June 2016 I-130 filers

[phillamb168 19]

Hi everybody,

My wife and I have been married for 8 years, and have lived in France for ~7 years. We have three kids and a fourth on the way (all CRBA'd). I received a job offer back in the states that I couldn't turn down, and having naively thought that I could file through the French embassy, was thinking it would only be a few months to get her IR1. I do my due diligence and call USCIS directly to find out we have to file through Chicago. Which has wait times of up to six months, plus possibly another six months or more for NVC. I move to North Carolina in September, we sent our packet on the 2nd of June and it was signed for by J. Chyba yesterday, 6 June.

I included a cover letter explaining our situation, and am hoping that my being separated from my wife and four children (including a newborn) will help move the process forward. I included two A3 pages of photos, our CRBAs, marriage license and Hague convention Apostille, a letter from our current landlord (in English) verifying that we live together, copies of our Married Filing Jointly 1040s from 2010 through 2014, and a copy of my job acceptance letter from the State of North Carolina.

I also included the following note at the end:

My wife and I have been married for nearly eight years, and have never been apart for more than a few weeks. In addition, we have three children and a fourth due in July. Normally, we would have started this process well in advance of returning to the US, but I received a job offer (letter attached) from the State of North Carolina that was truly once-in-a-lifetime, and so we’ve not had much time to prepare.

I understand that processing times vary greatly and that this process is not intended to be an easy one - nothing worth doing is ever truly easy - but I would ask that you please keep in mind my separation from my wife and children and try to process this application in as timely a manner as possible.

My to-do list once I receive the NOA1:

• File I-129F for K-3
• After signing a lease in NC (and therefore having a valid US mailing address) contact both my Rep and Senator to ask them to expedite; follow-up at constituent breakfast in DC when possible
• Contact my high school classmate who is now an immigration aide for the Rep from my home district and ask for a favor in expediting

My question for the moment: Does the K-3 go through the same process (~4-5 months USCIS, 4-5 months NVC, 2-3 months consulate + interview) or does the process have fewer steps?

Thanks,

-pl

Edited June 7, 2016 by phillamb168

[Tanish 197]

Hiiiii all

Just got this email. What does this wording mean

"Your case has been accepted and routed to the USCIS Nebraska Service Center for processing. Within 7-10 days by standard mail you will receive your official Receipt Notice (Form I-797) with your Receipt Number LIN********"

Is this NOA1 or NOA2?

Thank you all

Congratulations!!!!

Wish you all the best. I wish all the procedures are completed ASAP.

Hello,

We received a text message and an email today stating they accepted our package and we will be getting a NOA1 within a few days. Our case number starts with LIN. We had originally filed a K-1 in February 2016 but just decided to get married as I may be moving back to Egypt through this process. I sent a withdrawal letter for the K-1 but I don't see online that they touched it yet....hope it doesn't cause any issues.

Best wishes everyone

Congratulations!!!!

Which Service Center was your K-1 case assigned to?

[Mrs. Wild 87]

Hi everybody,

My wife and I have been married for 8 years, and have lived in France for ~7 years. We have three kids and a fourth on the way (all CRBA'd). I received a job offer back in the states that I couldn't turn down, and having naively thought that I could file through the French embassy, was thinking it would only be a few months to get her IR1. I do my due diligence and call USCIS directly to find out we have to file through Chicago. Which has wait times of up to six months, plus possibly another six months or more for NVC. I move to North Carolina in September, we sent our packet on the 2nd of June and it was signed for by J. Chyba yesterday, 6 June.

I included a cover letter explaining our situation, and am hoping that my being separated from my wife and four children (including a newborn) will help move the process forward. I included two A3 pages of photos, our CRBAs, marriage license and Hague convention Apostille, a letter from our current landlord (in English) verifying that we live together, copies of our Married Filing Jointly 1040s from 2010 through 2014, and a copy of my job acceptance letter from the State of North Carolina.

I also included the following note at the end:

My wife and I have been married for nearly eight years, and have never been apart for more than a few weeks. In addition, we have three children and a fourth due in July. Normally, we would have started this process well in advance of returning to the US, but I received a job offer (letter attached) from the State of North Carolina that was truly once-in-a-lifetime, and so we’ve not had much time to prepare.

I understand that processing times vary greatly and that this process is not intended to be an easy one - nothing worth doing is ever truly easy - but I would ask that you please keep in mind my separation from my wife and children and try to process this application in as timely a manner as possible.

My to-do list once I receive the NOA1:

• File I-129F for K-3
• After signing a lease in NC (and therefore having a valid US mailing address) contact both my Rep and Senator to ask them to expedite; follow-up at constituent breakfast in DC when possible
• Contact my high school classmate who is now an immigration aide for the Rep from my home district and ask for a favor in expediting

My question for the moment: Does the K-3 go through the same process (~4-5 months USCIS, 4-5 months NVC, 2-3 months consulate + interview) or does the process have fewer steps?

Thanks,

-pl

Wishing you speedy processing! I do wish that length of marriage bumped cases up to be processed faster, it seems pretty reasonable to me! Congrats on the job offer!

[Exan 27]

Hello everyone

Packages sent on June 2nd

Delivery on June 4th to this Address

USCIS

Attn: I-130

1820 E. Skyharbor Circle S

Suite 100

Phoenix, AZ, 85034

Never receive any email and a receipt notice.

[Tanish 197]

Thank you!!!

Get it done ASAP. I regret the fact that I was checking, double checking and triple checking all the evidence I gathered to prove this long ongoing relationship I have that I wasted a month.

I wish you all the best!!!

Phew!!!!

Packet sent to USCIS at express delivery address. Expected time of delivery: June 10, 2016.

[Mrs. Wild 87]

Hello everyone

Packages sent on June 2nd

Delivery on June 4th to this Address

USCIS

Attn: I-130

1820 E. Skyharbor Circle S

Suite 100

Phoenix, AZ, 85034

Never receive any email and a receipt notice.

Did you send a personal check that you can see when they cash it from your account? Money orders and cashier's checks are harder to track. Either way, either Thursday or Friday, your payment method will clear. If you filled out the form for text/email notifications, you'll get one or the other the same day. If you didn't fill that form out (it was optional), it takes up to two weeks to get the hard copy of the NOA1. So you're well within in the time frame for that .

[Lupian1988 0]

Hi there! I'm sort of in between May + June for filing. We sent our packet on May 28th and it arrived at the lockbox on May 31st. So I'll probably get a June priority date.

Congrats on the baby!

[phillamb168 19]

Check looks like it was just withdrawn from my account - that's a good sign, right? Would they cash the check if my packet wasn't correct?

[Exan 27]

Did you send a personal check that you can see when they cash it from your account? Money orders and cashier's checks are harder to track. Either way, either Thursday or Friday, your payment method will clear. If you filled out the form for text/email notifications, you'll get one or the other the same day. If you didn't fill that form out (it was optional), it takes up to two weeks to get the hard copy of the NOA1. So you're well within in the time frame for that .

[Exan 27]

Hello guys

Yes I sent the notifications form, a personal check with the form I-130 and other supporting documents.

[Mrs. Wild 87]

Hello guys

Yes I sent the notifications form, a personal check with the form I-130 and other supporting documents.

Excellent! You'll be able to see when the personal check clears from your bank account. You should get an email/text either that day or within a couple of days of the check clearing.

[Mrs. Wild 87]

Check looks like it was just withdrawn from my account - that's a good sign, right? Would they cash the check if my packet wasn't correct?

The check being cashed usually follows the email/text notification that the packet was accepted, so I *think* the answer to this is technically yes. The lockbox staff has a checklist they use when going through the packet that initial time. If something is clearly missing (most importantly the payment form), the packet gets rejected immediately. But the packet could be missing important evidence and the fee would still be cashed. Some people have sent only the I-130 form filled out and nothing else, those get rejected right on the spot.

[phillamb168 19]

The check being cashed usually follows the email/text notification that the packet was accepted, so I *think* the answer to this is technically yes. The lockbox staff has a checklist they use when going through the packet that initial time. If something is clearly missing (most importantly the payment form), the packet gets rejected immediately. But the packet could be missing important evidence and the fee would still be cashed. Some people have sent only the I-130 form filled out and nothing else, those get rejected right on the spot.

Got my email notification last night! NOA1: done. Nebraska Service Center.

Edited June 10, 2016 by phillamb168

[Exan 27]

Got my text and email notifications last night too, california service center.

[phillamb168 19]

I just found the topic on filing from abroad - it looks like we may get auto-expedite. Which is pretty awesome! But apparently NSC is not super fast...