US Immigration from Germany

This is more of a rant than asking for advice or solace. I initially delayed starting the petition process to immigrate my spouse to the U.S. Once I was able to get the required documents in order to move to Germany 6 years ago, I had such a difficult adjustment with integrating myself to a new culture, language, job, etc. I delayed the process for a couple years with no real excuse.

It was the biggest move of my life, and there was so many difficult steps that maybe it was just me being afraid to start another long and tedious process again. My wife helped me get all structured and get the correct documents notarized from like 8,000 miles away. I didn't have the smoothest experience with the German Ausl nderbeh rde but with my wife's detailed preparation, it went pretty ok.

This petition process I told her that I would handle it. I would do the research and ensure I had everything correctly submitted. I wanted to pay her back for all the help she gave me, which I think now was honorable but stupid.

The VisaJourney here provided updates on when to approximately expect a response for my initial petition to the USCIS. I would say that it was totally accurate given the last suggested update I recieved from this site. So kudos to this site really... really nice and dependable.

But now I have to wait for the mail to recieve instructions on what I missed or didn't submit correctly. My account says now that the delay will take another 5 months!

I'm just so thoroughly disappointed in myself... Maybe I didn' submit enough pictures of our travels, or letters from family. I didn't include family providing a notarized letter providing their witness to the validitiy of our marriage. I thought all of the pictures, letters and cards we shared were enough.

So now I have to sit and wait and inform my wife that we have to wait. She is currently out of town taking care of her mom recovering from surgery... so I don't even want to text her about this. It will cause undo stress, so I will just wait until she gets home this weekend and inform her.

That is why I like being anonymous here and gives me a chance to rant about this situation. Thanks for reading and please make sure you have provided the initial evidence and documentation correctly. I'll provide an update here once I recieve the instructions as well as the progress of the petition.

We are considering to move out of state but I am concerned this may delay the interview scheduling way more than just waiting a little longer in California. Is there a rule of thumb how long it takes for the new case manager to request our file?

Hello everyone,

I'm currently living with my wife in Germany and am a USC and petitioner for my wife. We don't have dependents and are expecting to recieve a response from our petition approximately in the next 3-4 weeks. That is what the estimate suggests.

I am currently employed in Germany and will not be able to carry over my job to the U.S. and we only have maybe 1/3 of our required assets to provide sufficient means ot support. The assets are in my savings account, and I understand since I don't have domicile nor a job I can carry into the U.S. I must provide proof of 125% of the HHS poverty level.

I get all that and understand that I will fall short of that ability to provide this income.

As far as finding a co-sponsor, this is where I have also a blocker. My parents are very old and will not provide a co-sponser nor my sibling, which I cannot phathom why not. They love my wife and I have never historically been a burden to them... I believe itis just the unknown of how much liability and responsibility they would incur in case something really tragic happens. I don't know.

I do have extended family but have not asked them mostly because of pride but also because I do not want to bind them as well to something I am ultimately responsible for. I have friends in the U.S. but the same applies, and I don't have the type of friends that would openly volunteer being a co-sponsor.

This leaves me with only the choice of quitting my job once the petition is approved and moving to the U.S. to establish domicile and secure a new job. I can do that even though it will be tricky and costly as well.

The question I have is the timing of everything. Once the NVC takes over, then I haven't found any documentation on when the I-864 will be required to be submitted to the NVC, nor what is the timing in general to have the form filled out to allow me to move to the U.S. and secure a job and domicile.

I've read many blogs here and obviously I have missed it if documented in the travel.state.gov site: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas.html

I have read through the FAQ many times and cannot find this information.

Has someone else been through this same experience while living abroad and trying to plan ahead to immigrate their spouse to the U.S.? Is there a strict timeline once the petition is approved to have the next round of supporting documents submitted? Is this documented somewhere, or do I find out once the NVC sends the information to me?

Thank you!

Coffee2Go

E-2 Investors can not directly self-sponsor a green card for themselves but only obtain one via NIW and similar means.

What is the situation for E-2 Employees?

Can a company/employer from a treaty country sponsor an employment-based green card for their employee who holds an E-2 Employee Visa (that they obtained via that company)?

Hello everyone! My name is Tiffany. I am a US Citizen from Texas. My husband Mike is from Hamburg, Germany.

Our story is kinda different. My grandfather met my grandmother when he was stationed in Germany during WW2. They fell in love, got married, had 4 kids and she immigrated to the states. My parents divorced when I was 6 and due to family drama, I didn't really get to see my grandma or talk to her growing up. I was completely estranged from that side of my family and even struggled to have a meaningful relationship with my father even as an adult. Unfortunately both my grandma and father have passed so the opportunity to learn about my German heritage from them has passed.

I met my husband Mike in the late spring/early summer of 2022 though a video game that we both played. When I found out he is in Germany, I struck up a conversation with him about it as I've always wanted to visit there and learn about my heritage. Our conversations started off just about what life is like in each other's countries but then we started talking about our morals, past relationships, ect. After about a couple of months, we were talking for hours every day and spending every free moment we had together. Feelings really started to develop and we decided for him to come here to visit and stay with me for almost 3 months. We wanted to see if what we were both feeling was real or if it was just infatuation. He arrived here in December 2022. After having him here with me for a week, I just knew he was the one for me. On Valentine's Day in 2023 he proposed to me. Sadly 2 weeks later he had to go home.

We decided that he would come back to spend my birthday with me.

On September 10th, 2023 Mike and I along with my sister and husband took a trip to Las Vegas and were married that night.

I originally filed the i-130 in the beginning of November, however due to a typo on my credit card authorization, my petition was rejected. The petition was then re-submitted in the beginning of December 2023 and currently it is the "case is being reviewed" status. Yeah like I actually believe that.

Our journey with the immigration process has just begun but the anxiety and stress are already getting to me. I find myself waking up to being in a full on anxiety attack quiet frequently. I'm always thinking about the possibilities of things going wrong and having to file a waiver of inadmissibility.