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I recently created an AVITS account for my mother's IR-5 visa interview. After selecting the delivery method, I see a 'Pending Appointment Request' status. When I try to book an appointment, the system shows 'Currently, there are no appointments available for the selected location.'

Could someone clarify: Should I keep checking the system for available appointments, or will NVC schedule the appointment and notify me

Wife finally got here appointment for September 3 a couple days ago, after being DQ since March 2024. She came here illegally since the age of 5 and has a clean record. Her 601a waiver was approved in March 2024 after a 3 year wait. Everything is pretty much set to go,her medical appointment is on August 29th and the fingerprints the next day. We are planning to fly out to El Paso and cross the border on the 28th. So I was wondering about couple of questions and hope to get some advice.

I heard going to El Paso and then crossing the border from there is the way to go, is that true?

With her being here illegally is it a risk flying to El Paso? We live in Dallas. With how things are right now I m really nervous she might get detained at the airport and get sent somewhere just to miss her appointment. She has her passport,it s not expired.

If flying isn t the best course to get there what is?

Hotel recommendations and modes of transportation.

Our lawyer assured us it would be fine to fly but I am kind of paranoid with how things are right now. If anyone on here is willing to share their experience or any kind of general advice, I greatly appreciated TIA.

Hello! I am an American living in Japan with my Japanese girlfriend. We intend to move to the US, but we are considering our visa options. The most important thing for us is that we can keep any time apart to an absolute minimum.

Because of that, I would ideally like to avoid going to the US months or even years ahead of time and securing a job there. I have a family member willing to be a joint sponsor, who could also write a letter saying they will house us for the early period of our stay. I do have active US voter registration along with credit cards and a bank account as well. My plan would be to start job hunting in the US as soon as I arrive with my girlfriend (fiance/spouse at that point) living off savings and family help in the initial period.

We are open to either the fiance visa or spouse visa. Recently we were more interested in the fiance visa because it seemed quicker and simpler, until I saw that joint sponsors are not technically accepted (though I ve seen many cases online where they were.)

I plan on contacting the embassy on Monday for details, but I thought I d come on here and ask for advice in the meantime.

How likely is using a joint sponsor on a K1?

What path will minimize our time apart?

How worried should I be about proving my domicile in the US if I don t want to move back before my girlfriend?

Anything would be helpful and thank you in advance.

Hi!

My Fianc [New Zealand] and I [USA petitioner] are beginning our Visa Journey to bring her from New Zealand to USA. We have done a lot of research and have figured out most of the process and begun gathering information and creating our K1 application but we have one potentially serious problem which it has proven difficult to get specific information about handling, namely my old drug charges from over 25 years ago when I was in high school. These drug charges are the following: 1) (1997) Possession of Controlled Substance, Marijuana under 28 grams 2) (1998)Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (Pot Pipe).

I have not yet been able to dig up the court records for these charges, but my memory is that both charges were expunged after attending 'drug school', a short 3 day out-patient drug education program. I have not been in any trouble at all since then and have had a respectable career. I can get things like letters of recommendation from scientists, engineers, law enforcement personnel and others from my personal network if this can help us.

We want to try and file our own K1 application because we are relatively poor and like to DIY when possible. We are also considering the CR1 visa application process instead if it is less likely to result in these old charges being an issue, but we want to be together as soon as possible and currently believe the K1 process will be faster. If required I will take a loan to hire an immigration lawyer.

Can anyone help us with stories of how they overcame similar petty offenses long in the past or potentially advice on finding more specific information or leads for a lawyer that would be experienced in such matters?

Thanks so much for any help, advice or leads anyone here can offer and the best of luck on your own visa journeys!

Robear & Moss