I130 & next step

[Thewander 25]

Hello. We submitted our i130 March 5 on line. After that it’s been touched on March 17 and July 2. I checked last night and the last touched date said August 29 which was a Saturday. I’ve heard people on here say sometimes the approval can take a couple of days to appear. Could this be what’s happening? I don’t want to jinx us but...

also, is it just me or have the Nebraska processing times decreased a lot? My approval estimation I receive in email has moved from December up to just a couple of weeks from now. 
 

one more question - once the i130 is approved will we just be sitting and waiting for the US embassy to reopen for interviews once we submit the 864 & ds 260? 
 

thank you and good luck to everyone during this trying time 

[NancyNguyen 1,657]

Yes, it is a waiting game. Good luck.

[CS_Bradshaw 55]

1 hour ago, Thewander said:

Hello. We submitted our i130 March 5 on line. After that it’s been touched on March 17 and July 2. I checked last night and the last touched date said August 29 which was a Saturday. I’ve heard people on here say sometimes the approval can take a couple of days to appear. Could this be what’s happening? I don’t want to jinx us but...

also, is it just me or have the Nebraska processing times decreased a lot? My approval estimation I receive in email has moved from December up to just a couple of weeks from now. 
 

one more question - once the i130 is approved will we just be sitting and waiting for the US embassy to reopen for interviews once we submit the 864 & ds 260? 
 

thank you and good luck to everyone during this trying time 

What you mean with touched date? Did you get approved? At the time your I-130 get approved, your case status will show "Case Approved". You should keep checking your case  status in this site https://egov.uscis.gov/casestatus/landing.do

In my case the I-130 got approved after almost 9 months, but some others has shorter and longer time until its approval.

 

Once your I-130 get approved, the USCIS will send your case to NVC for consular processing, you will need to submit the I-864 and DS-260 and wait for the approval from the NVC (could be few weeks ~ few months). The US embassy step will be the last step after you get approval from the NVC, and I think at the time you are in that step, the US embassy might already open again, as right now they re-open in some countries and only work on the CR1/IR1 and certain immigrant visa.

Edited August 31, 2020 by CS_Bradshaw

[AMac13 5]

On 8/31/2020 at 1:12 AM, Thewander said:

Hello. We submitted our i130 March 5 on line. After that it’s been touched on March 17 and July 2. I checked last night and the last touched date said August 29 which was a Saturday. I’ve heard people on here say sometimes the approval can take a couple of days to appear. Could this be what’s happening? I don’t want to jinx us but...

also, is it just me or have the Nebraska processing times decreased a lot? My approval estimation I receive in email has moved from December up to just a couple of weeks from now. 
 

one more question - once the i130 is approved will we just be sitting and waiting for the US embassy to reopen for interviews once we submit the 864 & ds 260? 
 

thank you and good luck to everyone during this trying time 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but if you filed your I-130 in March, you can expect a wait time just for the approval of I-130 to be at least a year. After your I-130 is approved it’s sent off to NVC and then it’s sent off to the Embassy. Seeing as you filed in March I would say you’ll have at least a year from now before your case even reaches the embassy if not longer. We’re currently waiting for NVC to DQ us and we submitted our I-130 march 2019. I hope your case goes faster but I wouldn’t hold my breath. 

[millefleur 5,045]

**Moved from DCF to  IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Case Filing and Progress Reports**

[MCMP 4]

13 hours ago, AMac13 said:

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but if you filed your I-130 in March, you can expect a wait time just for the approval of I-130 to be at least a year. After your I-130 is approved it’s sent off to NVC and then it’s sent off to the Embassy. Seeing as you filed in March I would say you’ll have at least a year from now before your case even reaches the embassy if not longer. We’re currently waiting for NVC to DQ us and we submitted our I-130 march 2019. I hope your case goes faster but I wouldn’t hold my breath. 

This isn't always the case, however. Some on here have received their I-130 approval (NOA2) after 60-90 days. In our case, our I-130 PD was 2/4/20 and we received NOA2 on 8/28/20. We are now waiting for NVC to receive the case. From what I've heard, how fast the I-130 gets approved by USCIS depends on what service center your case lands at, and even then, it can sometimes be a spin of the wheel in terms of how quickly it gets approved as some have gotten approved super fast and others are left waiting for many months.

[Xyrstine 224]

Nebraska SC is consistently giving out quicker approval times so it's not unrealistic to think an approval might be coming your way. I personally think it's a good indication when others near your timelines have had approvals. 

However, it is still a good idea to give yourself generally a year to avoid disappointment, and that's being optimistic as well. 

 

Next step is NVC and then yes, waiting for the medical/interview once NVC stage is completed.

 

Good luck!

[Thewander 25]

45 minutes ago, Xyrstine said:

Nebraska SC is consistently giving out quicker approval times so it's not unrealistic to think an approval might be coming your way. I personally think it's a good indication when others near your timelines have had approvals. 

However, it is still a good idea to give yourself generally a year to avoid disappointment, and that's being optimistic as well. 

 

Next step is NVC and then yes, waiting for the medical/interview once NVC stage is completed.

 

Good luck!

Thanks everyone! I looked again today and it said in process but I remember reading many people had seen an approval notice under documents before the case status was updated. So I checked and our i130 has been approved!!! One step closer!! So excited!! Thanks for the answers & support!

[Thewander 25]

On 8/31/2020 at 2:53 AM, CS_Bradshaw said:

What you mean with touched date? Did you get approved? At the time your I-130 get approved, your case status will show "Case Approved". You should keep checking your case  status in this site https://egov.uscis.gov/casestatus/landing.do

In my case the I-130 got approved after almost 9 months, but some others has shorter and longer time until its approval.

 

Once your I-130 get approved, the USCIS will send your case to NVC for consular processing, you will need to submit the I-864 and DS-260 and wait for the approval from the NVC (could be few weeks ~ few months). The US embassy step will be the last step after you get approval from the NVC, and I think at the time you are in that step, the US embassy might already open again, as right now they re-open in some countries and only work on the CR1/IR1 and certain immigrant visa.

Thank you! So the Nvc will send me a letter asking me to submit the 864 and 260?

[carmel34 3,605]

24 minutes ago, Thewander said:

Thank you! So the Nvc will send me a letter asking me to submit the 864 and 260?

Congratulations on getting your petition approved!  To answer your question, USCIS sends the approved petition to NVC, and this "process" takes a few weeks, so more waiting...  Once NVC receives the file, there is more processing time and a few weeks of waiting before they assign a case number.  Then, you will receive an email with instructions on how to upload the I-864 plus other documents, and how to complete the DS-260 online and pay fees.  After NVC approves all of the documents, they schedule the visa interview and send the file to the appropriate consulate abroad for the final steps of the process.  Good luck!

Edited September 2, 2020 by carmel34

[Xyrstine 224]

31 minutes ago, carmel34 said:

Congratulations on getting your petition approved!  To answer your question, USCIS sends the approved petition to NVC, and this "process" takes a few weeks, so more waiting...  Once NVC receives the file, there is more processing time and a few weeks of waiting before they assign a case number.  Then, you will receive an email with instructions on how to upload the I-864 plus other documents, and how to complete the DS-260 online and pay fees.  After NVC approves all of the documents, they schedule the visa interview and send the file to the appropriate consulate abroad for the final steps of the process.  Good luck!

I know the process times are different for everyone but it seems to be evolving. I received the NVC welcome email the next working day with the log in details. I think previously it took longer but the NVC process seems to be generally more efficient- time wise. I know some wait for up to weeks though. 

Edited September 2, 2020 by Xyrstine
Correction

[CS_Bradshaw 55]

4 hours ago, Thewander said:

Thank you! So the Nvc will send me a letter asking me to submit the 864 and 260?

I mean it depends on how NVC send you notification. In my case they sent me welcome letter and case creation through email with the Case ID and Invoice ID so then I can log in to https://ceac.state.gov/IV (online application). So once you got those ID you can start working on the next step, but you have to pay the fees (AOS & IV fees) first and wait till the payment status on your account changed to "Paid" before you can work on your DS-260 and I-864 (might take 2-3days to confirm your payment).  You can submit DS-260 once you fill out all the information, but for I-864, I would suggest you to prepare other necessary documents, then upload and submit it together with it.