How long did it take to get your spousal visa?

[Mrs. DK 0]

Although I'm sure that it's not the same for everyone, but how long did you wait to get your visa after sending all your required documents to NVC? After they received my documents, they said it'll take about 2 months to review them, and from what was written on the NVC welcome letter, after reviewing my documents and everything is correct then they should be able to schedule my interview.

It sux because we missed a couple of months because we didn't know that uscis was going to submit our documents to NVC, so we kept on waiting for a USCIS e-mail, until my husband finally saw a welcome e-mail in his junk mail in December, and this e-mail was sent in October. We immediately sent our documents by the end of December and they receive it in Januray 5th. I heard for some the whole process takes about 11 months or so? Is this true?

[Frips 166]

As I learned on VJ forum....

Supposed you paid all necessary fees....NVC needs 60 days to review your documents after they received them. If everything is ok, they will send your documents to the embassy. If something is not ok or it is missing you will get a checklist. That restarts 60 days clock again....

At embassy level if CO is convinced that everything is ok and documents you sent are ok you will get your visa or he/she will put you on AP (administrative process) till things are not sorted up. This could last a day,two,weeks,months. Depends on your case etc....

Good luck!

Edited January 18, 2015 by Frips

[NikLR 13,220]

It took me 8 months in total in 2012-2013.

However NVC was faster at that time and 26 days total at the NVC is unheard of now.

quadruple check that everything is correct as a missed check mark or wrong number could cost you 60 days. You do NOT want a checklist for anything.

I think Japan is fairly quick at interviews which is often where some people have to do all their waiting (I've Egypt wait over 8 months for an interview date after a case complete.)

[Mrs. DK 0]

8 months all in all or just the wait for the interview?

[Frips 166]

Total..these days you need aprox 4-5 months at NVC without cheklist:/ (form case# to the interview)

Edited January 19, 2015 by Frips

[Mrs. DK 0]

Thank you for your response, but what do you mean by check list? Sorry I honestly didn't know anything about this until we stared

Edit: just read your response right. So they will give you a different case number for the interview?

Total..these days you need aprox 4-5 months at NVC without cheklist:/ (form case# to the interview)

Edited January 19, 2015 by Mrs. DK

[Frips 166]

If you have done something wrong while filling documents or have forgoten to send something...they will send you a cheklist

[NikLR 13,220]

8 months all in all or just the wait for the interview?

8 months total. It was EXACTLY 9 months from filing until I had my green card in my hands in the USA. Oct 13, 2011 - June 13, 2012. Nothing I did made it that fast, it was just what was common at the time.

Thank you for your response, but what do you mean by check list? Sorry I honestly didn't know anything about this until we stared

Edit: just read your response right. So they will give you a different case number for the interview?

No. You get a case number from the USCIS. Then you get a NEW case number (DOS/NVC Number) from the NVC. That number will carry through until pay for your green card.

Please take some time to read:

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

[Blueblood 5]

NLR, thank you for posting the link. I read it, and noticed the link referenced several forms with which I am not familiar.

Is the NVR process different for K1 Petitions than others? If anyone can answer, that would be terrific! Cheers

[Mrs. DK 0]

Yeah I do know that you get one case number from uscis then another one from NVC, but I guess I wasn't quite clear about what Frips said. I thought what he/she meant was that you'll get another NVC case number withing the course of 4-5 months after getting he first one or after submitting the i-130. I received my case number from NVC just months after we SENT our i-130, so I'm not sure if this is normal time or not as well.

8 months total. It was EXACTLY 9 months from filing until I had my green card in my hands in the USA. Oct 13, 2011 - June 13, 2012. Nothing I did made it that fast, it was just what was common at the time.

No. You get a case number from the USCIS. Then you get a NEW case number (DOS/NVC Number) from the NVC. That number will carry through until pay for your green card.

Please take some time to read:

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

[NikLR 13,220]

I'm not understanding what you're saying. Could you please fill out your timeline so I can get a better idea of exactly where you are in the process?

[NikLR 13,220]

NLR, thank you for posting the link. I read it, and noticed the link referenced several forms with which I am not familiar.

Is the NVR process different for K1 Petitions than others? If anyone can answer, that would be terrific! Cheers

K1 and CR1 are COMPLETELY different for the NVC. K1 gets a case number and the case moves to embassy or consulate. CR1 does fee payments and document intake. CR1 do not adjust their status within the US and have a green card upon entry. Edited January 20, 2015 by NLR

[Mrs. DK 0]

Well we applied for I-130 in early August and got approved and immediately got a USCIS case number online within the same month, then the actual letter with the USCIS case number just a couple of weeks after the e-mail.

By october (2 months after we applied) we receive an NVC welcome letter with our new case number. The letter also says that they'll be helping us to complete my immigrant visa and schedule my interview. This e-mail ended up in my husband's military junk mail! So we didn't see it until December, but as soon as we saw the e-mail, we immediately sent the documents (affidavit of support, IV etc.) that they were asking for. They received my documents by January fifth and was told that it'll take at least 60 days until they can review my documents, then they'll contact me again whether they will be needing something else or if they can schedule me for an interview.

I just didn't understand when the previous post said 4-5 months until we get a case number for the interview.

I

I'm not understanding what you're saying. Could you please fill out your timeline so I can get a better idea of exactly where you are in the process?

Edited January 20, 2015 by Mrs. DK

[NikLR 13,220]

Okay I think you're confusing a few things.

1. You send the I-130 petition to the USCIS (it is not an application so you have not applied for anything thus far.)
2. They send you an email and/or letter stating they received your petition and what it's case number is (on VJ we call this NOA1)
3. USCIS approved your case and sent it to the NVC (called NOA2.)

If you're both abroad it likely happened pretty quickly, like within a month or two, which it did

As a side note: since your husband is in the military he only has to make 100% of the poverty guidelines not 125% and his income counts no matter where he makes it in the world (because he works for the US government.) You do not need a joint sponsor. However if he is retiring from or leaving the military and he needs to find a new job when he gets to the USA, then he will need a joint sponsor.

The person said 4-5 months FROM case number TO interview. Because it normally takes the NVC 2 months to review the documents and then another month or two until you get an interview after the NVC has determined they have everything the consulate will need and it's filled in correctly. If there is a mistake in there, the NVC sends something called a checklist and asks you to correct the mistake. It's the NVC's job to make the CO's (consular officer) job easier by making sure the documents are correct. This way the CO can concentrate on the interview and review the documents as if they're accurate and correct vs spending time to see if you really wrote down the correct $$ values.

You needed to file the DS-261 so that you can pay the IV fee as well. Did you do this? Have you paid the IV fee? Until that shows as paid, you will not have the DS-260 (the actual visa application) to complete.

Also your timeline is here http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=193408 you can put in the dates for everything that has happened and it gives you an idea of how far along in the process you are.

[Mrs. DK 0]

Yes we've Paid both affidavit of support and IV, so I'm currently filling up my ds-260. What was weird was that, Ive noticed that I wasn't allowed to pay my IV until this actually received my documents. Is that normal? Hopefully everything was correct and will get approved.

Okay I think you're confusing a few things.

• You send the I-130 petition to the USCIS (it is not an application so you have not applied for anything thus far.)
• They send you an email and/or letter stating they received your petition and what it's case number is (on VJ we call this NOA1)
• USCIS approved your case and sent it to the NVC (called NOA2.)

If you're both abroad it likely happened pretty quickly, like within a month or two, which it did

As a side note: since your husband is in the military he only has to make 100% of the poverty guidelines not 125% and his income counts no matter where he makes it in the world (because he works for the US government.) You do not need a joint sponsor. However if he is retiring from or leaving the military and he needs to find a new job when he gets to the USA, then he will need a joint sponsor.

The person said 4-5 months FROM case number TO interview. Because it normally takes the NVC 2 months to review the documents and then another month or two until you get an interview after the NVC has determined they have everything the consulate will need and it's filled in correctly. If there is a mistake in there, the NVC sends something called a checklist and asks you to correct the mistake. It's the NVC's job to make the CO's (consular officer) job easier by making sure the documents are correct. This way the CO can concentrate on the interview and review the documents as if they're accurate and correct vs spending time to see if you really wrote down the correct $$ values.

You needed to file the DS-261 so that you can pay the IV fee as well. Did you do this? Have you paid the IV fee? Until that shows as paid, you will not have the DS-260 (the actual visa application) to complete.

Also your timeline is here http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=193408 you can put in the dates for everything that has happened and it gives you an idea of how far along in the process you are.