SusieQQQ

“Current” means all case numbers are current. You follow the monthly visa bulletin, scroll down to section B for the diversity visa numbers general link https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin.html - you’ll see at the top of the page current and (when available) upcoming month’s bulletin, with a history of monthly bulletins linked below those

You cannot be interviewed before your case number is current. That is how the law works.

1. Casablanca has a wait time of 100 days to get a tourist visa appointment 2. He can try get a visa but it will probably be quite difficult to convince them of the required non-immigrant intent when he is in fact waiting for an immigrant visa

Does he already have a tourist visa?

I assume OP is familiar with all these details but I post them (not an official but a seemingly reliable source) for education for the rest of us about the interplay of B1, B2, and working on yachts, as I don’t think many here are familiar with the details. Just one thing @sanfairyanne - I am assuming that your prior departure/s on yachts from the US were actually recorded as per the last part below? https://www.onboardonline.com/superyacht-news/features/getting-to-the-bottom-of-the-b1b2-visa-for-yacht-crew/ The Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) says that a B1 visa is available to any “crewmen of a private yacht who are able to establish that they have a residence abroad which they do not intend to abandon, regardless of the nationality of the private yacht. The yacht is to sail out of a foreign home port and cruising in US waters for more than 29 days.” The FAM is basically the guide book for all State Department and Foreign Service staff, so if you can prove that you fit this description, there is no reason to worry. Let’s assume that all goes as planned and you walk away smiling with a visa in your pocket. Most crew think that they are in the clear at this point, but there are a few other important details to remember. First of all, which visa were you issued? The combined B1B2 is very common, but it is also possible to receive either a B1 (business), for example if you already have a job lined up, or a simple B2, for pleasure only. This is extremely important to be aware of! When you pass through Customs and Border Control in the US, your passport will be stamped with your entry date but also with the date at which time you MUST leave US soil. Depending on your situation, this could be up to 6 months from when you arrive, but it is at the discretion of the officer on duty at the time so be nice! This information used to be recorded on a paper I-94 form but recently the process has been made electronic for air and sea travellers. In addition, they will record the status of your entry, i.e. whether you entered for business (B1) or for pleasure (B2). If you are headed to the US without a job, it is imperative that you enter as a tourist, in other words, with B2 status. With this tourist status, crew are lawfully allowed to register with crew agencies and look for work. However, it is important to note they you are not legally allowed to accept daywork. And the fine print doesn’t end there. Not only are you not technically allowed to daywork, if you are offered a job you are not legally allowed to accept it as a B2 tourist. This requires exiting the US and returning, with boat employment papers (from a non-US flagged boat of course), and being stamped in with B1 status. … If you are one of the lucky ones who manages to land a job and sail away from all this mess, you should make sure that your departure from the US is recorded by the Customs and Border Patrol so that you are successfully checked out of the country. If you were previously issued a paper I-94, it should be returned to CBP. If your I-94 was electronically issued, check your status to make sure it is correct. I realize that this may seem like one slap in the face too many, but the risk of doing otherwise is really not worth it. If you leave the country on a private vessel (which is usually the case), and your departure is never recorded, the next time you apply for admission into the US you may be accused of having overstayed your welcome the last time. If this happens, the shiny visa that you worked so hard for could be revoked, and you might be sent back to where you came from.

Apparently you didn’t read the replies properly.

Heard from a number of foreign passport holders /visitors that their passports have not been stamped on entry in the past couple of years. They stopped stamping mine a few years ago and I wasn’t sure if that was because I had a green card, but apparently it’s going that way for visitors too. Possibly differs by POE too? Certainly from my last observation at the global entry kiosk at SFO, a couple of weeks ago, none of the foreign passport holders using that get a stamp. The guy just checks for a check mark and lets them in. (Not sure if those that got Xs and needed to see an officer got a stamp, but the others definitely didn’t.)

Is it just uscis though? I am sure I recall a poster here a few years back who was on the i864 hook by her state for her …son? stepson? who refused to work or naturalize or leave the US, and was using public benefits. And there was pretty much nothing she could do other than pay up. Anyway regardless of that, I don’t think OP should feel pressured into signing an i864 for someone he doesn’t want to. Especially what if his wife sponsors family members in due course and he wants to be able to help out there instead?

I honestly think a lot of people just don’t really understand the risks. OP is not, by a long shot, the only person I’ve seen who interprets “not accruing unlawful presence” as “no negative consequences”.

Lol this is the five second summary of my post above

More interesting question is why you think he will be approved? Also need to point out something you (many people) don’t understand, which is that there is a difference between overstay and accruing unlawful presence. Yes, after his i94 ends and before he gets a decision, he is not accruing unlawful presence - this is the number that matters when you are thinking about a ban. However, he is still in overstay. That means that if his application is denied, while he will avoid a ban if he leaves immediately on getting notified of that, it does not wipe out the fact that he overstayed his allowed time. So the expected consequences of that are: his existing visa is voided, he probably won’t get an ESTA because he will have to answer “yes” to the question of whether he has ever overstayed, and he will only be able to interview for a new B visa in the country of that passport. The overstay is only wiped out, retroactively, if the application is approved. Here is the relevant section from the “plain language” uscis info sheet: What if I file for an extension of stay on time but USCIS doesn’t make a decision before my I–94 expires? Your lawful nonimmigrant status ends, and you are out of status, when your Form I-94 expires, even if you have timely applied to extend your nonimmigrant status. Generally, as a matter of discretion, USCIS will defer any removal proceedings until after the petition is adjudicated and USCIS decides your request for extension of nonimmigrant status. Nevertheless, DHS may bring a removal proceeding against you, even if you have an application for extension of status pending. Even though you are not actually in a lawful nonimmigrant status, you do not accrue “unlawful presence” for purposes of inadmissibility under section 212(a)(9)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, while your extension of status application is pending if it was filed prior to the expiration of your Form I-94. [edited out section only relevant to those on non immigrant work visas] If your application for an extension of stay is approved, the approval will relate back to the date your Form I-94 expired, and your status while your application is pending will then be considered to have been lawful. If your application is denied…, any nonimmigrant visa in your passport granted in connection with your classification becomes void. Once your visa is void, you must submit any new visa application at a U.S. consulate in your home country (not a third country, except in rare instances as determined by the U.S. Department of State) https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/guides/C1en.pdf

There is no direct line, for either an LPR or USC to file for a grandchild. Which relatives may I petition for? A U.S. citizen can file a petition for the following relatives: • Husband or wife; • Children, married or unmarried. A U.S. citizen who is at least 21 years or older may also petition for the following relatives: • Parents; • Brothers or sisters. When you submit your petition, you are required to provide evidence to prove your relationship to the person for whom you are filing. As a Green Card holder (permanent resident), you may petition for certain family members to immigrate to the United States as permanent residents. You may petition for the following family members: Spouse (husband or wife) Unmarried children under 21 Unmarried son or daughter of any age https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/guides/A1en.pdf https://www.uscis.gov/family/family-of-green-card-holders-permanent-residents

What “odd reason”? What questions did they ask him? Asking because it’s possible this will be a factor mitigating against an extension being granted on the i539. Also - do you/he understand that he is unlikely to hear back about the i539 decision before his original I94 date is up? Does he have a plan about what to do in that instance?

CBP online linked my different passport numbers before, iow I’d enter one number and the history showed visits on my prior one too. So I’m wondering even if they entered the Czech details online if it picked up the other passport too - not sure if the system would be smart enough that way especially if he’d only ever used one of them to enter the US with, though. (it’s possible they were linked in the system when he got his visa.) Either the i94 was incorrect or what he actually forgot was which passport he used for entry (especially if the passports weren’t stamped on entry)

are either of the passports actually stamped for entry?

Does he not remember them taking his photo and fingerprints at entry? This is precisely so people can’t game the system like this. Something is not adding up. If he entered on ESTA he would only have been given 90 days. If he entered on a visa…it should be in a passport. So from what you’ve said the logical conclusion is that he entered on the passport with the visa.

They haven’t updated the website, you no longer need to send them documents first. All you need to do now is wait for an interview, but obviously you’ll want to start gathering your documents in the meantime. What you want to do is to (1) save a copy of the selection letter (2) check the visa bulletin in the new fiscal year then when your visa number is current, check the same page as your selection letter for the interview letter. You may or may not get an email telling you to check that page for updates.

Not directly, but she can petition for her own child and have the grandchild as a derivative on the petition, assuming the grand child is still under 21 when a visa becomes available to the parent.

It’s hard to tell properly at this stage, unless it’s really low vs history. You need to know the total number of selectees plus selectees per region (this info will be released as a section of an upcoming visa bulletin, probably the July but maybe the august one). Then, all the case numbers are not totally consecutive as there are “holes” - selectees who have been immediately disqualified for breaking an entry rule (example multiple entries). There are some volunteer citizens who diligently plow through the CEAC data when it’s available (from Jan each calendar year) to figure out what the holes are as well as what the highest number per region is, and once all the info is there you can get an idea of how high a number you have, then you can make a properly educated guess. a more rough guess is to look at past visa bulletins and see whether or not they went current for everyone by fiscal year end or whether there was still a cut off and if so what it was, but you also need to look at that in the context of selectees. And then the past couple years VB data. have been totally messed up by covid, trump ban on DV etc. For 80k ish selectees- generally you can say there is enough natural attrition that everyone who wants a visa will get one. For 120k ish it is less certain,

Not sure what you are quoting but it’s not official. The number of people chosen changes year to year. Some years it is as low as in the 80000’s and others around 120k. There is no huge rush for OP’s friend to submit a DS260. The first interviews are only in October and with a number around AF49k will only interview 2023 sometime. OP, suggest your friends familiarize themselves with britsimonsays website which has lots of useful information. Your friend will also have a website link in their selection letter, they should ensure they follow those links to see exactly what documents they will need for a possible interview.

Nothing is guaranteed. And at this stage we do not even know specifics of the numbers of selectees per region etc.

Why can’t you get a new marriage certificate issued by the authorities in your country? Same for birth certificate. This kind of thing is common for immigrant visas. See details for your country’s civil documents and any possible exception to the requirements on the DOS pages here https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country/Nigeria.html

Joint custody is not necessary for a tourist visa. But in the absence of that, or in some countries even with that, your father will almost certainly require some sort of permission to take the minor children out the country from the other parent. Your father needs to research locally to see how formal this needs to be (and whether it needs to be sworn/notarized etc,) as it is dependent on local law.

OP was saying there is no way to contact the embassy. The embassy does in fact have a contact form. I don’t know anyone who has used it so I have no idea if it works, but surely trying it is better than just wringing one’s hands online. I’m also surprised that a £1k airfare between the UK and US would be non-refundable (ref the comments about wasting it), or why OP would not try with a cheap budget airline instead, but that’s another matter.

They have a contact form on their website https://uk.usembassy.gov/visas/visa-information-services/contact-us-immigrant-visas/u-s-embassy-london-visa-unit-contact-form/