Logan & Eli

3 hours ago, Chocobo said:

Is anything showing up for online status on it?  

The online status just states that they have received our documentation and to await the next steps. Are people with required biometric appointments being notified on the USCIS portal as well?

Our paperwork is being processed by LIN. Looking at the google doc of Feb filers, we are the only ones who have not yet received a biometrics letter, which seems concerning. Any thoughts on getting an update? Has anyone had any success with calling?

We got her visa expedited for the same reasons that you are citing now; my wife was having some medical issues that were difficult to address in Mexico, and was also causing us significant financial hardship. I provided credit card statements and a breakdown of expenses to show how, for however long the wait continues, our financial situation will just continue to get worse. I also asked for a written letter from her doctor specifying her conditions and explaining how the added stress and anxiety of the situation was making her health worse and more difficult to manage and that the best way to help her would be for our wait to end. I compiled it all, wrote about a 4-page letter explaining our situation in extensive detail, and sent the letter, along with all extra evidence, to the NVC to be considered for expedition. It took about 2 weeks to hear back from them, but it worked.

Just go about it with the understanding that the more evidence you provide them, the easier a decision it will be for them. Do your best to show how the waiting is causing you unnecessary hardship and how health and financial issues would be significantly alleviated if they were to give you an interview.

I believe I also provided a complete and detailed timeline of our process, to show how we had already waited about 14 months and still had not received an interview. I hope this helps and I wish you the best of luck! Please let me know if there are any other questions.

Update -- 

23 hours ago, treppenwitz said:

She should go in-person to your local SSA office. She can also take a ready SS-5 form: https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ss-5.pdf

We downloaded the form and filled it out and took a trip to the office. They looked up her information and said that there still has not been a request to process a SSN for my wife. We gave them the application, he gave us a receipt and said that it would arrive in 1-2 weeks. 

Thank you all for your help and responses. As always, I'm incredibly grateful for the help this site has given me and my wife

Now we just have to wait for a GC. Hopefully  that will arrive before we have to remove her conditions haha

My wife arrived to the US 4 weeks ago. When we filled out the DS-260 form, we marked that she needs a Social Security Number and a Social Security Card. We still have not received any sort of documentation regarding the SSN, and I'm beginning to get worried. On the Social Security website, it says that if it doesn't arrive in 3 weeks, to contact them. I called the listed number and the guy on the line told me to contact my local SS Office. I called my local office, explained our situation, and they said that my wife needs to come in and fill out an application. I then reviewed the SS website and it specifically says that if you marked the information in the DS-260, "you do not need to fill out a special application or go to a Social Security office to get an SSN".

I'm getting conflicting information from these two different offices for the same branch, and the website associated, and I'm not really sure what my next steps should be. Any help is greatly appreciated as we are ready to get her SSN and get bank accounts, drivers licenses, etc. 

I know that I'm late to the party, but it's DEFINITELY not 3 months. My wife and I waited from Nov 14 to March 19 for an interview, and that was with an approved, expedited interview. From what I was seeing around 9+ months is pretty realistic and common at this point. It's sad and frustrating. Just hang in there, you'll get through!

11/14/18 - Case Closed with NVC

3/19/19 - Interview

My wife is a Mexican citizen and Ciudad Juarez takes forever to give interviews. It took us 4 months, and that's with an approved expedite

Just now, starz87 said:

thank you so much and god willing everything goes well Next month at ya'lls appt.  

Thanks for the well-wishes. Lots of anxiety going into the interview knowing that this is the end. We're just ready to be together.

2 minutes ago, starz87 said:

is she in Mexico or the USA? i have heard that people who have never been over here in the USA is a faster process, but i don't know.

She is in Mexico without a tourist visa for the US.

Just do your best to use it as an opportunity to visit your partner's country, explore, get to know their friends and family better, and let your love grow. This process isn't easy on any of us and can be incredibly trying, frustrating, and at times it will fill you with desperation. You've got a great community here who will help you get through it and to remind you that you're not alone.

2 hours ago, JFH said:

Expect 12-14 months for the entire process to be done.

I would say you should expect it to take longer. My wife is from Mexico, we sent our documents away on January 10, 2018 and our interview is on March 19, 2019. This was with an approved expedited interview, so we hit 14 months on an expedited case. Ciudad Juarez takes forever to give out interviews; from what I've gathered perusing other people on this site who went through Juarez, most people end up waiting about 6-9 months after NVC Case Complete to get an actual interview. Stay strong and stay positive, it's a long road ahead!

54 minutes ago, R.DeLeon79 said:

How did you get expedited?

Health and financial issues. We presented the NVC with medical records and all sorts of financial burdens that have been added because of the process.

My wife and I were approved for expediting our interview. I just got on to schedule an interview at Ciudad Juarez and it says that the soonest appointment is August 22...is this normal? If I schedule my appointment, can I change it if a sooner appointment opens up? This is so incredibly stressful, we've been married for 14 months with still no end in sight...any perspective will help.

The number I've used every time and from which I've received lots of good help is +1 (603) 334-0700. Good luck!

20 hours ago, babybabeto14 said:

I've heard they stopped doing RFE.

Hello,

This isn't true at all unless they've changed something crazy in the last 2 months. In September I received an RFE requesting a marriage certificate for my I-130, something I had already given them with my application. It doesn't seem like giving RFEs is something they are no longer doing.

The CEAC process is rather quick. I submitted my documents on a Monday and the following Wednesday (7 business days later) we were approved and put into a queue to await an interview. When I was going through the CEAC I read a lot of forums where people waited about a week total before being approved. Here's to hoping yours goes quickly as well. Good luck.

You can contact the NVC at (603) 334-0700. Just be sure that you have the USCIS receipt number when you call them. They have 10 weeks to input your documentation and provide you with a case number so it's just a waiting game, just like the rest of the process. It's not fun, but just stay patient and give them a call to see what's going on.

Hope this helps  Good luck!

I did also send a verified translation of the document because it was in Spanish. 😁

Yes, sorry. I used license and certificate interchangeably. I submitted a copy of the certificate with all of the relative information regarding time and location of the wedding along with the registrar's signature. It's an exact copy of the original certificate so I'm not sure why I got the RFE.

Good morning,

I received an RFE  that states the following:

Submit a photocopy of the original marriage certificate for the marriage of ____ and ____. The marriage certificate must be issued by an appropriate civil authority. In order for the marriage to be considered valid for immigration purposes, it must have been legally valid in the location where the marriage took place. The document must include the date of registration and signature of the registrar.

I have copies of the I-130 form that I originally submitted and it has the marriage license, so I know I sent it before. I noticed that when I sent the photocopy it's on 8 1/2" X 11" paper, rather than legal size, can this be the reason they want it resubmitted? Could the size of the paper be a cause for them to re-request it? Or could there be another reason they could be asking for this document again? 

My wife and I met 6 years ago when I studied abroad in Mexico through my university. I never made a move while I was there because I was too much of a chicken, afraid of rejection. After I left, we continued to talk all of the time; we talked through facebook, skype, and eventually whatsapp. We continued talking but neither of us told the other one how we truly felt about one another. Over the years we have both dated other people since we lived in different countries and didn't really know if a relationship between us was actually possible with work and school and all of that fun stuff. I had always been afraid to tell her how I felt about her because I was afraid she wouldn't feel the same way and then I would lose a really important friend.

In September of 2017, I finally told her how I felt about her and realized that she has shared the same feeling for the last 6 years and I got a lump in my throat realizing I had missed all of this time with an amazing person. The issue was that I was dating someone. I broke off my relationship at home and got things situated before I began pursuing a relationship with my now wife. We started video chatting every night for hours-on-end around the end of October which I guess is when we can consider us dating. In November I told her that I didn't want to spend another day without her and I wanted to marry her (I did this over video chat because I wasn't there in Mexico with her and I didn't want to wait). We planned a wedding for December 23 and invited family and friends.

My wife had previously (in September/October) applied for and been denied a tourist visa and she is now concerned about a few things regarding the interview at the end of the CR-1 process and I'm looking for some reassurance:

1) Will the short timeline of dating to marriage seem suspicious despite the fact that we've known each other for 6 years?

2) Will the fact that she applied for and was denied a tourist visa to come and visit me and then we were married quickly after seem suspicious?

After using tons of resources, I'm feeling pretty comfortable with the situation since we followed our hearts and are together because we want to be together and because of nothing else but I'm just looking for some direct reassurance regarding my specific circumstance. And there's one last thing I'm hoping for:

This process sucks and is incredibly long and discouraging due to the lack of visibility regarding where in the process the I-130 is (I submitted Jan 10). My wife and I both spend a lot of time struggling with the wait times and the anticipation of being together and the worry that the process will take longer than we anticipate (I'm hoping to have her here around our anniversary, December 23). Can someone just tell me it will be ok? Thanks for being such a great community and resource!