Delaying / Postponing Your Case At NVC

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

This has been discussed many times but I never saw an official answer to it.  I contacted NVC, told them our situation (I-130 approved, but need to delay for a year or two due to shipping costs, housing costs, etc.) and asked what is the proper way to postpone our case at NVC.  This is their answer.  Passing it along.

 

Dear Sir/Madam:

 

Thank you for contacting the National Visa Center (NVC). To keep your case active, do not let more than one year go by without contacting the NVC.

 

The easiest way to keep your case active is to access the Consular Electronic Center (CEAC) at https://ceac.state.gov/iv. Every time you go into your CEAC account, it will update the last contact date.

 

Regards,

 

Romeo | Inquiry Management

Department of State CA/VO/DO/NVC

LDRM | Lockwood Hills | Contractor

DOS - National Visa Center

 

So, it appears:

-  No need to call

-  No need to upload a document

 

Just login.

 

Reminder:  The DS 260 does need to be submitted within 1 year

 

Update below

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I finally had some time and wrote up a clear (hopefully) summary, perhaps for a pinned post.  If you want to ask the admins and they agree to pin it, I will make a new topic with it.  Just my way of giving a bit back to VJ, with the help of Family!

 

Proposal for pinned post

 

Topic:  Need to delay your case at NVC?  Here is the BEST way!

 

After my wife and stepdaughter were approved by USCIS, we received the welcome letters from NVC. We later realized that we are going to have to postpone getting the visas and moving to the U.S.  The delay might be one year, two years, or longer.  We don’t want to lose the fees we paid and start all over, so we are delaying.

 

I asked here on VJ about how to delay and got good advice from several members.  I also asked NVC via the AskNVC web portal.  The advice can be slightly confusing, so I am sharing what I have learned.

 

Please note:  This only applies to cases that are at NVC.  After your case goes to the embassy, this no longer applies.

 

Facts:

1. NVC will keep your case open indefinitely if you contact them once a year.
2. NVC has been known to mistakenly close cases even though there was contact within the required window.  It is up to you to prove that you contacted them by providing contact evidence.
3. Regardless of delaying, your DS 260 must be submitted to NVC within one year of your NVC welcome letter.
   1. There are three options to contact NVC and keep your delayed case open.By phone.  Downsides:  Long waits, might be expensive, and you have no paper trail of your contact.
   2. Log into your CEAC account.  Downsides:  This does not work for cases that were submitted by mail, and you have no paper trail of your contact.
   3. Use the AskNVC web portal.  Only a simple message is required, such as “I need more time for our case.  This is my record of annual NVC contact.”  Upside:  You will receive an immediate automated e-mail record of your contact with NVC including all the communication detail.  In the e-mail, it states: “Please retain this email as a record of your contact with NVC”.

AskNVC is the BEST option.  Just logging into your CEAC account does not provide the safety of having a paper trail of your contact.  Logging in does not work for non-electronic cases filed by mail.  Keep your NVC automated responses and perhaps keep a tickler file to remind you when to send another annual contact at AskNVC.

 

AskNVC:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/ask-nvc.html

 

I hope this information will help others who need to safely delay their cases at NVC.

 

Edited May 4, 2022 by Ontarkie
Updated information added to main post for ease.

[Ontarkie 14,218]

i'm ok with it being pinned. Should it be locked ?

[Family 3,988]

That is an official fairytale . Do the AskNVC , say I need more time ,  print it out and keep a copy. 

Please note to reinstate a terminated case , they do ask for “ digital proof” you logged in …and you won’t have it, they don’t have it and you are left with creative pleading for discretion. Plus paper cases v. electronic cases..

 

 

 

****

13. Can NVC confirm that the best procedure to reopen a matter if it was closed despite contact having been made in at least one or more of the above manners is to submit digital proof, corroborating contact, using the online Ask NVC Public Inquiry Form?
If you believe a termination notice was issued in error, we confirm that contacting NVC through our online Public Inquiry Form is the best mechanism for dealing with these issues. Submit digital proof corroborating contact; you can attach documents at the

 

Logging into CEAC satisfies the “contact” requirement to avoid termination under 203(g). The specific role of the case party logging into CEAC is not relevant. Please note this is only applicable for electronic cases. Logging into CEAC does not prevent 203(g) termination for paper cases.
 

 

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

1 minute ago, Ontarkie said:

i'm ok with it being pinned. Should it be locked ?

I would leave it open in case new information comes to light.

[Ontarkie 14,218]

1 minute ago, seekingthetruth said:

I would leave it open in case new information comes to light.

I'll pass it along. 

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

5 minutes ago, Family said:

That is an official fairytale . Do the AskNVC , say I need more time ,  print it out and keep a copy. 

Please note to reinstate a terminated case , they do ask for “ digital proof” you logged in …and you won’t have it, they don’t have it and you are left with creative pleading for discretion. Plus paper cases v. electronic cases..

 

 

 

****

13. Can NVC confirm that the best procedure to reopen a matter if it was closed despite contact having been made in at least one or more of the above manners is to submit digital proof, corroborating contact, using the online Ask NVC Public Inquiry Form?
If you believe a termination notice was issued in error, we confirm that contacting NVC through our online Public Inquiry Form is the best mechanism for dealing with these issues. Submit digital proof corroborating contact; you can attach documents at the

 

Logging into CEAC satisfies the “contact” requirement to avoid termination under 203(g). The specific role of the case party logging into CEAC is not relevant. Please note this is only applicable for electronic cases. Logging into CEAC does not prevent 203(g) termination for paper cases.
 

 

I could revise the original post to include some additional information, especially about electronic vs. paper.

 

 

[Family 3,988]

3 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

I could revise the original post to include some additional information, especially about electronic vs. paper.

 

Honestly if you are taking a position on what is the BEST WAY to keep your case open and satisfy the one year contact, I hope your position is to do Public Inquiry/ Ask NVC for ALL cases and print it out.  The response you got is simply because they don’t want to deal w emails.. 
 

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

16 minutes ago, Family said:

Honestly if you are taking a position on what is the BEST WAY to keep your case open and satisfy the one year contact, I hope your position is to do Public Inquiry/ Ask NVC for ALL cases and print it out.  The response you got is simply because they don’t want to deal w emails.. 
 

AskNVC takes quite a while to respond.  I have made two AskNvc requests and both took 6-8 weeks for a response.  Do you recommend a timing so as to avoid closing the case?  Perhaps every 6 months would be a good solution?

 

The way I am reading you is that while logging on may be a valid contact, there is no way to ensure that they are not going screw it up and close your case, correct?

[Family 3,988]

1 minute ago, seekingthetruth said:

AskNVC takes quite a while to respond.  I have made two AskNvc requests and both took 6-8 weeks for a response.  Do you recommend a timing so as to avoid closing the case?  Perhaps every 6 months would be a good solution?

 

The way I am reading you is that while logging on may be a valid contact, there is no way to ensure that they are not going screw it up and close your case, correct?

1. You do NOT get a response from NVC…you are NOT asking them to DO ANYTHING ( nor are they doing u a favor).The case remains OPEN for whenever you are ready to pursue the IV visa and all u do is make contact once a year. You just say ,  “ I need more time, this is my annual contact.”  
 

2. So if April 10, 2022 u sent email then next April, 2023 u send the same ..and so on . 

[Family 3,988]

You do get a lovely automated response from NVC acknowledging your inquiriy, even if u cannot print it out or forget.

[Family 3,988]

14 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

The way I am reading you is that while logging on may be a valid contact, there is no way to ensure that they are not going screw it up and close your case, correct?

YES YES 

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

2 minutes ago, Family said:

1. You do NOT get a response from NVC…you are NOT asking them to DO ANYTHING ( nor are they doing u a favor).The case remains OPEN for whenever you are ready to pursue the IV visa and all u do is make contact once a year. You just say ,  “ I need more time, this is my annual contact.”  
 

2. So if April 10, 2022 u sent email then next April, 2023 u send the same ..and so on . 

 

1 minute ago, Family said:

You do get a lovely automated response from NVC acknowledging your inquiriy, even if u cannot print it out or forget.

Right.  I was just going to mention that and it even says that it is proof of contact.

 

Please do not reply to this email. NVC will answer your inquiry in the order in which it was received. Consult https://nvc.state.gov/timeframes to find out when you can expect a response. We will not respond substantively to mail sent directly to this address. Follow-up inquiries may be made at https://nvc.state.gov/inquiry.

Please retain this email as a record of your contact with NVC.

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

@family Thanks for your help.  Where were you in past discussions?  😁  This is very clear now I perhaps I can work with the admins to pin another post on the topic.  Delaying at NVC does come up fairly often.

[Family 3,988]

Oops! I didn’t know I was in midst of discussion! Lol! Am new to site.

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

6 minutes ago, Family said:

Oops! I didn’t know I was in midst of discussion! Lol! Am new to site.

No, no, I was referring to older discussions on the topic, when you were not here.  Thanks again for your contributions!