Update

[Jmaster911 0]

Hi,

Just a quick update on our progress. The company who I have been talking to about a job in Dallas offered to get an immigration lawyer involved in the visa process. After a couple of conference calls they put me in touch with an immigration lawyer in London who has now filed my DS-230 before my I-130 is approved (something I didn't know you could do).

The lawyers say that providing all goes well with the I-130 I could get an interview before the end of the year (not getting my hopes up tho).

I feel really fortunate that the company who interviewed me has gone to all this trouble. They haven't given me a formal offer but are funding the lawyer. I suspect that they are waiting to see what date I get for the interview before they make the offer formal, either way it will allow me to get my visa a lot easier. It has also taken a weight off of our mind cause now we can just rely in the lawyer to get everything prepared and more importantly correct

Will keep everybody up to date

[Silas 0]

From a personal point of view for you it's certainly seems great news that the company is keen enough on you to hire an immigration lawyer.

I'll be honest, I've not previously heard of anyone going through London sending in the DS-230 prior to getting the I-130 approved. I would, however, be amazed if it were to speed up the process as the embassy will not act on the DS-230 until they also receive the signed checklist that you get in packet 3.

Bear in mind also that DCF is a bit of a misnomer when it comes to London; the I-130 is not actually processed by the embassy’s Immigrant Visa Branch but rather by a field office of USCIS that is based in the embassy; the two as far as I’ve been able to gather are quite separate. Once the USCIS field office have approved the I-130 then they will forward your file to the immigration visa branch in the embassy who will deal with everything post I-130: i.e. stuff like the DS-230, interview, etc. So a DS-230 sent at this stage may in theory be going to a dept. that, as yet, may have no record of you. Also, (and I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong) I don’t think London allocates a case number for DCF applicants until they send the packet 3 – that was the first time I was aware of one. So if the immigrant visa branch hasn’t yet got a case number for you I’d be a little worried about whether they would file a DS-230 sent in at this stage correctly. They send a copy of the DS-230 with packet 3 so if I were you I’d also comlete that one and send into the embassy when you send the checklist.

Quite sensibly you write that you’re not getting your hopes up too much about the lawyer’s timeline. I did find that once the I-130 was approved the rest of the process flew by, so if you get the I-130 approved in the next few weeks an interview at the end of the year may not be unfeasible (the embassy might slow down during December for Christmas just as it did in the summer) in fact it wouldn't be that dissimilar to my own timeline. I stronly think, however, any difference in timing between you doing it yourself and having a lawyer would be so minute as to be negligible.

Anyway, best of luck! And I hope you get your visa asap.

Edited November 7, 2007 by Silas

[MargotDarko 0]

Yes, Silas makes a good point about London USCIS being separate from the US embassy. They are in the same building but are separate entities. Silas is also right that there is no case number until NOA2 and USCIS sending the approved I-130 to the embassy section. At best, sending the DS-230 early causes the embassy to think an approved petition is coming so they hold it aside for you and try to match it up when the approved I-130 comes through. At worst, it confuses your case. Also, by "notice of readiness" do you mean the DS-2001 checklist? It lists all the documents you're supposed to bring, which you're supposed to check off on the sheet, and has a section about your details, including a place where you're supposed to put your case number.

At any rate, I don't think it will cause too much harm, and you're not crazy to hope for an interview by the end of the year. If it's not by the end of the year, it should be early in January.

[Jmaster911 0]

Yes, Silas makes a good point about London USCIS being separate from the US embassy. They are in the same building but are separate entities. Silas is also right that there is no case number until NOA2 and USCIS sending the approved I-130 to the embassy section. At best, sending the DS-230 early causes the embassy to think an approved petition is coming so they hold it aside for you and try to match it up when the approved I-130 comes through. At worst, it confuses your case. Also, by "notice of readiness" do you mean the DS-2001 checklist? It lists all the documents you're supposed to bring, which you're supposed to check off on the sheet, and has a section about your details, including a place where you're supposed to put your case number.

At any rate, I don't think it will cause too much harm, and you're not crazy to hope for an interview by the end of the year. If it's not by the end of the year, it should be early in January.

It was the DS-2001, I did ask about the case number and the lawyer said to leave this blank. Apparently (and as I said I always am careful about beliving lawyers), they effectively skip packet 3 which will shaves about 10-15 days off the process. Once the I-130 is approved they pass the file over and they becuase the DS-1002 and DS-230 are present in the file they just get on and process the rest of the application.

As they say the proof is in the pudding and if it works Great and if it doesn't I personally have lost nothing

[Jmaster911 0]

Sorry....forgot to add that the lawyer did outline on the conf call that this is one of those unknown things that you can do BUT you have to be really careful how you word the cover letter when you do submit it or it will be rejected.

I'll try and find out more details off the lawyer and share with the group and maybe start a trend - lol

[gwenneh 7]

I DEFINITELY would advise against this route! It's not unknown, but it is old information and could delay your case rather than help it.

http://forum.diveintoamerica.com/showthread.php?t=3451

Edited November 8, 2007 by Gwen666

[Jmaster911 0]

I DEFINITELY would advise against this route! It's not unknown, but it is old information and could delay your case rather than help it.

http://forum.diveintoamerica.com/showthread.php?t=3451

I know the post was in 2004 but that is interesting. Its to late now as its already filed so I will have to wait and see. My only comfort is that the lawyer handling my case apparently does many DCF's cases each year so I assume she knows what she is doing (although assuming anything with a lawyer is dangerous - lol).

My only comfort is that I'm not paying for her - lol