US Immigration from Venezuela

Has anyone renewed a Venezuelan passport recently? Is it possible to get an appointment that corresponds with our vacation times (we're both teachers) in Mexico or some other country with an open Venezuelan embassy? Is it possible to renew the passport without leaving the US? Her prorroga expired around a year and a half ago. Thank you.

Well after years of waiting, we finally had our prayers answered. My wife's Green Card came in the mail today. We started this process a long time ago, but my advice to anybody else waiting is to hang in there. We filed for the I-485 and I-130 back in April 2021, after going down the K-1 Visa route only to have it all stalled due to Covid. So we cancelled the K-1 process and started the AOS journey.

So it took about 32 months from the initial filing of the I-485/I-130 to getting the Green Card. Along the way my wife's EAD work card expired as well as the medical exam (only good for 2yrs and another $550 for the exam) and we actually reapplied for the EAD card in October 2023 and literally had the card in less then 10 days, I was amazed. This time the card was good for 5yrs but also had a "No travel Authorized" stamped on it, unlike the first card which did have the I-131 authorized travel.

We also did not get interviewed, so that does happen. We are also married 3yrs at this point so maybe that had some impact.

Anyway I just wanted to update my fellow Visa Journey peeps that there is light at the end of the tunnel. If you have any questions please fee free to write.

Cheers,

Don & Reina

I keep hearing of individuals who paid immigration lawyers to fill out the I-134 forms on their behalf to sponsor someone (from Venezuela) and that person receives a visa in a month or so. My understanding was that it was now a lottery system where everyone has an equal chance of getting selected. However the frequency of the success rate when a lawyer is involved though makes me believe that it is not really a lottery, or a fair playing field, and there is corruption going on that some wheels are getting greased somewhere.

Hello Visa Journey folks,

I got a lot of help some years ago with my Venezuelan husband's immigration and later his naturalization.

Now we are contemplating him applying for his daughter, since she is not seeing a great future for herself in Venezuela right now. I have a couple of questions and would really appreciate input if anyone has any.

She is 19 and a half years old, and will be 21 in April of 2025. If she turns 21 before receiving the visa will that make the process significantly longer?

Also, she was born after my husband's relationship with her mother had broken up, and as a result his name is not on her birth certificate. Her parents were never married to each other. She has known him as her biological father and they saw each other and communicated at different times throughout her childhood and adolescence. He was earning less money when she was young and her mother covered expenses, but later as Venezuela's economy deteriorated we have often sent money to help her with living expenses and education. He has many pictures of them together when she was young, and more recently when he has visited Venezuela. I think there are social media posts as well.

Will this evidence be likely to be adequate to establish parent-child relationship? Is there anything else we should consider submitting?

Thanks in advance.

Just sort of venting here.

We filed the I-485 AOS in April 2021, we did the biometrics, the fingerprints, the medical..etc.

September 2021 we got s notice that USCIS will contact us to schedule our Greencard Interview, then we heard nothing...crickets.

June 2023 we get a notice we need to get my wife a new medical exam because the original was expired, so there went another $600.00 bucks. 60 days went by and we didn't hear anything from immigration stating they even got our medical package even though I know they signed for it and I have the receipt.

So I contacted USCIS 13 OCT 2023 asking to please let me know if they received our new medical package. A Tier 1 request was submitted and on 19 OCT we received this letter from USCIS:

"Due to workload factors not related to your application, USCIS anticipates a delay in completing your case. We anticipate the delay to be approximately 6 months from the date of this notice. We assure you that we are working to complete adjudication of your application as quickly as available resources allow. If you do not receive a decision or other notice of action from USCIS by that date, please reach out to the USCIS Contact Center for additional assistance."

Seriously? 6 months because you don't have enough people working on cases?