salhasl

This is a very opportune time to be an immigration lawyer. There are lawyers who have made upwards of a million dollars in less than a year.

I have not read through all the pages of this thread so apologize if this has already been asked. What proof is the community suggesting the beneficiary carry for this?

Hello, I am at the NVC stage, finalizing documents. There is a optional document section: Adoption Documentation Birth Certificate Criminal Court and Prison Records Form DS-234 Special Immigrant Visa Biodata Form Marriage Certificate Marriage Termination Documentation Military Records Military-Civilian Identification Badge Other Passport Biographic Page Petitioner's Birth Certificate Petitioner's Marriage Certificate Petitioner's Marriage Termination Documentation Photographs Police Certificate Proof of Legal Residence in Foreign Country Proof of LPR Status Proof of U.S. Citizenship Proof of U.S. Citizenship or LPR Status Refugee Benefits Election Form Translation Some of these (birth cert, marriage cert, police cert,) are already in the required docs section, but I have following additional documents from the optional section that I can upload now: Petitioner's Birth Certificate Petitioner's Marriage Certificate [Isnt this the same as the beneficiary Marriage certificate??] Proof of LPR Status Proof of U.S. Citizenship Proof of U.S. Citizenship or LPR Status [Is a copy of my passport OK for this? ] Photographs [Can i upload wedding/honeymoon pics here?]

There is light at the end of the tunnel. The DOS has testified to congress that they plan to finish the remaining 17K waiver adjudications within next 6 months. Law360 (September 24, 2019, 7:00 PM EDT) -- A U.S. Department of State official on Tuesday blamed the lengthy delays that have plagued the travel ban waiver process on a time-intensive manual security check, but told lawmakers that a new automated procedure rolled out this summer has significantly sped up the process. Speaking before House Judiciary and House Oversight subcommittees, Edward Ramotowski of the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs said that waiver approvals had doubled in the last two months, since the department started automating part of the process to vet individuals from the nations targeted by President Donald Trump’s travel restrictions. He also said the department plans to get through the rest of the waiver cases, which face a 17,000-case backlog, within the next six months. https://www.law360.com/articles/1201847

I know, its very frustrating, but its whats happening. There are interviews being scheduled of people who have been in AP for a while, some from 2018, (like the poster above- 3 families who interviewed in december 2018). Some from as far back as 2017. Unfortunately its taking time for people who have interviewed before July. While at the same time a family who I know interviewed on Sept 5th and have their visas already. Life is not fair.

This is great news. I am also aware of atleast half a dozen more cases with APs ~ 1 month (or no AP). At first I thought these are anomalies, but as more people report instances like yours, this might be the new normal (I hope and pray)

I know this might be a stupid question, but do you guys think the embassy you interview at matters? I am in a group that shares information about abu dhabi embassy and they are post pictures of their visas everyday. Unfortunately no other groups seem to be as forth coming. So do we know if certain embassies approve visas more frequently than others? All my research says embassy has no control over the process, but with things changing so recently, maybe some embassies simply have not caught up with the new process yet?

Yep - sounds about right - you'll have your visa soon and most likely be celebrating your new years with your spouse :-) Congratulations!!

Were you part of a lawsuit?

She's been quite honest with me in the past about her other clients. I was skeptical at first too, but she;s not the only one. There are other people too, not lawyers, but actual people who interviewed who for obvious reasons wont post their entire case receipts for everyone to see. But again, I doubt any amount of proof can put your skepticism to ease so I will leave it at that. If any one else from travel ban countries has interviewed in the past month or so, please share your interview experience - I really want to hear from people who have actual on the ground experience - it would be very helpful for the rest of us who are about to interview

Fair enough, I mentioned in my post that is analysis - unfortunately there is no way to know for sure But the facts still hold. There are visas being issued weekly to people I know, lawyers know. But here are some facts - this is just one example - there are many more. Another 6 month AP

My sources are lawyers + people in facebook groups (first person) + people who have personally interviewed. There are immediate CR1/IR1 visas, 3 month AP, 6 month AP, immediate DV, immediate Parent (including someone who interviewed last thursday and got visa today - IR5, parent of US citizen) all Iranians. We all know that there were 254 visas issued to Iranians in July. As compared to approx 30 in June, so the automated system the DOS proposed has indeed been implemented. Whats not yet clear, is what is the interview dates for these 250 visas. some analysis: You will see that there have been 15 CR1 visas for Iran. If you had any more than a 6 month AP, its very unlikely you'd get a CR1. It takes atleast 3 months from marriage to NOA1, 8 months from NOA 1 to NOA2. 3 months from NOA2 to NVC compelte, and then 2-3 months to interview. So 1.5 yrs. Those are best case. There is every possibility these 15 had an AP less than 6 months - so 2019 interview OR didnt have an AP at all. The problem is that the numbers even before the ban are so small - literally we are talking between 25-40 IR1/CR1 a month. Even a few anomalies throw off the calculations.

There are firsthand accounts from multiple different individuals of visas being printed everyday after interview. It is true :-) Do you personally know people who have interviewed in the past month? Have they ALL been placed into AP?

I have personally a number of visas from various diff embassies issued with a 2019 case number. This means the case was created in 2019. What i am trying to get to is of people who interviewed in 2019 AFTER June, what percentage is going into AP. I know 4 people who interviewed, 3 got visas. But I wanted to ask more people to see if everyone is getting visas or being put in AP.

Backlog is slowly being cleared. I know it sucks, but looks like people who are interviewing now have a decent shot at bypassing AP altogether. July numbers for Iran are almost 10X numbers for June. August is looking to be even better. We will know around Sept 25. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics/immigrant-visa-statistics/monthly-immigrant-visa-issuances.html They implemented an automated pre-screening mechanism (search my posts) and looks like that is having a meaningful impact. Everyday there are visas being issued with no AP, same week. Just that since all this is very recent, I am having a hard time getting statistics around what percentage, etc. Initially, I only saw visas for people who interviewed in June 2019, but now a days they are calling in people who interviewed 2018. I have hope this trend continues. I am really looking to hear from people who have interviewed within the last month or so.