FEBRUARY 2022 K1 NOA2 to NVC to EMBASSY

[EatBulaga 407]

8 hours ago, Oti&Dum said:

Also, the UStraveldocs account is made only after completing the DS-160 form, right? After you tell them your email, I guess they will send a password on that address and we can login afterwards. 

You can create an UStraveldocs account now without all the info to complete it, but you can explore around to see what information is needed, and log back in with your email and password when you do have all the info to complete it like what I did.

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/778486-february-2022-k1-noa2-to-nvc-to-embassy/page/14/?tab=comments#comment-10645435

When I created the UStravelDocs login, I did not get a confirmation email.

 

For DS-160 Taiwan at least, the application is good for 30-days such that once created, you can retrieve it. So if your consulate has not received your case from 30-days when you create a DS-160 application, it might expire before you can submit it to the consulate anyway. There is a "Terms and Agreement" page that you have to check when you "Retrieve and Application", mentioning something about the consulate data are collected by the state department indicating do not misuse or create unnecessary applications.

 

Also, by completing your Timeline will help with the visajourney stats page and others looking for similar Timelines.

[EatBulaga 407]

8 hours ago, lb119397 said:

Thanks for your post. So in this case, in your opinion, do you (or anyone else) think that it would be advisable to use my (petitioner’s) email address to create the account and complete the DS-160 for purposes of consistency, or just go ahead and do it with my beneficiary’s email address?

You can see what email I used at this post.

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/778486-february-2022-k1-noa2-to-nvc-to-embassy/page/15/?tab=comments#comment-10646853

I'm not sure if the consulate really cares which email is used as long as the visa applicant (beneficiary) can complete the process, and knows how to get notified with the visa status.

[EatBulaga 407]

5 hours ago, slavaskii said:

Some quick caveats about this:

 

(1) The DS-160 can be filled out at any time; there is nothing that stops any of us from accessing it now. However, it's strongly advised to wait as long as possible to fill it out, as information can change and the DS-160 cannot be edited once made.

(2) You can, however, update the DS-160 linked to your TravelDocs account. You will need to call the embassy, but no longer do you just have to print out the confirmation page for your 'new' one and tell them to ignore the old. You can make an entirely new DS-160 at most three day before the interview, call TravelDocs, and print out the new confirmation as requested.

(3) Not all embassies' TravelDocs require the DS-160 and NVC Case Number. Some require one, some require both, others still require none. As you pointed out, that means that the 'common denominator' across everything is the passport number, as this is the only thing standard across all embassies. Also note that once you make an appointment, your passport number is 'sealed' into the TravelDocs account. Before you make an appointment it's editable, but from the moment you lock in a spot, it's permanent. Very interesting.

(4) Each embassy has different requirements for the medical, needing the DS-160 confirmation and passport is required, but some let you go through the process without photos, for example. Other doctors ask for the Case Number up front.

 

Good luck everyone!

(1) and (2) For DS-160 Taiwan at least, the application is good for 30-days such that once created, you can retrieve it. So if your consulate has not received your case from 30-days when you create a DS-160 application, it might expire before you can submit it to the consulate anyway. There is a "Terms and Agreement" page that you have to check when you "Retrieve and Application", mentioning something about the consulate data are collected by the state department indicating do not misuse or create unnecessary applications.

 

(3) That's correct. I put the disclaimer that my post was for the Taiwan consulate only to give others an idea, and each consulate forms may be a little different.

 

(4) That's correct. Again what I posted is for Taiwan, and what the Taiwan consulate posted as requirement for the medical exam that seems to close the requirements of the different forms. And hopefully makes some sense and rationale out of all the paperwork and wait times.

 

[Oti&Dum 7]

55 minutes ago, EatBulaga said:

You can create an UStraveldocs account now without all the info to complete it, but you can explore around to see what information is needed, and log back in with your email and password when you do have all the info to complete it like what I did.

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/778486-february-2022-k1-noa2-to-nvc-to-embassy/page/14/?tab=comments#comment-10645435

When I created the UStravelDocs login, I did not get a confirmation email.

 

For DS-160 Taiwan at least, the application is good for 30-days such that once created, you can retrieve it. So if your consulate has not received your case from 30-days when you create a DS-160 application, it might expire before you can submit it to the consulate anyway. There is a "Terms and Agreement" page that you have to check when you "Retrieve and Application", mentioning something about the consulate data are collected by the state department indicating do not misuse or create unnecessary applications.

 

Also, by completing your Timeline will help with the visajourney stats page and others looking for similar Timelines.

Hmm, that’s interesting, because I tried to make an account a few times and there was an error everytime. Maybe there is already an account with my email and that’s why I couldn’t do it from scratch.

 

So you guys suggesting that we shouldn’t rush into completing the DS-160 form? I’ve read that many of us here already did it. I also didn’t know there was an expiration date to it. 

[EatBulaga 407]

On 3/25/2022 at 12:42 AM, J&D1008 said:

In addition to everyone else comments, I found this website very helpful for trying to understand the backlog at a particular embassy. You can choose your embassy and then choose the visa category. 

https://visawhen.com/

Yes thanks! It shows backlog estimate as compared to before 2020 March (start of the pandemic).

https://visawhen.com/consulates

It reports the visa issued and the backlog and gives an estimate compared to before 2020 March (start of the pandemic)

You have to hover over a particular month's bar graph to show the number of visas issued and backlog number.

 

For example, Warsaw is "5.7 months ahead of expectations" with the before 2020 March of average of 16.1 K1 visas.

https://visawhen.com/consulates/warsaw/k1

2022 January was 38 issued with backlog of 77.4. 

2022 February was 31 issued with backlog of 92.3. (what exactly is a 0.4 or 0.3 application?)

But it shows a downward trend for processing which indicates they are slowing down.

 

For Mexico City, it doesn't have an estimate nor a before 2020 March average to compare to, but it does have some numbers.

https://visawhen.com/consulates/mexico-city/k1

2022 January was 81 issued with backlog of 1430.

2022 February was 56 issued with backlog of 1486.

But it shows a downward trend for processing which indicates they are slowing down.

 

For Mumbai, it is "5.2 months behind of expectations" with the before 2020 March of average of 44.9 K1 visas.

https://visawhen.com/consulates/mumbai/k1

2022 January was 51 issued with backlog of -203.8.

2022 February was 14 issued with backlog of -234.7. (what are negative applications?)

But it shows a downward trend for processing which indicates they are slowing down.

 

For Tegucigalpa, it is "12.5 months behind of expectations" with the before 2020 March of average of 19.7 K1 visas.

https://visawhen.com/consulates/tegucigalpa/k1

2022 January was 14 issued with backlog of -230.3.

2022 February was 5 issued with backlog of -245. (what are negative applications?)

And it shows a downward trend for processing which indicates they are slowing down.

 

For Bucharest, it is "10.6 months behind of expectations" with the before 2020 March of average of 9.3 K1 visas.

https://visawhen.com/consulates/bucharest/k1

2022 January was 5 issued with backlog of -89.7.

2022 February was 0 issued with backlog of -99. (what are negative applications?)

And it shows a downward trend for processing which indicates they are slowing down.

 

For Taipei, it is "7.5 months behind of expectations" with the before 2020 March of average of 14.8 K1 visas.

https://visawhen.com/consulates/taipei/k1

2022 January was 11 issued with backlog of -97.2.

2022 February was 2 issued with backlog of -110. (what are negative applications?)

And it shows a downward trend for processing which indicates they are slowing down.

 

Not sure that I understand all the numbers, and I'm sure if you join the posted Discord community that there are more answers.

https://discord.com/invite/zkf8w2QtQY

But pretty slick site!

[EatBulaga 407]

29 minutes ago, Oti&Dum said:

Hmm, that’s interesting, because I tried to make an account a few times and there was an error everytime. Maybe there is already an account with my email and that’s why I couldn’t do it from scratch.

 

So you guys suggesting that we shouldn’t rush into completing the DS-160 form? I’ve read that many of us here already did it. I also didn’t know there was an expiration date to it. 

I see that you listed Armenia as your consulate. 

Strange that the UStravelDocs page for Armenia from

https://www.ustraveldocs.com/

redirects to 

https://am.usembassy.gov/

and this is the only link to K1 visa Armenia

https://am.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/fiancee-visa/

 

The Romania UStravelDocs page looks like

https://www.ustraveldocs.com/ro/

and can create a login

 

The Taiwan UStravelDocs page looks like 

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

and can create a login

 

As mentioned before, each consulate can have their own specific process and forms.

The US embassy in Yerevan, Armenia should be issuing K1 visas, but they may be using their own process and forms?

Visawhen even has K1 data for Yerevan

https://visawhen.com/consulates/yerevan/k1

 

I would contact the US embassy in Yerevan directly and ask them about what forms they require.

Or look up the Armenia K1 forums on visajourney and post there, or find any related FB groups?

 

Good luck and you may want to post your findings to the right forums or groups for future applicants that run into the same problem with the Armenia consulate?

 

 

Edited March 26, 2022 by EatBulaga

[Oti&Dum 7]

18 minutes ago, EatBulaga said:

I see that you listed Armenia as your consulate. 

Strange that the UStravelDocs page for Armenia from

https://www.ustraveldocs.com/

redirects to 

https://am.usembassy.gov/

and this is the only link to K1 visa Armenia

https://am.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/fiancee-visa/

 

The Romania UStravelDocs page looks like

https://www.ustraveldocs.com/ro/

and can create a login

 

The Taiwan UStravelDocs page looks like 

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

and can create a login

 

As mentioned before, each consulate can have their own specific process and forms.

The US embassy in Yerevan, Armenia should be issuing K1 visas, but they may be using their own process and forms?

Visawhen even has K1 data for Yerevan

https://visawhen.com/consulates/yerevan/k1

 

I would contact the US embassy in Yerevan directly and ask them about what forms they require.

Or look up the Armenia K1 forums on visajourney and post there, or find any related FB groups?

 

Good luck and you may want to post your findings to the right forums or groups for future applicants that run into the same problem with the Armenia consulate?

 

 

Oh no, sorry about that mistake, my consulate is in Bucharest, I failed to fill that in, sorry for the misinformation. Apparently I had an account already, no idea how because I’ve never applied for a visa before. But thank for all your help! 

[SandyR 142]

On 3/25/2022 at 11:30 PM, EatBulaga said:

Okay having filled out the DS-160 and the UStravelDocs forms for the Taiwan consulate, here are some things I noticed. The US petitioner can help fill out these forms, but keep in mind to fill out these forms from the perspective of the beneficiary visa applicant. Again this is for the Taiwan consulate, and as previously discussed, each consulate may be a little different and may have tailored the forms to their process.

 

1. The DS-160 kept logging us out every 5-10 minutes (not the 20-minute as listed), so save each page often as you complete them, and you can retrieve it within the 30-day of starting the application. So starting the DS-160 too early without an interview scheduled within 30-days may not be useful?

2. The DS-160 login to "Retrieve An Application" requires Application ID, First 5 letters of Surname, Year of Birth, and Security question (of your choice).

3. The UStravelDocs login requires an email and password.

4. DS-160 does ask for an email, and social media (like Facebook, etc.), but not sure if the consulate/embassy will use the input email for notification. As mentioned previously, unless you called NVC to verbally update your email for notification, the default email on record is the petitioner's email listed in the I-129F. The NVC inquiry page to update the email has a delay, which makes it unreliable to update the email. The DS-160 confirmation page is emailed to the form input email address. So in other words, I don't know how reliable is the email notification, but see below for the UStravelDocs dashboard and CEAC notification.

5. The USCIS Receipt Number (ex. WACXXXXXXXXXXXXX) goes into the DS-160. 

6. The DS-160 Application ID and the NVC Case Number goes into the UStravelDocs. 

7. The beneficiary passport is the identifier in both the DS-160 and UStravelDocs.

8. The K1 visa fee is 265US payable in the UStravelDocs.

9. The UStravelDocs does have the option for pick-up from the courier instead of the courier delivery of the passport visa package after the interview.

10. The DS-160 at the end "Sign and Submit" page, asks for the "Preparer of the Application", which means that the petitioner or a 3rd party (ex. lawyer) can be on record to help fill out the form.

11. For the beneficiary medical exam, the scheduled interview letter (from UStravelDocs) and the DS-160 confirmation page are required, along with the passport, photos and immunization records.

12. The UStravelDocs dashboard is supposed to be where to we can see the visa status updates after the interview. But I read on other forums that the visa status are also updated on the CEAC tracker site like "Approved", "Administrative Processing", etc. So we shall see how we will be notified.

 

Again, I'm learning as I go along, and all these are subject to change. But these are the what I understand at the moment. Hope this is helpful and Good luck to all.

Thanks for the very thorough review of everything.  I do have a question though.  What letter is required for the medical exam?  Something from Packet 3 (or 4 if appropriate) or something you print when you pay the fee ?  Wondering if we can schedule the medical now and if we have to consider that we need to wait for a letter.  Thank you

Edited March 27, 2022 by SandyR

[EatBulaga 407]

1 hour ago, SandyR said:

Thanks for the very thorough review of everything.  I do have a question though.  What letter is required for the medical exam?  Something from Packet 3 (or 4 if appropriate) or something you print when you pay the fee ?  Wondering if we can schedule the medical now and if we have to consider that we need to wait for a letter.  Thank you

Everything after NVC processing, your process becomes embassy/consulate specific. I had posted my DS-160 and UStravelDocs experience because I know many may want to know what comes next, or what they can prepare for. And again after NVC, it is all embassy/consulate specific process and forms, so you can prepare specific to your embassy/consulate for the medical exam, interview, or whatever specific requirements.

 

So in your case, what is required for medical is defined by the Mumbai embassy.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Supplements/Supplements_by_Post/BMB-Mumbai.html

 

Interesting that Mumbai does not have a Packet 3, but it does have a Packet 4?

https://in.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/71/MumbaiIVPacket-4-for-Ks-January-2017-Rev.pdf

https://www.visajourney.com/consulates/index.php?ctry=India&cty=Mumbai

 

And India UStravelDocs looks very different from Taiwan or Romania.

https://www.ustraveldocs.com/in/en

 

You can pose Mumbai embassy specific questions at the regional forums.

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/91-asia-south/

Or maybe look up specific regional or embassy specific FB groups, or other social media groups?

And whatever you learned that helped you in the process, you can contribute back to those groups. Good luck!

 

Edited March 27, 2022 by EatBulaga

[EatBulaga 407]

13 minutes ago, EatBulaga said:

Everything after NVC processing, your process becomes embassy/consulate specific.

One difference among the individual cases "At NVC" wait times seems to depend on the embassy/consulate caseloads, which I have 2 posts to help provide an expected estimate:

 

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/778486-february-2022-k1-noa2-to-nvc-to-embassy/page/18/?tab=comments#comment-10649126

 

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/778486-february-2022-k1-noa2-to-nvc-to-embassy/page/16/?tab=comments#comment-10647995

 

As shown in our Timeline, we are very fortunate to have a relative short wait time from NOA2 to Consulate received (about 1 month), and that caught me by surprise (but a nice surprise). I had to rush researching and preparing for the next steps, which I tried to document some of it here so as to help others here. Again, good luck to all.

[SandyR 142]

2 hours ago, EatBulaga said:

Everything after NVC processing, your process becomes embassy/consulate specific. I had posted my DS-160 and UStravelDocs experience because I know many may want to know what comes next, or what they can prepare for. And again after NVC, it is all embassy/consulate specific process and forms, so you can prepare specific to your embassy/consulate for the medical exam, interview, or whatever specific requirements.

 

So in your case, what is required for medical is defined by the Mumbai embassy.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Supplements/Supplements_by_Post/BMB-Mumbai.html

 

Interesting that Mumbai does not have a Packet 3, but it does have a Packet 4?

https://in.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/71/MumbaiIVPacket-4-for-Ks-January-2017-Rev.pdf

https://www.visajourney.com/consulates/index.php?ctry=India&cty=Mumbai

 

And India UStravelDocs looks very different from Taiwan or Romania.

https://www.ustraveldocs.com/in/en

 

You can pose Mumbai embassy specific questions at the regional forums.

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/91-asia-south/

Or maybe look up specific regional or embassy specific FB groups, or other social media groups?

And whatever you learned that helped you in the process, you can contribute back to those groups. Good luck!

 

Wow - you are fantastic!  Thank you.  I have looked for info but couldn't find it.  I do not find these government websites easy to navigate.  the information is not easily obtained.  But maybe that is just me !  😄

It looks like we need the letter before we can go to the medical.  Now I have to figure out if we should chance it and schedule before getting the letter.

As far as the packets - I thought we only had packet 3 and not a 4.  But either way, it is only one packet for India - that much I have found out from others. 

Unfortunately, there is not too much info on the Mumbai embassy.  Perhaps I can check FB.  Just praying for a "In Transit" on Tuesday!

good luck to you and everyone on this fantastic, stressful journey!

[MayWest 1]

Should I be concerned? We got our NOA2 on 2/14/22 and have yet to receive anything from NVC, I’ve called and emailed and been given the run around. The petition expires in June is there anyway we’ll be able to have everything done if it’s taking nearly 2 months just go get a case number?

[J&D1008 376]

49 minutes ago, MayWest said:

Should I be concerned? We got our NOA2 on 2/14/22 and have yet to receive anything from NVC, I’ve called and emailed and been given the run around. The petition expires in June is there anyway we’ll be able to have everything done if it’s taking nearly 2 months just go get a case number?

Dont worry about the expiration date. The consular will extend it once they go to the interview. Mexico is taking about 3-6 months from NOA-2 to interview. 

[SandyR 142]

1 hour ago, MayWest said:

Should I be concerned? We got our NOA2 on 2/14/22 and have yet to receive anything from NVC, I’ve called and emailed and been given the run around. The petition expires in June is there anyway we’ll be able to have everything done if it’s taking nearly 2 months just go get a case number?

Did you put a request in to inquire?  I would if you haven’t .  You will get better results than calling.  But hopefully you hear before they respond.  I was at NVC 6 weeks .  Frustrating!

[MayWest 1]

28 minutes ago, SandyR said:

Did you put a request in to inquire?  I would if you haven’t .  You will get better results than calling.  But hopefully you hear before they respond.  I was at NVC 6 weeks .  Frustrating!

Yes, I sent an email to the address that was in the NOA2 30 days after receiving the notice, which gave me an automated message to formally put in an inquiry on their website. I then put in the inquiry the same day. It’s been 2 wks and still nothing