Case Complete to Interview July 2017

[chamma 382]

8 minutes ago, JBMG said:

Did you find out about your interview date before or after it was transferred to the consulate? 

@MLK2016 got to know after he was transferred.

[cordoba2015 224]

25 minutes ago, PP_2016 said:

Thanks @cordoba2015. The information is VERY VERY useful. Though I have the wet ink signature with me to take it to the interview still was struggling to find the answer. Can I please bother you with one more question? Initially when you and your co sponsor sent the documents to NVC...were they sent electronically or mail?? And you were asked for updated AOS only for 2016 tax return?

No bother at all! You can PM me with whatever questions you may have. To answer your questions, we emailed all of our documents to NVC. We submitted our Affidavit of Support with the 2016 tax return for both the cosponsor and for myself. Hope that helps, let me know if anything needs clarifying.

[cordoba2015 224]

As a general rule, if in doubt, BRING IT. The embassy can ask for whatever they want, regardless of what NVC says.

[PP_2016 246]

15 minutes ago, chamma said:

@MLK2016 got to know after he was transferred.

His was an expedited case and NVC didn't schedule their interview.

[chamma 382]

Just now, PP_2016 said:

His was an expedited case and NVC didn't schedule their interview.

yea..  I meant the same...He got to know the interview date after his case was transferred...

[chamma 382]

18 minutes ago, PP_2016 said:

So point # 1 is a known reason for a wet ink to be asked. For all the documents sent electronically, the original signature are required to be brought at the interview. As NVC never vetted them.

May Be.. but you are seeing @Ana0323's answer as well..

 

To be safe - I would carry everything that is more than needed , because I have spent 11 months now on this process and don't want to take a chance.

[KBain 47]

 

______F - FINANCIAL EVIDENCE:______________________________________

We reviewed the Affidavit of Support form and supporting financial documents you submitted. While

we will schedule your case for an interview, there is something incomplete or missing. This could affect

the Consular Officer's ability to make a decision on your case.

On the attached Affidavit of Support Assessment Letter, we have put an "X" by each item you need to

correct.

If your Affidavit of Support form needs correction:

 Fill out a new form online.

 Print, sign and send the form to the principal applicant so he or she can take them to the visa

interview. Do not send the updated form to NVC.

If there are supporting documents missing:

 Send the missing documents to the principal applicant so he or she can take them to the visa

interview. Do not send the documents to NVC.

After NVC schedules the immigrant visa interview, we will send you an appointment letter with

additional details. You do not need to contact NVC or send us additional financial information at this

time.

 

ASSESSMENT LETTER for Financial Sponsor

_________Jeffrey__________________________

Regarding Your Form I-864 Affidavit of Support and Required Financial Evidence

=====================================================================

======

These instructions refer only to the Form I-864 completed by the financial sponsor named above.

The National Visa Center (NVC) reviewed your Form I-864 Affidavit of Support. This form

had one or more sections with missing or incorrect information; was missing required supporting

documents; or both. Please review the instructions below. You will need to correct your Form

I-864 and collect missing documents as requested.

Do not send the corrected form and documents to NVC. Instead, give all requested

documents to the visa applicant, who should present them to the consular officer during the

visa interview. Don't forget to sign your Form I-864 by hand. Your signature cannot be typed or

electronic. The applicant may bring a photocopy of the signed form to the interview.

Failure to submit the requested documents at the time of the visa interview can delay this case. If

you need to complete a new Form I-864, you can access the form and instructions online at

uscis.gov/i-864. Additional information can be found at nvc.state.gov/aos (English) or

nvc.state.gov/aos/espanol (Spanish).

You do not need to contact NVC at this time. After we schedule the immigrant visa interview,

we will send the applicant an appointment letter.

=====================================================================

======

Please make the below corrections to your Form I-864 or gather the requested financial

evidence:

[x] You must submit the following financial evidence:

[x] If you were not required to file a Federal income tax return under U.S. tax law because your income was too low,

for the most recent tax year _____________2016______________________ , attach a written explanation

indicating why you did not file a Federal income tax return. If you were not required to file a Federal income tax

return under U.S. tax law for any other reason, attach a typed or printed explanation including evidence of the

 

 

ASSESSMENT LETTER for Financial Sponsor

_________Jeffrey__________________________

Regarding Your Form I-864 Affidavit of Support and Required Financial Evidence

=====================================================================

======

These instructions refer only to the Form I-864 completed by the financial sponsor named above.

The National Visa Center (NVC) reviewed your Form I-864 Affidavit of Support. This form

had one or more sections with missing or incorrect information; was missing required supporting

documents; or both. Please review the instructions below. You will need to correct your Form

I-864 and collect missing documents as requested.

Do not send the corrected form and documents to NVC. Instead, give all requested

documents to the visa applicant, who should present them to the consular officer during the

visa interview. Don't forget to sign your Form I-864 by hand. Your signature cannot be typed or

electronic. The applicant may bring a photocopy of the signed form to the interview.

Failure to submit the requested documents at the time of the visa interview can delay this case. If

you need to complete a new Form I-864, you can access the form and instructions online at

uscis.gov/i-864. Additional information can be found at nvc.state.gov/aos (English) or

nvc.state.gov/aos/espanol (Spanish).

You do not need to contact NVC at this time. After we schedule the immigrant visa interview,

we will send the applicant an appointment letter.

=====================================================================

======

Please make the below corrections to your Form I-864 or gather the requested financial

evidence:

[x] You must submit the following financial evidence:

[x] A copy of every W-2 form that relates to your 2016 tax return__________________2016___________

[chamma 382]

@Eignes1009Can you please let me know 

1. what documents for 2016 you had submitted to the NVC (like W2, etc.,)
2. did you submit extension for 2016?

[KBain 47]

So am still trying to figure out if I have to complete a new i864 form or just carry the W2.  I submitted 2016 tax info as we ordered them in April 

[PP_2016 246]

12 minutes ago, chamma said:

May Be.. but you are seeing @Ana0323's answer as well..

 

To be safe - I would carry everything that is more than needed , because I have spent 11 months now on this process and don't want to take a chance.

Nobody here is saying they are not carrying..neither you nor I. We are finding answer for it. Everyone may not be fortunate like you to have the hard copy with them on time. So here in this forum we are trying to gather the information which may be helpful for others as well.

Edited June 24, 2017 by PP_2016

[PP_2016 246]

6 hours ago, MLK2016 said:

 

       This review outlines our experience from our case complete through our interview with the United States Consulate  in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.   
       Following the submission of our documents to NVC we requested an expedite.   Our expedite request was based upon the desire of my wife to visit an elderly, ill relative of mine in the United States who was celebrating an important birthday. Included with our request were a physician’s letter and photographs    The expedite request was submitted to the consulate in Ho Chi Minh City.  Several days after submitting the request they agreed that they would expedite our case for the interview after our case was completed by NVC. 
      Once  we received our case complete from NVC, it took them 13 long days for them to send the file to the consulate.  During that period of time we wondered if having an expedite would be any faster than not having one as others with case completes similar to ours were receiving interview dates.  I spoke to a supervisor at NVC who explained that although we had been granted an expedited interview, there were thousands of cases with expedites.  She said it therefore was not instantaneous from a case complete that our file would be sent to the consulate. We also learned that the NVC files are not physically mailed to the consulates.   They are electronically sent by NVC to the consulates.
      Once our file was sent electronically to the consulate, our status on the NVC website changed to “completed”. When I learned that the file had been sent to the Ho Chi Minh consulate, I filled out an inquiry form on their website asking how we would receive our interview date. Two days later we received an email from the consulate on a Thursday morning stating our interview to our amazement had been scheduled for 8 days later on a Friday morning at 9:30AM. 
      The next 8 days became frantic for my wife and me.   I had to book last minute airline tickets and rearrange my work schedule as I wanted to be present for the interview.  My wife had to schedule her medical examination and vaccinations. She was lucky to obtain last minute appointments for that Monday morning explaining that her interview had just been scheduled.  After completing her medical examinations and vaccinations, she received her medical reports in a sealed envelope on Wednesday to bring to the interview that Friday.  
        On Wednesday I left the United States on a 22 hour trip, 
arriving in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday morning, one day prior to the interview.  Even though my wife and I had not seen each other for 4 long months there was no time to celebrate or for me to adjust my jet lag.   That evening we had scheduled an appointment with an English language teacher who had been helping my wife with her English pronunciations.   The purpose of this meeting was to review answers to possible questions of the consulate. We obtained sample questions from visa journey.  Even though my wife could speak English and there would be an interpreter at the interview, we felt it best at the interview for her to answer the questions in English.  This we thought would show the interviewer we were able to communicate with each other. In addition we were deeply concerned that we could be denied at the interview as my wife in a previous tourist visa application at the bad advice of an agent in Vietnam indicated she was married when she was in fact single.    Her desire had been to visit her sister who was dying from cancer and the agent told her the best way to obtain the tourist visa was to say she was married.  By saying she was married the agent explained it would show her ties to return to Vietnam.  That tourist visa was denied. We disclosed this information on the DS-260.  We felt it best to indicate this rather than possibly be confronted at the interview as to why we did not detail the prior application    We were extremely worried that she would be asked at the interview as to why she lied on the tourist visa application.  We were concerned as to whether the consulate would approve our application.  
      After limited, restless sleep on Thursday night, we woke on Friday morning for the interview.   My wife was extremely nervous.  We arrived at the Ho Chi Minh Consulate at 8:30 for our 9:30 appointment.  To our surprise there were only about 8 people ahead of us waiting to enter the building.  After showing our interview appointment letter, we entered the building, went through a metal detector and left our cell phones with security who held them for us.
We were greeted by a host who immediately directed us to a window.   With us, we had a 3 ring binder with approximately 100 photographs on plastic pages.   We also had a plastic binder with removable plastic and labeled folders. In the labeled folders were our original and copies of the required documents, our paid receipts, copies of all of our documents filed through USCIS and NVC, copies of the supporting documents showing our bonafide relationship and additional documentation since our filings demonstrating our relationship. 
      The woman at the window asked for our documents.  I took out the folders which contained original and copies of documents, the folder containing the relationship proof submitted to USCIS and the additional proof.   She picked through the original documents taking them all.   She did not take the copies of the documents.   She did not take anything from the proof of our relationship submitted to USCIS.   The only document she kept from our additional proof of our relationship was our joint 2016 US Tax Return which I decided to bring.  (At the time of our filing with NVC the 2016 tax return was not due and was not needed). She asked me if we had a financial sponsor and I answered no.  She asked for the paid NVC receipt which I provided. We were given a number and told to wait to be called at a different window for the interview.  
        In the waiting area, we were again surprised to see only about 20 people waiting.  We thought that as our interview was expedited, perhaps Friday was not a regular business day for interviews.  
During our wait we observed that all the other couples with spouses present were being approved.  We noticed two women who were not present with their spouses (or fiancées) received blue denial slips.  For one we heard the questions.  Evidently she was in a relationship with a man since 2008. She was asked why he had not seen her for more than one year.  She said he was working.   Her application was denied.
         There were approximately 4 windows open.  Behind each window was an interviewer and an interpreter.  After about 30 minutes an interviewer pointed to us and instead of calling our number.  We went to the window.   However, he had called us by mistake.  He meant to call another person’s case.   He apologized to us and asked us to sit back down.   He then called the other case.  After he finished that case, he asked us for our number and he called us up again within a few minutes.  He told me to sit down saying he would call me up if I was needed.   I sat down and was close enough to observe and hear everything. First, they took biometric fingerprints of my wife at a pad in front of the interview window.   She was sworn in.   He then asked her the following questions:
1.     How did you meet?
2.     Where did you first meet him in person?
3.     Was he married before?
4.      When and where were you married?
5.      In the past you applied for a B2 tourist visa. Why were you denied?   Here it was I started to think.  Was he setting her for a question about lying on that application?  My wife answered him in English explaining about wanting to visit her sister in the United States who was dying from cancer and how through bad advice which she was sorry about an agent said to say she was married.  The agent then replied, “I am sorry about your sister”

      Then immediately after,  he said the visa was approved.  We were extremely happy and relieved.   We were never asked to show our photographs. Except for the police report, all of our original documents were returned to us.  I thanked the interviewer and we left the consulate all within about 1.5 hours.   
       Later that day we booked an airplane ticket for my wife to join me in the US in about 3 weeks.   For now we are  enjoying our holiday together for another week and can finally relax.
       The visa process for us was shorter than most, but still a very anxious and at times, a very frustrating process.    I definitely recommend that spouses and fiancées from the United States attend the interview.   Utilizing the resources of visajourney was a tremendous help and following others’ journeys on the boards made the waiting less anxious.  We hope you all achieve the positive result that we did.  
 

 

 

3 hours ago, Johnny385 said:

They didn't request the i-864 copy?

 

3 hours ago, PP_2016 said:

Thanks for asking it @Johnny385. Me too interested in knowing that..! It's an unresolved mystery and people are making rules and confirming also as per their convenience. Lol. I wanted to ask @MLK2016this question but thought since he was there with his wife for the interview he must have had it with him. An answer would help everyone with their upcoming interview. Else it may not be convenient for all or they may not have enough time to receive the physical copy of the updated AOS post 2016 tax return update. Let's resolve this for once and forever. 😋

 

2 hours ago, MLK2016 said:

They did not. They held on to the original birth certificate, citizen identity paper, Ho Kauh, police report, marriage certificate, passport.  I think that is it.  All were returned except the police report which they kept and the passport which will be returned with the visa.  They definitely wanted proof of payment for the DS260. 

 

2 hours ago, Johnny385 said:

Thanks

@chamma.

 So to summarise it, we still have no concrete answer for this. As we are seeing MLK2016 answer as well.

 

@KBain you said you already submitted the 2016 return?

Edited June 24, 2017 by PP_2016

[PP_2016 246]

32 minutes ago, KBain said:

So am still trying to figure out if I have to complete a new i864 form or just carry the W2.  I submitted 2016 tax info as we ordered them in April 

Once your file reached Embassy in your interview city, I suggest you call them and check in case of any confusion. They will definitely give you answer to that specific Embassy requirements. However if you have submitted everything and have not been asked for any other financial documents, no reason to ask for a new AOS.

Edited June 24, 2017 by PP_2016

[KBain 47]

3 minutes ago, PP_2016 said:

Once your file reached Embassy in your interview city, I suggest you call them and check in case of any confusion. They will definitely give you answer to that specific Embassy requirements. However if you have submitted everything and have not been asked for any other financial documents, no reason to ask a new AOS.

K thanks will do

[PP_2016 246]

46 minutes ago, chamma said:

To be safe - I would carry everything that is more than needed , because I have spent 11 months now on this process and don't want to take a chance.

I can understand, we started only 2 months after you. ❤️❤️

Edited June 24, 2017 by PP_2016

[cordoba2015 224]

1 hour ago, chamma said:

Thanks @cordoba2015! 

 

As far as I know - he had filed his 2016 returns when he was prepping to send his documents to NVC.

1. He filed electronically with the NVC, his country qualifies.
2. his AOS had  his 2016 return while he sent his documents to NVC
3. He did not have to modify his AOS when he had his interview

@cordoba2015 - please let me know if I am wrong.

 

Yeah, that's right