Holly&Andreas

We were married in Romania so we only have the Romanian marriage certificate. I brought it back with me to the US after we were married because I needed it to change my name. That is correct

Yes, only the number assigned will be different. He has to go and pick it up on Wednesday.

Hi guys, So today my husband (In Romania) went to the town hall to get an official copy of our marriage certificate since I have the original (in the US). I was under the impression that he will have to have his own official copy of it unless I misunderstood the instructions on the CEAC website. He went to the town hall and was told they could not issue a copy, they don't ever issue copies. They told him they would have to invalidate our current marriage certificate (filing it as lost) and issue a new one. So without consulting me, that is what he did. Now he says the marriage certificate I have (and that I filed with USCIS originally and also uploaded to my side of the CEAC documents) is invalid. Is this going to create a problem when it comes to the NVC approving our documents? My (now apparently invalid) marriage certificate has a number at the top so I'm assuming that is how they track it and the new one will have a new number. I'm not really sure what to do about this. Any help or suggestions are much appreciated. Thanks

As others have said I would not put much credit into what the USCIS website is saying. I checked every 3 or 4 months for updates. So I filed in April 2022, got the NOA1 about a day after I filed. It said Nebraska Service Center but I found out it was transferred to the Potomac Service Center. In June of 2022 I checked our case status on USCIS and it said our case was being actively reviewed. Then there were absolutely no changes for months. At the beginning of this year I started to check more frequently. At the end of March it said 3 days estimated until a decision would be made. So a few days later I checked back and it had jumped up to another 3 months estimated wait. I was super disappointed. Then, about 3 days later I got the approval notice. So the extra time they tack on probably means nothing. Also you may not actually be at the NSC, you can find out if your case was transferred to a different service center. Good luck! You've got a long wait ahead of you but it will pass and before you know it, you'll be ready for the NVC stage.

I didn't call the line but we filed in April 2022, and at the beginning of April (this year) I checked the USCIS website for a case update and it said the estimated approval date had been extended by an additional 3 months. I was crushed. Then three days later I got the email that we had been approved. So if that's what the tier 1 agents use, I imagine it's not accurate for anyone.

Mine was filed on 04/06/22 and I just logged in this morning and saw we were approved 04/03 so hopefully you'll see something soon!

Approved! I logged in this morning and they approved us on April 3rd and sent our case to the NVC! So we filed and got NOA1 on 04/06/22 so it took just under a year for this stage.

Mine went from 1 week to 3 months. I was crushed. I also understand they are only approximate wait times.

I definitely hope that ends up being the case! I noticed the person who posted a status update above mine said theirs was approved March 6, and their petition was filed a week after mine. Same SC unless my case got transferred a second time.

Hi everyone, I filed on 04/06/22 ---> transferred to Potomac SC Noa 1 on 04/08/22 Active Review since 06/28/22 Last week the case status said estimated time for a decision was 1 week. I logged in today and it says 3 months. I will admit, I cried. I know it's all part of the process and we all have to go through it. But I'm an emotional softie. Anyone who says immigration is easy had never been through the process.

I met my husband online and 6 months later we were engaged after a 12 day trip to Spain (we stayed with his sister.) That being said, we did not get married until 3 years later and me visiting him about every 6 months for 2-3 weeks each time. When we married, I stayed for a month. I suppose every couple works differently, but back when we were first engaged, him immigrating to the US was a consideration, but not a serious one. We knew we had a lot of learning and growing to do as a couple first. Now we've been married for 3 years in July, I lived with him for 18 months in his country and we have a much better idea of how we function as a couple. I just filed the I-130 in April. IMO, time together as a couple is important before making the choice to jump into the immigration process.

Just because she's been "seen" with another man doesn't necessarily mean she's cheating on you. Is it possible it's just a platonic friendship? I have a male roommate and my husband gets jealous from time to time, but there is no chemistry between my roommate and I at all. My husband spends a lot of time with a female coworker and I also get jealous, but we talk about it and I trust him and believe him when he tells me there's nothing going on there. Unless the proof you have is kissing/canoodling/caught in an obviously compromising position, I'd take a step back and look at it objectively, without the green jealousy goggles clouding your judgement. Maybe talk to her first, or find out who this other man is to her before you do something irreversible like withdrawing your petition. Communication is key in any relationship, but especially long distance relationships, and decisions made in anger are rarely the right decision.

NSC = Nebraska Service Center NBC = National Benefits Center

I was living with my husband in his country for 18 months and though we both desperately want kids, we never seriously considered trying for a baby while I was there. We knew it was not the right time, especially since I would be coming back to the US to start the immigration process for him. I could not imagine going through pregnancy without my husband with me. Is there a reason why you and your fiancée are thinking about trying for a baby at this stage in the immigration process? Depending on how long it takes, she will go through the pregnancy alone, the birth alone and the first months/year of the baby's life without you being there. As someone else pointed out, immigration is unpredictable. What if there are delays or her visa is denied? Then she is there with your baby and you will be missing out on a lot. You mentioned you have a stable income but how often will you be able to visit her? I just wouldn't risk it, and the timing seems a bit odd.

There's probably also a difference in processing times when you send a form or petition and payment through the mail vs. filing online and paying online. Physical mail takes more time for obvious reasons. It has to physically get to them (and we all know USPS is abominably slow right now) and then it has to be sorted and sent to the correct department, opened, contents verified and sorted and payments sent to the AR department for processing. They have to read through the information on your petition to set up your profile in their database and then apply your payment to your profile, all before sending out the NOA. I'm sure there are any number of things that could delay this process. It's one of the reasons why I chose to file online and pay with a debit card.