make it tru and i really do hope so.i am just confused with the family derivatives which i honestly didn't quite understand what it means...

[judesky1 6]

I have visited Nigeria 3 times since i migrated to the U.S in 2010 and i hav visited Nigeria 3 times since then one the first visit in 2012 i spent 1month the remaining two times were just 3weeks. Although this re some of the things they look up before U'r qualified for the citizenship process...

[timpoong27 5]

Just reading all this have given me lots of information i cudnt find for months about this situation. Really glad i have you guys and visa family although some explanations are a bit confusing but i have been in the U.S for 5 years i do visit Nigeria is the past 5 years i have been in the U.S but the longest i stayed out of the U.S is 1 month and i have only been to Nigeria 3 times the rest has been jus 3 weeks because i go over there to visit my wife and family. So in my situation i have been living in the U.S for 5 years now and i came into the country tru diversity visa lottery which gives you permanent residence after 5 years you re now eligible to apply for citizenship which is were I'm at now...really appreciate all the cobtributions Atleast now i do know there's a great chance our baby will make it tru and i really do hope so.i am just confused with the family derivatives which i honestly didn't quite understand what it means...

When Children Can Immigrate to the U.S. With Their Parents, as "Derivatives"

The usual first step to getting U.S. lawful permanent resident (LPR) status is that a relative or employer completes a visa petition showing that the necessary family or employment relationship exists between the “petitioner” (the U.S. relative or employer) and the “beneficiary” (the person who wants LPR status).

But what if the beneficiary has children who also need or want LPR status? When and how can those children do so? The answer is not the same in every case. Sometimes, children can be included by naming them on their parent's visa petition (if they qualify as "derivatives"); and sometimes not, as described in this article.

Which Form Is Used for the Initial Visa Petition

The visa petition that starts the immigration process must be submitted on Form I-130 if it is a family-based case and on Form I-140 if it is a employment-based case. See "The Visa Petition: First Step for Family and Employment Green Cards" for details.

Different Types of Beneficiaries

Children can immigrate (or adjust status) at the same time as a parent if the child is eligible for an immigrant visa as either a:

• “derivative beneficiary” of a visa petition that was filed for his or her parent (in which case, the parent is known as the “lead beneficiary"); or
• “lead beneficiary” in his or her own right, if a petition was filed for the child directly.

When Children Can Immigrate as Derivative Beneficiaries

A child can be a derivative beneficiary if two requirements are met. First, the son or daughter has to qualify as a child under U.S. immigration law. Broadly speaking, this means the child is unmarried, under age 21, and either a biological, adopted, or step-child.

Second, the parent (the “lead beneficiary”) must be eligible for a type of immigrant visa that allows for “derivative beneficiaries,” meaning relatives who have the right to “accompany or follow to join” the lead beneficiary. The law allows derivative beneficiaries to receive LPR status because of their relationship with the lead beneficiary rather than their relationship with the petitioner.

Fortunately, figuring out whether a relative is eligible for a type of immigrant visa that allows for derivative beneficiaries is simple, because only one immigrant visa category does not do so: the so-called “immediate relative” category. The “immediate relative” category includes a U.S. citizen's parents, spouse, and unmarried children under 21 years of age. (For more information about these categories, see "Green Card Through a U.S. Family Member: Who Qualifies?"). So, people who immigrate in the first, second, third, or fourth visa preference categories can bring their unmarried children along.

The key thing to understand if a parent is immigrating in an immediate relative category is that any children will need separate visa petitions filed on their behalf -- and therefore will need to establish a direct family relationship with the petitioner. But if an employer or LPR spouse is the petitioner, a single I-140 for the employee or I-130 for the spouse will cover both parent and children.

What Happens When an LPR Petitioner Becomes a U.S. Citizen?

As mentioned above, an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen cannot bring derivative children when immigrating. But what if an LPR is thinking about becoming a U.S. citizen after he or she has already filed a petition for someone -- most likely a spouse -- who wants to bring his or her children as derivatives?

If, in this example, the LPR becomes a U.S. citizen, the immigrating spouse would become an immediate relative and would not be able to bring derivative children. Therefore, before going forward with an application for U.S. citizenship, the LPR and spouse would first need to figure out whether another way exists for the children to qualify for an immigrant visa.

The children might still qualify if, for example, the couple got married before the children turned 18, so that they qualify directly as the U.S. citizen's stepchild. In such a situation, the new U.S. citizen could simply file separate I-130s on each child's behalf. Then again, if a child was 19 when the parents got married, that child is not a stepchild, and would most likely have to wait until the immigrating parent files an I-130 on his or her behalf in the second preference category (subject to long waits, due to annual limits on visa allocations). See "Getting a Family-Based Green Card" for more information.

[judesky1 6]

Yes i can provide passport and stamps of evry trip with the travel dates.hopefully i get through it if the situation arises...

As for the ds260 i called and a supervisor still said the same thing to wait but then she said she forwarded my case to a supervisor so my advice is just make a call and see if the also do the same i really dont know what will come from it but u never know all the same we just have to wait...i know at some point we will get pass this stage...

[amna-h 7]

So i called NVC again today.. and this time i got a nice lady though she said almost the same things but in a more human and polite way. She said that i should pay the IV fee by mail and that it would take 21 days to process once they receive it and then they will open DS260 for me. But i still insisted if it is possible for her or her supervisor to connect with their tech support to manually fix open iv fee and ds260 for me because my priority date is going to be current in august and it is urgent! She said sorry and that it wont be possible to pay online right now and that i should mail it. So i thought that since its already going to be 2 weeks since i got the iv invoice and if i wait 2 more weeks maybe the option to pay online would be available for me and better yet the ds260 would unlock itself..same thing as waiting 21 days for them to process by mail with the risk of not having it to show as 'paid' on the website :/

I also asked her if she can give me an update on my case being reviewed. She said wait a moment, and then got back to me and said that yeah we are just waiting for your fee and ds260 form.
Im assuming that it means everything is okay with my docs hopefully!

Does calling again n again help?? Im panicking because some of the F2A applicants of dec 2013 P.D have received IL and here i am not being able to pay the fees even

[Morganalmonshid94 84]

Yes i can provide passport and stamps of evry trip with the travel dates.hopefully i get through it if the situation arises...

As for the ds260 i called and a supervisor still said the same thing to wait but then she said she forwarded my case to a supervisor so my advice is just make a call and see if the also do the same i really dont know what will come from it but u never know all the same we just have to wait...i know at some point we will get pass this stage...

you should be ok even if it's slightly under 5 years because of a few short trips .

[sam19866 2]

So i called NVC again today.. and this time i got a nice lady though she said almost the same things but in a more human and polite way. She said that i should pay the IV fee by mail and that it would take 21 days to process once they receive it and then they will open DS260 for me. But i still insisted if it is possible for her or her supervisor to connect with their tech support to manually fix open iv fee and ds260 for me because my priority date is going to be current in august and it is urgent! She said sorry and that it wont be possible to pay online right now and that i should mail it. So i thought that since its already going to be 2 weeks since i got the iv invoice and if i wait 2 more weeks maybe the option to pay online would be available for me and better yet the ds260 would unlock itself..same thing as waiting 21 days for them to process by mail with the risk of not having it to show as 'paid' on the website :/

I also asked her if she can give me an update on my case being reviewed. She said wait a moment, and then got back to me and said that yeah we are just waiting for your fee and ds260 form.

Im assuming that it means everything is okay with my docs hopefully!

Does calling again n again help?? Im panicking because some of the F2A applicants of dec 2013 P.D have received IL and here i am not being able to pay the fees even

as what happened with me nothing take 21 days as its breakdown on the system ....don't pay by mail wait for online it will take one month to get able to pay the fee

just as advice its depend for you and check with other member also

good luck ....

[Doomer15 0]

Hi. It really will do no good to keep calling except that it makes one feel better to have done something. I have called probably 50 times in the last 2.5 months and still have a lost case and the inability to access a DS-260 for another case. I talked to a tech at the State dept. phone number and was told that it is not possible to manually reset the website in order to access the DS-260. The NVC personnel are very good at putting off everyone by promising 10 days, 14 days, 30 days whatever. Actually there is no known fix date at this time for the website. Very depressing. I paid by mail and my check cleared in 5 days but that didn't help the ability to access the DS-260. The case I had that actually made it past the DS-260 was only because I had called to check on the DS-261 choice of agent which I had thought been processed wrong by the looks of it. The supervisor said she would redo the choice electronically and the electronic pay ability was restored. I quickly paid online as I was afraid I would never see that choice again and it worked! Unfortunately it has not worked for my other case so it may be that it CAN be reset somehow manually and they are covering that up because of so many pending cases. Every day the list grows and they ARE keeping a list of cases which cannot access DS-260 according to the tech.

[judesky1 6]

@ morganalmonshid94... Thanks a lot. Its such a huge relief

[amna-h 7]

Just got a checklist email from NVC.. they just want my "IV Fee" and there was nothing else mentioned that is missing or incorrect. SAD. Probably if the website was working, i would have made the payment and complete ds260 week ago! And my case would have been complete instead of receiving this checklist NOT OUR FAULT! They should atleast be considerate not to send a checklist! And even if they do, they should not take 30 to 45 days to review it again!

So again, I am just going to wait now. Nothing else can be done.

[Laz 1]

Just checking. Has anybody had any luck accessing their IV Fee option online recently? I'm at 13 days since I received my IV Fee invoice and no luck yet.

[timpoong27 5]

same here no luck yet....

[tasakchy 9]

Nope. Still not able to pay and it's been about 11 days for me.