marcsred

Hi everyone! It's been a while since I've posted (because, despite all of the great advice we got on here, the American Consulate in Perth refused to adhere to their own rules...Anyway!), but I've got a new question. We got this email today about the status of my husband's immigration application:

Receipt Number: EAC**********

Application Type: I130, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN

Current Status: Approval notice sent.

On September 12, 2008, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I130 IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN. Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service

.................



After squealing and jumping for joy, I calmed down and thought, "Okay, we're approved for what?"

• Does anyone know?
• Does that mean the American part of the application is complete and it will now be sent to Australia for the next part of processing?
• If so, how long (anyone with experience in Australia) does that take?

We have only submitted the original application (although "only" doesn't seem a fitting word - there were letters, copies of travel itineraries, a stack of phone and Skype records, copies of emails spanning the length of our relationship, and, of course, a boatload of photos). We have not done the biometrics, health exams, affidavit of support, police clearances, etc.

Can anyone tell us what stage of the game we're at and how much longer we're looking at?

I'm in the process of doing my Australian immigration application (because we were discouraged with how long the American one would mean we have to be apart and Australia doesn't take as long, and you can even be IN Australia while they're processing it), but I won't be able to go to Australia until January (I graduate uni in December) anyway, so if it won't take much longer, we could definitely use the extra $1420 for something else (like shipping our stuff to the States - YAY!).

Thank you all, as always, for the fantastic replies!

P.S. My husband has British and Australian citizenship, and will need to obtain police clearances for both countries. Does anyone know how long that's taking right now? Also, my husband is from Scotland and has only ever lived in Scotland (not England, Wales, or Northern Ireland). What type of police clearance does he need? Where can I get details on how to get it?


THANK YOU!!!!!!




Timeline:

01/25/08 - I-130 application (express) mailed to Chicago Lockbox.
01/27/08 - Application signed for in Chicago.
02/13/08 - I-797C, NOA received stating our check has been cashed, and our application is officially...pending at the Vermont Service Center.
08/25/08 - Case Transferred to Another Office for Processing (Vermont to California - YAY!)
08/28/08 - This case is now pending at the office to which it was transferred...YAY???
09/12/08 - Approval notice sent...but approval for what? Still, YAY!!!!!!!!!

Noorah101

Congratulations. The I-130 petition is approved. So basically, you are right, the US side of things got approved. Now the file goes to NVC (National Visa Center in New Hampshire), for some processing there. They may send the file on to Australia for further processing, or NVC may do it all here and set up the interview date for him from here.

As for how long it takes, in general the whole thing takes around 8 to 10 months, but I see you've already waited 9 months just for the I-130 approval (I'd say that's longer than normal, sorry to say!). So I'd figure maybe another 3 to 5 months for the rest of the process, perhaps.

He should get cracking on getting all his Police Certificates NOW. They will still be valid when the time comes for his interview.

Best Wishes,
Rene

marcsred

Rene,

I was hoping for a reply from you! Thank you so much for the information! Just wondering, do you know anything about the Scottish/UK police clearances (if he gets one for Scotland, or one for the whole UK, and how he goes about getting one)?

Thanks,

Inez


Also, what about all the other stuff - the affadavit of support, medicals, biometrics, etc.? Does all of that come now? Thanks!

Noorah101

Hi Inez,

I don't know the specifics about the police report, but this link should surely help: http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=514050.

I forgot, you will have correspondence from NVC now. You will get a request for the Affidavit of Support (Form I-864), and pay some fees. He doesnt' go get his medical done until he gets his packet of visa applications over in Australia. To my knowledge, there are no biometrics done in an Immigrant Visa case.

Check out this link to a really good Immigrant Visa Flowchart: http://www.familybasedimmigration.co...aflowchart.php

Good Luck and Congrats again!
Rene

meauxna

Congratulations on the petition approval!

USCIS will now send the approved petition to the Dept of State's National Visa Center/NVC. From there, the visa application begins. The flowchart Rene posted explains the basics, and you can find the particulars here:
Instructions for Immigrant Visa Applicants
Use the reciprocity chart to find out how to apply for the police certs.

marcsred

Thanks for all the info! I went to the reciprocity page, and I'm a bit confused. They link to one page for the UK, which specifically does NOT mention servicing Scotland (Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland)! On the thread that you pinned to the top for a while I saw some people saying the ACPO now covers Scotland as well, and police clearances from Tayside are no longer accepted? Is this correct? I'll call the office on Monday, but was just wondering if anyone knew what the deal was.

Also, obviously for this new section, my husband needs to submit some documents.

• They ask for one certified/original and one photocopy, is that correct?
  
• With the photocopy of the passport page, will just a regular black and white copy do?
  
• In this case, since there is no original, do they still want two copies? Does the copy need to be notarized by anyone?

My big question is this:

• My husband was adopted by his mum's second husband. What do we submit? Birth certificates, adoption decrees, or both when they ask for a certified copy of his birth certificate?
  
• Also, I know you must use a long form birth certificate (so both parents' names are on it), but the adoption decree should have that on there anyway, correct?

Both of you have mentioned that we should now have paperwork from the NVC. If we just got the online notice of approval, should we get a hard copy of that, and then hear from the NVC independently? Or will the hard copy have the instructions on it?

Thank you both for your infinite wisdom on this brain-scrambling process! Also, thank you both for the congratulations - I thought 9 months was quite long too, but when we originally applied people on here were telling us at least 18 months from start to finish, so we're actually thrilled. Not to jinx it, but it would be great if we got to spend our first wedding anniversary together (Christmas day)!!! Either way, it seems that he should be able to make it to the US in time to come to my uni graduation (May 2009 now, because I put the actual ceremony off for a year in hopes that he could be there), which is AWESOME!!!

Three more quick questions, while I have you here!

• As you all advised (since I was moving between LA for school, Austin for breaks, and Australia for longer breaks), the address for my application has remained my mum's address in Austin. I am now back in LA until December for my last semester of school. My mum is really good about express mailing me any documents she receives, so are we better off keeping things like this than screwing things around with getting a change of address to my LA address?
  
  
• Also, when my husband designates me as his agent, is it okay for him to put down my current LA address as where they should send the documents? Or will they raise their eyebrows when they see it's different from the address on the books, and they haven't gotten a change of address request?
  
  
• Finally, my husband wants to take my last name (he's one of 10 male cousins, so there's no worry about having his family name carried on, but in the last few years, my big brother and dad have died, so he wants our kids to carry on my family name - so sweet!). We're wondering when the best time to do this would be. A
  few considerations:
  
  
  • Everything about him is in his current last name (passport, I-130 application, bank accounts, etc)...
    
    
  • However, he has just gotten his Australian citizenship, and has not yet applied for his Australian passport (which he wants to get under my last name).
    
    
  • We'd like to start our lives in the US with his name changed to what it is going to permanently be.
    
    
  • We DO NOT want to delay his arrival in the US AT ALL! So if it makes changing everything else more complicated to leave it as is, fine, just so long as it does not delay the processing of this application - we want to start our lives together already!!!

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!

meauxna

oh my.

The ACPO is the right certificate for the UK. Scotland is still part of the UK.

No idea what to tell you about the adoption other than have all the official documents that detail the changes.

If you have just now rec'd online notification of the I-130 approval, wait up to a onth for the file to reach the NVC. I'd say you're looking at another 3-4 months to visa interview yet.

YES keep your addy at mom's. In my opinion.
The Agent is often a lawyer or not-the-petitioner. Use the address where you will get mail. I don't know where you are or what your plans are; what you don't want is delays while your mail is being maybe-forwarded all over creation.

I don't 'do' name changes.. sorry, no experience. I understand the sentiment, but it does throw monkey wrenches into everything. My semisnarky answer would be: Darling Husband, this is your project--go forth and figure it out.
aka: Delegate!

marcsred

I know, I'm very...thorough *coughLONGWINDEDcough*! Thanks so much! I'll leave the address on file as my mum's house and we'll wait on the name change (unless anyone else has advice/experience).

The NVC said that he might want to put me as his "agent" because then the stuff would be sent to me here in America, rather than having to wait for all the paperwork to be sent to Australia. I know there are some things he must receive, but does this sound like it makes sense to you? I just got that advice off of their website.

Regarding the police clearance, I just thought it was weird that up until they started this new pilot progam if you needed a police clearance from Scotland, the ACPO did not deal with it. You had to get it from Tayside directly, and it only covered Scotland. This new process seems easier, but it would be nice if they'd update their website where they basically say, "We help everyone except Scotland" at the top of every page (by saying we serve you, you, and you - but no mention of you).

Do you know anything about the photo copies of the passport page?

And I guess you're saying in a month or so we should get some communication from the NVC detailing what to do next?

Thanks again!

meauxna

Yup, next first thing you'll get is the choice of agent, and I think you can now email that info to them to get things rolling. But the file needs to reach NVC first (maybe you can call.. read those link thingies).
It can take a month for the case to be moved from USCIS to the NVC.

People usually choose the US half as the agent because the mail is faster.

Tracy's OH is Scottish, maybe she'll confirm, but AFAIK, the ACPO is the only police cert for the UK. Period.

I'm not clear on what you're asking about the pp pages.

ian-mstm

While this is a lovely sentiment, and perhaps something he wants to act on in the near future - this should not be a priority. Despite our pluralistic society, it is still very uncommon for a man to change his last name... so I suggest that the *best* time to do this would be only after all the other immigration paperwork has been sorted out.

He can legally change his name as part of the naturalization process - and this is the method that would likely raise the fewest eyebrows when dealing with other government agencies, such as SSA, State Dept., etc.

Ian

jeffmich2007

Yes i can definitely say your hubby needs to apply for the ACPO for the Police certifiate. I am scottish also
The police cert only takes a week to be done also get him to buy 2 copies its £35 for 1 and £ 5 extra for a spare ...it is better to have the 2 certs.

It took me 6 weeks to get through NVC and we did all the payments online and Notice of Agent form which i e-mailed to the NVC,( make sure you print off the form...sign and date it and then scan it, if they don't receive it within 3 days of you sending it, send it again, thats what i had to do, it's much faster than posting it.

Hope this helps
Michelle

meauxna

I can understand the desire to change the name now. "Best" is relative, afterall.

I'm sure he can figure a way to do it all when he wants to.

marcsred

Yeah, we're definitely going to get at least one extra copy. I've heard a few people say they wanted to see one at their interview, which was then kept...

When you say it took you 6 weeks to get through NVC, what do you mean? Once you got communication from them it only took you 6 weeks to get your visa? Or it took you 6 weeks before you heard from them? When did you do your application? We would love for it to only take 6 weeks, haha! Really, we'd love for it to just be done before Christmas, so we could spend our first anniversary together.

I had seen some people say they sent an email to them just stating they wanted the agent to be a particular person, but your way makes more sense - I don't see how an email could replace a form. So how do we do this stuff? I mean, we don't have the new NVC number or anything like that, but are you saying we can submit the Notice of Agent via email now? And what about the fines? Can I pay those now as well? I'm a little confused because everyone's saying, "Get the email in before they mail stuff to you," but then we don't have the new number...

• Also, where does he email them?
• What fines are there?
• When can we pay them online?
• Where can we pay them online?

I've looked at the flowcharts, and I have a general understanding of things, but some specifics would be great!

I think we're going to wait on the name change. I'm sure there's some way we could work it all out, but I think the price would be slowing this process down (even if it was just a little), and we really don't want that.

Thanks again everyone!

Noorah101

I agree with Ian. Save his name change for the very last thing he does, immigration-wise, he can legally change his name at the time he becomes a USC. This will avoid any weirdo problems during the whole immigration process. That's a VERY sweet offer, just plan to do it AFTER all the immigration stuff, so he can get his brand new US Passport in his New Name after he becomes a USC.

Rene

Folinskyinla

Hi:

Slow down just a bit. You don't want to trip over yourself in moving so quickly you can't think.

On time lines -- remember the rubric "your mileage may vary." Every case is different. One of the very first cases I did involved two I-130 for identical twin daughters from a country which has a unified family registration system instead of individual birth certificates. The two I-130 were identical in all respects, submitted at the same time by the same lawyer -- one took 21 days, the other generated an RFE [justified too] nine months later and took nearly 10 months to get approved.