GC for Parents - AOS and CP - Information Source

muni2773 said:
Jenimmi Thanks for the feedback.

So if I understand correctly when she gets here the immigration officer will start the process to apply for the green card and will mail it. Is that a request she needs to make explicitly or does it happen automatically.

Also she cant stay this time for more than 20 days. Can I apply for I-131 now even before she gets here or can I only do it when she arrives ?

Timeline
Mailed in I-130 and support docs. : April 2003
Case Approved : May 2005
Fingerprinting, Background Check Interview November,December 2005
All Approved with Visa Packet: March 2006
Consulate: Mumbai

Let me know if you need more specific dates and I'll fish them out of the file.

Muni

Thanks for the update, Muni.
Wow.. It has taken a really long time (2 yrs) for your M-I-L's I-130 to be approved from your timeline. Are you sure it was April 2003 - no mistype in the year? It's only taking a few months these days.
Just curious - what is your Service Center?
Was she FPed at the Mumbai Consulate?

I believe the Immig Officer at the POE will verify her Immigrant status on his system and start the adminstrative process, which will mail the GC to her(your) address. But I'm not sure, if she's only going to stay here for 20 days, if she'll receive the GC before she leaves US.
Also I'm not sure why you should apply for AP (I-131)? I was under the impression, it's only needed if some one's in the process of getting the Immigrant visa. Since she already has one, she should be okay to travel with the Immigrant visa stamp (Is it I-551?) on her PP.
Any ideas, any one?
 
Jen,

U r right about the 'no need of I-131' since the beneficiary already has the I-551 stamp on the passport. POE triggers the next step of sending the card to the address on file.

Donno how its done these days... Back in oledays - We handed our secret envelop which was handed to us at the Consulate to the POE guys, they took our mug shots (after 36hrs of travel) and FPs. Guess what, that is the picture which ended up on the GC, side profile with only one ear. They even made me to take off my earrings.

I'm so glad I became the citizen, it gave me the opportunity to loose the card with the horrifying terrible picture.

If one cares how they look on the GC and if POE is still taking the pix, then they need to use the restroom on the plane extensivley, make sure you do not look like just woke up zombie.
 
Case update:

I received 2 packages, one for my father and one for my mother, from NVC on 04/07/06 asking my to pay the AOS fee.

Also included in each package was a letter informing me that the agent form has been sent to my parents and a copy was included for me in case my parents didn't receive it. I will wait for my parents to fill that form and mail it whenever they recieve it, because the original signatures of the beneficiaries are required and it will take the same amount of time to reach me as it would take to reach NVC. Besides I'd have to add the time it will take for the mail to reach NVC if I were to mail it. That form is too simple to mess up.

aabraham, Congratulations! You said:
Another thing I want to mention is that the Affidavit of Support processing fee(AOS) is $70 per case but there is an exception. If you are a US citizen filing for both parents you should only send one cashier check or money order of $70 and that is enough for both parents.

Thanks for this info. Where did you get it though? Maybe it was in the letter, but I didn't see it. Will take a close look this evening.

Yamini,
Thank you for getting back.

Visaapplicant, I believe you too are doing it from Mumbai for your parents. Any tips on the PCC? My original questions to Yamini:
Have you applied for their Police Clearance Certificate? If so, what is considered a district police office and how do I find out which one is relevant to my locality? Are the forms the same for the passport office and the police office and are they available online or do we have to collect them from the respective offices? Did you face any problems obtaining the PCC from the police office, you know... the usual.

Thank you.
 
Receipt Number not found in the system!

Hi,

I have applied for both my parents (I-130/I-485,I-131). I recently received notices of action for all of them but when I check the status for one of them, I get:

Status for this Receipt Number cannot be found at this time in this automated system. Please check your case receipt number to see if it is correct. If you have questions or concerns about your case status, please contact the service center where you submitted your application.

Has anyone encountered this? I am currently on the call to Immigration Officer waiting....

Thanks,
smg
 
Hi Smg,

It's not unusual. Apparently the online system doesn't get updated quickly, as I was told by CIS officer. My Parents' case didn't get updated till the I-130 was approved and I received the approval letter.

So no worries.
 
smg -

It's more than 2 months since the RD for my parent's case and we still haven't been able to add the I-485 to the portfolio online. Every single day, I try to check the status of I-485 and get the exact same msg you've posted in Red. Hopefully, you got off the phone with Cust Service already. The first time I called I was on hold for a whole hour, just to hear them say "Oh.. we know that a lot of people have been complaining about the online system. It's not working properly".

Anyway, after that I've seen numerous posts here that users haven't been able to find I-485, I-130 status online. If you are lucky, then you may be able to see it (I-485) online in a few days, or perhaps never. But most of them who had a problem with the I-485 online status in the beginning, have been able to see the status of I-485, soon after they've been FPed.
 
jenimmi said:
Thanks for the update, Muni.
Wow.. It has taken a really long time (2 yrs) for your M-I-L's I-130 to be approved from your timeline. Are you sure it was April 2003 - no mistype in the year? It's only taking a few months these days.
Just curious - what is your Service Center?
Was she FPed at the Mumbai Consulate?

I believe the Immig Officer at the POE will verify her Immigrant status on his system and start the adminstrative process, which will mail the GC to her(your) address. But I'm not sure, if she's only going to stay here for 20 days, if she'll receive the GC before she leaves US.
Also I'm not sure why you should apply for AP (I-131)? I was under the impression, it's only needed if some one's in the process of getting the Immigrant visa. Since she already has one, she should be okay to travel with the Immigrant visa stamp (Is it I-551?) on her PP.
Any ideas, any one?

It took so long because my wife wasn't on top of it :) and was slow in responding back with the paperwork.

Thanks for all the information and best of luck to everyone.
 
muni2773 said:
Jenimmi Thanks for the feedback.

So if I understand correctly when she gets here the immigration officer will start the process to apply for the green card and will mail it. Is that a request she needs to make explicitly or does it happen automatically.

Also she cant stay this time for more than 20 days. Can I apply for I-131 now even before she gets here or can I only do it when she arrives ?

Timeline
Mailed in I-130 and support docs. : April 2003
Case Approved : May 2005
Fingerprinting, Background Check Interview November,December 2005
All Approved with Visa Packet: March 2006
Consulate: Mumbai

Let me know if you need more specific dates and I'll fish them out of the file.

Muni

Muni,

Congratulations on approval of your Mother In Law's application! Thanks for sharing your info. My parents will go to Mumbai consulate for CP. I have some of the same questions as Jenimmi.

- Could you please confirm your application date for I130? Was it April 2003? Did you apply to TSC?
- Was she fingerprinted at Mumbai consulate during interview in Dec 2005? Did they ask her to come back after the check was completed?
- Did it take 3 months to complete the check and get visa approval? Did she have to go again for interview in March or did they send approval (sealed envelope, passport with stamp) by mail?
- Could you please tell when file was transferred to Mumbai from NVC? I am trying to estimate how long Mumbai takes to schedule interview once file is received.

I would greatly appeciate any info you can share on the interview process at Mumbai. Fingerprinting part is different from what I have seen on this forum. Typically, in India where Police Clearance Certificates are available and accepted by consulates, fingerprinting is not done at consulate but at POE. I would like to know if that has changed.

Based on what I have seen in these forum, I agree with Jenimmi and Needurhelp's answers to your questions. I think nowadays, they do not take picture at POE. They use the additional photo provided to consulate and enclosed in the sealed envelope by the consulate for the picture on GC. However some posters in CP forum advised that sometimes, sealed envelope does not contain photo and hence one should keep additional copy of photo when entering US to avoid delays in getting GC.

Thanks.
 
peeyen,

It's right on the "Affidavit of Support(I-864) Processing Fee Bill" letter.
It says that the fee is $70.00 US per case* then the line below explains what the * is about, which is you don't need to pay two 70 dollars if you apply for both parents or spouse and children. Hope you find it.

I have left out the consulate part empty on both my parents I-130s so I'm not sure where they would go for interview but I guess it has to be either Ankara(Turkey) or Dubai. Actually it's interesting to see if they'll ask me where they want to go or they will assign it themselves???

Jenimni,

The number I called is (603) 334-0700 and they are available from 7:30 AM
to midnight eastern time, Mon-Fri, which I thought is pretty long hours.
 
All the documents for both parents-in-law have been sent to Mumbai on April 6, 2006.

Hi All,

Received a letter from NVC, saying all the documents have been sent to Mumbai Consulate.

Yamini
 
Yamini Patel said:
Hi All,

Received a letter from NVC, saying all the documents have been sent to Mumbai Consulate.

Yamini

Yamini,

Congratulations on completion of this step! Thanks for sharing timeline. Hope they get the interview and approval soon. Please keep us posted.

I am curious to see whether they are doing elaborate digital fingerprinting in Mumbai consulate and have applicants wait till the background check clears. Based on Muni's post in this thread it seems so. I hope that is not the case. Recently Jaise posted (in Consular Forum) his parents interview/approval experience at Chennai. He mentioned they were fingerprinted but they were approved right after the interview.
 
peeyen said:
Case update:

I received 2 packages, one for my father and one for my mother, from NVC on 04/07/06 asking my to pay the AOS fee.


Visaapplicant, I believe you too are doing it from Mumbai for your parents. Any tips on the PCC? My original questions to Yamini:

Peeyen,

Congratulations on having case at NVC! Every progress in the right direction matters! Please keep us posted with your progress.

Yes, my parents will go to Mumbai for consular interview. We are still waiting for I130 approval. My parents will start the process of getting PCCs in a couple of months. I do not have the specifics as yet. But I believe the passport office will have a standard format and they will have to go there, fill out some form to request it and pay the necessary fees. For Police certificate, I believe they will have to go to the main police office in the suburb of Mumbai where they live and request it.
 
aabraham said:
peeyen,

I have left out the consulate part empty on both my parents I-130s so I'm not sure where they would go for interview but I guess it has to be either Ankara(Turkey) or Dubai. Actually it's interesting to see if they'll ask me where they want to go or they will assign it themselves???

aabraham,

Congratulations on the progress on your case! Thanks for sharing all the info.

My understanding is that when you start receiving stuff from NVC, there is case number associated with the file. The first 3 letters of the case no. tell you which consulate the case is assigned to e.g. BMB for Mumbai (Bombay), MTL for Montreal etc. Did you notice this no. on your letter from NVC? In that case you may be able to figure out the consulate.
 
aabraham,

Thank you for pointing out the * about the AOS fee. Couldn't post yesterday, but saw it on the letter when I got home.

Congrats Yamini.

Thanks Visaapplicant. Hope your parents' I130s get approved soon.

Does anyone else have any experiece obtaining PCC from the local/district police station in Mumbai? I've downloaded the Passport Office form for the PCC from http://passport.bom.nic.in/forms/Pass_appl2.pdf
 
visaapplicant said:
aabraham,

Congratulations on the progress on your case! Thanks for sharing all the info.

My understanding is that when you start receiving stuff from NVC, there is case number associated with the file. The first 3 letters of the case no. tell you which consulate the case is assigned to e.g. BMB for Mumbai (Bombay), MTL for Montreal etc. Did you notice this no. on your letter from NVC? In that case you may be able to figure out the consulate.

The case number starts with ABD. Any ideas where to find a list of consulates and the three letter codes assigned to them?
 
Comprehensive bill any pros/cons for Immediate relatives

needurhelp,

The bill is all confusing. I was wondering if there is a positive/negative ammendement in the Bill to the Immediate relative category(eg. Parents of US citizen) or family based category(eg. sister, brother). Will this categories processing time be affected in any way if the bill becomes law?

Also, I read somewhere that one of the ammendments may have a 4-year
wait period(instead of 5 yr before they can apply for naturalization) for GC holders who can speak english fluently.

Please let us know.
 
Family based Mother GC process

GC/ AOS for a Parent
Newark DO
I-485 & AP Applied after I130 Approved.
Receipt Dt: Jan 22 '06 (I-485)
Notice Dt: Jan 27 '06
Recd AP Approval: Feb 17 '06
Finger Prints Done: Feb 23 '06
FP approved and sent to INS within 24 hours i.e Feb 24 '06 ... According to Service Rep at FBI FP section.
Expecting Interview Letter ??? Hoping in May or June ???


Please update my info to the List.
Thanks
 
pramela said:
GC/ AOS for a Parent
Newark DO
I-485 & AP Applied after I130 Approved.
Receipt Dt: Jan 22 '06 (I-485)
Notice Dt: Jan 27 '06
Recd AP Approval: Feb 17 '06
Finger Prints Done: Feb 23 '06
FP approved and sent to INS within 24 hours i.e Feb 24 '06 ... According to Service Rep at FBI FP section.
Expecting Interview Letter ??? Hoping in May or June ???


Please update my info to the List.
Thanks

Lucky you, Pramela.. :)
My mom's I-485 RD is so close to your Mom's (1/30/06) and the same DO too, but we still haven't even received the FP notice, or the AP.

But we are hoping we should receive the IL by this month for an interview in June. I believe your Mom would surely get hers by end of April. Please keep posting any progress in your case, it would really benefit us and others here. Thanks.
 
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