Aloha,

We received our NOA1 May 14th.. We just received a new approval estimate of August 23rd. Dina will be moving in the next few weeks and the address on the I-129F will no longer be valid. What problems will that cause - if any?

Mahalo,

Bill and Dina

Hello! Since gaining citizenship last year, I had no issues getting all my documents, including passport. Since my kid automatically gained citizenship through me, I need to get him a passport. His biological father is not in the picture. He is in another country, not a USC, and even if he can fill out DS-3053, he could not provide the requirements because other countries like ours (Philippines),

don't have applicable requirements stated in this screenshot.

N600 certificate of citizenship is a bit expensive now, and I'm pretty sure a minor child still needs this DS-3053 passport application.

We all know that traveling only with a green card can be a hassle, and gc holders have different lines with US citizens in airport.

How else can I get a US passport for my child

?

I need help with assets. I own 3 properties 2 of them are rental units Can I count the rental units as an asset The rules say something about you cannot count property that you receive financial gain from something like that. There is no mortgage on anything If I can only count my house it is worth a 153000 and I have 106000 In Ford stock. I have petitioned a wife and 2 children in the Philippines. I'm expecting an interview letter and maybe the next 2 weeks Because I'm writing off the rental units it drops my income to 16000 Am I going to be okay

It is all to common seeing cases where petitioners file I-130's with errors specifying whether they are seeking adjustment of status or consular processing. So, they have to file I-824 to get their case moving again which is expensive and even more costly in terms of lost time and heartache. So it at least seems that USCIS has made a very positive change for petitioners who make that mistake, by allowing USCIS to use their descension determining if adjustment of status or consular processing is desired in cases where the relevant questions are answered ambiguously. Presumably that would eliminate a whole lot of unnecessary I-824. It would seem like a big deal to those making that common mistake.

https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/alerts/uscis-updates-guidance-for-family-based-immigrant-visas

Quote

USCIS Updates Guidance for Family-Based Immigrant Visas

Release Date

05/22/2024

Effective May 22, 2024, we are updating guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual on family-based immigrant visa petitions (including Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative and, in limited situations, family-based Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant), including explaining how we handle correcting approval notice errors, requests for consular processing or adjustment of status on the beneficiary s behalf, and routing procedures for approved petitions.

If you are a petitioner submitting Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, you must inform USCIS of the beneficiary s current address and whether the beneficiary wants consular processing with the Department of State National Visa Center (NVC) or adjustment of status in the United States, if eligible. Providing this information causes us to keep the approved petition for adjustment of status processing or send it to the NVC for consular processing, as appropriate. If you do not provide accurate information on the petition, it can delay the immigrant visa or adjustment of status process. For example, if we keep a petition because you provided inaccurate information, you must generally file Form I-824, Application for Action on an Approved Application or Petition, with the appropriate fee, to transfer the petition to the NVC.

Before issuing this update, we generally kept approved petitions that did not clearly indicate whether the beneficiary wanted adjustment of status or consular processing. This update clarifies procedures for family-based immigration petitions, to promote more efficient processing where the beneficiary s preference for consular processing or adjustment of status is unclear or has changed or a correction is needed.

This updated guidance provides that if you do not clearly indicate whether your beneficiary wants consular processing or adjustment of status, we will use discretion to decide whether to send the approved petition to the NVC for consular processing or keep the petition for adjustment of status processing, based on evidence of the beneficiary s most recent location, including the beneficiary s address on the petition.

This updated guidance also explains how you can contact us to correct an error or update a pending or approved Form I-130. This includes updating the beneficiary s location and indicating whether they want consular processing or adjustment of status.

Finally, this updated guidance provides general guidance on how we decide whether to approve or deny a family-based immigrant petition, including relevant notices.

Hello,

I am a CR1 applicant and I am sharing here details of my experience of my visa interview for anyone curious. Mine was on May 23rd, 2024 scheduled for 7:30 am.

6 am - arrived outside the embassy, lined up at the 7:30 am line (there were lines for 6:30, 7:30, 8:30 and so on and these were just for waiting to be allowed in, no documents asked at this point yet). Only waited 5 mins before 7:30 people were let forward to line up at the actual entrance to get in
6:30 am (-ish - didn't have a watch on me) - showed passport and DS-260 form, got sticker on back of passport and entered embassy - was told to look for "Area C" but the line managers redirected us to sit at seats outside Area C first since it was full at the moment
6:40 am (found out time from someone with a watch) - already lined up in Area C for preliminary interview (1st step). Note, there is no "Area C" on any signs, so just show your passport sticker and let the line managers direct you to the correct place. They were very helpful and answered questions and made sure noone got lost during the process. Just explain what you've already finished and been told and they will know where to direct you next.

At this point I don't know how much time passed so I'm recounting it in steps according to how they divided the lines:

Step 1: Preliminary interview - was asked to show the DS-260, passport, PSA Marriage Certificate, NBI Clearance

1st attempt - Before the interviewer could begin, he said my photo was not in their system (it was, but I suspect since it was older than 6 months, they wanted the more recent 2x2 photo uploaded) so they asked me to go to another counter where they could scan the 2x2 photo I brought with me. I stepped out of the line and went to the other counter and had mine scanned without issues. However, the person in front of me had a printed copy of their photo and they didn't like it. They wanted it on photo paper and so he presented another. But that didn't work for them either, as she said his hair was long in it and he currently had short hair. So she told him to go to the Kodak booth outside (it was still within the embassy but outside of the room we were in). I don't remember how much it cost as I only walked by it briefly but prepare some cash in case this may happen to you for whatever reason.

2nd attempt - I lined up again for Step 1 and got a different interviewer. He asked for the same documents mentioned above, and asked some questions. There was just a lot of dead air in between his questions where he was just reading and maybe updating my file. Some questions I remember:
- What is your name?
- When is your birthday?
- When were you married?
- Spouse's name?
- Spouse's foreign address?
- Your current address?
- Your phone number?
- Have you lived or worked abroad before? If so, when and where?
- How many people does your spouse live with at his address? (I said 2 - his parents)
- Are you currently employed?
- Have you applied for a US visa before?
He then told me to go to a specific counter number to have my fingerprints scanned

Step 2: Fingerprint scanning - was asked for DS-260 - you do not get this back, as this is used to forward to the final interviewer. This seemed to take longer than it usually should, as there was only one counter and the window next to hers was rolled down so the other person may have been absent or late that day. Based on others' encounters there are usually 2 people scanning fingerprints. She scanned my fingerprints and told me to sit down and wait for my name to be called. Note - I had stood at the end of the line formed in front of the counter, however I didn't notice that there were maybe 8 people seated in that area (I was seated in that same place "Area C" before but to wait for Step 1, so I thought it was just people waiting for Step 1 and not Step 2). I only realized too late when the line manager had them stand up and line up after me that I had inadvertently cut in front of them. I didn't step out though because at that point there were closer to 20 people in line then and noone had admonished me - I imagine everyone was too nervous to even notice and the line managers had been too busy to tell me where the end of the line was.)

Step 3: Final Interview

People's names were called randomly but it may just have been because their system assigned a few people each to the 9 counters/interviewers and their pacing differed. The applicant next to me noticed one specific counter would process people very quickly, like 3-5 mins tops, and I happened to get her! And my seatmate was right, it was a breeze with her. I was nervous to get another interviewer because they had been using their intercom and not their localized speaker to talk to their applicants, so that meant they were blasting their questions to the entire room/building. Though we couldn't hear the applicants's answers, it was nerve-wracking hearing him question them demandingly for extra documents that they couldn't produce. Luckily a boss/leader stepped out (too late really) and finally told him to fix his speaker situation. His speakers ended up still being a little loud (we were seated over 20 feet away so this was impressive) so we could still hear some of his questions after that. The other interviewers had different volumes of speakers, some we could faintly hear from where we sat and some not at all unless they turned on their intercoms.

My own interview was probably under 5 mins, see below some questions/documents she asked:
- Who is your petitioner?
- How did you meet?
- When did you last see him?
- When did you get married?
- Have you lived or worked abroad? If so when and where?
- What is your spouse's profession?
- Please show your marriage documents from USA (on top of the PSA ones) - I suspect she wanted this since we got married online via Zoom and wanted more papers
- Was your spouse married before? (Yes)
- Present his divorce papers please (she also commented that the first interviewer missed out on asking for these earlier)
- She asked again whether either of us were married before? (I said him yes, me no)
- Is your spouse currently working?
- Are you currently employed?
- Do you have any criminal records?

And that was it, I passed! She said to expect my passport in 1-2 weeks. I got back to our room at Bayview Hotel across the street by 8:30 am. Overall very quick!

We picked up my passport with visa on May 30th (7 days later). LBC had actually sent a text message the day before (6th day) to say we could pick it up already but there was a rainstorm and I couldn't get a ride in time before LBC closed at 7 pm so we went the next morning. Went online immediately after and was able to schedule the CFO requirement for June 4th. At the time there were dozens of openings every day for the entire month of June. I don't think you need to be too concerned about getting a CFO slot these days.

I am open for any questions you might have. I will post my CFO experience later on too. Hope this helped!