NOA 2 to NVC?

[NewKid 20]

Good day everyone.

I hope I am posting this in the correct forum.

Firstly let me just thank you all for your contributions thus far.

We received our NOA 2 ( from the website) on the 7th of May( we are CSC filers, NOA1 was April 2nd). we are still awaiting our hard copy of the NOA2. However, as I like to be proactive, I would just like to know a few things.

• What is the standard waiting time required before one should call NVC to see if they have received your application?
• What do we actually do with the case number once we receive it?
• Do we purely request information regarding our case number or is there another process we have to follow?
• Best time( of day) to call NVC?
• What have any other April filers experience regarding the waiting time to get to NVC and for NVC to forward your case to the US Consulate?

Thank you in advance everyone.

All the best with your journeys.

Kid

[Amhara 460]

CSC takes longer to get the approved petitions to NVC than TSC. Give it at least two weeks, but it could be a little longer. Try calling on a Thursday or Friday on that second week; they seem to have information on those days. You will use the case number to track the DoS status - from shipment to embassy to embassy actions on https://ceac.state.gov/ceac/under "Immigrant Visa" despite the fact that K-1's are non-immigrant.

Best time of day to call? Either as soon as they open or after 5 PM EST. Your first attempts may not let you into the phone queue. Keep calling until you can be on hold. If you can't get on hold with the first 5 calls, wait about 15 minutes and try again. If they have your petition, they can let you know, then will transfer you to a 'specialist' to get your case number. I had to wait for over an hour to get this second person. Don't forget the beneficiary's DOB! I did (we don't celebrate) and had to call back. They were sure to note my failure to recall the DOB in the system.

[NewKid 20]

CSC takes longer to get the approved petitions to NVC than TSC. Give it at least two weeks, but it could be a little longer. Try calling on a Thursday or Friday on that second week; they seem to have information on those days. You will use the case number to track the DoS status - from shipment to embassy to embassy actions on https://ceac.state.gov/ceac/under "Immigrant Visa" despite the fact that K-1's are non-immigrant.

Best time of day to call? Either as soon as they open or after 5 PM EST. Your first attempts may not let you into the phone queue. Keep calling until you can be on hold. If you can't get on hold with the first 5 calls, wait about 15 minutes and try again. If they have your petition, they can let you know, then will transfer you to a 'specialist' to get your case number. I had to wait for over an hour to get this second person. Don't forget the beneficiary's DOB! I did (we don't celebrate) and had to call back. They were sure to note my failure to recall the DOB in the system.

Great!. Thank you for the information. I will then make sure to give it two weeks or so. I assume that they then do bulk sending( makes more sense) at the end of a week etc.

Any idea how long the process at NVC takes? just so I know when to have which forms ( I134) etc sent to me. Or is it another wait and see stage?

Just to confirm, first representative can inform me if package was received, but only next level can inform me of the case number.is this correct? I will be sure to have all the relevant information on hand when we call.

So the USCIS website does not inform us when the package was sent off at all? Again, making an assumption here, but I did see that it shows ( when you create an account) that is has your case history. i.e received on this date, approved on this date. One would think that this would be updated with the final step on their side to say " sent to NVC".

Thank you again for the information, greatly appreciated.

[Amhara 460]

Yes, I think CSC sends the petitions in batches. I don't know how long NVC takes, but you can look at the VJ timelines and look at my signature to get an idea of the time frame you are looking at. Depending on how quickly your embassy is, I would suggest to send the documents needed as soon as possible. At least send them by the "In Transit" stage. That way, you can schedule your interview as soon as you can.

Correct - only second rep can give you the embassy case number for DoS. The TSC filers have their USCIS accounts updated to "Sent to NVC" but for some reason, CSC filers accounts are not updated. You may find some screen shots of what the message is supposed to say on USCIS if you search for older threads, but my account and other CSC filers have not had our account updated yet.

[NewKid 20]

Yes, I think CSC sends the petitions in batches. I don't know how long NVC takes, but you can look at the VJ timelines and look at my signature to get an idea of the time frame you are looking at. Depending on how quickly your embassy is, I would suggest to send the documents needed as soon as possible. At least send them by the "In Transit" stage. That way, you can schedule your interview as soon as you can.

Correct - only second rep can give you the embassy case number for DoS. The TSC filers have their USCIS accounts updated to "Sent to NVC" but for some reason, CSC filers accounts are not updated. You may find some screen shots of what the message is supposed to say on USCIS if you search for older threads, but my account and other CSC filers have not had our account updated yet.

Thank you for your reply. I will try to "time" our documents so in coincides with the stages of NVC, that way we don't waste any time.

Very interesting that TSC filers get an update regarding the " sent to NVC" and CSC does not. I wonder why that is.

Thank you for directing me to your signature, I will use that as a rough guide as we know not all cases are the same. :-)

Thank you so much for your assistance.

Kid

[kai bran 9]

Great information in this thread. Our TSC case was approved May 6, 2015 via email and then I received the written notice in the mail on May 8th (NOA2). On May 11th, late in the evening CST I received an email from USCIS stating that our case has been transferred to the Department of State for visa processing. I was wondering how long I should wait before calling for the NVC case number and I think I'll wait until late next week based on this thread info.

I'm also curious why USCIS sent our case to the Department of State rather than the NVC? My understanding is that the NVC falls under the control of the Department of State however the USCIS email I received on Monday also stated, "For approved applications/petitions, post-decision activity may include USCIS sending notification of the approved application/petition to the National Visa Center or the Department of State".

Thanks,

Erik.

[Amhara 460]

Great information in this thread. Our TSC case was approved May 6, 2015 via email and then I received the written notice in the mail on May 8th (NOA2). On May 11th, late in the evening CST I received an email from USCIS stating that our case has been transferred to the Department of State for visa processing. I was wondering how long I should wait before calling for the NVC case number and I think I'll wait until late next week based on this thread info.

I'm also curious why USCIS sent our case to the Department of State rather than the NVC? My understanding is that the NVC falls under the control of the Department of State however the USCIS email I received on Monday also stated, "For approved applications/petitions, post-decision activity may include USCIS sending notification of the approved application/petition to the National Visa Center or the Department of State".

Thanks,

Erik.

The "or" in your email message probably is there to let people know that NVC is synonymous with DoS; so your understanding is correct, I think the language in the email could have been more clear. Btw, you may want to go ahead and call this Thursday or Friday. They may already have your embassy# ready. Give it a shot, you only have to lose an hour on the phone!

[ambrolla 4]

CSC takes longer to get the approved petitions to NVC than TSC. Give it at least two weeks, but it could be a little longer. Try calling on a Thursday or Friday on that second week; they seem to have information on those days. You will use the case number to track the DoS status - from shipment to embassy to embassy actions on https://ceac.state.gov/ceac/under "Immigrant Visa" despite the fact that K-1's are non-immigrant.

Best time of day to call? Either as soon as they open or after 5 PM EST. Your first attempts may not let you into the phone queue. Keep calling until you can be on hold. If you can't get on hold with the first 5 calls, wait about 15 minutes and try again. If they have your petition, they can let you know, then will transfer you to a 'specialist' to get your case number. I had to wait for over an hour to get this second person. Don't forget the beneficiary's DOB! I did (we don't celebrate) and had to call back. They were sure to note my failure to recall the DOB in the system.

Actually I called them during 2 different times of the day (1st time - last week, 2nd - this week). Apparently, if you are calling NVC in the afternoon there are more chances that you will talk to someone alive. If you are calling them at 8pm or later EST, then the chances are small that you will talk to someone alive...

[TravandLhen 23]

Actually I called them during 2 different times of the day (1st time - last week, 2nd - this week). Apparently, if you are calling NVC in the afternoon there are more chances that you will talk to someone alive. If you are calling them at 8pm or later EST, then the chances are small that you will talk to someone alive...

We have the same NOA2 date did they say if they received the packet yet? They keep telling me to wait the 35 days which I know is #######. 2 weeks is usually pretty good but I noticed that Tony and Daisy from our March thread had thiers delivered to NVC in 8 days so was taking a chance we might get ours there earlier as well.

[ambrolla 4]

We have the same NOA2 date did they say if they received the packet yet? They keep telling me to wait the 35 days which I know is #######. 2 weeks is usually pretty good but I noticed that Tony and Daisy from our March thread had thiers delivered to NVC in 8 days so was taking a chance we might get ours there earlier as well.

I'll be calling them this week. Maybe I'll have a chance of calling them today, I don't know. But definitely tomorrow I'll be calling them all day. I called them in the evening and after 11:30 pm, the voicemail started saying that they are closed. So, it is not a good idea of calling NVC after 7 pm or later.

[TravandLhen 23]

I'll be calling them this week. Maybe I'll have a chance of calling them today, I don't know. But definitely tomorrow I'll be calling them all day. I called them in the evening and after 11:30 pm, the voicemail started saying that they are closed. So, it is not a good idea of calling NVC after 7 pm or later.

I called them Monday at 930pm and got through on the 2nd try. I figure Thursday is exactly 2 weeks for us so going to try again then.

[ambrolla 4]

I called them Monday at 930pm and got through on the 2nd try. I figure Thursday is exactly 2 weeks for us so going to try again then.

Called them this morning, they received my case, then they transferred me to other person and then the NVC hung up on me

But at least they got my case and gave me the receipt number, so I think they might have your case too now.

[TravandLhen 23]

Called them this morning, they received my case, then they transferred me to other person and then the NVC hung up on me

But at least they got my case and gave me the receipt number, so I think they might have your case too now.

Dang let me try to call them

[TravandLhen 23]

Yup just got mine as well

[plat900 4]

I called NVC last evening (around 5:30pm EST) and was told our case was in Pre-Sort, then called back this morning (10:15am EST) and was told they don't have it. I am not sure what to make of this response. They keep giving different timeframes for how long it takes to transfer from USCIS to NVC from 30-45 days when I call, but from what I am seeing here on VJ it isn't taking more than two weeks (especially from TSC). I have the notice that it was sent over a week ago and am just frustrated, I just wish some part of this process would go smoothly and efficiently...

Any suggestions?

Edited May 13, 2015 by plat900