US Immigration from Philippines

Hi. Hope it s okay for me to start this thread for January 2025 filers.

Hello All,

I, USC, living in Hong Kong with my Wife, Nationality (Philippines), both of us HK Permanent Residents. I have Mandatory Retirement Dec 31st, 2025, and a Job offer to relocate back to the USA with my current multi-national company with a start date of 1 Sept. 2025.

Filed I-130 in early Feb of 2024, VJ says latest approval estimate June 4, 2025. With NVC processing that makes the timing tight at best.

My wife has a valid B1 visa that expires Nov. 2025 and has traveled many times on her B1 with no issues.

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Opinions on what I should do? Possible thoughts:

1) Just wait and hope it all gets done on time.

2) Request to Expedite the I-130

3) Wait for I-130 approval and request Expedite at NVC stage

4) Have my wife apply for a B1 visa as a backstop in case spousal visa not approved in time

For option 4, I suppose we'd have to maintain a residence address of some form in Hong Kong along with living in the USA and she'd (We) would have to fly back to Hong Kong for the interview? I suppose we also risk her not getting approved for the B1 or if approved being denied entry on the false presumption that she'd adjust status in the USA (we wouldn't, of course). She has entered the USA twice since I applied for the I-130 for her with absolutely zip, zero questions or issues.

DCF is no longer an option as I-130 has been filed.

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Opinions/Suggestions/sage wisdom or even just kindly advising patience and faith are all welcome.

My start date might be flexible to push back if visa is not complete but can not under any circumstances be pushed into 2026

Thanks in advance.

Joe

Thanks in advance.

How to upload/submit joint sponsor in ceac account there s no other option under AOS because everything was accepted. It s locked, can someone help me what to do my interview date is on Jan.16,2025. Thanks

Hello everyone, I think I have my answer from reading the board but my situation is not common so I want to double check prior to filing.

I (us citizen) married my wife (foreign) in via the Utah online wedding process and filed I-130 with USCIS in April 2024. My wife was previously here (Dec 2023) via the k-1 via process and obtained her ssn while here. We didnt get married here and she left prior to the expiration of her visa to return to her country.

She isn t work at the moment, she and my step son live in the philippines. She has SSN, he does not. We were married in April of this year and I live and work here in the USA.

I know that I have to file MFJ, and since my stepson doesnt have a ssn and isnt living here I cannot claim him but my question is this.

Is her SSN still valid since she left and it was issued while she was here under the k1 visa that is now invalid? I know that normally a ssn never expires but hers states "not valid for work" so I dont know if this makes a difference or not.

Any information is appreciated. Thank you.

Hello everyone,

Great news my fianc successfully passed her K1 visa interview yesterday!

I was wondering if anyone has any recent data points on the timeframe from the interview to receiving the visa in hand? I've checked the forums, but the timelines seem to have varied quite a bit over the years.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences!