Recv'd I129F Approval 09/04/2024, How long do I wait for NVC info?

[Purple_Paladin 7]

I received our I129F approval letter with a notice date: 09/04/2024

The Approval notice states that it is valid until 01/03/2025

 

When I check the status of our case on USCIS it says only that we were approved. It says nothing about the approval being sent to NVC.

 

We don't have a lot of time before the I129F expires and there's still a lot to do.

How long do I wait to contact someone to check if we have a NVC case number?

 

Would I contact USCIS for that? I tried calling today but it was only an automated system that sent me in circles with no new information.

 

I read all of the information that I could find here and it seems that around now is when we should have notification that USCIS sent our file to NVC.

 

What happens if the I129F expires before they give us a NVC case number or before my fiance gets an embassy appointment?

 

I'm sorry if this question gets asked a lot. I did look around and found similar questions but all with different circumstances.

 

Thank you in advance for any helpful information!

Tracy

 

[apnzz 229]

7 minutes ago, Purple_Paladin said:

When I check the status of our case on USCIS it says only that we were approved. It says nothing about the approval being sent to NVC.

You would have to wait for the case status to be updated as "case was sent to the department of state". 

Currently this is taking anywhere from 6-8 weeks on average. Some people even longer.

For reference, I got approved Aug 23rd, my case was finally updated as "case was sent to the department of state" on October 7th. It took 6 weeks and 3 days. 

 

7 minutes ago, Purple_Paladin said:

How long do I wait to contact someone to check if we have a NVC case number?

2 weeks from the day that your case status has updated as "case was sent to the department of state" you can do the NVC public inquiry to see if they have your case. 

 

7 minutes ago, Purple_Paladin said:

Would I contact USCIS for that?

To get your case number, you would wait for case to be sent to DOS, 2 weeks later do the Public Inquiry, after that people tend to do the PI once per week until NVC to tell you they've received it, then you would be sent your case number soon after that.

 

Essentially after the case gets sent to DOS, USCIS has no involvement, it goes to NVC then to your embassy in the beneficiary country.

 

7 minutes ago, Purple_Paladin said:

What happens if the I129F expires before they give us a NVC case number or before my fiance gets an embassy appointment?

This will automatically be extended, but providing updated letters of intent to the beneficiary when they go to their interview is recommended.

 

Congrats on your approval! 🎉

Edited October 8 by apnzz

[Purple_Paladin 7]

Thank you for the info! 💜 Congratulations to you as well!

[smilingstone 168]

31 minutes ago, Purple_Paladin said:

We don't have a lot of time before the I129F expires and there's still a lot to do.

 

You don't have a lot of time? You've been given a whole 6 months!

 

Our approval came a month earlier than yours and we only have until 30th Nov...

[powerpuff 6,697]

*** Thread moved from Process & Procedures to Progress Reports as the question is about case updates ***

[Purple_Paladin 7]

20 minutes ago, smilingstone said:

 

You don't have a lot of time? You've been given a whole 6 months!

 

Our approval came a month earlier than yours and we only have until 30th Nov...

9/4 to 1/3 is not 6 months? It's 4 months and we're now down to less than 3. That is a very short amount of time to coordinate two all day trips for my fiance to go to Paris and first get his and his daughters medical appointments done and then the interview process. So perhaps I misunderstood how much time we have by that document to do what... or perhaps you misunderstood what I meant by not having much time. 

 

In any case, good luck to you! 

[apnzz 229]

19 minutes ago, Purple_Paladin said:

9/4 to 1/3 is not 6 months? It's 4 months and we're now down to less than 3. That is a very short amount of time to coordinate two all day trips for my fiance to go to Paris and first get his and his daughters medical appointments done and then the interview process. So perhaps I misunderstood how much time we have by that document to do what... or perhaps you misunderstood what I meant by not having much time. 

 

In any case, good luck to you! 

Hey - every k1 approval has an initial validity period of 4 months on the notice. After that, the consulate can extend them in 4 month increments for up to 1 year. They recommend bringing updated letters of intent to reaffirm that both individuals are still intending to marry.

 

Generally it is a short amount of time to arrange everything but unfortunately that is how it is, it kinda tends to snowball after the initial approval/noa2. Thankfully the wait between each stage gives you a chance to keep up and organise. 

 

Until the interview and medical exam are booked you can't make travel arrangements for those appointments anyway, so this time can be used to familiarise yourself with the next steps and what is required, and start gathering the documents you can get - police certiciate etc.

 

Hope that helps! 

[Edward and Jaycel 158]

FYI.... My USCIS case status said they sent my approved petition to the State Department on June 11th (the same day my NOA2 arrived in the mail and 10 days after the approved date on the NOA2.) However, that change in status did not appear on my USCIS online account until June 28th. It will do no harm to fill out a public inquiry with the NVC. The link is: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/ask-nvc.html       This is how I worded our inquiry:

 

Our I-129F, Petition for Alien Fiancée, was recently approved (June 1, 2024) and we received our I-797 (NOA2) from USCIS. We haven't received any further communication via mail or email and we were hoping we could obtain our NVC Case Number in order to progress with our application. I have attached our I-797 (NOA2) to this request for your reference. Thank you for any help you could provide. Also requesting if you could verify that our email addresses are correct as listed below:

 

petitioneremail@email.com

beneficiaryemail@email.com

 

This addendum at the end of the inquiry about your emails will ensure that the NVC and later the embassy have your correct emails. I did this in my second inquiry to NVC and after that my fiancee and I both received all the emails from that point forward all the way to the email that the embassy sent after the visa was issued with instructions on how to handle the yellow packet that was returned with her passport/visa.

 

Do not worry about the validity date of your Approval Notice. If it is expired at the time of your interview, the Consular Officer will extend its validity for 4 months. They know there are delays all over the place and do this as a matter of routine. Just be sure to bring updated letters of intent to marry to the interview. 

Edited October 8 by Edward and Jaycel

[Purple_Paladin 7]

On 10/8/2024 at 12:29 PM, apnzz said:

Hey - every k1 approval has an initial validity period of 4 months on the notice. After that, the consulate can extend them in 4 month increments for up to 1 year. They recommend bringing updated letters of intent to reaffirm that both individuals are still intending to marry.

That is very helpfull, thank you! I had thought that timeframe was a hard/fast rule. I''m relieved to hear that they do give extensions. 

 

Thanks again for all the helpful info!