NVC Filers - July 2017

[trininurse 79]

good luck guys 

[HolaRome 15]

I'm sponsoring my husband.  However, I am using my parents income to meet the requirements.  Since we live in the same household, both of them are filing I-864a forms. They filed taxes jointly.   For Part 4 on I-864a, it wants the total income.  The instructions for the form state to use "total income" on the tax return.  I've separated what each earned for the year, so do I write their separate total income even if it doesn't match their joint total income?

[JOL 19]

On 7/1/2017 at 7:31 AM, JBMG said:

On 7/1/2017 at 7:29 AM, larnar1309 said:

Wow - thank you so much ! I have been reading through but I still feel like im

always finding out new info every day  

 

thats great advice about the call - I'll get my husband to start calling to ask on Monday  

 

thank you again!! 

You can also call yourself.  You can use google hangouts to call for free. I gave the NVC number and additional apps to make free calls to the US on a previous post. 

Great advice:  When I called, the NVC operator told me point blank that it would take another week for them to finish the DS-261 review independently, or he could do it right then and there over the phone and avoid that weeks delay.  

 

Regarding larnar1309s earlier question, that was a week after submitting form DS-261 Choice of Agent (when I called earlier the NVC said it would a week to enter their system, despite electronic filing) and the Consular Electronic Application Center granted access to fee payment options a few days after phone review.  The DS-260 was unavailable until payment fee statuses showed "PAID."  Sadly, a week after submitting the payments they still had not been deducted, so I called back and the operator said the NVC had had server glitches and the payments would clear within a couple more days.  When they did not, I called again and the operator said all payments during the glitch had been thrown out and had to be resubmitted, but once I did that the statuses changed to "PAID" within a few days, at which time the DS-260 became available to complete.  All told, it took about a month from submitting the DS-261 until we could submit the DS-260, but without the server issue it probably would have been half that.

Edited July 4, 2017 by JOL

[JOL 19]

A few (more) questions, please, as I and my Household Member attempt to finalize our respective I-864 AoSes (or I-864A, in her case:)

 

1) Form I-864, Part 2, Item 7 requires the principal immigrants phone number, which the forms instructions state should include the area code, but the PDF only allows entry of US phone numbers (i.e. 10 digits, including area code) and my spouses phone number is 11 digits (including country code; 8 digits without country code) so I cannot type it on the PDF.  Also, for some reason, the data I input for this field--and ONLY this field--is displays and prints in purple rather than black.  Should I just fill this in by hand after printing out the parts entered via the PDF, or will that cause problems with the 2D barcode, since it (obviously) cannot record data entered by hand?

2) Form I-864, Part 5 states, "Do not count any person twice," but at Item 6 it further states, "If you are currently married, enter '1' for your spouse."  Since this is an IR-1 Visa, my spouse was already auto-populated to Part 6, Item 1 as the principal immigrant, but I do not see anything on Form I-864 actually identifying her as my spouse, and we ARE married, so I do not want to make (much less swear, under penalty of perjury) a false statement by entering "0" in Item 6.  At the same time, we are not supposed to leave any fields blank, so that is not an option either.  Since literally every single person who has successfully petitioned for an C/IR-1 visa has encountered this same problem, I would like their (i.e. YOUR) suggestions on how to address it.

 

3) The checklist in the instructions for Form I-864 states,
 

Quote

 

The following items must be submitted with Form I-864:

 

For ALL sponsors:

 

A copy of your individual Federal income tax return, including W-2s for the most recent tax year, or a statement
and/or evidence describing why you were not required to file.

 

with no mention of tax transcripts (though the earlier instructions for specific parts of Form I-864 do explicitly cite tax transcripts as an acceptable alternative to tax returns.)  Is this just an oversight, or must copies of tax returns, W-2s and all attached schedules be included even if tax transcripts for all applicable years are already included?  Same question for the Form I-864 instructions about Household Members, which state the same requirement in precisely the same language (i.e. omitting all reference to tax transcripts.) 

 

5) Form I-864A, Part 4, Item 1 has a checkbox for "I have filed a Federal income tax return for each of the three most recent tax years.  I have attached the required photocopy or transcript of my Federal income tax return for ONLY the most recent tax year." (Caps added for emphasis.)  However, Item 2c has another checkbox for "(Optional) I have attached photocopies or transcripts of my Federal income tax returns for my second and third most recent tax years."  It is impossible to truthfully check BOTH boxes (i.e. because the first box states ONLY the most recent tax return/transcript is included, while the second box does not reference the most recent year AT ALL, and DOES state return/transcripts for the second and third most recent years are included.)  The form does allow both boxes to be ticked, but the statements are contradictory; mutually exclusive:  Which one(s) should be ticked?

 

If further information about our specific situation is necessary to answer these questions, it is listed in this VJ thread, because I posted it on its own under the (mistaken) impression this thread was reserved for people whose documents the NVC had already scanned (a misconception JBMG has since helpfully corrected. )

[larnar1309 101]

Just managed to pay our aos fee  woo! Progress or perhaps an early birthday gift from the NVC haha! (I'm a July 4th baby) 

 

happy 4th to all of you and I hope it brings all the other NVC filers luck for today / tomorrow 

 

im hoping this means my ds-601 choice of agent was accepted and that the IV fee should be available in a few days?? Fingers crossed ! 

[JOL 19]

32 minutes ago, larnar1309 said:

Just managed to pay our aos fee  woo! Progress or perhaps an early birthday gift from the NVC haha! (I'm a July 4th baby) 

 

happy 4th to all of you and I hope it brings all the other NVC filers luck for today / tomorrow 

 

im hoping this means my ds-601 choice of agent was accepted and that the IV fee should be available in a few days?? Fingers crossed ! 

I cannot answer that, because they sent my AoS invoice with the initial welcome letter, and made it available to pay at any time, but I had to wait until the NVC completed review of our DS-261 Choice of Agent form before IV payment options unlocked, then wait until its status (and that of the AoS) showed "PAID" before the DS-260 IV unlocked for my wife to complete.  

 

One word of caution on that:  It asks everywhere the applicant has lived since age 16, which was nearly 20 years ago for my wife, so she had MANY residences (because of dishonest landlords saying, "oh, NO, we would NEVER think about selling the property a just 2-3 months after leasing it to you," but then doing EXACTLY THAT, we had five different residences in just our first 2½ years of marriage.)  I mention that because the CEAC logged her out every time she was inactive for 10 minutes, and would not let her save that page until/unless she had completed every single field, so she got very frustrated with it.  Eventually, she wound up filling in a single residence, "completing" the rest with random filler, saving, then re-opening the page to fill out another single residence the same way, but she finally got through it in the end.  And both the petitioner and intending immigrant can access it once it is unlocked, so you can both double check the saved information to verify it is correct.  I just hope we did not both miss any errors, because it is already submitted, so we will just have to wait and see what the NVC says....

On that note, good luck and God speed, to you, me and all of us! 

Edited July 4, 2017 by JOL
Brevity is... wit

[larnar1309 101]

2 minutes ago, JOL said:

I cannot answer that, because they sent my AoS invoice with the initial welcome letter, and made it available to pay at any time, but I had to wait until the NVC completed review of our DS-261 Choice of Agent form before IV payment options unlocked, then wait until its status (and that of the AoS) showed "PAID" before the DS-260 IV unlocked for my wife to complete.  

 

One word of caution on that:  It asks everywhere the applicant has lived since age 16, which was nearly 20 years ago for my wife, so she had MANY residences (because of dishonest landlords saying, "oh, NO, we would NEVER think about selling the property a just 2-3 months after leasing it to you," but then doing EXACTLY THAT, we had five different residences in just our first 2½ years of marriage.)  I mention that because the CEAC logged her out every time she was inactive for 10 minutes, and would not let her save that page until/unless she had completed every single field, so she got very frustrated with it.  Eventually, she wound up filling in a single residence, "completing" the rest with random filler, saving, then re-opening the page to fill out another single residence the same way, but she finally got through it in the end.  And both the petitioner and intending immigrant can access it once it is unlocked, so you can both double check the saved information to verify it is correct.  I just hope we did not both miss any errors, because it is already submitted, so we will just have to wait and see what the NVC says....

On that note, good luck and God speed, to you, me and all of us! 

Woah! I read through PDF templates but didn't realize the residency is from age 16!! Is that information just for the application or also since the petitioner was 16 also?

 

i have all the other stuff like parents info and all that saved into a word doc so I'm hoping to just cut and paste and be able to get through it without it takin hours and hours! 

 

But yea - I lived in Japan for 5 years and moved around constantly with my husband there so i can imagine your wife's frustration when it kept logging her out! How annoying! I'm glad you got it all sent off now  excited for you both !! 

[krysten.danis 9]

Scan Date: April 27th

Checklist: confirmed July 3rd

 

Called NVC and was told we would be getting a checklist.  Hopefully it will be here by the end of the week so I can get it sent out before I go to visit my husband for a 1 and a half.  Here is to another 9 weeks and 4 days waiting.  This time I am prepared.  Fingers crossed he will be here before the holidays and our 2 year anniversary.  

[NihalV 26]

Hello All,

 

NVC received petition on 06/21/2017 and its been 2 week now (07/04/2017) but still case is not created at NVC... is it normal? or this is taking longer time in my case ?

 

I-130 approved  06/03/2017

NOA2 received through mail - 06/08/2017

NVC received case - 06/21/2017

 

 

[JOL 19]

58 minutes ago, larnar1309 said:

Woah! I read through PDF templates but didn't realize the residency is from age 16!! Is that information just for the application or also since the petitioner was 16 also?

 

i have all the other stuff like parents info and all that saved into a word doc so I'm hoping to just cut and paste and be able to get through it without it takin hours and hours! 

 

But yea - I lived in Japan for 5 years and moved around constantly with my husband there so i can imagine your wife's frustration when it kept logging her out! How annoying! I'm glad you got it all sent off now  excited for you both !! 

Unless I missed something (touch wood) only the applicants residences since age 16 are required.  

 

My in the moment suggestion is to not repeat my mistake of thinking you must wait until the DS-260 is submitted before starting the AoS, lest you also repeat my error of still scrambling to assemble all the documentary evidence and figure out Form I-864 two weeks after submitting DS-260.  The DS-260 seemed pretty straight forward and much simpler than the I-864 to me, but I 1) only filled out the first page before handing off to my wife (since I do not know things like her passport number) and 2) do not believe the NVC has begun reviewing our DS-260 yet, so cannot know what their assessment of it will be (touch all wood in reach.)

Edited July 4, 2017 by JOL

[cleon86 244]

36 minutes ago, krysten.danis said:

Scan Date: April 27th

Checklist: confirmed July 3rd

 

Called NVC and was told we would be getting a checklist.  Hopefully it will be here by the end of the week so I can get it sent out before I go to visit my husband for a 1 and a half.  Here is to another 9 weeks and 4 days waiting.  This time I am prepared.  Fingers crossed he will be here before the holidays and our 2 year anniversary.  

Do you know what you received the checklist for? 

[JOL 19]

12 minutes ago, NihalV said:

Hello All,

 

NVC received petition on 06/21/2017 and its been 2 week now (07/04/2017) but still case is not created at NVC... is it normal? or this is taking longer time in my case ?

 

I-130 approved  06/03/2017

NOA2 received through mail - 06/08/2017

NVC received case - 06/21/2017

My own experience was that it took about that long for them to assign a case number, and there is literally nothing you can do until then.  Go ahead and continue assembling documentary evidence for the AoS, and complete it, but when you go to the Consular Electronic Applications Center (i.e. the place we are required to fill out the online DS-261 Choice of Agent form, then submit the AoS and IV application fees, and then fill out the online DS-260 Immigrant Visa application they stress is NOT a formal application, since that technically must be made at the interview) the very first thing it asks for is a case number, so until you have that all it will do is stare back at you impassively.  Just keep calling the NVC service center until they say you have a case number, though even then I had to wait for their welcome packet to arrive by snail mail with our case and invoice numbers.

[NihalV 26]

30 minutes ago, JOL said:

My own experience was that it took about that long for them to assign a case number, and there is literally nothing you can do until then.  Go ahead and continue assembling documentary evidence for the AoS, and complete it, but when you go to the Consular Electronic Applications Center (i.e. the place we are required to fill out the online DS-261 Choice of Agent form, then submit the AoS and IV application fees, and then fill out the online DS-260 Immigrant Visa application they stress is NOT a formal application, since that technically must be made at the interview) the very first thing it asks for is a case number, so until you have that all it will do is stare back at you impassively.  Just keep calling the NVC service center until they say you have a case number, though even then I had to wait for their welcome packet to arrive by snail mail with our case and invoice numbers.

thanks... I regularly call NVC to see of they have CASE number in system... 

Once case is in system will they share the IIN number over phone ? because as per my understanding if I have my case# and IIN, I will be good to fill DS-261 and pay fees for AOSand IV ( which normaly takes 7 days ) .. regarding welcome letter.

someone suggested we should ask NVC to update the Email ID in case so they will send the Email of Welcome letter while sending snail mail.... please share your comment

[chamma 382]

3 minutes ago, NihalV said:

thanks... I regularly call NVC to see of they have CASE number in system... 

Once case is in system will they share the IIN number over phone ? because as per my understanding if I have my case# and IIN, I will be good to fill DS-261 and pay fees for AOSand IV ( which normaly takes 7 days ) .. regarding welcome letter.

someone suggested we should ask NVC to update the Email ID in case so they will send the Email of Welcome letter while sending snail mail.... please share your comment

Yes that's right..

Sometimes if you are lucky.. they fill in your DS261 while over the phone, otherwise you need to fill it in...

post which you need to wait until the invoices for fees are generated and you would be able to pay the fees one at a time...

1 hour ago, krysten.danis said:

Scan Date: April 27th

Checklist: confirmed July 3rd

 

Called NVC and was told we would be getting a checklist.  Hopefully it will be here by the end of the week so I can get it sent out before I go to visit my husband for a 1 and a half.  Here is to another 9 weeks and 4 days waiting.  This time I am prepared.  Fingers crossed he will be here before the holidays and our 2 year anniversary.  

Sorry to hear that. Good Luck. You can try an expedite route if you want to speed up things.

[NihalV 26]

8 minutes ago, chamma said:

Yes that's right..

Sometimes if you are lucky.. they fill in your DS261 while over the phone, otherwise you need to fill it in...

post which you need to wait until the invoices for fees are generated and you would be able to pay the fees one at a time...

Thanks.. even if they dont fill ds261 over the phone.. ( I know my luck )  can we immediately fill it with CASE# and IIN ?