Oh Happy Day!

Today is Labor Day in Peru. We are on holiday from school for the rest of the week. As I was doing my daily checking of various websites, I checked the USCIS site on the status of Pedro´s visa petition. We currently have two petitions processing, the I-130 (spousal visa petition) and the I-129 (fiancé visa which helps speed up the spousal visa process for some strange reason). The entire process is called a K-3 visa and usually what happens is that the I-129 is approved and allows a person to get a visa and wait in the US for their I-130 approval. The website tells us the status of each petition and the date it was last "touched" by someone. Since accepting our application, our I-130 has been touched once, and the I-129 three times. But every time we check, the status reads "case received and pending".

Today, as usual, I logged on to the site, but I saw that our I-130 had been touched. It hadn´t been touched since February, so this was interesting. When I saw that the date had been updated to 4/30/08, I checked the status, but it still said pending. I logged off and not 5 minutes later, I received an e-mail from USCIS. It said, "Current Status: Approval notice sent. On April 30, 2008, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I130 IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN." I couldn´t believe it! I read it over and over and then called Pedro.

Now, while we are celebrating, the process isn´t over yet, but it is moving on. Our file will be sent to the NVC (National Visa Center) next, as it is in California now, and then to Peru. When it arrives in Peru, we will get notice from the Embassy and an interview appointment will be scheduled. They usually schedule them a month out, as the applicant must collect police records, medical records, etc. before the interview appointment. However, it only takes approximately three days after the interview to receive the visa. According to visa statistics, most papers arrive at the NVC within a month of approval, and in their home country just a few days later. Interviews take place within another month, and then the visa is issued days later. So according to all of this, we´re hoping to have Pedro´s visa in hand by August 1st!