fyi re: hs expiration

Here is the hard-earned information I've learned about expiring homestudies:

As far as the Russian government is concerned, no document--including a homestudy--is valid for more than one year. After 12 months, everything expires and needs to be either re-done or updated.

I found this on the USCIS website:

The USCIS will not accept a home study that is more than six months old unless it is accompanied by an update that is less than six months old. Once the home study has been submitted, updates must be made if something significant occurs, including changes in marital status, finances, change in residence, arrests, convictions, etc.

I called the Department of Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Sercive in Moscow. They explained that your homestudy cannot be more than six months old when you submit your I-600a. However, once you have your I-171H, your homestudy does not need to be updated until the I-171H expires (18 months later--mine is good until early March). At that point, you would need a new homestudy--or perhaps an update--that is less than six months old.

So, it seems to me, all I need is an update that will satisfy the Russian government. I'm told by V that a simple, one-page, no-visit update will suffice. This may or may not be the final word. I'm hoping it is! He suggested that the professionals--my facilitators and my sw--discuss this without me being a go-between. How I wish! I let him know that the facilitators have refused to do that in the past. I also e-mailed boht sw and facilitators and asked them to sort it between themselves. Fingers crossed. Of course, new sw isn't returning e-mails or answering the phone. Might be time for #3...