For those with a spousal visa (I-130) petition in the works. If your petition hasn’t been approved by the INS yet, this might save you 4-6 weeks on the NVC processing time.
After INS approval, the petition is forwarded to the NVC. You will receive a package from the NVC and your spouse will receive packet 3. All the blank forms that my wife and I received were exactly like the PDF forms you can download from the Net, printed single side on plain white paper. The NVC mailed my package and the wife’s package on the same day. I received mine 3 days later but the packet 3 for my wife took 32 days to reach her in the Phils.
Here’s the plan to save a bunch of time:
Download and print all the forms before the NVC mails them and have them completed and ready to go ahead of time. Complete the I-864 Affidavit of Support but don’t sign it yet. Assemble your last 3 years Federal Income Tax Returns and W-2s.
Send your spouse 3 or 4 copies of the OF-230 Part I and OF-169. Have her complete one copy of each and sign it but with the date and Case Nr. left blank. Then have her sign another copy or two with nothing else filled in just in case there are errors and you need to redo it. Have her send all the forms to you and keep a Xerox copy for herself.
As soon as you receive the package from NVC with your case number, complete the forms, date them, get the I-864 notarized, and get the employer letter ready. Mail all the forms together to the NVC. Be VERY careful that all forms are exactly correct.
This procedure would have saved us just about 6 weeks in getting everything back to the NVC, so maybe someone else going through the process can benefit from it. When the new Life Act is implemented, hopefully the NVC will be left out of the process altogether.
Forms: http://www.travel.state.gov/nvc.html
Ray
