Applying For A United States VISA For Permanent Residency.

[planejay]

I am in the middle of this process for my wife. Our I-130 was accepted by USCIS around August 23, 2013 and we have a date scheduled at the embassy in Honduras on December 16, 2014. So in our case it will be about 16 months. With that being said I have forms returned twice as incomplete or incorrect. The first was because on the AOS there are sections for permanent address (or something of the like) and a mailing address, if different than permanent address. I made the mistake of leaving the later blank, instead of covering the section with N/A, and it was returned as incomplete. I knew better and that cost us between 45-60 days. The second delay was due to an incorrect birth certificate. In Honduras there are three different types available. At some point they changed which one they wanted and I sent the wrong one. It takes 45-60 days for them to look at it and tell you it is not what they want. So I make another trip down south to pick up the correct certificate (which took 14 days to get) then send it off to the NVC so they can look at it 45-60 days later. My point is we had a couple of errors that chewed up some significant time.

Here is a rough time line:
USCIS accepted I-130 August 23, 2014
USCIS approved the I-130 April 9, 2014 forwarded the application to the National Visa Center
NVC issues case number and contacts us via email to start the visa process April 24, 2014 ie Affidavit of support/DS-260/supporting documents/ and more FEES
(delays as mentioned above)
NVC finally approves all documents on October 21, 2014 and forwards our case to the US Embassy in Honduras
Notice of interview received on 11/3/2014 for interview on 12/16/2014

At first the process can seem very overwhelming but it is nothing more than a paperwork shuffle and waiting game. I would recommend checking out the page HERE this should take you to the supporting documents that you will need once the NVC receives your application. Having all of the documents ready could save you a lot of time. Near the bottom you can select the specific embassy and see their requirements as it varies by country. Near the top you will see options to take you to different parts of the process and there is quite a bit of helpful information. If you are still wanting more information after that overload you can check out an immigration forum at www.visajourney.com (sorry if this breaks JC rules, I can't recall). At that forum you can find someone who has experienced what you are tackling and offer better insight. In closing, keep copies of EVERYTHING you send as well as the shipping receipt, never leave a space blank on the paperwork, and double check your documents against those listed on the specific embassy's information page. Hope this helps.

Jay

 

[gocaps16]

Awesome! Thanks for the tremendous help, Jay. When I applied for my wife's I-130, I knew not to leave anything blank. I called the USCIS helpline and anything that doesn't apply to myself or my wife is either a "NONE" or N/A." I never knew if you leave it blank, they will return it back. I told my wife it's a painful and slow process, but eventually we will get this done. Glad to know your wife's interview date has been scheduled. Hope she gets to come to t he U.S. shortly after that. Cheers.

 

[xargos]

You can also "speed " things up i.e apply for a waiver so wife can travel etc. Also, you can call if it takes too long. They have a lot of papers there, things get lost, misplaced etc.. You will wait a long time until they actually find out, then you'll have to redo and this will slow you down. Keep track of the dates, if you wait for too long- call them. Collect documents on your side as well in case someone (and they will ) asks you to prove bona fide marriage etc. Good luck