15 Months for the I-130, How Long After That Until She Could be In America?

[NMinLasVegas 0]

My I-130 was filed a year ago so hopefully I am a few months away from seeing some movement on my case.

 

BUT, I have no idea what to expect next for the total timeline. A month here, 4 months there. Another year? Another 2 years? Even longer? Can it really take a year just to get an appointment at the embassy in Manila? 

 

Feeing discouraged, where exactly do I look at data about the total time it takes from submission of the I-130 to booking the flight to America?

Thanks so much in advance. 

[NMinLasVegas 0]

I130 NOA1 to IR1/CR1 Interview . . .  roughly 705 days. Is this the relevant information I should be looking at if I am wanting the big picture from submission of the I-130 to getting her to America? Assuming the interview is successful it's 2-4 weeks more to get her visa and then you can book the plane ticket?

 

I have seen some comments about the US Embassy interview in Manila taking 12 months to schedule. Now my math looks like 15 months for the I-130 and then 2 more months and then 4 more months and then 12 more months just for the interview? That puts us way further out than 705 days. 

 

Thanks in advance for any insight.

[Lemonslice 5,334]

Please fill your timeline: https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=447501

 

 

[Crazy Cat 45,445]

***Moved to the Philippines regional forum as OP is asking about time from I-130 approval to visa in hand***

[JeanneAdil 7,271]

Reading your post to figure out the timeline and in March u state applied 7 months ago / that would be October so it has not yet been 12 months which is still within normal times 

As for the interview possible ,  fill out a profile and ID the country and members of Manila will know your embassy with possible wait times after the NVC process is complete and u r DQ'd 

 

[RO_AH 1,692]

It all takes as long as it takes. You should accept that to avoid unnecessary stress. I did mine and then Covid hit. The Embassy was shut down and foreigners were not allowed to enter the Philippines. Mine took very long because of this.

19 hours ago, NMinLasVegas said:

Now my math looks like 15 months for the I-130 and then 2 more months and then 4 more months and then 12 more months just for the interview?

Unless something has changed, for a CR1 an appointment is sent to you. You make appointments for K1. My advice is while you wait, build your case of a bonafide relationship that she can bring that info to the interview. They are scrutinizing visa's more carefully now. Hopefully you can go visit again while waiting.

 

Patience is the key. Like I said it will happen when it happens and getting angry, impatient, and upset does not change that, it only makes the process worse. On the bright side, if she arrives 2 years from the date that you married, it will be converted to an IR1 which gives her an automatic 10 year green card.

[spicynujac 97]

"VJ Member Timeline: No Timeline Found!"

 

You could have a reasonably accurate estimate of the processing time if you filled out your timeline... Takes 2 minutes.  First thing I did upon joining the forum.

[appleblossom 5,018]

On 9/19/2025 at 8:13 PM, NMinLasVegas said:

I have seen some comments about the US Embassy interview in Manila taking 12 months to schedule. Now my math looks like 15 months for the I-130 and then 2 more months and then 4 more months and then 12 more months just for the interview? That puts us way further out than 705 days. 

 

Sounds like you're looking at out of date info, or for other visa categories. 

 

All of the info you need is online. The NVC side of things will largely depend on you, and how quickly you do everything (pay the fees, submit docs etc). But you can see how long it'll take for you to receive the Welcome Letter here - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/nvc-timeframes.html Currently only 18 days. Then once you've done all that, the timeline to be DQ'ed is further down the same page, currently only 11 days. So if you are super quick and have everything ready to submit, you could be DQ'ed within about a month or so. 

 

From that point, the interview wait is only 3 months or so at the moment - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/iv-wait-times.html

 

Then after that it will vary. Hopefully the visa will be returned super quickly, but don't book a flight until it's in hand, just in case the case goes in to AP.

 

As said above, if you filled your timeline in then it would be mean you'd get more accurate advice, and it would also 'pay it forward' for all the help you've received in VJ, by helping others in return.

 

HTH, good luck. 

[top_secret 2,756]

On 9/19/2025 at 5:13 PM, NMinLasVegas said:

I have seen some comments about the US Embassy interview in Manila taking 12 months to schedule.

 

 

The total scheduling meltdown and 1 year+ appointment scheduling delays at US Embassy Manila for CR/IR cases after becoming documentarily qualified have apparently improved quite a bit more recently.  Be careful that you are looking at very recent cases for any accuracy guessing appointment backlogs.