NVC, DQ'd and interview timeliness

[TiffAndMike 105]

Forgive me if this has been asked before but how long does it take NVC to issue your interview date after you have been DQ'd?

 

My husband and I are about 3 months shy of our 2 year wedding anniversary so we are trying to time things out perfectly so that his interview date falls the week after our anniversary.  

[Crazy Cat 44,136]

3 hours ago, TiffAndMike said:

Forgive me if this has been asked before but how long does it take NVC to issue your interview date after you have been DQ'd?

 

My husband and I are about 3 months shy of our 2 year wedding anniversary so we are trying to time things out perfectly so that his interview date falls the week after our anniversary.  

It depends on the queue at NVC for your consulate.  Once you are DQ'd you get in line at NVC.  When your case reaches the front of the line, NVC will schedule the interview.  

The interview date is irrelevant to CR-1 vs IR-1 (if that is your strategy).  If you enter the US after 2 years of marriage, then you will be eligible for a 10 year card.  I'd say you are in good shape for a 10 year card.

Edited June 16 by Crazy Cat

[TiffAndMike 105]

20 hours ago, Crazy Cat said:

It depends on the queue at NVC for your consulate.  Once you are DQ'd you get in line at NVC.  When your case reaches the front of the line, NVC will schedule the interview.  

The interview date is irrelevant to CR-1 vs IR-1 (if that is your strategy).  If you enter the US after 2 years of marriage, then you will be eligible for a 10 year card.  I'd say you are in good shape for a 10 year card.

Thank you! The paralegal assigned to my case at my attorney's office told me that you have to be married 2 years at the time of the interview.  

 

As a result, we have waited since we got approved in March to submit all the documents. 

 

We are going to to be at the Frankfurt consulate.

[appleblossom 4,161]

3 hours ago, TiffAndMike said:

Thank you! The paralegal assigned to my case at my attorney's office told me that you have to be married 2 years at the time of the interview.  

 

As a result, we have waited since we got approved in March to submit all the documents. 

 

We are going to to be at the Frankfurt consulate.

 

The paralegal was wrong! 
 

Frankfurt is pretty quick so you may well have your interview before your anniversary, but all you need to do it wait to enter the US until after your anniversary. I’d leave it a few days afterwards, as we’ve seen people travel the day after or even the same day and then have to get their green cards corrected as the immigration officer has calculated it wrongly. 

[S2N 214]

To clarify: the consulate will issue the visa as CR-1 if it is issued prior to the second anniversary. USCIS will then review the admission class and underlying support when issuing the green card and issue a 10-year green card if you enter after 2 years.

 

If they don’t, you can request them reissue it for 10 years for free.

 

I would also suggest asking CBP to input IR-1 as the class of admission if it’s been more than 2 years. They default to what’s on the visa, and most of the cases where USCIS have screwed up is when CBP notes admission as CR-1 but it’s more than 2 years. They don’t have to note you as IR-1 at the port of entry, but it doesn’t hurt to ask nicely. Sometimes they will oblige, sometimes not. Doesn’t impact your legal rights either way; just removes a potential point of confusion for USCIS if they do it. I wouldn’t push to hard on this point though if CBP is hesitant.

Edited June 17 by S2N

[TiffAndMike 105]

Thank you everyone! Yeah I thought the paralegal was wrong too as I saw a post in the past about someone interviewing right before their anniversary date but not entering the country until after it and getting a 10 year.

[TiffAndMike 105]

On 6/17/2025 at 6:18 AM, S2N said:

To clarify: the consulate will issue the visa as CR-1 if it is issued prior to the second anniversary. USCIS will then review the admission class and underlying support when issuing the green card and issue a 10-year green card if you enter after 2 years.

 

If they don’t, you can request them reissue it for 10 years for free.

 

I would also suggest asking CBP to input IR-1 as the class of admission if it’s been more than 2 years. They default to what’s on the visa, and most of the cases where USCIS have screwed up is when CBP notes admission as CR-1 but it’s more than 2 years. They don’t have to note you as IR-1 at the port of entry, but it doesn’t hurt to ask nicely. Sometimes they will oblige, sometimes not. Doesn’t impact your legal rights either way; just removes a potential point of confusion for USCIS if they do it. I wouldn’t push to hard on this point though if CBP is hesitant.

Thank you for that advice.  I took a screenshot of it for the hubby so that he will know what to try to do at the airport if they issue it as a CR-1.

 

How much of a pain is it to have to get USCIS to re-issue it as a 10 year if they screw up?

[Crazy Cat 44,136]

8 minutes ago, TiffAndMike said:

I took a screenshot of it for the hubby so that he will know what to try to do at the airport if they issue it as a CR-1.

No matter what the CBP officer puts on the visa endorsement, USCIS should look at date of marriage and date of entry into the US.  If USCIS makes a mistake and issues 2 year card, you submit an I-90 with "USCIS Error" as the reason.  There is no charge for that.  

Make sure that CBP endorses the visa.  That is important.

Edited yesterday at 02:39 PM by Crazy Cat

[S2N 214]

1 minute ago, TiffAndMike said:

How much of a pain is it to have to get USCIS to re-issue it as a 10 year if they screw up?

It’s a free form to fill out and fairly simple. Just takes a while (current processing time is 21.5 months) and you’d be using the visa in the passport/ADIT stamp until they reissue. You’d probably have to get USCIS to reissue an ADIT since it will be more than a year. They typically mail it to you after reaching out to the contact center, but it might be in person. See link

 

So an inconvenience but not the worst one. That’s why it’s best to ask CBP to note IR-1 as the class of admissions so theres less room for screwup, but also not the end of the world if they don’t.

[S2N 214]

5 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

No matter what the CBP officer puts on the visa endorsement, USCIS should look at date of marriage and date of entry into the US.

Correct, but most of the stories of them making mistakes are from when CBP notes CR-1 and they don’t bother double checking. Like I said, not an end of the world thing either way, since it’s easy to correct, but removing opportunities for human error is always positive if it can be done.

Edited yesterday at 02:43 PM by S2N

[TiffAndMike 105]

8 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

No matter what the CBP officer puts on the visa endorsement, USCIS should look at date of marriage and date of entry into the US.  If USCIS makes a mistake and issues 2 year card, you submit an I-90 with "USCIS Error" as the reason.  There is no charge for that.  

Make sure that CBP endorses the visa.  That is important.

Does CBP tend to forget to endorse people's visas?

 

And what happens if they don't endorse it?

[S2N 214]

1 minute ago, TiffAndMike said:

Does CBP tend to forget to endorse people's visas?

 

And what happens if they don't endorse it?

 

CBP almost always endorses, but if they don’t remind them to.

 

If they forget to endorse it you go to a deferred inspection site and they can fix it there.

[mam521 2,468]

7 minutes ago, S2N said:

Correct, but most of the stories of them making mistakes are from when CBP notes CR-1 and they don’t bother double checking. Like I said, not an end of the world thing either way, since it’s easy to correct, but removing opportunities for human error is always positive if it can be done.

CBP, USCIS and DoS are individual entities housed under the same umbrella.  The CBP officer told me straight up it's not their job to determine the status because they don't have access to all the information (think marriage license to verify dates).  They go by what's issued on the visa.  So, they stamped mine as a CR-1 but my greencard came as an IR-1.  

[TiffAndMike 105]

2 minutes ago, mam521 said:

CBP, USCIS and DoS are individual entities housed under the same umbrella.  The CBP officer told me straight up it's not their job to determine the status because they don't have access to all the information (think marriage license to verify dates).  They go by what's issued on the visa.  So, they stamped mine as a CR-1 but my greencard came as an IR-1.  

So you are one of the people on here who went to the interview right before your two year wedding anniversary?

[S2N 214]

11 minutes ago, mam521 said:

CBP, USCIS and DoS are individual entities housed under the same umbrella.

Department of State is not part of DHS. They have independent statutory authority. Not all that important here but it’s important to note because in many cases their determinations outweigh DHS. USCIS and CBP are both part of DHS.

 

12 minutes ago, mam521 said:

The CBP officer told me straight up it's not their job to determine the status because they don't have access to all the information (think marriage license to verify dates).  They go by what's issued on the visa.  So, they stamped mine as a CR-1 but my greencard came as an IR-1.

Yah, pretty sure we’ve had this discussion before: some CBP officers are sticklers on that and it ends up working out fine (your case.) Some endorse as CR-1 and USCIS screws up and the person has to file an I-90.

 

Others are happy to endorse as IR-1 if the marriage certificate is in their system or if you have it on you, and in these cases USCIS almost never screws up. It doesn’t hurt to ask. I just wouldn’t make a big deal about it if they say no.