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Hi everyone,

I'm petitioning my spouse for an IR1 spousal visa. Our case was determined to be Documentarily Qualified (DQ) in July 2025.

The beneficiary is a Colombian national but is a resident of Mexico and will interview at the U.S. Consulate General in Ciudad Ju rez (CDJ).

Today (October 10, 2025), approximately 3.5 months after our DQ date, we received the following email from the NVC. I believe this notice is confirming our interview location (CDJ) since he is interviewing outside his country of nationality.

My main question for the community is this:

Given that we are an IR1 case (Immediate Relative, not preference-based) and we received this specific location confirmation email 3.5 months after our DQ date, are we considered to be at the very top of the scheduling queue for Ciudad Ju rez?

I know CDJ is high volume, but is this type of administrative email a strong indicator that the NVC is now transferring our file to the Consulate to be assigned an interview date soon?

Any recent timelines from other IR1/CR1 applicants at CDJ who were DQ'd around mid-2025 would be incredibly helpful!

Thank you all!

-
Email Received Today:

Greetings,

In most cases, immigrant visa applicants must apply in the country where they live, with few exceptions. If an applicant lives in a country where visa services are limited or unavailable, NVC will assign the case to the designated alternate location.

Applicants living in a country different from their nationality can choose to apply in their country of residence. However, if they interview outside their country of nationality, their visa processing may be delayed.

If you would prefer to be interviewed in your country of nationality rather than your country of residence or designated processing post:

• Contact the National Visa Center (NVC) through this Public Inquiry Form.
• Request to transfer your case to your country of nationality.

If you have special circumstances that may require you to interview in a country other than your country of nationality, country of residence, or a designated processing post:

• Contact the National Visa Center (NVC) through this Public Inquiry Form.
• Explain the special circumstances in detail.

Traveling to or residing temporarily in a third country in order to apply for a U.S. visa does not constitute a special circumstance.

Sincerely,

National Visa Center

U.S. Department of State

https://nvc.state.gov

He is approved! All he has to do now is wait to get his passport back!

For the update: I originally came on here asking for advice for our financial sponsorship. We were DQ'd at NVC but there was a note with the following:

The income reported as stated on form I-864, I-864A is insufficient to overcome the public charge grounds of inadmissibility for visa issuance. To avoid delays, an additional Affidavit of Support Form I-864 from a joint sponsor may be submitted. For more information visit https://nvc.state.gov/aos and https://www.uscis.gov/i-864p. A consular officer will decide if you meet these requirements at the time of the interview. Note: You, as the sponsor, and any other sponsors household members and joint sponsors, must provide updated or additional evidence for the applicant to present at the time of their interview such as: * Other income * Assets * Proof of current employment Note: You submitted documentation to the National Visa Center through the Consular Electronic Application Center CEAC. You can continue to upload documents to CEAC up until the date of your visa interview.

Most advice was that I needed another sponsor. Thing is, it was my mum sponsoring and she is $7000 over the required amount with assets.

But PUSHBRK flat out said, My advice is to simply ignore everything in the message, except that part that says the Consular Officer will decide. Just expect them to do their job and get on with life.

I have a lot of respect for PUSHBRK because I have been on these boards for a good while now and can see that he has a lot of knowledge. For that reason, I felt safe in trusting his advice. We did have a back up sponsor if needed but today, my husband was approved based on my mum's I-864 alone.

PUSHBRK, if you are reading this, thank you so much! The success of our journey has a lot to do with your advice to us throughout the process. So thankful.

CrazyCat, you are another that has offered us great advice and support, thank you too. We are so happy this part of our journey is nearly over. 600 days!

I have a I-129f filed already. My fiance is currently in the process of fighting for custody of her child from her ex. Our lawyer says she has a 70-80% chance of winning the lawsuit. Once we get custody, we'll go with K2 Visa, should be same timeframe when our I-129f gets approved.

The question is, will we be able to obtain the K2 showing the embassy that we have custody papers or will we also need some type of written and signed statement from the ex saying he approves the child to follow the mom to the US? The ex isn't very liking towards my fiance and he will most likely not provide any type of statement. The problem is that if she obtains custody but can't bring her child with her to the US once we get the K1, she's kind of stuck with no one to watch over her child.

Thank you

Hello guys,

I just got approved which im happy about and I just have two questions: how long does it take for case to be sent to DOS after you get approved? A few weeks or a few months?

And how long does it take for the whole NVC process?

Thank you in advance.

Could someone help me? My son received the same RFE. NVC is requesting the "full text" birth certificate. My children and I received this RFE on September 22nd. I thought it was because I sent it in JPG format and not scanned. I sent it scanned on the 23rd, and my oldest son and I received the DQ. Now, 17 days later, they sent an RFE saying they want the full text birth certificate, which I sent correctly this time. What can I do about this? Could someone help me?