NVC EP (Electronic processing) FILERS - May 2017

[Cat_Dad 6]

I have an IR1 case that the NVC received last week that will be going to the SYD embassy, which means I'll likely be part of this new CEAC process. How exciting

 

Edit: Just saw that there was a CEAC specific thread, good idea.

Edited May 1, 2017 by Cat_Dad

[cordoba2015 224]

13 hours ago, rac717 said:

Currently talking to person at NVC who had NO IDEA about this change.  Literally, I'm on hold now b/c she went to go talk to supervisors.  She's very nice, just totally surprised about this as apparently they weren't given any guidance.  Stay tuned!

Amazing how they were not even briefed about a development this important. Then again, NVC is pretty sloppy.

[Frustrated74 23]

12 minutes ago, cordoba2015 said:

Amazing how they were not even briefed about a development this important. Then again, NVC is pretty sloppy.

A Government department at it's finest really

[JBMG 890]

1 hour ago, Frustrated74 said:

A Government department at it's finest really

Yeah, but that's just it. They're not government departments. Both USCIS and the NVC are government contractors. Private companies making money off of us. The only time we actually interact with the government is at the embassy.  The fees we're paying, are making the owners of the NVC and USCIS very rich... This is an obnoxious policy which would only make sense if the entire process took just a day or two.. When I got my visa to live in France. It took less than 10 days to apply, attend interview, and get my passport returned in the mail. All was done via the French consulate in Texas. Not by some 3rd private party company. I'm sure if we were all to complain to the government, these private contractors would get into gear and get caught up. But for now, they 'll keep running a low staff working their employees as much as they can. Making more profits. Imagine if they could only increase their staff and hire temp workers to get caught up. Then the entire process would take just a few weeks. 

[Frustrated74 23]

6 minutes ago, JBMG said:

Yeah, but that's just it. They're not government departments. Both USCIS and the NVC are government contractors. Private companies making money off of us. The only time we actually interact with the government is at the embassy.  The fees we're paying, are making the owners of the NVC and USCIS very rich... This is an obnoxious policy which would only make sense if the entire process took just a day or two.. When I got my visa to live in France. It took less than 10 days to apply, attend interview, and get my passport returned in the mail. All was done via the French consulate in Texas. Not by some 3rd private party company. I'm sure if we were all to complain to the government, these private contractors would get into gear and get caught up. But for now, they 'll keep running a low staff working their employees as much as they can. Making more profits. Imagine if they could only increase their staff and hire temp workers to get caught up. Then the entire process would take just a few weeks. 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the workers come under the category of government employees?  That means that Trumps freeze on hiring staff would apply to them so they can't hire any new staff.  I still find it so hard to believe that they can't sort out something with their systems.  Yes, it is probably the country with the most immigrant applications, and a high number of fraudulent ones, but there has to be a better way.  I don't know why more countries won't accept EP either.  You have some kind of electronic system that can scan the documents once uploaded and verify they are legitimate and like magic, approved or rejected.  One can dream:)

 

Don't ever come to Australia.  A colleague is waiting for her PR visa and the time frame keeps being extended.  It's now up to 20 months.  Given, she is in the country already, but there are so many limitations to what she can do without the actual visa.  Just as much of a nightmare here.  It's quicker for me to go to the US!

[JBMG 890]

1 minute ago, Frustrated74 said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the workers come under the category of government employees?  That means that Trumps freeze on hiring staff would apply to them so they can't hire any new staff.  I still find it so hard to believe that they can't sort out something with their systems.  Yes, it is probably the country with the most immigrant applications, and a high number of fraudulent ones, but there has to be a better way.  I don't know why more countries won't accept EP either.  You have some kind of electronic system that can scan the documents once uploaded and verify they are legitimate and like magic, approved or rejected.  One can dream:)

 

Don't ever come to Australia.  A colleague is waiting for her PR visa and the time frame keeps being extended.  It's now up to 20 months.  Given, she is in the country already, but there are so many limitations to what she can do without the actual visa.  Just as much of a nightmare here.  It's quicker for me to go to the US!

No they don't as they're a private contractor. Hiring freeze would only affect staff at the embassy as they 're funded by the government directly. For example, if a government shutdown would occur, the USCIS and NVC would still run as they're funded by us via our processing fees. But if you happen to have an interview during a government shutdown, maybe it would be postponed as they're employees of the government, not a private contractor.

[USC1961 251]

34 minutes ago, JBMG said:

Yeah, but that's just it. They're not government departments. Both USCIS and the NVC are government contractors. Private companies making money off of us.

It seems that this is only partly true.  There are some offices and employees that are contracted, but not the whole lot.

 

https://www.uscis.gov/aboutus

 

 

But IMO for all intents and purposes, a government contractor vs. the government itself is just as efficient (or inefficient).

Edited May 2, 2017 by Cruise77

[JBMG 890]

39 minutes ago, Cruise77 said:

It seems that this is only partly true.  There are some offices and employees that are contracted, but not the whole lot.

 

https://www.uscis.gov/aboutus

 

 

But IMO for all intents and purposes, a government contractor vs. the government itself is just as efficient (or inefficient).

Thanks Cruise for clarifying.

[Frustrated74 23]

An update on my dealings with the NVC since we emailed documents last week. Friday we received a checklist for most of the IV documents. We both called to see if it was real since we emailed everything. Were eventually told all is ok and should be reviwed soon so call Monday or Tuesday for update. 

 

Just got off the phone. First person said we received a checklist and they're waiting for the documents. Imagine my frustration. Explained what we were told last week and asked if he could bring up my emails. Couldn't get onto the server so put me back into the phone queue.

 

Spoke to another person who told me the same thing. I explained again what happened. She said sometimes documents just don't come through. I asked how that's possible when they were all attached. She got quite cranky as I kept asking if I could speak to someone who could properly check. Put me on hold to speak to another supervisor. Came back and said there has been no review so they can't say if they have everything or not. FFS!! What is it, do you need the email sent again or not??  She pretty much hung up on me after telling me that. Seems once you have a checklist on your file it's like having a big cross against your name. 

[Sol1427 23]

On ‎5‎/‎1‎/‎2017 at 7:23 AM, cordoba2015 said:

Awesome thread! Great idea starting a topic for EP. We may want to remove from the list the countries now required to upload their documents. NVC makes it sound like for those 6 embassies the only way to submit documents is by uploading them.

I see your interview is coming up.... best of luck to you, I just sent in my packets today and I am hoping to get it complete in 3 weeks like you.

[rac717 7]

Funny (kind of) update.  We got a checklist last night after emailing documents on Sunday.  Which is surprisingly quick.

First item was about us not meeting minimum income and using assets.  Which was expected, it just says they will review at Embassy.

Second said I hadn't attached a US tax return.  Which was correct since I clicked the "I'm not working so don't have to file."  And attached a statement further clarifying as well as my ss report showing 0 income.  But again, no big deal, we'll just print out updated 864 for interview.

Their item said we had submitted the incorrect version on his birth cert.  Which I couldn't understand b/c I carefully checked.

 

Called them first thing this morning and in fact, it's not his birth certificate.  It's his police certificate.  My MIL asked for the wrong version when she went so we need to resubmit. (She asked for general and it needs to be a specific version/have specific language).

 

I guess the good is that clearly they're looking at things very quickly.  The weird thing is that they actually got the checklist wrong!  Glad I called.  Hopefully I can get updated version as early as tomorrow and get it back to NVC and get an interview date!

 

 

[raiser 0]

1 hour ago, rac717 said:

Funny (kind of) update.  We got a checklist last night after emailing documents on Sunday.  Which is surprisingly quick.

First item was about us not meeting minimum income and using assets.  Which was expected, it just says they will review at Embassy.

Second said I hadn't attached a US tax return.  Which was correct since I clicked the "I'm not working so don't have to file."  And attached a statement further clarifying as well as my ss report showing 0 income.  But again, no big deal, we'll just print out updated 864 for interview.

Their item said we had submitted the incorrect version on his birth cert.  Which I couldn't understand b/c I carefully checked.

 

Called them first thing this morning and in fact, it's not his birth certificate.  It's his police certificate.  My MIL asked for the wrong version when she went so we need to resubmit. (She asked for general and it needs to be a specific version/have specific language).

 

I guess the good is that clearly they're looking at things very quickly.  The weird thing is that they actually got the checklist wrong!  Glad I called.  Hopefully I can get updated version as early as tomorrow and get it back to NVC and get an interview date!

 

 

I'm just trying to figure out their new system: Was there any indication on your "check status" page? I have been getting a No action required: Review in process message for a couple days now. I emailed my docs in on Friday. Called yesterday (very difficult exchange, person answering phone told me case was complete, then told me I needed to wait for review. ??? Could hardly speak english) and from what I could gather they have my docs but have not reviewed yet.

[Frustrated74 23]

1 hour ago, raiser said:

I'm just trying to figure out their new system: Was there any indication on your "check status" page? I have been getting a No action required: Review in process message for a couple days now. I emailed my docs in on Friday. Called yesterday (very difficult exchange, person answering phone told me case was complete, then told me I needed to wait for review. ??? Could hardly speak english) and from what I could gather they have my docs but have not reviewed yet.

I got a checklist last week and nothing changed. It still just said to submit documents. The checklist was wrong, since we did email everything. After conflicting info from every person we spoke to we emailed the supposed missing documents this morning. Still no update to CEAC. Hoping for a quick CC now!!

[RamonS 1]

So I have some questions about the NVC document submission.  Unfortunately I seem to have hired a very inept immigration attorney and have subsequently been doing my own research. He said he was busy and would get to the AOS Friday (a week after he had all the info needed)  So after I got home from work Wednesday, I filled out the I-864, signed it and emailed it to him saying that I would help him out.  Needless to say, he got on it first thing this morning (Thursday).  But then he was going to Snail mail my docs to the NVC.  I was like, "why are you not emailing them for EP?"  He had no idea about it! 
Now he submitted the AOS and supporting documents via e-mail and told me that eventually I will need to complete the IV Package but not now.  So I am confused because it appears the DS-260 and supporting documents are the IV package.  I have completed the DS-260 online and submitted it almost 2 weeks ago.  All fees have been paid since April 22nd.  So when am I supposed to send the supporting documents for IV package?  Were they supposed to be submitted with the AOS supporting documents?

[Frustrated74 23]

20 minutes ago, RamonS said:

So I have some questions about the NVC document submission.  Unfortunately I seem to have hired a very inept immigration attorney and have subsequently been doing my own research. He said he was busy and would get to the AOS Friday (a week after he had all the info needed)  So after I got home from work Wednesday, I filled out the I-864, signed it and emailed it to him saying that I would help him out.  Needless to say, he got on it first thing this morning (Thursday).  But then he was going to Snail mail my docs to the NVC.  I was like, "why are you not emailing them for EP?"  He had no idea about it! 
Now he submitted the AOS and supporting documents via e-mail and told me that eventually I will need to complete the IV Package but not now.  So I am confused because it appears the DS-260 and supporting documents are the IV package.  I have completed the DS-260 online and submitted it almost 2 weeks ago.  All fees have been paid since April 22nd.  So when am I supposed to send the supporting documents for IV package?  Were they supposed to be submitted with the AOS supporting documents?

Yes, your lawyer does sound very incompetent.  You need to send both your IV and AOS documents together otherwise they won't start reviewing your case.  You will likely get a checklist because of the missing documents. We had to send ours in two emails because the size of the all the attachments was too big for one email.

Have you checked the requirements for Canada and what you need to send?  Here is the link to what everyone is required to submit. 

https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/immigrant-process/documents/Supporting_documents.html

 

Can you not just email the IV documents yourself if you have them all?  I don't think it matter who emails the NVC (that's what I was told last night anyway).