Switching consulate?

[wav_m 84]

Me again, with another basic question!

 

I'm a British citizen. I'm currently in Canada on a working holiday visa, and will have legal status in Canada until early May 2024. We filed our I-129F in June 2022, and based on the wait times when we filed (13 months), we listed the Montreal consulate as the consulate where I would attend an interview. (Based on a one-time consultation, we confirmed with a lawyer that Montreal would be able to process me.)

 

Obviously things have shifted, and the uncertainty around timeframes is making me nervous that my time in Canada will run out before I can attend an interview. Plus, if there's a issue that requires AP after the interview, I'm worried about what will happen if I run out of time in Canada before the AP is over (I gather it can really drag on).

 

My fiancé and I have decided to ask that I be processed in London instead – I'll leave Canada early if I have to. My question is: does anyone know of a reliable way to communicate that change to USCIS? I don't know how likely it is that we will be able to speak to someone who can make the change over the phone, and I'm not sure how their Emma chatbot works. Would it be best just to write them a letter?

 

Thank you all in advance for your help!

[Mike E 11,739]

The petitioner who filed I-129F should have a receipt. That receipt should have an address for USCIS. Write a letter (USPS priority mail) to that address, notifying USCIS that the beneficiary has a new address and state the new address. emphasize that the new address is a different country.  Note the case number,  beneficiary name, and old address.  
 

Include a copy of the receipt.  

[pilot787 23]

We switched consulates, from Montreal to Paris. Took under 2 weeks. You need to use an inquiry form and upload your British passport or birth certificate and ask to transfer. 

[wav_m 84]

58 minutes ago, Mike E said:

The petitioner who filed I-129F should have a receipt. That receipt should have an address for USCIS. Write a letter (USPS priority mail) to that address, notifying USCIS that the beneficiary has a new address and state the new address. emphasize that the new address is a different country.  Note the case number,  beneficiary name, and old address.  
 

Include a copy of the receipt.  

Thanks for this! Super helpful.

12 minutes ago, pilot787 said:

We switched consulates, from Montreal to Paris. Took under 2 weeks. You need to use an inquiry form and upload your British passport or birth certificate and ask to transfer. 

Was this at the NVC stage? We're not quite there yet – still pending NOA2, sadly!

[pilot787 23]

On 2/13/2023 at 10:42 PM, wav_m said:

Thanks for this! Super helpful.

Was this at the NVC stage? We're not quite there yet – still pending NOA2, sadly!

yes. It ws at NVC. But it doesn't take too long. May be it's better to wait till NVC, I don't think it really matters at NOA2 stage...which consulate, until all your docs are at NVC..

[Sha-Lee88 26]

On 2/13/2023 at 9:30 PM, pilot787 said:

We switched consulates, from Montreal to Paris. Took under 2 weeks. You need to use an inquiry form and upload your British passport or birth certificate and ask to transfer. 

What is the process for changing the consulate at the NVC stage?  You mention an inquiry form.  What form is that and where can I find it?  Trying to ensure that our consulate is changed from South Africa to Ghana since my fiancee moved while waiting for our NOA2.  I sent a letter to the USCIS explaining the move, but haven't received any confirmation from them (and likely won't until they review it, right?).

[pilot787 23]

1 minute ago, Sha-Lee88 said:

What is the process for changing the consulate at the NVC stage?  You mention an inquiry form.  What form is that and where can I find it?  Trying to ensure that our consulate is changed from South Africa to Ghana since my fiancee moved while waiting for our NOA2.  I sent a letter to the USCIS explaining the move, but haven't received any confirmation from them (and likely won't until they review it, right?).

There is an NVC inquiry form, which you use to contact NVC, all requests are made through it. You just send request there and attach the proof, why you are allowed to switch. I don't think you can switch consulates when your docs are not at NVC stage yet. All your docs have to be accepted by NVC first. Not sure about USCIS... 

[wav_m 84]

I figure we'll do both things – send a letter to USCIS in the hope that they can amend our I-129F to reflect the new consulate, then double-check with the NVC that the change has definitely been made and they intend to send it to the right place. Hopefully one of those approaches will work! Thanks everyone for your input.

[sarahlou12 10]

On 2/14/2023 at 1:30 PM, pilot787 said:

We switched consulates, from Montreal to Paris. Took under 2 weeks. You need to use an inquiry form and upload your British passport or birth certificate and ask to transfer. 

Hey there - just wondering; did you do your consulate switch prior to moving to Paris? Or did you have to move to Paris first?

 

Basically what I'm asking is - was it enough to provide proof of citizenship alone, or did they come back and ask for more documents for proof of physical residence and actually being in Paris? 

 

Thanks in advance

[pilot787 23]

7 hours ago, sarahlou12 said:

Hey there - just wondering; did you do your consulate switch prior to moving to Paris? Or did you have to move to Paris first?

 

Basically what I'm asking is - was it enough to provide proof of citizenship alone, or did they come back and ask for more documents for proof of physical residence and actually being in Paris? 

 

Thanks in advance

Hey! We don't live in Paris. We reside in Canada, but when I asked NVC if we can transfer to Paris based on my husband's French citizenship, they said yes. And just asked for proof of his passport. Took us only a week, the whole process, from e-mailing NVC to getting switched to a new consulate. However, we lost our DQ date from Montreal, and DQ changed to the new date, when we switched consulates. Hopefully, it will be helpful for you. 

[wav_m 84]

Just now, pilot787 said:

Hey! We don't live in Paris. We reside in Canada, but when I asked NVC if we can transfer to Paris based on my husband's French citizenship, they said yes. And just asked for proof of his passport. Took us only a week, the whole process, from e-mailing NVC to getting switched to a new consulate. However, we lost our DQ date from Montreal, and DQ changed to the new date, when we switched consulates. Hopefully, it will be helpful for you. 

This is really helpful – I am also not resident in the UK right now (temporarily on a working holiday in Canada), so it's a big relief to know that citizenship is what matters.

 

To update anyone still following this thread, we did send a letter to USCIS indicating that I intend to relocate back to the UK before our case goes to the consulate. I have no idea if they will do anything about it, or if we'll hear anything either way. But whatever happens, we plan to submit an inquiry to NVC about it when we get to that point. (We're K-1, so the DQ date won't be a problem for us.)

[pilot787 23]

Just now, wav_m said:

This is really helpful – I am also not resident in the UK right now (temporarily on a working holiday in Canada), so it's a big relief to know that citizenship is what matters.

 

To update anyone still following this thread, we did send a letter to USCIS indicating that I intend to relocate back to the UK before our case goes to the consulate. I have no idea if they will do anything about it, or if we'll hear anything either way. But whatever happens, we plan to submit an inquiry to NVC about it when we get to that point. (We're K-1, so the DQ date won't be a problem for us.)

Honestly, I wouldn't bother with USCIS, it's way easier with NVC. I think I sent request Dec 22nd through the inquiry form, and January 3rd we were in the new consulate. When we were sending request, we attached his passport picture, and the birth certificate. Montreal is really bad. I heard even for K-1 visasa. 

[wav_m 84]

1 hour ago, pilot787 said:

Honestly, I wouldn't bother with USCIS, it's way easier with NVC. I think I sent request Dec 22nd through the inquiry form, and January 3rd we were in the new consulate. When we were sending request, we attached his passport picture, and the birth certificate. Montreal is really bad. I heard even for K-1 visasa. 

Yeah, we were heavily spooked by the levels of AP at Montreal! There's an entire subthread in the Canada regional forum about it. The letter to USCIS is already on the way, on the advice of the lawyer we consulted, but I agree with you that NVC will be the route that actually works, haha.

[sarahlou12 10]

9 hours ago, pilot787 said:

Hey! We don't live in Paris. We reside in Canada, but when I asked NVC if we can transfer to Paris based on my husband's French citizenship, they said yes. And just asked for proof of his passport. Took us only a week, the whole process, from e-mailing NVC to getting switched to a new consulate. However, we lost our DQ date from Montreal, and DQ changed to the new date, when we switched consulates. Hopefully, it will be helpful for you. 

Thanks so much! I had submitted a request to change to London and was really stressed about it because currently I'm not physically in the UK so I don't have proof of address in the form of utilities or anything like that, so this reassured me a lot!

 

I didn't have to be stressed in the end though because literally 20hrs after I submitted the NVC request to change embassy it was approved!! Was not expecting it to happen before about 5 days with the current NVC inquiry times so it's nuts it was that fast.

 

For others in the same position in the future - like pilot, I too submitted only proof of citizenship in the form of citizenship certificate and passport, and an address I was going to be at. I didn't even put in a reason in my request - I just said that as a British citizen I would like to change my interview location, and that I had included all documentation as per the FAQs on the NVC site. I did this at the NVC stage, pre-fee payment and so pre-uploading docs and pre-DQ.