Steffen's US Immigration Timeline
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Petitioner's Name: Liz
Beneficiary's Name: Steffen
VJ Member: Steffen
Country: Netherlands
Last Updated: 2012-10-13
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Immigration Checklist for Liz & Steffen:
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USCIS DCF I-130 Petition:
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Dept of State IR-1/CR-1 Visa:
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USCIS I-751 Petition:
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USCIS N-400 Petition:
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IR-1/CR-1 Visa
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| Event |
Date |
| Service Center : |
California Service Center |
| Transferred? |
No |
| Consulate : |
Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Marriage (if applicable): |
2012-04-20 |
| I-130 Sent : |
2012-05-09 |
| I-130 NOA1 : |
2012-05-23 |
| I-130 RFE : |
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| I-130 RFE Sent : |
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| I-130 Approved : |
2012-06-04 |
| NVC Received : |
2012-06-25 |
| Received DS-261 / AOS Bill : |
2012-07-18 |
| Pay AOS Bill : |
2012-07-25 |
| Receive I-864 Package : |
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| Send AOS Package : |
2012-08-04 |
| Submit DS-261 : |
2012-07-23 |
| Receive IV Bill : |
2012-08-06 |
| Pay IV Bill : |
2012-08-07 |
| Send IV Package : |
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| Receive Instruction and Interview appointment letter : |
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| Case Completed at NVC : |
2012-09-07 |
| NVC Left : |
2012-09-10 |
| Consulate Received : |
2012-09-14 |
| Packet 3 Received : |
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| Packet 3 Sent : |
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| Packet 4 Received : |
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| Interview Date : |
2012-10-09 |
| Interview Result : |
Approved
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Second Interview
(If Required): |
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| Second Interview Result: |
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| Visa Received : |
2012-10-11 |
| US Entry : |
2012-12-08 |
| Comments : |
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Processing
Estimates/Stats : |
Your I-130 was approved in 12 days from your NOA1 date.
Your interview took 139 days from your I-130 NOA1 date. |
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Port of Entry Review
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| Event |
Date |
| Port of Entry : |
Washington DC |
| POE Date : |
2012-12-08 |
| Got EAD Stamp : |
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| Biometrics Taken : |
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| Harassment Level : |
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| Comments : |
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Member Reviews:
Consulate Review: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
October 13, 2012 |
| Embassy Review : |
The interview time (as it is for years now at Amsterdam Consulate) was at 1:30p.m. last tuesday. Since we wanted to make sure we were on time we left extra early and arrived 45 minutes early. We where lucky that the weather was nice and sat on a stone bench across the entrance.
Slowly people gathered and sat with us. A few minutes before 1:30 p.m. the consular staff came back from their lunch break, followed by the security staff. Exactly at 1:30p.m. the security officers called to us to say we could line up. We where keen on getting in early and where able to get in line first.
Before we could enter one security officer ordered people to make a line along the building before anybody could enter. When they were pleased with the result, we were aloud to enter. After showing our letter and answering the question if we had a cellphone with us, we had to wait for a few seconds. Somebody outside was taking pictures. The security officer asked to the people inside if we knew the person outside. One girl told them it was her father. She was ordered to retreive the camera and show them the picutres. The they ordered her to delete all photos which showed any part on the Consulate on it. After the small delay we went to a metaldetector and our enveloppe went through the x-ray machine.
Everything checked out okay and we had to report to window 5. So we walked through the big room into a smaller side room were we waited for a few minutes. The the curtain was moved a side and a very friendly lady welcomed us and asked who we where and if I had my passport for her. After handing over my passport she stepped to the side to grab my file. That just to her a few seconds and behind the glass we could see every single piece of paper we had sent to them. She noticed our reaction ("wow... everything is there") and gave a friendly reaction.
Then she told us she was going to check (in the computer next to her) if all the necessary paperwork was there. It appeared we did our home work well enough, because we only needed to hand het E7,50 in stamps. We handed over an enveloppe with allready the Track & Trace stamp on it, which she accepted. A few years ago this was mandatory, but apparently they don't do that anymore. She looked a little bit surprised but accepted it without any problems.
Then she asked a final question, if we wanted to add any supporting documents to prove we would move to the adress we filled on our paperwork. We immediately got nervous. We told her we bought our plane tickets allready, but did not carry the receipt with us. She told us we did not had to add anything, just that the option was there. I suppose this is when they are in doubt, you can prove them you truely have the intention to move. My wife did realise she had her new drivers license with our new adress on it (my father in laws adress), so we handed it over. She told us that was fine, and made a copy of it and added that to the rest of our paperwork. The she asked us to sit down in the small waitingroom and wait for the Consular.
So we sat down and after about 10 minutes we where called to window 6. A men greeted us and asked us how we were doing. The man took on a business form of talking to us and started asking us several questions, but you noticed he was a friendly person. It felt like he took on the role of a Consular officer (which he was offcourse), but the interview didn't feel like a cross examination. The man was calm and listened to the responses we gave.
The first question was if I could tell him my full name including all my middle names (I happen to have 3 middle names and a double surname), followed by my date of birth. He verified this by the information on my paperwork, visa and computer information and asked who mr. A.H. G. was. We answered that it is our joint sponsor and happened to be my wife's father. The consular officer did not seem to mind we both answered and added information to the question. The he started the question if we had childr... but was cut off by the intercom. When we asked if he could repeat the question he told us he forgot what he wanted to ask and that it was probably not that important. After looking at the computerscreen for a second or 2 he closed our file and said 'you are approved, have a good day'.
And that was it. My wife was shocked it was allready over, but I knew it could be like that, so we thanked the officer and walked to the exit. At 2:00p.m. exactly we were outside, meeting up with a huge line of people waiting to be allowed to enter the building. To be honest, it was quiet anti climactic.
Since HardRock cafe was around the corner we got a cocktail to celebrate and went back to the car to get our cellphones.
We came prepared with all copies of our paperwork, old passport with expired J-1 visa in it, our Social Security cards, original dutch marriage license, extra photos. But they did not want to see anything.
After all a unique experience which went smoother then we thought it would be.
Two days later we allready received my passport with CR-1 Visa in it, together with 'THE' brown enveloppe. |
| Rating : |
Very Good |
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Timeline Comments: None yet, be the first!
*Notice about estimates: The estimates are based off averages of other members recent experiences
(documented in their timelines) for the same benefit/petition/application at the same filing location.
Individual results may vary as every case is not always 'average'. Past performance does not necessarily
predict future results. The 'as early as date' may change over time based on current reported processing
times from members. There have historically been cases where a benefit/petition/application processing
briefly slows down or stops and this can not be predicted. Use these dates as reference only and do not
rely on them for planning. As always you should check the
USCIS processing times to see if your application
is past due.
** Not all cases are transfered
ver 5.0
