Continuing....
#4. As soon as our agency found that our i-800 was approved, they emailed the DS-230 (application for immigrant visa and alien registration) to the US embassy in Delhi on June 15th. US embassy responded back right away (within 12 hours!) acknowledging the email and application and photo that the agency sent them. The response time and efficiency of USCIS has been extremely impressive.
#5. In the meantime, the National Visa Center (NVC) transmitted the i-800 provisional visa approval to the embassy in New Delhi. This allows the Embassy to now issue the article 5 to C*RA. I was told that this article 5 tells C*RA that the US government has approved "provisional" visa for the child.
#6. On June 22nd, a week after the agency had sent the email to the embassy with the visa application, I received an email from the embassy indicating that the article 5 was sent to C*RA. They had scanned a copy of the article 5 as well. At this point, things seemed to be going quickly and it was all so exciting. This is what the email read:
#7. I was told that at this point C*RA will start processing the file for No Objection Certificate (NOC). It is "supposed" to take 15 working days to issue an NOC for a child with special needs. But I was warned by my program coordinator that this is the most unpredictable stage, and can take several weeks and sometimes even months to come through. Thankfully, exactly 15 working days from the article 5, on July 12th, the agency emailed me to say that the NOC was approved by C*RA. I have heard of NOCs being issued in 1 week, and even one day! On the other hand, there are many still waiting for months for the NOC approval. Every time I think of this stage, I pray for those parents (some of them my friends) stuck and waiting in this stage. This wait is so very tough and I hope that this stage will be streamlined well for quick and efficient approval of NOCs.
The agency asked me to anticipate 2-3 months before I could travel. They sent me travel notes! I was so excited to read through it. I have been to India many times to visit family and had decided that I was going to skip all the vaccination recommendations, and I did perfectly fine. Perhaps I retained some immunity from my younger days spent in Ind*a.
.... to be continued.
#4. As soon as our agency found that our i-800 was approved, they emailed the DS-230 (application for immigrant visa and alien registration) to the US embassy in Delhi on June 15th. US embassy responded back right away (within 12 hours!) acknowledging the email and application and photo that the agency sent them. The response time and efficiency of USCIS has been extremely impressive.
#5. In the meantime, the National Visa Center (NVC) transmitted the i-800 provisional visa approval to the embassy in New Delhi. This allows the Embassy to now issue the article 5 to C*RA. I was told that this article 5 tells C*RA that the US government has approved "provisional" visa for the child.
#6. On June 22nd, a week after the agency had sent the email to the embassy with the visa application, I received an email from the embassy indicating that the article 5 was sent to C*RA. They had scanned a copy of the article 5 as well. At this point, things seemed to be going quickly and it was all so exciting. This is what the email read:
"We
have mailed the Article 5 letter to CARA and you may now proceed with
the court order. Attached is the scanned copy of the Article 5
letter. Please let us know when you obtain the court order and the
child’s passport, and we will advise you of the next steps.
Thank you
Immigrant Visa Unit
U.S. Embassy, New Delhi, India"
#7. I was told that at this point C*RA will start processing the file for No Objection Certificate (NOC). It is "supposed" to take 15 working days to issue an NOC for a child with special needs. But I was warned by my program coordinator that this is the most unpredictable stage, and can take several weeks and sometimes even months to come through. Thankfully, exactly 15 working days from the article 5, on July 12th, the agency emailed me to say that the NOC was approved by C*RA. I have heard of NOCs being issued in 1 week, and even one day! On the other hand, there are many still waiting for months for the NOC approval. Every time I think of this stage, I pray for those parents (some of them my friends) stuck and waiting in this stage. This wait is so very tough and I hope that this stage will be streamlined well for quick and efficient approval of NOCs.
The agency asked me to anticipate 2-3 months before I could travel. They sent me travel notes! I was so excited to read through it. I have been to India many times to visit family and had decided that I was going to skip all the vaccination recommendations, and I did perfectly fine. Perhaps I retained some immunity from my younger days spent in Ind*a.
.... to be continued.
Unpredictable it certainly is. That's where we and some friends have been since the end of October . . . so we are hoping that after the conference, many families will be issued NOCs!
ReplyDeleteNancy