Received NOA 2, spouse working abroad on cruise ship...

[Pheenix1985 0]

Hey,

We got married in October 2011. I am from Germany and currently staying for a little while with my American husband in the US.

We filed for the CR-1 visa as we didn't get married on a K1 visa, but on B2 and I left the country afterwards.

All is going well and we just received the NOA2 in the mail today, which is really great.

However, we are having a little issue as we don't really know what is going to happen next and when. We do know that the package will now be send to Germany and we will have to fill in some papers and gather the police records, etc. I am sure all of this is going to be written in the documents.

My biggest concern right now is: how much time do we have to complete all of these forms and how long are the processing times?

I am going to be in Germany for the entire month of May and will first of all get a new passport with my new name.

Afterwards I will be going back to the US for the month of June and will then return to Germany.

As of July I am having a job onboard a cruise ship and I will be gone for about 4 months. We are still going to be for a day in Germany and in case that I could have a 2nd passport I might be able to go for the interview and leave my passport with the US embassy to receive the CR-1. However, does anybody know for how long this is going to be valid before I will have to enter the US with it? Is it only 3 months as for most of the visas that the US issues?

Sorry, if this is a double post but I couldn't find anything about this specific topic in the forums so far.

If anybody could give me some answers I would really appreciate it as I am getting a bit concerned right now, whether I can take the job on the cruise ship while I am waiting for the approval and the interview appointment. Can an interview be rescheduled or is this not possible?

In case that I can't get a 2nd passport I won't be able to leave the passport with the US embassy during my contract on the vessel, as we are not allowed to sail without a valid passport.

This just all seems to be super complicated.

Thanks a lot for your help in advance!!!

[trojam227 18]

First, congrats on NOA2!

I can help with a few of these questions.

Now that your petition is approved it is being sent to NVC, not germany just yet.

You should receive your NVC case# in a few weeks and things can move a bit quicker in this stage. You can stall the process at the NVC but must have correspondence within 1 year or your case will be closed. The NVC will collect fees from you & you will send documents/forms to them. Be aware that certain documents are only valid for 1 year.

Once your case is complete here, NVC will schedule an interview appt. at the embassy in Germany for you where your entire case will be forwarded. An interview can be rescheduled if need be and is done directly with the embassy.

You will also need to have a medical exam done by the embassy's approved panel physician once you get an interview date. You will most likely have to do this atleast 2 weeks before the interview (also only good for 1 year).

If you are approved for a visa at your interview, you will have to leave your passport with them and they will courier your passport back to you once the visa is affixed. (not sure how long germany takes to do this but 1-2wks is average for most)

You Have 6 months to enter the United States on the CR1 visa. After POE, you become a LPR and will receive the greencard in the mail a few weeks later.

The exact process varies with each country but this should give you a rough idea of how things will run from this point on.

Best of luck!

Edited May 2, 2012 by trojam227

[Pheenix1985 0]

Thank you so much for your quick and really helpful answer.

This answers all my questions. I was only worried about the time frame, but it seems that I have enough time to finish my job on the cruise ship and take care of everything else afterwards. I can fill in the papers and get the medical done while on board and will simply push the interview appointment forward.

Have a great day and thanks again!

[Darnell 8,480]

you can go slow at NVC, once the ds-3032 is sent in.

Once that is in the casefile, you pretty much control the pace , for up to a year (I get confused on a year total vs a year per thing, I think it's a year per thing)

review for steps -

http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/EZGuideSpouse

Good Luck !

[trojam227 18]

You're welcome! But, just so you know, you won't be able to have the medical done on-board, it will have to be at one of the embassy appointed physicians. I found this list on the US Embassy/Germany's website:

http://photos.state.gov/libraries/frankfurt/9318/panel%20physician/Panel%20Physicians%20in%20Germany.pdf

As Darnell said, study the guides for the next steps so you know when to start collecting documents & such.