Mugs001

Sorry for the confusion. The newborn is the daughter's child. She did not get married.

My wife and I have petitioned for my wife's daughter (over 21, unmarried). The case has gone to the NVC and we've paid all of the fees for both the I-864 and DS-230. We are just waiting now as there has been a back log of apps apparently. I want to make sure what the policy and procedure is for adding a newborn to the visa app. Can we do this? She remains unmarried of course. But then I guess we just need to send in the birth certificate and passport? Thanks for your help! Mugs

I spoke to two people about this at the NVC today. One was the "Supervisor" (more about my quotes later). They both said pretty much the same thing. In so many words the idea is that at the time (10-2010)when we were asked to move forward by submitting the DS-230 and I-864 and paying the fees there was projected to be a visa # available for us. However at some point later there was a "retrogression" (they agreed that yes, that was the correct term) in which because of the inconsistent monthly movement of available visa #'s and matching recipients, by the time our case was "completed" (known via an email on 10-20-2011)a visa # was now not projected to be available. I guess there may be a couple of appropriate analogies here: overbooking of a flight, an "out of stock" on a particular product, or just difficulty keeping a line moving at a predictable pace. In any case, the takeaway points from the conversation were that the NVC would not give any firm information on when (other than using our PD of mid-2007) a visa # would become available. The oft repeated line was, "Look at your PD and our monthly bulletin". There was a slight implication that we would not fall to the back of the line (my words here)but are on a list waiting for the next available #. How accurate that is and what we can gather from that is not clear. We may indeed be waiting three months or three years from what I got from them today. About my quotes...After I spoke to the first person for a while I then asked to speak to a supervisor. I was put on hold for a moment, then they came back on and said, "O.K. Sir, I'm connecting you with a "supervisor." The way they said the word "supervisor" was with a bit of sarcasm which made it seem like they were just looking at the person sitting at the next desk over, not a supervisor but another operator. All in all though I would say that they were as friendly and helpful as they could be but as I said, wouldn't make any commitments either way.

I spoke to two people about this at the NVC today. One was the "Supervisor" (more about my quotes later). They both said pretty much the same thing. In so many words the idea is that at the time (10-2010)when we were asked to move forward by submitting the DS-230 and I-864 and paying the fees there was projected to be a visa # available for us. However at some point later there was a "retrogression" (they agreed that yes, that was the correct term) in which because of the inconsistent monthly movement of available visa #'s and matching recipients, by the time our case was "completed" (known via an email on 10-20-2011)a visa # was now not projected to be available. I guess there may be a couple of appropriate analogies here: overbooking of a flight, an "out of stock" on a particular product, or just difficulty keeping a line moving at a predictable pace. In any case, the takeaway points from the conversation were that the NVC would not give any firm information on when (other than using our PD of mid-2007) a visa # would become available. The oft repeated line was, "Look at your PD and our monthly bulletin". There was a slight implication that we would not fall to the back of the line (my words here)but are on a list waiting for the next available #. How accurate that is and what we can gather from that is not clear. We may indeed be waiting three months or three years from what I got from them today. About my quotes...After I spoke to the first person for a while I then asked to speak to a supervisor. I was put on hold for a moment, then they came back on and said, "O.K. Sir, I'm connecting you with a "supervisor." The way they said the word "supervisor" was with a bit of sarcasm which made it seem like they were just looking at the person sitting at the next desk over, not a supervisor but another operator. All in all though I would say that they were as friendly and helpful as they could be but as I said, wouldn't make any commitments either way.

Thanks for the info. I'll let you know more after I speak with a supervisor tomorrow.

With E.P., the general advice is to go ahead and send those without waiting for them to be requested. That's usually good advice, but in this case, it won't shorten the wait, it will just mean they need to be re-sent when the priority date comes up. First, just to be clear. Yes, we had sent in everything based on their contacting us first and asking us to do so. O.K. so I emailed NVC (will call tomorrow but am gathering information first so I don't seem/feel like too much of an idiot) and got an email back. Here is most of it. Immigrant visa petition GZ____________ is currently on a list of completed cases awaiting the availability of visa numbers. This petition will be eligible for an immigrant visa interview when a visa number is available per the Department of State's Visa Bulletin. The current edition of the visa bulletin is available on the following website: So this confirms what some people have said, that is, we are waiting for a visa #. I've known about this process for a while so it's not a surprise. Here's where I'm really thrown for a loop; I thought that when they first contacted us (10-2010)to send in the DS-230 and I-864 and pay the fees for them, that that meant we were also ready for processing (that is that we had a visa # available to us). Why ask you to do the apps if they are not ready for you? As some have pointed out, it seems that they would just have to ask you again for all of the material since so much time will have gone by (in our case the UK police certificate, etc.). I guess where I'm more confused is that since we have started this process I've been cobbling together information concerning time-lines (what to do first, second, third---what will happen next and then after that) and have been under the impression that next we were expecting an email informing us of the interview date. I must have been confusing another group of immigrant visa applicants with us. My next job is to try and figure out how I got so confused. Go figure!

Could it be what's called a retrogression?

Also, where I'm confused is that I'm getting replies on other sites telling me that since my PD is 8-2007 that I have a long wait ahead as they are now servicing applications from October 2004 (via the visa bulletin-for F1). Why am I getting two different kinds of information? Thanks for your help!

Yes, everything was done with the electronic processing.

My wife and I (she is a citizen)have applied for her daughter (over 21, unmarried)to get a visa. We have submitted the DS-230 and I-864 and have gotten the "case completed" email from the NVC. We got that email on October 20th so that makes it about 8 weeks. We still haven't gotten the interview date. I've called but they tell me there is no particular problem and that we just have to wait. Previously I had tried to do a little research in order to get an idea of the wait time for the interview date and I was figuring about 2-4 weeks. Should I be worried? Thanks!

Yes, both citizens. I think that's why the process started so quickly. Once my wife became a citizen then her daughters case got bumped up into the higher category. Right, we have opted for electronic processing so it sounds like it will be all done that way which is no problem for us. IR-2. Thanks for the correction. Yes, I agree it seems that to move back and get the income level up to the required amount is the most straightforward.

Thanks for your quick reply and the helpful info! Well, we are in China teaching and realized that our I-864 would be problematic with so little income and with our not being domiciled in the U.S. We thought of going the route to address those problems, i.e.; assets, a permanent address in the U.S.(and showing that we would be going back to it), perhaps a co-sponsor, and also showing we had job offers etc. but I have worried that this is less of a for sure thing and that the outcome can't be guaranteed. I have heard that the IO takes everything into consideration. How one's situation is evaluated seems somewhat vague and so seems sort of hard to predict. The other route; that is making the I-864 simple by showing that you work and can meet the 125% guidelines seems more straightforward and therefore a better bet so we are considering biting the bullet and going back to the U.S. to prepare for this. I don't know maybe I'm a worry wart. You mention the electronic processing...Is that also for the DS-230 form? In other words we shouldn't be expecting any kind of packet in the mail? Thanks!

(Regarding the IR-1 visa for my wife's daughter, over 21 unmarried) We got the I-130 approved, then also got the Change of Agent form sent in, along with the fees for the DS-230 and I-864 (they show paid as of October 20th). Will we be getting a paper package in the mail for the DS-230? Or is this all done online now? Also, how long do we have to send in the DS-230 and I-864? The reason I ask is that this all happened suddenly. I guess we thought it would be another year before a slot came available for my wife's daughter. As a result we are not where we would like to be with the I-864. We have thought that our situation might be improving later so we have considered waiting on sending in the apps. I see that there is a general statement on NVC e-mails, "If a period of one year passes from the last date of contact with the NVC (by email, telephone or mail), all submitted fees and documents will expire. In that case, your fees will need to be repaid and documents will need to be resubmitted in order to continue the immigration process." Does that mean we have a year from October 14th (when we got our first correspondence from the NVC) to send in the apps? Thanks!