When does the NVC welcome letter arrive and what is in it?
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Community answers
The answers below are translated from the original Russian - the language of the community chats.
As I understood, the letter containing the case ID and invoice ID is indeed the welcome letter, and it also had information that, while you are not current, the case is on hold. Quote from the middle of the letter: the reason for the delay is that there are more applicants than available visas in your category; when your priority date matches again or is earlier than the date on the Dates for Filing visa bulletin, the NVC will begin processing the petition and will contact you. No action is required from you.
The letter about the case allocation with the number is just a notification. If you worked with an attorney, it was sent to them. If you did it yourself, you should receive it, ideally, within a few days or a week after the petition approval date.
Theoretically, it should be that the NVC waits until you become current according to the bulletin, but in practice, it doesn't work that way: the NVC starts working on the case a little after the approval of I-140, and you can already start gathering documents, filing the DS-260, and so on.
Essentially, Table B is specifically for those outside the U.S. The NVC claims that it begins working on cases only when the date in Table B is later than your priority date. But in practice, it's quite the opposite.
The answers are anonymized community experience from the public chats, not legal advice. Officers may decide similar cases differently.
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A reference page built from community experience, not legal advice. Requirements and practice change - verify on uscis.gov.
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