Hetal

I applied for I-130 with csc and received first NOA dated May 3rd. Filed K3 with
first NOA dated June 14th. Just got my mail five minutes ago and had a letter from
immigration. Was a little skeptical while opening but sure enough it was an approval
letter for my I-130 dated Sep. 12th. I am still waiting for the K3. Well as you can
imagine I was so happy and thought to let you all know first since all have kept me a
little calm for the past few months. Thank you. Now that I got my approval I was
wondering if anyone out there can tell me what is next. I know I will receive a
packet 2 but what is in it. How long does this whole process take. Would you please
let me know what to expect next and what my husband should expect next in India. Well
hope this helps other know about timeline. Good luck to you all who are still
waiting. I am going to go wake up my husband now.

osaeed

Congratulations! Here's what you should expect

in about 3-4 weeks, you will receive a package from NVC that contains the I-864 and a copy of the agent choice letter they will be sending your husband. To get ready, go ahead and download the I-864 from the INS web site and prepare it. That way when you receive the forms from NVC, you will be ready.

The agent choice letter will also be sent to your husband. He must fill it out and return it to NVC. Since you will receive a duplicate copy probably 1 week before your husband, I suggest you fax it to him and have him Fedex it back to NVC.

After NVC receives the agent choice letter, they will send the agent the DS-230 in about 3 weeks. My wife designated me as her agent. I received my packet yesterday and sent it in to NVC today. However, be warned, if you choose to send in the DS-230, your husband will have to have his green card interview overseas, i.e. if you are able to get the K3 issued before the I-130 interview, and you enter the US on a K3, you cannot file for adjustment of status.

My wife has her K3 interview on Monday, so she will likely enter the US on the K3 before the green card interview. Since I sent in the DS-230, her interview will have to be in Pakistan.
That's fine, she will get to go home to visit family.

omer

sid

Hi osaeed,
So I should not send the DS-230 if I want my wife to go through AOS after she gets here on the K-3? Correct?

-Sid

osaeed

You are correct. But we first need to get the INS moving on your apps!! Any luck with the congressional inquiries?

omer

sid

Nope. My congressman's office says that it will take 2 months to get a reply back from Missouri. When I told them that other congressmen are able to get a reply back a lot sooner, they say that they will request my petition to be processed asap which is why it takes longer than others.
April 30: K3 1st NOA date (138 days today)

sid

Today, I called Senator Schuman's office and spoke to the lady who deals with INS matters. She was kind of hesitant in making an inquiry for me. But she finally took my information and said that she would help me out. Let's see what she finds out.

Paul E

Sid,

Will be interested in hearing what your congressman/woman says re: your app at MSC. Still no word here either on my app and haven't gone Congress inquiry route yet as I get a bit of conflicting feeling reading other articles here that it may actually "delay" things...who knows.

Best of luck to you and everyone.

Paul E
MSC 1st NOA 5/24/02 for K3

sid

Hello all,
Just got an e-mail reply back from my senator's office. Here is part of the e-mail:

The response from the MSC is below.

____________________Forward Header_____________________
Subject: Re:Status inquiry
Author: MSC
Date: 9/16/2002 3:22 PM

Marie:

They are currently undergoing background and security checks. No decision
has been reached yet.

Paul E

Sid,

With regards to the above (and obviously I'm a bit confused here)...who is "they" that are undergoing background and security checks??? No decision has been reached I take it means that as it relates to those that you have made application for??

Was there any "encouraging" words spoken in the reply from the MSC??

Thanks,

Paul E

sid

Sorry about the confusion. Marie is the contact person at the senator's office. She did an inquiry on my case. She got a reply back from MSC saying "They are currently undergoing background and security checks. No decision
has been reached yet."
I am not sure if they are doing a background check on me or my wife/beneficiary or both. That is all the news that I have -no encouraging words.

Susie

I am thoroughly confused! I thought the whole point of the K-3 was so that you can enter the US and then file for AOS?

If this is not true... then what do you do once you enter the US on a K-3 Visa... just wait for the I-130 to get approved and then have to go back to your country for the interview?

None of that makes any sense... please help?

osaeed

Ideally the K3 should be approved and issued long before the I-130 is approved. However, my I-130 was approved before the I-129F. I continued my I-130 processing pretending that I never applied for the K3. After the I-129F was approved, the app quickly went to Islamabad and my wife received the visa. Since I have sent in the DS-230 for the I-130, she cannot adjust status in the USA if she enters on the K3, she will have to return to Pakistan for her immigrant visa interview. I could have held off on returning the DS-230 and waited for AOS, but I would rather have her get her green card sooner by having to go back to Pakistan than to wait around for AOS.

omer

Susie

OK, I understand now... thanks for clearing that up.... so if the I-130 and K-3 get approved around the same time, it'll be faster to wait for the I-130 interview in my country than filing for AOS inside the US?

Anyone know what the process is once they approve your I-130? Are there more forms to be filed? And how soon after the I-130 approval can you start working?

Thanks!

osaeed

Correct, you will get your green card sooner via consular processing than by AOS if the I-130 and I-129F are approved at roughly the same time. However, you do not have to wait around in your country for the immigrant visa interview after you receive your K3 visa, you can enter the US and return to your home country for the interview.

As for what happens next, it depends on which consulate you are dealing with. For certain consulates, the approved I-130 goes directly to the consulate from the INS service center. For others, the application is forwarded to the National Visa Center in New Hampshire. The following sites explain what the NVC does and which consulates it handles.

omer

http://travel.state.gov/nvc.html

http://www.shrmglobal.org/function/i.../fd040902b.htm

bba1vol

how long did you have to wait for the 129 and the 130?