salhasl

You know, the part that sucks the most is the uncertainty. If they just said - AP will take 1.5 yrs - I'd be OK with it. I would be sad, but it would be bearable. Today, if you are a green card holder, you have to wait a bit longer than if you were a USC to get your spouse here. If you endup in Nebraska instead of Vermont for I-130, it takes longer. Just luck. Life give you lemons you make lemonade. But the problem with this lunacy is that it is a freaking blackhole. I just wish AP was allocated a well defined, reasonable, time frame like every other step in the process. I am all for National security - but it has to be fair. I wish Senator Chris Van Hollen could request the DOS to get this data out like he has with a lot of other data.

The other part that is absolutely insane is that they have banned IR's but F1s are fine. I suspect the universities have a strong lobby that stood to lose a lot of money from the F1 piggy bank and it got an exception added.  So If I were an international student on an F1, my iranian spouse would have been here in no time. But as a US citizen, I have to wait until god knows how long. Is it some how possible to easily vet F2 spouses but not USC spouses? I dont know why the lawsuits are not focusing on this aspect. If the DOS can vet spouses of F1 students without AP, why not spouses of USC's? 99% of the american public does not care. They dont even know this part. I wish media covered this angle more to expose how stupid this whole drama is. So much pain for no discernible benefit. 
 

You know, the part that sucks the most is the uncertainty. If they just said - AP will take 1.5 yrs - I'd be OK with it. I would be sad, but it would be bearable. Today, if you are a green card holder, you have to wait a bit longer than if you were a USC to get your spouse here. If you endup in Nebraska instead of Vermont for I-130, it takes longer. Just luck. Life give you lemons you make lemonade. But the problem with this lunacy is that it is a freaking blackhole. I just wish AP was allocated a well defined, reasonable, time frame like every other step in the process. I am all for National security - but it has to be fair. I wish Senator Chris Van Hollen could request the DOS to get this data out like he has with a lot of other data.

The other part that is absolutely insane is that they have banned IR's but F1s are fine. I suspect the universities have a strong lobby that stood to lose a lot of money from the F1 piggy bank and it got an exception added.  So If I were an international student on an F1, my iranian spouse would have been here in no time. But as a US citizen, I have to wait until god knows how long. Is it some how possible to easily vet F2 spouses but not USC spouses? I dont know why the lawsuits are not focusing on this aspect. If the DOS can vet spouses of F1 students without AP, why not spouses of USC's? 99% of the american public does not care. They dont even know this part. I wish media covered this angle more to expose how stupid this whole drama is. So much pain for no discernible benefit. 
 

You know, the part that sucks the most is the uncertainty. If they just said - AP will take 1.5 yrs - I'd be OK with it. I would be sad, but it would be bearable. Today, if you are a green card holder, you have to wait a bit longer than if you were a USC to get your spouse here. If you endup in Nebraska instead of Vermont for I-130, it takes longer. Just luck. Life give you lemons you make lemonade. But the problem with this lunacy is that it is a freaking blackhole. I just wish AP was allocated a well defined, reasonable, time frame like every other step in the process. I am all for National security - but it has to be fair. I wish Senator Chris Van Hollen could request the DOS to get this data out like he has with a lot of other data.

The other part that is absolutely insane is that they have banned IR's but F1s are fine. I suspect the universities have a strong lobby that stood to lose a lot of money from the F1 piggy bank and it got an exception added.  So If I were an international student on an F1, my iranian spouse would have been here in no time. But as a US citizen, I have to wait until god knows how long. Is it some how possible to easily vet F2 spouses but not USC spouses? I dont know why the lawsuits are not focusing on this aspect. If the DOS can vet spouses of F1 students without AP, why not spouses of USC's? 99% of the american public does not care. They dont even know this part. I wish media covered this angle more to expose how stupid this whole drama is. So much pain for no discernible benefit. 
 

Sorry, again, as much as I hate to be the downer, there is no hope of this going anywhere. Even if it passes the house, its DOA in the senate. And even if by some miracle the senate passes it, it will get vetoed, and there is no way there will be a veto overcome. 
 
The only solution here will be a judicial enforcement or change in administration.

You are refering to Yemen. Yemenis are getting visas significantly more than others impacted. I have also seen a few Iranians but hard numbers released by the state department reveal barely 1 or 2 visas a month. It used to be between 30 to 50.

As expected. If you dont mind sharing, what is your husbands masters education in? I hear Iranians with advanced STEM education have an especially tough time. 
 

Do not file as single. My lawyer as advised so. If you are married you cannot file as single.

This wont be the first time embassy staff are clueless about how to process the waiver. Spain is not an embassy that usually handles travel ban cases so I am not surprised they seem to give you what clearly is incorrect information. The beneficiary cannot file a waiver. Waiver is not applied with the USCIS. Its submitted by the consular officer to the department of state. 
 
The most probable outcome here is the same what hundreds of other couples are experiencing. An indefinite long AP. Feb visa numbers just came out. Iranian numbers are horrendous. Its great you are being a lot more proactive than most others. Maybe it will help. Keep us posted how it goes. Best wishes.
 
 

Hate to beat a dead horse. There is a difference between normal wait times and an indefinite suspension with no guidance for the future. But you already knew that. 

anyone from a travel ban country with successful waiver for k1/ir1/cr1?
 
Is it even worth starting the process?

I read this article. Typically im the most negative person when it comes to reality of the situation but this article is misleading atleast from a spouse Visa standpoint. Spouse visas are not denied. They never have been. The whole confusion is because they say refused but what it means is pending AP. 
 
The reality is spouse sponsorship takes 1 to 2 years regardless of travel ban. With travel ban its 2 to ?? Years. The ?? Is what we dont know. The monthly numbers will tell us. We know its more than 1 year. The month you see monthyl numbers revert back to normal count back to dec 2017 is the average ap. 
 
I see yemen being approved in large numbers. I have a feeling they are prioritizing yemen. Maybe because of the war may be lawsuits maybe strategic relationships god knows. 
 
Meanwhile we spend thousands of dollars on airfare and overseas trips that could be benefiting the US economy. 

I read this article. Typically im the most negative person when it comes to reality of the situation but this article is misleading atleast from a spouse Visa standpoint. Spouse visas are not denied. They never have been. The whole confusion is because they say refused but what it means is pending AP. 
 
The reality is spouse sponsorship takes 1 to 2 years regardless of travel ban. With travel ban its 2 to ?? Years. The ?? Is what we dont know. The monthly numbers will tell us. We know its more than 1 year. The month you see monthyl numbers revert back to normal count back to dec 2017 is the average ap. 
 
I see yemen being approved in large numbers. I have a feeling they are prioritizing yemen. Maybe because of the war may be lawsuits maybe strategic relationships god knows. 
 
Meanwhile we spend thousands of dollars on airfare and overseas trips that could be benefiting the US economy. 

I dont understand why people are making these waiver packets. The dos has already made a determination that spouses and fiancee's qualify for a waiver just need dos approval for sao. Certain consultar officers refuse to even take this packet and people are spending so much money on it. Some officers take it but its not really necessary unless you are requesting a medical expedite and even that is usually ignored. 
 
When most embassies say we dont need a waiver packet what they mean is out of the 3 criteria for waiver you already meet undue hardship and national interest. Now we have ti wait for Washington to say you are not a threat. You could write a 1000 page waiver telling them you are not a threat and all youd be doing is killing trees for no reason.

Jan arent. Dec are.
 
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics/immigrant-visa-statistics/monthly-immigrant-visa-issuances.html

Lol. Sorry but this case is also an exception. He lived his entire life in saudi and hasnt visited yemen in an eternity. 
 
Logically speaking until the time you see  monthly IR numbers start going back to pre ban levels you can assume the ap average is that long. I watch Iran because mrs is iranian. Iran had 30 to 50 spousals. Now its 3 to 5. So every month 25 to 45 are going into ap. Until i see it back at 30 to 50 the average ap clock is ticking.
 
I am optimistic though that feb and march numbers should be better. On basis of my research before the ban 5535 ap took average of 1 year. Jan numbers come out feb end. And feb march end. If I don't see the numbers climb up significantly by march that means my worst fear is true and the ap backlog starts to get pretty bleak.

Sorry didn't mean to say exception because that means something else in the context of the waiver
 
I cannot say how long your case will take. All i meant to say is just because one case took 6 months its not going to take the same amount of time for others. Less than 1 year is the exception not the norm. You could be clean as a whistle but sit in AP for years. But in general i have seen Saudi cases process faster. This is the third travel ban ap less than six months coming out of saudi that i know of so there are more. Given our current administration priorities this does not surprise me.
 
 

Sorry didn't mean to say exception because that means something else in the context of the waiver
 
I cannot say how long your case will take. All i meant to say is just because one case took 6 months its not going to take the same amount of time for others. Less than 1 year is the exception not the norm. You could be clean as a whistle but sit in AP for years. But in general i have seen Saudi cases process faster. This is the third travel ban ap less than six months coming out of saudi that i know of so there are more. Given our current administration priorities this does not surprise me.
 
 

While its great we are seeing a few visas issued there is no indication that the process will take less than a year for a majority of cases. This particular case was picked up by the media so I am not surprised it got processed faster. Ive also seen syria and yemen being processed bit faster. For iranians especially the december numbers are abysmal. Unless we start seeing 30 to 50 spousal visas being issued to iranians we can assume the average process will take an atrociously long time.

You know, I've seen so many people spend so much money and make such significant life altering decisions on basis of the lack of transparency around this process its mind boggling. What I would really recommend if you CAN, just wait it out 6 more months. I have a strong feeling this will all get resolved. Before you do the sudan thing, or any other major expense, just wait for the outcome of emami vs neilsen (google it). I know its hard to just wait and do nothing, and some circumstances might require immediate action to ensure the safety and wellbeing of your family, but if do not have urgent pressing conditions, waiting 1 year after interview and then looking into a writ might be a good option. Although I have a strong feeling that things will get better as time goes by. 

Man, if this is true, then this is a HUGE relief. 
IF you look at my posts, I've been like an encyclopedia of travel ban issues. Every single thing I've read in the past few months has been pointing to things improving. I've personally seen visas issued to DOZENS of people from all travel ban countries, tracked down their stories, and this was the ONLY missing category that I had not seen a visa for: 2018 interview, no medical exceptions, K1/IR1/CR1. 
 
If this is true, then the ban basically has translated to mandatory 100% AP (for spouse and children - atleast). Which means, its not necesarily a ban (for IR), just a significant painful inconvenience, which is counter productive and unnecessary (by over burdening the security screening apparatus by thousands of unnecessary cases that do not meet criteria that previous administrations felt warranted additional scrutiny). 
 
Its pointing to a Donkey SAO for everyone - which is upwards of a year for most cases. Some get through quicker, but most I've seen is 1yr plus. Thats why I had assumed I wont see any 2018 visas till 2019 at the least. 

 
 
 

This may be accurate for Yemen, but not accurate for others. Djibouti prior to May was a mental asylum and was denying everyone. They started getting their act together in May. For Iran and Syria I have seen few visas printed in the Jan 2018 to June 2018 period with "Presidential Proclamation waived". Fact remains that very very small percentage of spouse (IR visas) have actually come through. The vast majority (I would say over 90%) are waiting. Since the ban started 11 months ago, most of them are waiting atleast 6 months. I know some who interviewed in feb and march and are still waiting. Prior to the ban, people reported approx 1 year wait time in AP. But there are cases waiting 3, 4 years. Its all over the place. The ban has resulted in a large number of people being put in the same AP queue without a corresponding increase in staff required to process them. Results are what we see. 
 
What would be really interesting is to see numbers for Jan and Feb 2019. If AP is still taking 1 yr, then Jan and Feb numbers should resume normalcy compared to 2015/2016. 
 
Again, Yemen seems to have better numbers, but Iran/Syria not so much. 

The travel ban requires a donkey or a mantis sao. The validity of each is less than 3 months. Even if your previous check was a donkey or a mantis its no longer valid.

They are on pacer. You need a paid login or be a lawyer. In any case, there have been instances where DOS has violated their own waiver rules and are currently being sued for it. 
 
OP - since this is a NIV (things are diff for IVs) there is no guarantee that your mom will get a visa. Your sister will most certainly be denied under the proclamation, unless she has an exception - of which there are many.
Parents, spouses and children are considered close family members and are supposed to qualify for waivers. There are 3 parts to the waiver
1) Undue hardship
2) National Interest
3) National security
 
#1 and #2 are determined on the spot by the consular. #3 is determined by DOS. When you get a paper like i posted above, you have already qualified for #1 and #2 only then can the consular request #3 from VO (via DS 5535). From what I am observing of late (last few months - may be because of the lawsuit) posts are adhering to the parent, spouse and child rule.
 
#3 is taking an insanely long time, and there are no set timelines. Unfortunately, since all three need to happen for waiver #1 and #2 area meaningless without #3. I know people who are waiting 12+ months after interview with no response.

They are on pacer. You need a paid login or be a lawyer. In any case, there have been instances where DOS has violated their own waiver rules and are currently being sued for it. 
 
OP - since this is a NIV (things are diff for IVs) there is no guarantee that your mom will get a visa. Your sister will most certainly be denied under the proclamation, unless she has an exception - of which there are many.
Parents, spouses and children are considered close family members and are supposed to qualify for waivers. There are 3 parts to the waiver
1) Undue hardship
2) National Interest
3) National security
 
#1 and #2 are determined on the spot by the consular. #3 is determined by DOS. When you get a paper like i posted above, you have already qualified for #1 and #2 only then can the consular request #3 from VO (via DS 5535). From what I am observing of late (last few months - may be because of the lawsuit) posts are adhering to the parent, spouse and child rule.
 
#3 is taking an insanely long time, and there are no set timelines. Unfortunately, since all three need to happen for waiver #1 and #2 area meaningless without #3. I know people who are waiting 12+ months after interview with no response.

Official state department guidance lists parents spouse and children as close family. This automatically approves you for national interest and undue hardship. Third one is nat sec. Thats a blackhole. Some get past in 3 months some take years. 
 
I know of b1/2s granted to travel ban countries.
 
As long as they bypass immigrant intent and ap.