US Immigration from Germany

Hi everyone,

I had some questions about how you are able to use the IR1 timeline here and maybe your own timeline either in excel or word or some other utility.

I see the IR1 timelines here, and I do understand the path overall from the petition to the interview. But for me, it is difficult to understand and share with my wife the documents needed to be prepared at what point in the process in a manner that shows a visual timeline (i.e. rocket ship, horizontal, etc.).

So, my question is has anyone here used their own personal timeline to be able to share with your spouse in a manner you can plan accordingly? Like, so everything is clear for you? I am having problems with that and don't want to confuse myself first then my wife while planning our process.

Thanks everyone for your insight and sharing your experiences.

Best,

Coffee2Go

Hello everyone,

Happy Monday!

I am always baffled the past months when researching the immigration process, and I use the U.S. State Department, USCIS, U.S. Consulate in Germany as my main references. I just found this advice on the U.S. State Department site, but see a number of members here where the U.S. citizen/petitioner/sponsor lives with the foreign spouse abroad. The U.S. citizens I follow don't have a domicile set up in the U.S. yet.

So how do I interpret this advice?

Link: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/family-immigration/immigrant-visa-for-spouse.html

Is Residence in the U.S. Required for the U.S. Sponsor?

Yes. As a U.S. sponsor/petitioner, you must maintain your principal residence (also called domicile) in the United States, which is where you plan to live for the foreseeable future. Living in the United States is required for a U.S. sponsor to file the Affidavit of Support, with few exceptions. To learn more, review the Affidavit of Support (I-864 or I-864EZ) Instructions.

Thank you for your help.

Best,

Coffee2Go

My parents have agreed to be our sponsors for my wife's visa. NVC reviewed the case and said that they don't qualify as joint sponsor and that I needed to instead add them as household members with declaration of support. (Probably because I have been living with them until last week)

Well, it has been 2 weeks and NVC still has "N/A" next to their names. Prior it only took a couple days to have them approved as sponsors to submit the case. Is this unusual? Should I try calling NVC?

Thanks

Hello, I had my interview today. Because my medical exam was 4 days ago I was told that we will wait on the medical exam results to arrive. Online my ceac status states "refused" though as of today. Does that mean administrative processing? Has someone the same experience?

Hello,

We are getting ready to send in our AOS packet, and just so happend to also be moving in June. We just signed the lease which starts June 1st, but have the old apartment through June 30th as well, so there is a month of overlap which opens up a few options.

I am a bit concerned about things getting lost when we are moving right when the packet makes it to USCIS, so I wanted to hear what some more experienced folks are thinking what the best course of action might be.

I was thinking I'll file using our current address ASAP (before end of May), no mention of the new address yet. Then, in mid to late-June, we would both file an AR-11 change of address with USCIS, me for the pending AOS and she for the I-864. If we don't have a NOA1 by then, we'd have to do it by mail, not online, is that correct?

Do you see any issues with this approach?

The other option I was considering is to file all the paperwork with the new address already as mailing and physical address - in which case I'd probably hold off until June 1st - except we won't be physically living at the new place for about 2-3 weeks while we move. Also, would we still need to submit an AR-11, or will adding the new address to all the forms be enough for USCIS to register our move?

Thank you in advance for any advice!