Contacting Embassy for status update

[Ben Murphy 11]

Hello All!

 

I am a British citizen, living and working in the United Kingdom. My wife is an American citizen, living and working in the United States. We filed my CR1 petition on October 29 2020.

 

I want to contact the embassy for a status update. Does anyone have any recommendations for the best way to get in touch with them?

 

Many thanks in advance!

 

Ben

[payxibka 10,045]

1 hour ago, Ben Murphy said:

Hello All!

 

I am a British citizen, living and working in the United Kingdom. My wife is an American citizen, living and working in the United States. We filed my CR1 petition on October 29 2020.

 

I want to contact the embassy for a status update. Does anyone have any recommendations for the best way to get in touch with them?

 

Many thanks in advance!

 

Ben

Does the embassy even have the case file?  

[Wuozopo 4,293]

2 hours ago, Ben Murphy said:

 

I want to contact the embassy for a status update. Does anyone have any recommendations for the best way to get in touch with them?

Has your I-130 petition been approved? Has your case left NVC? Update your timeline if yes.

 

London “Contact Us” page https://uk.usembassy.gov/visas/visa-information-services/contact-us-immigrant-visas/

[Ben Murphy 11]

On 5/18/2021 at 11:25 AM, payxibka said:

Does the embassy even have the case file?  

We received the NOA1 on 31 October 2020, but that was the last communication we had from them. I assumed it would take longer to receive the NOA2 given the embassy was closed for part of 2020 but it's been 7 months and I'm keen to get an update on where our application is up to!

[Ben Murphy 11]

On 5/18/2021 at 12:44 PM, Wuozopo said:

Has your I-130 petition been approved? Has your case left NVC? Update your timeline if yes.

 

London “Contact Us” page https://uk.usembassy.gov/visas/visa-information-services/contact-us-immigrant-visas/

We received the NOA1 on 31 October 2020, but that was the last we heard from them. We have the receipt number, but when I input this in to the status check tool (below) it returns no results:

 

https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx

[payxibka 10,045]

2 hours ago, Ben Murphy said:

We received the NOA1 on 31 October 2020, but that was the last communication we had from them. I assumed it would take longer to receive the NOA2 given the embassy was closed for part of 2020 but it's been 7 months and I'm keen to get an update on where our application is up to!

Embassy has nothing to do with NOA2.  The petition would have been submitted to the USCIS.   

[Ben Murphy 11]

25 minutes ago, payxibka said:

Embassy has nothing to do with NOA2.  The petition would have been submitted to the USCIS.   

In any case, would you know the best way to check my visa application status? 

[payxibka 10,045]

1 minute ago, Ben Murphy said:

In any case, would you know the best way to check my visa application status? 

USCIS has an online case tracker.   Not always incredibly helpful but it's what they have. 

 

 https://www.uscis.gov/tools/checking-your-case-status-online

[Ben Murphy 11]

Just now, payxibka said:

USCIS has an online case tracker.   Not always incredibly helpful but it's what they have. 

 

 https://www.uscis.gov/tools/checking-your-case-status-online

 

8 minutes ago, payxibka said:

USCIS has an online case tracker.   Not always incredibly helpful but it's what they have. 

 

 https://www.uscis.gov/tools/checking-your-case-status-online

That was really helpful, thanks for that. It says the estimated processing time for Nebraska is 2-7 months, so hopefully it means they will be getting round to ours any day now

[Wuozopo 4,293]

2 hours ago, Ben Murphy said:

We received the NOA1 on 31 October 2020, but that was the last we heard from them. We have the receipt number, but when I input this in to the status check tool (below) it returns no results:

 

https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx

Something that might help you understand the pieces to this puzzle.

• Your wife filed a petition with USCIS which falls under the big umbrella of Dept of Homeland Security (DHS). At this stage your embassy knows nothing about you and you have not applied for a visa yet. You have a USCIS case number. You stay at USCIS until they approve your  petition and send NOA2 (approval notice).
• Approved petitions get handed off to the National Visa Center (NVC) which falls under the big umbrella of Dept of State aka State Department. The NVC will give you a new Dept of State case number. That’s when you can use that CEAC status checker. This stage is when you actually submit the visa application and other documents needed to get a visa. When NVC thinks you have done all your documents properly and your embassy has interview openings,  NVC will assign you an interview date and send your file on to London. 
• Your embassy in London is also under the Dept of State umbrella. CEAC case tracker still works for you. You arrange a visa medical exam in London a good week or more prior to your interview date. Then you interview in London. If all goes well your passport with visa will arrive by courier in about a week. A tip: People from other parts of the world may say “call your embassy” when you have questions. That doesn’t work for the UK. You can’t reach anybody at the embassy in London that will assist you or talk to you on the phone. You have to use their contact form to ask questions. London “Contact Us” page https://uk.usembassy.gov/visas/visa-information-services/contact-us-immigrant-visas/ Your case has to be in London before they know about you or can help. 

[Ben Murphy 11]

2 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

Something that might help you understand the pieces to this puzzle.

• Your wife filed a petition with USCIS which falls under the big umbrella of Dept of Homeland Security (DHS). At this stage your embassy knows nothing about you and you have not applied for a visa yet. You have a USCIS case number. You stay at USCIS until they approve your  petition and send NOA2 (approval notice).
• Approved petitions get handed off to the National Visa Center (NVC) which falls under the big umbrella of Dept of State aka State Department. The NVC will give you a new Dept of State case number. That’s when you can use that CEAC status checker. This stage is when you actually submit the visa application and other documents needed to get a visa. When NVC thinks you have done all your documents properly and your embassy has interview openings,  NVC will assign you an interview date and send your file on to London. 
• Your embassy in London is also under the Dept of State umbrella. CEAC case tracker still works for you. You arrange a visa medical exam in London a good week or more prior to your interview date. Then you interview in London. If all goes well your passport with visa will arrive by courier in about a week. A tip: People from other parts of the world may say “call your embassy” when you have questions. That doesn’t work for the UK. You can’t reach anybody at the embassy in London that will assist you or talk to you on the phone. You have to use their contact form to ask questions. London “Contact Us” page https://uk.usembassy.gov/visas/visa-information-services/contact-us-immigrant-visas/ Your case has to be in London before they know about you or can help. 

Ah, that all makes sense. Thanks so much for taking the time to give me that info! 

I found another place where I was able to check the status of my petition. It says it is being reviewed in Nebraska, with an average processing time of 2-7 months. We're at the 7 month mark now so I'm hopeful that we will have our petition reviewed any time now!