NVC Filers - August 2019

[StarLord22 55]

4 hours ago, Snd said:

yea I am hoping they would tell you what is the best option. This morning she said that department is behind which means more requests for supervisor review will probably happen, but at least you have been in line for a week. I hope you hear back sooN!

Thank you, I hope so too. I hope you also hear back very soon. I’ll keep you updated. 

[portorusa 431]

18 hours ago, Nag & Matt said:

Hello all,

Today I received DQ email.

I am waiting for the interview in Amman embassy. Who is Amman embassy too?

AOS & IV submission: 10 Jul 
RFE received: 15 Jul 
Re-submission: 31 Jul 
DQ: 15 Aug (today)

@paret3169 To answer your question. 

Good luck to you all!

What was your RFE for?

[paret3169 70]

15 hours ago, Snd said:

I wish you luck! keep us updated 

i just called in and they sent my case for supervisor review. fingers crossed and good luck to you all!

[Nag & Matt 82]

1 hour ago, portorusa said:

What was your RFE for?

We sent the marriage contract instead of the marriage certificate. (Which I think is something specific to the country we got married in)

 

 

We got married in a third country (Lebanon) where both of us were not familiar with the procedure. So, we did the marriage contract at the religious court. But we skipped the step of registering it with the ministry of interior because we didn't know we were supposed to do that. (And the employees at the court told us we are done and we just need to translate the contract and certify it from ministry of foreign affairs, but apparently they were wrong). 

 

I had to travel back to Lebanon to do the registration and get the correct marriage certificate this time. Certified from both ministry of interior and ministry of foreign affairs. 

 

Hopefully, you won't face any similar problems.  And you won't get RFE. Good luck!

[OneHappyMamma 22]

18 minutes ago, Nag & Matt said:

We sent the marriage contract instead of the marriage certificate. (Which I think is something specific to the country we got married in)

 

 

We got married in a third country (Lebanon) where both of us were not familiar with the procedure. So, we did the marriage contract at the religious court. But we skipped the step of registering it with the ministry of interior because we didn't know we were supposed to do that. (And the employees at the court told us we are done and we just need to translate the contract and certify it from ministry of foreign affairs, but apparently they were wrong). 

 

I had to travel back to Lebanon to do the registration and get the correct marriage certificate this time. Certified from both ministry of interior and ministry of foreign affairs. 

 

Hopefully, you won't face any similar problems.  And you won't get RFE. Good luck!

Wow Congrats! Your case moved super fast at NVC stage:) Hope you don’t mind me asking, Was it expedited? 

I’m super confused on how NVC works?! So many people at NVC stage including me wait nearly a month to get docs reviewed and if anything needs to be re submitted we have to get back in the line to be reviewed again- which can take up to another 3 weeks.  Something’s really wrong here! I’ve called NVC numerous times and they’ve all said it takes up to 3 weeks or longer. Anyone who reads this please explain the logic to this? 

Again congrats to you! 

[Ginwill 45]

37 minutes ago, paret3169 said:

i just called in and they sent my case for supervisor review. fingers crossed and good luck to you all!

good luck 

[OneHappyMamma 22]

11 hours ago, Blair86 said:

Thank you, I hope so too. I hope you also hear back very soon. I’ll keep you updated. 

Hope you receive wonderful news soon!! 

[Nag & Matt 82]

14 minutes ago, OneHappyMamma said:

Wow Congrats! Your case moved super fast at NVC stage:) Hope you don’t mind me asking, Was it expedited? 

I’m super confused on how NVC works?! So many people at NVC stage including me wait nearly a month to get docs reviewed and if anything needs to be re submitted we have to get back in the line to be reviewed again- which can take up to another 3 weeks.  Something’s really wrong here! I’ve called NVC numerous times and they’ve all said it takes up to 3 weeks or longer. Anyone who reads this please explain the logic to this? 

Again congrats to you! 

Thank you very much. 

 

No my case hasn't been expedited. I was surprised how I heard back from them early too. 

 

 

I had a theory that maybe it is because of my Priority Date which is 5 June 2018. But someone from this thread said that them too have an early PD and it wasn't the same case for them. 

 

So I have another theory that it might be because I submitted my documents through Email. I haven't seen so many people here who were requested to send their documents via email. Most people were able to submit through CEAC. So that could be the reason why. 

 

Again those are only theories, I was just trying to understand why was I lucky (no complaints of course). 

 

Wishing all of you best of luck!

[OneHappyMamma 22]

13 minutes ago, Nag & Matt said:

Thank you very much. 

 

No my case hasn't been expedited. I was surprised how I heard back from them early too. 

 

 

I had a theory that maybe it is because of my Priority Date which is 5 June 2018. But someone from this thread said that them too have an early PD and it wasn't the same case for them. 

 

So I have another theory that it might be because I submitted my documents through Email. I haven't seen so many people here who were requested to send their documents via email. Most people were able to submit through CEAC. So that could be the reason why. 

 

Again those are only theories, I was just trying to understand why was I lucky (no complaints of course). 

 

Wishing all of you best of luck!

Thank you for responding:) Sorry I didn’t know people emailed docs anymore! I guess every country is different. Regardless they need to have a better system so everyone goes at the same speed, just my opinion off course rather then getting us frustrated and confused 🤷‍♀️ Thank you for wishing us luck! 👏 

[StarLord22 55]

41 minutes ago, OneHappyMamma said:

Hope you receive wonderful news soon!! 

I wish same for you too really soon.

[Richa Stevin 16]

Finally documentarily qualified. 

Cc 16/08/2019

Priority date 29/05/2018

Mumbai consulate.

Wait for IL begins....

[Nag & Matt 82]

30 minutes ago, OneHappyMamma said:

Thank you for responding:) Sorry I didn’t know people emailed docs anymore! I guess every country is different. Regardless they need to have a better system so everyone goes at the same speed, just my opinion off course rather then getting us frustrated and confused 🤷‍♀️ Thank you for wishing us luck! 👏 

"There are three ways to submit documents to NVC. The method you use depends on where you are interviewing and the letter you received from NVC. Look at your NVC case number, the letter you received from NVC, and match it to the method below to find out how to submit your documents to NVC."

This is from the official website: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/collect-and-submit-forms-and-documents-to-the-nvc/step-6-submit-documents-to-the-nvc.html

And yes, I 100% agree with you that everyone should go at the same speed. It's very frustrating to not know how things go.
And I understand what you are going through because I was at Nebraska office at the USCIS stage, and our case took 11 months to get approved while people who applied in other offices took 6 - 7 months. So I know exactly what you are going through. Waiting for an Email every day. 

[OneHappyMamma 22]

44 minutes ago, Nag & Matt said:

"There are three ways to submit documents to NVC. The method you use depends on where you are interviewing and the letter you received from NVC. Look at your NVC case number, the letter you received from NVC, and match it to the method below to find out how to submit your documents to NVC."

This is from the official website: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/collect-and-submit-forms-and-documents-to-the-nvc/step-6-submit-documents-to-the-nvc.html

And yes, I 100% agree with you that everyone should go at the same speed. It's very frustrating to not know how things go.
And I understand what you are going through because I was at Nebraska office at the USCIS stage, and our case took 11 months to get approved while people who applied in other offices took 6 - 7 months. So I know exactly what you are going through. Waiting for an Email every day. 

Your awesome 👏 Thank you, it makes sense to me now. Ugh all these service centers work so differently- sorry yours landed at Nebraska  Really glad your at the next stage! I guess in the end it’s all in God’s timing... I just need to be more patient and accepting of this stressful process:) good luck again 🙏🏼

[ljujas2019 23]

Hi everyone!

 

Finally got an e-mail notification about USCIS approval. We were approved on August 13 - thank god!!  My wife and I are so happy!  

 

Now we are already so eager to proceed to the next step. I just found this forum and hoped that it could be a good resource for us as we - hopefully - will join you in the experience of NVC processing next month. My wife and I have read the NVC wiki guide (which is so helpful, by the way - thank you all). We did have some questions though in regard to this following point and the Choice of Agent form:

 

"If you have a lawyer/attorney/legal representative from the I-130 petition, then they'll be automatically selected as agent for your case, thus by-passing the DS-261. This also means that the IV bill will be invoiced at or around the same time as the AOS bill."

 

My wife and I used the support of legal services in filing our I-130, and we are planning to continue to use the services of this legal representative for the upcoming steps. Why would we, as it is stated, "by-pass the DS-261..." and get the IV and AOS bill invoiced at the same time? Is this something positive or negative? I am not sure what implications this has on our application and the overall process (and time...). 

 

Further, I am wondering how the AOS and IV packages can be sent in together by mail later on in the process, given that my wife and I are in two different countries? 

 

A less significant question, I guess, pertaining to minor details about the vaccinations, is what types of vaccinations are necessary before the medical? I am quite sure I have all required vaccinations that one usually is obliged to take, but not certain that I have the records for them. Would I have to get /re-/vaccinated before my medical exam? 

 

Any advice on what we can we do now to save some time or to move forward more quickly? Especially if the beneficiary, like myself, is abroad? 🙂 How long do you think the NVC process could be? For those of you who have recently been informed that your case has been received - what is the process like for you now? And for those of you with a case complete?

 

Thank you and good luck to all of you! Sorry for all the overwhelming questions...

[PrincessCRV 121]

10 hours ago, ljujas2019 said:

Hi everyone!

 

Finally got an e-mail notification about USCIS approval. We were approved on August 13 - thank god!!  My wife and I are so happy!  

 

Now we are already so eager to proceed to the next step. I just found this forum and hoped that it could be a good resource for us as we - hopefully - will join you in the experience of NVC processing next month. My wife and I have read the NVC wiki guide (which is so helpful, by the way - thank you all). We did have some questions though in regard to this following point and the Choice of Agent form:

 

"If you have a lawyer/attorney/legal representative from the I-130 petition, then they'll be automatically selected as agent for your case, thus by-passing the DS-261. This also means that the IV bill will be invoiced at or around the same time as the AOS bill."

 

My wife and I used the support of legal services in filing our I-130, and we are planning to continue to use the services of this legal representative for the upcoming steps. Why would we, as it is stated, "by-pass the DS-261..." and get the IV and AOS bill invoiced at the same time? Is this something positive or negative? I am not sure what implications this has on our application and the overall process (and time...). 

 

Further, I am wondering how the AOS and IV packages can be sent in together by mail later on in the process, given that my wife and I are in two different countries? 

 

A less significant question, I guess, pertaining to minor details about the vaccinations, is what types of vaccinations are necessary before the medical? I am quite sure I have all required vaccinations that one usually is obliged to take, but not certain that I have the records for them. Would I have to get /re-/vaccinated before my medical exam? 

 

Any advice on what we can we do now to save some time or to move forward more quickly? Especially if the beneficiary, like myself, is abroad? 🙂 How long do you think the NVC process could be? For those of you who have recently been informed that your case has been received - what is the process like for you now? And for those of you with a case complete?

 

Thank you and good luck to all of you! Sorry for all the overwhelming questions...

For most countries, the whole process is done online these days. DS-261 does not show up anymore in the online system. If you have a lawyer, they are automatically informed of any communication from NVC, as are the petitioner and beneficiary, as long as you provided them with email addresses in the USCIS application. Once NVC receives your case, you will be assigned a case number and then you will be able to log in and pay both the IV bill and AOS bill. Case numbers can take up to 8 weeks to assign, so you will have a little wait before this step. Once you pay the bills and the payments are processed (takes up to 3 days to show paid in the system), you will be able to start on the DS-260 and upload your IV and AOS documents. Your attorney, you, or your petitioner can sign in and work on the documents from anywhere. My husband uploaded his documents, and I uploaded all the AOS documents from two different countries, so that is not a problem. There are a few countries that want the documents emailed, and another small handful that still use mail, but the majority of countries use this online system.

 

Regarding vaccinations, between the ages of 18-65, they only require MMR, Tdap, Varicella (or confirmation you had chicken pox), and the flu vaccine (during the months of Oct - May). If you can't find your vaccination records, you can ask your doctor to do a titer test to test for antibodies for these vaccines in your blood. Otherwise, you can just get those vaccines again.

 

My best advice is to go through the NVC site and start gathering the documents you need. Double and triple check everything. You can start scanning them in. Make sure they are less than 2 mb per file and that they are in PDF format (JPG files can sometimes flip the document around on some computers - they are notorious for issuing an RFE for documents that aren't right-side up!) As soon as your payment is processed, you can upload everything and submit. It takes them 3-4 weeks to review the documents. If everything is accepted, you wait for your interview to be scheduled. Depending on the country, that can be a month to 6 months or more depending on your consulate. If there are any issues with your documents. they will issue an RFE and you will have to upload the correction and wait another 3 weeks for review, so try to get it all correct the first time. Reading through these forums can help you see things that have caused problems for others in the past. 

 

Above all, PATIENCE! This process takes a while and can cause a lot of frustration. This forum is helpful in so many ways, but mostly just to know that there are so many others going through this and we can support each other while we wait. Good luck to you!