Q & A March 27, 2005
Q & A 1.
Q&A 1.
I-130 petition involves years of waiting for the family member
to come to the U.S.
Mr. Lu from New York asks:
I submitted I-485 in 1/02 and filed a follow to join (I-824) for
my wife. I have received my green card in 3/04. However, I contacted
US consulate in China and was told a case number started with “GUZ”
was needed to trace my wife’s case. I checked with immigration
in NY and was told that my wife did not file I-130 and G325A form
and could not trace. I could not find anything regarding my wife
on my EAC number online either. Questions:
1. Should I be filing I-130 and G325A forms when I filed the follow
to join?
2. What is the “GUZ” number and how to obtain a G number?
3. How can I find out if my wife’s information has been sent
to US consulate in China?
Mr. Lee answers:
1 The I-824 follow to join form allows dependent family members
to immigrate shortly after the principal is approved for permanent
residence. The filing of an I-130 petition by the principal once
he/she obtains permanent residence involves years of waiting for
the family member to come to the U.S..
2 The "GUZ" number is a tracking number with the American
consulate in Guangzhou. For I-824 situations, you will probably
have to be persistent in your inquiries to the consulate once you
know that the approved application is there. It has been our experience
that eventually the I-824 case comes up for processing and it is
then that we are then able to learn the GUZ number.
3 To learn whether your wife's information's been sent to the U.S.
consulate in Guangzhou from the New York office of U.S.C.I.S., you
can write letters to that office or use the InfoPass system to set
up an appointment with a local office to determine the status of
the application. Using your computer, you can visit the U.S.C.I.S.
website at www.uscis.gov. You can then use the InfoPass appointment
scheduler and follow the screen prompts to set up your appointment
at the New York office. Infopass generates an electronic appointment
notice which appears on the screen. You should print the appointment
notice and bring it with you to the appointment along with copies
of all documents pertaining to the approval of your case and the
I-824 filing. I assume from your question that your I-824 has always
been in New York. If the case is not in New York, you would be instructed
to contact the Service Center which is holding the I-824 when you
go for the InfoPass appointment. If on the other hand, you have
an I-824 filing receipt from a service center of the U.S.C.I.S.
(I-797 receipt notice with an EAC or MSC number on it), you can
check the number online to see whether the I-824 is at the New York
office. If it is not in New York, you should call the National Customer
Service Center of the U.S.C.I.S. at 1-800-375-5283 for further assistance.
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