Immigration Visa IR1 - first steps and timings

[James.silvia 0]

Hello everybody,

I am Italian and my husband (we got married May 30th) is an american soldier. After spending 5 years in Italy (where he met me 4 years ago), he got stationed in South Carolina. I followed him for the first 6 months with a tourist visa then I needed to come back to Italy for a trade show for work + for the visa expiration. After a few weeks, I wanted to leave again on a 6 months visa, but it got denied to me - no particular reason, just they wanted me to get in the States with an actual visa and I agree as I know how tough the US is with this things and I am all about it. So, We decided to get married, he came to Italy a couple of months ago and we married.

Now I am in Italy and he is in America and we are trying to get the Immigration visa for spouses IR-1.

My first questions are:

- We sent the petition a month ago - does anyone know how long it takes to get an answer on the approval?

- He will need to leave for an army special training for the next 3 months - he Leaves August 21st. If I will be the agent of myself, would the NVC send the paperworks to my house in Italy or I need to get an agent in USA? My sister and her family live in the Stase, would this help?

- How long does it take from the visa petition approval to the interview?

- Is there anything we can do, as he is a soldier (has been for 10 years with 4 deployments) to speed up the process?

Thank you so much for your help.

My best,

[Transborderwife 4,666]

The entire process is roughly a year. If he is being deployed I believe that things can be expedited with appropriate proof.

[IleanaArpaio 10]

Did u apply for !30? Correct?

It usually takes 5 months to get an approval but when i called USCIS a lady told me it can take up to 12 months and the second time i called a guy told me 5 months sometimes a bit more or a bit less depends on your case.. Did they find u inadmissible to enter the US?
And sorry to tell u but no, is no special treatment for our army..sad

[Moustafa/Crystal 65]

So if you have been married less than two years at the time of entry into the US, you will get a CR-1.

The whole process takes 8 to 14 months, depending on how efficient you are with then needed paper work/fees, and the whole randomness of the USCIS/NVC/Embassy.

I would expect 5-6 months at the USCIS. One month transition time to NVC from USCIS. Two to four months at the NVC. Then the embassy is a very big variable...two weeks to 6 months depending on your embassy as every embassy is different.

I believe you receive the most important papers via email. I would have my mail sent to a US address purely for speed of the process.

Really, this should be no problem as long as you gather all the appropriate evidence/forms/translations. As you are planning for the future documents keep everything organized and labeled. Make 4-5 copies of everything, this will save time in the future. If you don't have a social security number, get an ITIN number...so you can file your taxes jointly. Be sure to do your taxes ASAP, so you have the forms ready for your AOS which I would expect you will be filing around February of next year....if you don't need it for the AOS/IV packet, you will definitely need it for your updated AOS you have to take to the interview.