NOA2 received!

[weregoing]

Hello everyone, I have been reading this site for about 6 months now and I tried MANY times to register but for some reason it failed every single time. I tried multiple email address, login names, etc. and, yes, I was using one of the approved email providers such as hotmail. I would not be allowed to post immediately and when I tried to log-in the next day, it would say something along the lines of "there is no user by this name." This was driving me INSANE and I also had no way to contact an admin because the only email address to be found had no domain (if I remember right it was ss@ or something like that.) I kept trying to re-register every few days before it finally took it. I would like to talk to an administrator about this at some point to see what the deal was but that is all beside the point right now.

 

My VisaJourney Timeline

 

My name is Sean and I have been with my fiance for nearly 3 years now. Her name is Ñ©Ù» or Leah. The first 2.5 years we lived together in Shanghai. I was a student at Fudan and later an employee of English First. About 6 months ago I came back to the U.S. alone to begin law school. I start in August. I filed the I-129F for a K1 visa back in March (no lawyer - just advice from this forum and VJ) and this Monday (Memorial Day) I received both an email and SMS from USCIS telling me "we have approved this I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E)". I have yet to receive the physical copy in the mail and getting a little bit nervous (or just anxious?) about receiving that SOON. The wait was not nearly as long as I feared. We'll see how long the rest of it takes. We are both quite anxious as I'm sure most people that go through this are. Right now I am fairly caught up on what I need to do and what is expected of me but I do have and will have more questions in the near future, I am sure.

 

I plan to go visit her by flying into Shanghai for perhaps the whole month of July. I have not purchased a ticket yet because they are *extremely* high right now. We will go back to her hometown in Sichuan (Mianyang) and collect the necessary documents on her end. (I still need to research that a little better very soon.) I don't really want to spend much time in Shanghai and I'm sure she would love to get away from her little lonely apartment over there, so we will hopefully travel around a lot. And if we're very lucky her interview date just might land within that time frame and we would be able to go to Guangzhou together!

 

On my end I still need to take care of the financial support forms (can't remember the form # off the top of my head) and hopefully that will look OK for the interview. Right now I am working for my parents and helping them with miscellaneous computer work like building a website, etc. They are paying me legitimately (taxed, etc.) as an employer would but I don't think I make the 125% poverty line because I am only helping them as needed - nothing more - as I am not trying to take advantage of them. I also expect to receive a very large student loan very soon and even subtracting the cost of tuition, the remainder would still be over the bottom line necessary. I am unclear if and how I should document that and if that counts as "income." Any advice on that would be greatly appreciated! Regardless my parents are going to co-sponsor her and their income definitely meets the demands. But I want to be very thorough and make sure to give the people at Guangzhou a clear picture of my finances and my plans for the future.

 

Right now I basically just want to introduce myself and thank every contributer on this forum for helping me out so far. Soon I will make another post with some clear questions after I have done a little more research. Off the top of my head I can think of a few -

 

1) As we all know the information regarding "Electronic Processing" is a little bit unclear for the K-1 visa. I just read something in the pinned post about it stating that K~ visas are now automatically sent electronically to GZ. Is this true or should I take steps to make sure this happens so that she could come here as soon as possible?

 

2) She has a valid driver's license she received in Shanghai a long time ago. What should I do to try to make this work legally in the U.S. while she waits for a local (Oklahoma) driver's license? As far as I know she can NOT obtain a local state driver's license until she has a SS# and from the little I know about those final steps of the immigration process this can take quite a long time. I would *really* like her to be able to drive immediately after arriving because this state seriously lacks public transportation and she will be "stuck" without being able to drive.

 

3) 90 days isn't a huge window for planning a marriage so would be a good idea fro us to go the courthouse and get married very soon after she gets her and then have the actual wedding later? We want to have the wedding around December after my first semester of school ends. Being forced to do it while in my first semester of law school doesn't sound like a wise idea. And getting married right away would get the paperwork rolling on everything else we will need to do. Common sense tells me this would be perfectly legitimate but if anyone has any knowledge about this, please let me know.

 

4) Finally I am going to post a screenshot of the info I can pull up after signing into my USCIS account and looking at my case status. The weird thing is that there is a timeline up at the top that skipped right from the second bubble "Initial Review" right to the sixth bubble "Post-Activity Decision". This skipped right over the 3 bubbles "Request for Evidence", "Testing and Interview", and "Decision". I'm wondering why this is but it does say "approved" so I hope I have nothing to worry about. Take a look at it and tell me if it's normal.

 

Very nice to meet everyone and I hope that I can help others in the future as much as everyone has helped me! Thanks again.

 

Sean

 

 

http://bxpxfurniture.com/images/USCIS.jpg

Edited June 4, 2010 by weregoingunion (see edit history)

[dnoblett]

Welcome! Yes sometimes the validation process can be a pain, some email addresses are blocked if using a service like Gmail, or perhaps Yahoo, too many spammers use them. However you can change your email address to a gmail account if you used an account to register that you would rather not use.

 

Financial support form used will be I-134, it will be needed at the time of visa interview, you will have plenty of time to get it prepared after your fiancee receives the first packet (P-3) from the consulate.

 

1) About electronic processing, this service is for spousal CR-1 and IR-1 and other IR-(x) type immigrant visas and is not for the NON-Immigrant K-Visas. (NVC may transmit case file to the consulate by way of Safe-File) but this is not always the case. More than likely the K-Visa file will be shipped to China where it may get hung up for up to 3 months in customs.

 

2) Chinese DL won't be valid in the USA, and more than likely will have to go through the Learners-permit/Road test process, most states require, SSN and Legal presence doc like EAD or Green-card, before issuing a driver's license.

 

3) Yes this is what we did, courthouse marriage, and then later a nice reception.

 

4) This is normal, also tracking on USCIS stops after approval, it has left DHS (USCIS), and is moving to DOS (NVC, Consulate)

[dnoblett]

Note: you can use your VJ timeline in your signature block if you look closely at the address there is a spot in it that shows "cfl=0" Change that to "cfl=1" and the time-line gets re-branded. SEE: http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profil...=1&id=85041

[Stepbrow]

Welcome to CFL, Sean.

[warpedbored]

The problem was probably your display name. "We're going union" sounds like a spammer

[weregoing]

For the registration, I even tried using my real name seperated with a "." and though that was fine that I thought finally "stuck." And then when I went to try logging in again yesterday, it didn't work and I freaked out again. Then I tried "weregoingunion" and it worked. There really should be a way to contact an administrator without yet being a registered member if other people are having this problem because I really did attempt to register ~10 times.

 

Hearing that it might get stuck in customs for up to 3 months is extremely disheartening. What is a more realistic, normal wait? I was under the impression that they send it via DHL and it only takes a couple weeks to get to GZ. Are there ways to contact NVC to see if it has been shipped or GZ to see if it has been received? I also remember reading something about this...

 

And concerning the K1 electronic processing it seems like the information is conflicting - according to the US Consulate in GZ's website it says this: "If you are a K visa applicant and you have opted in for electronic processing, you will still have to wait for paper instructions via mail from the Consulate."

 

This HAS to mean that you CAN opt-in for electronic processing. And the "paper instructions" they are referring to are the P-3 packet along with whatever else they send to HER via regular mail. I interpret this as the electronic processing having the benefit of getting the paper from NVC to GZ electronically and then receiving everything else "by hand." Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

And to dnoblett, I will get to that VJ timeline signature when I get a chance soon. Thanks for the responses.

[dnoblett]

Ues looks like the Customs delay is a thing of the past, look at VJ's NVC out to P3 seems to be a matter of weeks. See: http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/k1list...na&dfile=No

 

There seems to be no "Opt-In" process, NVC simply sends electronically all K-1 cases to the consulate.

 

As to knowing when NVC sends the cas on to the consulate, call NVC a few weeks after NOA2 and work your wat an operator, the automated system does not cover I-129F cases. call: 603-334-0700 or e-mail: NVCINQUIRY@state.gov

 

As for know if the consulate has sent out P3 call DOS visa services and ask.: (202) 663-1225

[Lee VD]

Recently I have seen long NVC Out to P3 times (up to 3 months someone recently waited!) but then a short P3 to P4 time and then in other cases a very short NVC Out to P3 time and a longer P3 to P4 time (us). The interview dates are now running about 7 weeks from P4.

 

From what I have read, the P3 will go out with the electronic receipt at the consulate from the NVC but the P4 will not go out until the physical file is received.

Edited June 6, 2010 by Lee VD (see edit history)

[weregoing]

I *swear* I posted a reply yesterday but when I just checked now I didn't see it. So frustrating!

 

Forgot everything I said, but yeah Lee VD...that makes sense about about the P3 being delivered after "electronic receipt" because recently there have been some extremely short waits between NOA2 and receiving P3.

 

Quick question about the P3 - I know you mail in most (if not all) of the forms they send to you and I have looked at the example packet posted somewhere that has both the Chinese and English copies and have begun to do some work on it. There is a checklist of 10 items that you may or may not need to give them. Do these gathered items need to be sent back with the P3 or are they taken to the interview? I am talking specifically about the police record and the "certificate of being single". I ask because we planned to go back to her hometown in July and get these together and if she gets the P3 packet before then, will we have to wait to send it until after we get those documents?

 

Also, it seems to me that the time it takes you to send back the completed P3 DOES affect how long it takes until you receive P4 and the scheduled interview. Is this correct? I would love to send that back immediately but we may not be able to do that if she lacks the necessary forms.

[dnoblett]

I *swear* I posted a reply yesterday but when I just checked now I didn't see it. So frustrating!

 

Forgot everything I said, but yeah Lee VD...that makes sense about about the P3 being delivered after "electronic receipt" because recently there have been some extremely short waits between NOA2 and receiving P3.

 

Quick question about the P3 - I know you mail in most (if not all) of the forms they send to you and I have looked at the example packet posted somewhere that has both the Chinese and English copies and have begun to do some work on it. There is a checklist of 10 items that you may or may not need to give them. Do these gathered items need to be sent back with the P3 or are they taken to the interview? I am talking specifically about the police record and the "certificate of being single". I ask because we planned to go back to her hometown in July and get these together and if she gets the P3 packet before then, will we have to wait to send it until after we get those documents?

 

Also, it seems to me that the time it takes you to send back the completed P3 DOES affect how long it takes until you receive P4 and the scheduled interview. Is this correct? I would love to send that back immediately but we may not be able to do that if she lacks the necessary forms.

Read OF-169 that comes with P3.

 

You gather the requested docs to bring to interview.

 

Complete and send the enclosed form DS-230 Part I, Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration as well as this document (Form 169) together with a copy of the bio page of your current passport. Obtain the following documents on this checklist that pertain to you. As you obtain each document, check the box before each item. Do NOT send the actual documents to the Consular office except for the Mailing Address Label, as we will have to destroy them. You will not be scheduled for an appointment until you submit these forms.

http://photos.state.gov/libraries/guangzho...0-Apr_%2010.pdf

 

They will not schedule an interview until P3 is returned to them, some send OF-169 and DS-230 part 1 to the consulate the moment they know that it has been sent, even before receiving the P3 in the mail.

Edited June 7, 2010 by dnoblett (see edit history)