Conflict: 5 or 8 weeks from I-171 to Case number? (London(

[Paulonto 29]

Hello everyone!

I have just received a letter (Form I-171) informing me of my I-130 petition approval and of the next step, which will be a case number.

 

The conflicting information, if anyone could be kind to clarify, is as follow:

 

ON FRONT PAGE:

"The US London Consulate will advise me (the beneficiary) in writing WITHIN 8 WEEKS of the date of this approval concerning the next step of the process and issuance of the immigration visa"

 

ON THE BACK PAGE:

"In approximately FIVE WEEKS, you should receive a letter from the consulate that an approved petition has been received and of the case number"

It also say that if five weeks have passed then I should contact them.

 

I'm now confused at to the time scale and what will happen next.... 

Please help?

 

THANK YOU!!!

[Paulonto 29]

These are pics of the letter if anyone is interested:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_SGgQ4hO_vjpxHPL9K3b4wimYGhU1hek/view?usp=drivesdk

And 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12uwDxIXLmTq3EiB5YSUkiKvlMjE-TZMf/view?usp=drivesdk

[Jmatts 2]

As your petition approval was right ahead of mine, you should have your Case Number already or very very soon – I got the letter in the mail today, mailed 20 April after a petition approval date of 18 April (!!). Feels like an incredibly quick turnaround after an agonising wait for that I-130, so fingers' crossed it's all smooth sailing from here...

[Paulonto 29]

8 hours ago, Jmatts said:

As your petition approval was right ahead of mine, you should have your Case Number already or very very soon – I got the letter in the mail today, mailed 20 April after a petition approval date of 18 April (!!). Feels like an incredibly quick turnaround after an agonising wait for that I-130, so fingers' crossed it's all smooth sailing from here...

WOW!!!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH JMATTS!!!

I'LL LET YOU KNOW TOO!

 

At this point you're now way ahead of me since my sponsor (the only one we know who can be one for us) is chickening out.... she fears legal consequences....

 

I'll be keeping an eye on your threads!

Thank you so much again and GOOD LUCK!!!

[Paulonto 29]

\😁/ I've got my case number!!! \😁/

 

All I need now is for my sponsor to make her mind ☺

[Silver12 9]

Hi Sylv,

 

many congratulations for approval of I130.. Just a quick question did you file this in the england, or was this done at usa?

 

Thanks

[Paulonto 29]

22 hours ago, Silver12 said:

Hi Sylv,

 

many congratulations for approval of I130.. Just a quick question did you file this in the england, or was this done at usa?

 

Thanks

Thank you Silver12

 

I did a DCF at the London Embassy since both my wife and I reside here.

[Silver12 9]

Sylv, I am very happy for you! 

 

My spouse is a USC and lives in America but I live in London we have filed the alien relative pepition I-130 Priority date is 21st February 2018 and service centre is Texas so far we have only received the reciept of notice we are both really regretting the fact that if we have applied through the USA embassy in London it would have been quicker as the approval process takes about 2 months according to their website and as we applied through USA we could end up waiting for more than 5-7 months 😞 ... such a long and stressful process. 

 

Do you think there’s any way we could change and do the paperwork’s here in London??

 

many thanks for your time and info!

 

silver12

[Jorge V 195]

3 hours ago, Silver12 said:

Sylv, I am very happy for you! 

 

My spouse is a USC and lives in America but I live in London we have filed the alien relative pepition I-130 Priority date is 21st February 2018 and service centre is Texas so far we have only received the reciept of notice we are both really regretting the fact that if we have applied through the USA embassy in London it would have been quicker as the approval process takes about 2 months according to their website and as we applied through USA we could end up waiting for more than 5-7 months 😞 ... such a long and stressful process. 

 

Do you think there’s any way we could change and do the paperwork’s here in London??

 

many thanks for your time and info!

 

silver12

You can't change the paperwork but you can simply file a new petition in London. You'll have to create a new application and pay the $535 fee again, but it's possible.

 

However, you mention that your spouse, the USC, lives in America. In order to qualify for DCF the USC spouse must reside in the relevant country (the UK in this case) as a legal resident for at least 6 months. Individual USCIS offices can impose slightly less strict rules, and I think the London office specifically is a bit lax on the 6 months thing, but at the very least your spouse would have to have legal residency in the UK (not a tourist visa) and be residing there at the moment you file the I130.

 

You also mentioned that since you applied from the US you'd have to wait for 5-7 months. That's just for the I130 approval, and it's really closer to 8 months. After the I130 is approved you still have to wait on the NVC to process your case and then schedule your interview. This adds 4-6 months for a combined total of 12-14 months from filing to visa in hand. DCF in London takes about 3-5 months from filing to visa in hand as the NVC is skipped altogether and the I130 is approved in 2 months or so.

[Paulonto 29]

100% with Jorge V yes

[Silver12 9]

Thank you for the most useful info.

 

So now I understand that unfortunately we can’t file a new petition in London as my husband does not live here. He resides in United States and has only visited London a few times but as a tourist  ( not a legal resident)

 

It looks like our only option is to wait and be paitient and to be bear in mind that it could take 12-14 months

 

On another hand on the receipt of action - form I-797C there is a Priorty date for : 21st February 2018 what exactly does that mean? 

 

Thank you once again!

[payxibka 10,045]

7 hours ago, Silver12 said:

Sylv, I am very happy for you! 

 

My spouse is a USC and lives in America but I live in London we have filed the alien relative pepition I-130 Priority date is 21st February 2018 and service centre is Texas so far we have only received the reciept of notice we are both really regretting the fact that if we have applied through the USA embassy in London it would have been quicker as the approval process takes about 2 months according to their website and as we applied through USA we could end up waiting for more than 5-7 months 😞 ... such a long and stressful process. 

 

Do you think there’s any way we could change and do the paperwork’s here in London??

 

many thanks for your time and info!

 

silver12

You cannot file through the London Embassy if your spouse resides in the USA