FEBRUARY 2022 K1 NOA2 to NVC to EMBASSY

[EatBulaga 314]

3 hours ago, slavaskii said:

 

The more that I really think about it, I think you're right. Maybe TravelDocs has no way of actually restricting people from making appointments before assembling all the documents (after all, how do you verify someone has medical done?), so they just ask people to defer making the appointment until Packet 3. Then again, it seems like TravelDocs is different for each embassy, so who knows.

 

This, for example, is what you get when proceeding to the very last step of scheduling a K1 interview in Warsaw before paying the visa fee [edit: I posted this a few posts above, don't want to spam because it's a large picture so I won't add it again here]. As you can see, nowhere is a DS-160 or case number asked. There is no DS-160 associated with this account. I'm very convinced now that Warsaw doesn't require anything before proceeding with making an appointment and this is what's causing them to be backed up until August (only one July spot left).

 

Note that, once you enter the passport details, it becomes 'locked' to the account and impossible to change. Thus, this is probably how Warsaw links the case together with your appointment. At least, that is correct for us. I'm very, very scared to cancel the appointment and try fooling around with the new DS-160 seeing how backed up they are. Think my best bet is just calling Warsaw on Monday and holding my spot here with all my life, lol  

Okay I'm overthinking and falling into analysis paralysis or progression paralysis or whatever you want to call it.

But I'm trying to be consistent with the UStravelDocs and DS-160 since any inconsistency among the forms and I-129F may lead to rejection at the interview stage from what I've read on some forums, and that would be devastating to say the least.

 

This is what I've understood from the discussion so far (again I may be wrong):

 

1) UStravelDocs login requires email and the identifiers (information that locks the account to the user) are email and passport.

https://www.ustraveldocs.com/tw/

2) DS-160 login or retrieving the account requires Application ID, first 5 letters of surname, year of birth, and security question, and the identifiers are the passport and email.

https://ceac.state.gov/GenNIV/default.aspx

3) UStravelDocs and DS-160 are locked or linked together by the passport per @slavaskii

 

Now, I have not done either forms at this point, and we have NOT received the Packet3, but I did receive 1 email from the NVC when our case was "In Transit".

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/778486-february-2022-k1-noa2-to-nvc-to-embassy/page/7/?tab=comments#comment-10642583

As explained in the linked post, the email letter was addressed to my fiancee (beneficiary) but the email was sent to me (petitioner). The only time we listed my email was near the end of the I-129F. So my guess for why we have NOT received the Packet3 is that the consulate is waiting for the beneficiary email address from the DS-160 (or maybe UStravelDocs) even though the consulate received our case 2 days ago?

 

Again Packet3 maybe has no new information that isn't already online,

https://www.visajourney.com/consulates/index.php?ctry=Taiwan&cty=Taipei

but it is a signal to continue to proceed with the process.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Supplements/Supplements_by_Post/TAI-Taipei.html

 

So as suggested, nothing seems to keep us from paying for the visa fees and scheduling the interview at this point on UStravelDocs BEFORE completing the DS-160. So the only real condition is getting all the Packet3 checklist of stuff ready, or some condition that may come up at the medical exam, in which we may have to postpone the interview date?

 

So the next steps after the consulate receive the case should be to:

 

1) Schedule the interview and pay the fee on UStravelDocs

2) Complete DS-160

3) Complete the Packet3 checklist

 

which I guess is the more detailed reasoning behind Greenbaum's list?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nfin98c33IEpB0T0FlURERriblYmlm5O/view

 

What does everyone think?

Thanks in advance for any response.

Edited March 20, 2022 by EatBulaga

[slavaskii 886]

49 minutes ago, EatBulaga said:

Okay I'm overthinking and falling into analysis paralysis or progression paralysis or whatever you want to call it.

But I'm trying to be consistent with the UStravelDocs and DS-160 since any inconsistency among the forms and I-129F may lead to rejection at the interview stage from what I've read on some forums, and that would be devastating to say the least.

So this point in particular is very interesting to me - let me link you to this thread here, which highly suggests the DS-160 picked up by TravelDocs is irrelevant and you can change it literally up until the day of the interview. This seems correct to me, in a way, because why else would they ask for your confirmation page? In another thread I began in the main forum, however, I'm talking to another filer whose beneficiary got a 221(g) after doing well in the interview. He suggested that something already 'flagged' her, perhaps the DS-160, meaning they had reviewed it prior. My fiancee has gone through tourist interviews with DS-160s before, but unfortunately her experience doesn't help because Minsk didn't use TravelDocs.

 

Your points 1-3 are absolutely correct. We know the DS-160 is associated to everything outside the petition, as it's non-immigrant and presupposes you wouldn't even go through NVC. There's only one question that references USCIS on the whole form. We also know that the passport number seems to be the common denominator in all of this, and the case number, despite previously being thought of as the most important thing for the interview, seemingly is only relevant for tracking our file. Perhaps for embassies where you don't schedule yourself it's more important, but for self-schedulers, it seems to not matter. 

 

And to your last point, about the steps: that's exactly what I'm thinking, too. Except I don't necessarily think it's required to wait for consulate received, and that's what's causing interview spaces to be eaten up so rapidly. Particularly, Packet 3 information is readily available online, namely on the State Department's webpage for each embassy, which lists everything needed. Thus, the steps could just as easily be: (1) schedule interview + (2) make DS-160 + (3) do medical/PC + (4) wait for consulate received + (5) go to interview. 

 

It seems like we're putting our PI hats on with this, haha, but I do think it's an incredibly important discussion. Not only because I've sort of 'stumbled into it' through my separate problem, but because something's missing here. If I may answer your question about Packet 3, last night NVC said something would eventually get sent to my email and then pointedly asked if I wanted to add my beneficiary's email, as well. I don't think the DS-160 is what's preventing yours, then. From my recollection, the DS-160 just asks for 'past' emails; it's TravelDocs that asks specifically for the current one, which is highly likely to be different than what the I-129F was associated with. 

Edited March 20, 2022 by slavaskii

[Polly3 18]

This might be out of topic so I appreciate your response. For the proof of income, is 1 year’s tax return enough or there should be 3 tax returns? From other people’s experience, they only ask for the last year’s tax return. But I know when you apply for status adjustment they ask for 3 tax returns. As for the k 1 they dont specify how many years of tax return they are requesting. 

Edited March 20, 2022 by Polly3

[EatBulaga 314]

6 minutes ago, Polly3 said:

This might be out of topic so I appreciate your response. For the proof of income, is 1 year’s tax return enough or there should be 3 tax returns? From other people’s experience, they only ask for the last year’s tax return. But I know when you apply for status adjustment they ask for 3 tax returns. As for the k 1 they dont specify how many years they are requesting. 

Make sure you send the I-134 to your beneficiary to take to the interview along with the Checklist of Required Initial Evidence to support the I-134.

The I-134 Checklist of Required Initial Evidence is at 

https://www.uscis.gov/i-134

See the attached the pic of the checklist

Edited March 20, 2022 by EatBulaga

[Polly3 18]

1 hour ago, EatBulaga said:

Make sure you send the I-134 to your beneficiary to take to the interview along with the Checklist of Required Initial Evidence to support the I-134.

The I-134 Checklist of Required Initial Evidence is at 

https://www.uscis.gov/i-134

See the attached the pic of the checklist

Yes ive seen this so to my understanding last tax return is sufficient, the 2021 tax return alone. 

[EatBulaga 314]

8 hours ago, Polly3 said:

Yes ive seen this so to my understanding last tax return is sufficient, the 2021 tax return alone. 

Yes I plan to include a copy of the 2021 tax filing with the I-134.

Since the 2021 tax filing deadline is this year April 15, I plan to also include the 2020 tax transcript requested from the IRS in addition to the copy of 2021.

Edited March 20, 2022 by EatBulaga

[SandyR 142]

20 hours ago, slavaskii said:

So this point in particular is very interesting to me - let me link you to this thread here, which highly suggests the DS-160 picked up by TravelDocs is irrelevant and you can change it literally up until the day of the interview. This seems correct to me, in a way, because why else would they ask for your confirmation page? In another thread I began in the main forum, however, I'm talking to another filer whose beneficiary got a 221(g) after doing well in the interview. He suggested that something already 'flagged' her, perhaps the DS-160, meaning they had reviewed it prior. My fiancee has gone through tourist interviews with DS-160s before, but unfortunately her experience doesn't help because Minsk didn't use TravelDocs.

 

Your points 1-3 are absolutely correct. We know the DS-160 is associated to everything outside the petition, as it's non-immigrant and presupposes you wouldn't even go through NVC. There's only one question that references USCIS on the whole form. We also know that the passport number seems to be the common denominator in all of this, and the case number, despite previously being thought of as the most important thing for the interview, seemingly is only relevant for tracking our file. Perhaps for embassies where you don't schedule yourself it's more important, but for self-schedulers, it seems to not matter. 

 

And to your last point, about the steps: that's exactly what I'm thinking, too. Except I don't necessarily think it's required to wait for consulate received, and that's what's causing interview spaces to be eaten up so rapidly. Particularly, Packet 3 information is readily available online, namely on the State Department's webpage for each embassy, which lists everything needed. Thus, the steps could just as easily be: (1) schedule interview + (2) make DS-160 + (3) do medical/PC + (4) wait for consulate received + (5) go to interview. 

 

It seems like we're putting our PI hats on with this, haha, but I do think it's an incredibly important discussion. Not only because I've sort of 'stumbled into it' through my separate problem, but because something's missing here. If I may answer your question about Packet 3, last night NVC said something would eventually get sent to my email and then pointedly asked if I wanted to add my beneficiary's email, as well. I don't think the DS-160 is what's preventing yours, then. From my recollection, the DS-160 just asks for 'past' emails; it's TravelDocs that asks specifically for the current one, which is highly likely to be different than what the I-129F was associated with. 

Did you fill out a fresh DS160?  Perhaps if you do that, the new one will link to your account?  I am very curious about being able to book an interview before getting to embassy.  I am traveling to India in about 10 days and would love to have the interview done in time to bring him home with me.  We didn't make it to embassy with some of you last week so praying we go on the 29th.  My fiancé is traveling right now but is going to log in and see if his old DS 160 is showing up (from a few years ago) or if the new one shows up that he and I recently completed.  Also, want to see if we can schedule.  But am a little afraid to pay the fee too early in case it isn't valid.  Did any of you pay the fee yet?  And what is needed for the medical - I thought it was something in packet 3 that the medical needs to know.  Although possibly this is different by each country? 

why do they make this so confusing?  I looked at embassy info for India but all the info is years old so I doubt it is valid.  Thanks!  

[slavaskii 886]

34 minutes ago, SandyR said:

Did you fill out a fresh DS160?  Perhaps if you do that, the new one will link to your account?  I am very curious about being able to book an interview before getting to embassy.  I am traveling to India in about 10 days and would love to have the interview done in time to bring him home with me.  We didn't make it to embassy with some of you last week so praying we go on the 29th.  My fiancé is traveling right now but is going to log in and see if his old DS 160 is showing up (from a few years ago) or if the new one shows up that he and I recently completed.  Also, want to see if we can schedule.  But am a little afraid to pay the fee too early in case it isn't valid.  Did any of you pay the fee yet?  And what is needed for the medical - I thought it was something in packet 3 that the medical needs to know.  Although possibly this is different by each country? 

why do they make this so confusing?  I looked at embassy info for India but all the info is years old so I doubt it is valid.  Thanks!  

I don't recall if we had started a fresh DS-160; again, on the dashboard for TravelDocs, nothing was listed, so I don't know how it picked up the old B2 one. The account had just been transferred over from Romania anyway, so whatever was there, if there was something, was necessarily invalid. In regards to your fiance logging in: I don't think the DS-160 tied to the account will even show up until after you book the appointment. That's what is so weird, there's no way to know what will show up until the very end after you pay the fee. I paid the fee as it was the only way to access the scheduler and because I would eventually have to do so later, anyway; up until that point, TravelDocs only asked what visa type, where we were applying, and to verify some very basic applicant information. It was the correct fee - $235, and not the $160 ascribed to tourist visas. 

 

The only thing needed for medical for many embassies, from what I know, is your case number. Each embassy should have on their website what medical 'consists' of, but they openly publish which doctors you can go to. We called up the Warsaw doctor and they were super kind and penciled us right in. Unless India does something unique, Packet 3 should only tell you to go to the doctor - my understanding is that these doctors, who are specially selected, have all the forms themselves needed. They spoke English right away with us on the phone (not even Polish!) and knew immediately what we needed. Very good experience.

Edited March 20, 2022 by slavaskii

[SandyR 142]

43 minutes ago, slavaskii said:

I don't recall if we had started a fresh DS-160; again, on the dashboard for TravelDocs, nothing was listed, so I don't know how it picked up the old B2 one. The account had just been transferred over from Romania anyway, so whatever was there, if there was something, was necessarily invalid. In regards to your fiance logging in: I don't think the DS-160 tied to the account will even show up until after you book the appointment. That's what is so weird, there's no way to know what will show up until the very end after you pay the fee. I paid the fee as it was the only way to access the scheduler and because I would eventually have to do so later, anyway; up until that point, TravelDocs only asked what visa type, where we were applying, and to verify some very basic applicant information. It was the correct fee - $235, and not the $160 ascribed to tourist visas. 

 

The only thing needed for medical for many embassies, from what I know, is your case number. Each embassy should have on their website what medical 'consists' of, but they openly publish which doctors you can go to. We called up the Warsaw doctor and they were super kind and penciled us right in. Unless India does something unique, Packet 3 should only tell you to go to the doctor - my understanding is that these doctors, who are specially selected, have all the forms themselves needed. They spoke English right away with us on the phone (not even Polish!) and knew immediately what we needed. Very good experience.

Oh wow - so you paid the fee and scheduled the medical.  That's fantastic.  I think the medical is good for 6 months.  Did you schedule yours close to your July appointment or sooner?  I'd probably opt to get it done sooner just in case you can move up the interview.  Hopefully our cases will go on the 29th.  I think they should unless the embassies are behind.  I guess not too much downside in paying and booking prior to getting to embassy.  Oh were you able to pay with a credit card or did you pay through checking account?  I thought (for India at least) many were talking about the beneficiary having to pay at a local bank.  So not sure why that would be.

[EatBulaga 314]

2 hours ago, slavaskii said:

I don't recall if we had started a fresh DS-160; again, on the dashboard for TravelDocs, nothing was listed, so I don't know how it picked up the old B2 one. The account had just been transferred over from Romania anyway, so whatever was there, if there was something, was necessarily invalid. In regards to your fiance logging in: I don't think the DS-160 tied to the account will even show up until after you book the appointment. That's what is so weird, there's no way to know what will show up until the very end after you pay the fee. I paid the fee as it was the only way to access the scheduler and because I would eventually have to do so later, anyway; up until that point, TravelDocs only asked what visa type, where we were applying, and to verify some very basic applicant information. It was the correct fee - $235, and not the $160 ascribed to tourist visas. 

Okay Taiwan UStravelDocs is specific to Taiwan. See the attached pic.

DS-160 Confirmation number and Case ID are required for the Taiwan UStravelDocs.

Apparently, Taiwan UStravelDocs has some textboxes specific to Taiwan like "When possible please enter your complete address in Chinese".

So we have to complete the DS-160 first before the UStravelDocs, at least for Taiwan.

 

Do other country's UStravelDocs look different?

Edited March 21, 2022 by EatBulaga

[slavaskii 886]

3 hours ago, EatBulaga said:

Okay Taiwan UStravelDocs is specific to Taiwan. See the attached pic.

DS-160 Confirmation number and Case ID are required for the Taiwan UStravelDocs.

Apparently, Taiwan UStravelDocs has some textboxes specific to Taiwan like "When possible please enter your complete address in Chinese".

So we have to complete the DS-160 first before the UStravelDocs, at least for Taiwan.

 

Do other country's UStravelDocs look different?

Thank you for showing this! Yes, it does seem like every country's is different; I have not, for example, seen TravelDocs ask for BOTH the case number and the DS-160. It's either one or the other or none, as in my case. We are both clearly on the same step, as I see you're scheduling a K1 above. And now that I've confirmed that Poland's TravelDocs page doesn't ask for the DS-160 up front no matter what, I think it's all but settled that it is country-specific. How weird. One thing I wonder is if we don't have this 'restriction' because of the amount of emergency appointments coming through Eastern Europe right now. Perhaps Warsaw is contemplating some applicants won't have their case numbers ready at the time of scheduling, or that others will have Moscow/Kyiv numbers that would be automatically rejected by the system if they didn't do away with the field? 
 

Edit: New thought just crossed my mind. As even B2 visas go through the DS-160 process, if they were required at all for Warsaw, it should’ve asked for AT LEAST that number. Or had me verify it somewhere along the line. The fact it didn’t, but still pulled it, means either Romania somehow got a hold of it or, as we’ve thought, it’s linked by the passport all along. And then my point above makes sense: Warsaw doesn’t ask for the case number because of the number of transfer applicants right now.

 

5 hours ago, SandyR said:

Oh wow - so you paid the fee and scheduled the medical.  That's fantastic.  I think the medical is good for 6 months.  Did you schedule yours close to your July appointment or sooner?  I'd probably opt to get it done sooner just in case you can move up the interview.  Hopefully our cases will go on the 29th.  I think they should unless the embassies are behind.  I guess not too much downside in paying and booking prior to getting to embassy.  Oh were you able to pay with a credit card or did you pay through checking account?  I thought (for India at least) many were talking about the beneficiary having to pay at a local bank.  So not sure why that would be.

I scheduled the medical in April, hoping that I can ask for an earlier appointment once I get in touch with TravelDocs. And yes, I was able to pay with credit card! There were some options as well, including cash, lol. I do know some embassies are much stricter about this, though. Romania specifically asked for a bank transfer with the B2, which was really, really weird. All I remember is that it actually couldn't be done out of the country. Perhaps India is the same way?

Edited March 21, 2022 by slavaskii

[SandyR 142]

Thanks for the info.  We will be able to check India later today.  It is a little strange how different each country is.  You would think some things like basic info would all be standard.  Thanks for everyone's work on figuring this all out.  Very interesting.  

[EatBulaga 314]

Hello All,

We received the Packet 3 by email.

As mentioned previously, Packet 3 has no new information that are not already available online.

The email referenced a bunch of links like DS-160, Approved List of Medical Examiners, UStravelDocs, etc.

The email did attach a copy of our marked-up version of the I-129F with the approval stamp on top.

Now is the rush to get the rest of the paperwork done and schedule the interview which is likely to be towards the end of April or early May for us.

 

Good luck to all, and we'll keep everyone posted on our Timeline.

[slavaskii 886]

55 minutes ago, EatBulaga said:

Hello All,

We received the Packet 3 by email.

As mentioned previously, Packet 3 has no new information that are not already available online.

The email referenced a bunch of links like DS-160, Approved List of Medical Examiners, UStravelDocs, etc.

The email did attach a copy of our marked-up version of the I-129F with the approval stamp on top.

Now is the rush to get the rest of the paperwork done and schedule the interview which is likely to be towards the end of April or early May for us.

 

Good luck to all, and we'll keep everyone posted on our Timeline.

Thank you my friend for keeping us all updated! Glad to hear you're going along smoothly. I'm actually super excited now to see our I-129F returned, I thought we'd never see it again based on the urges to always keep a private copy. It's like getting a final exam back - or, er, a midterm?

Edited March 22, 2022 by slavaskii

[lb119397 79]

On 3/16/2022 at 7:04 PM, DeeJess said:

Yeah, honestly I'm just hoping to god these are the actual tracking numbers for both of us but I can't see why they wouldn't be but as you say, who knows anymore haha :')

 

And that's weird that not everyone can see this information, but yeah it's all good, no problem at all 

Sooo, thanks to your help, I was able to verify that the shipment containing my packet arrived at the embassy this afternoon. Thank you for pulling up the information! I now know to expect for them to reach out with the next step sometime this week! 😄