Apple Bee

Hi. I think it usually takes 2-3 business days. I paid the fees Wed 2/20 and by Friday 2/22 they both said " PAID" and I was able to start the DS 260

The Hill, Fortune, Forbes. Is this enough? My God. Need to see my credentials? I am white. Republican and live in a southern state (all true by the way) Good God, people.  Just asking a basic question...a couple have given answers but others want to harp on what sources. Just forget it.
 

Which reputable sources would these be? I’ve seen nothing official that confirms that they are going to increase denials. How would they do that? Everyone who files on a Tuesday to be denied? Everyone whose last name begins with W? Everyone who wears glasses? Everyone born in October? 

There's pretty much one rule that's held constant throughout INS/USCIS history: file as early as possible.
 
The immigration process has become a joke now.
6.5-8.5 months for AP/EAD? 9-11 months to get a K1 visa, only to encounter another wait of up to... 12-18 months for a 2-year green card in some locations? 14-16 months to remove conditions? Major N400, CR1/IR1 slowdowns It's no shock people take the chance and AOS from a tourist visa, rather than go thru ridiculously long separations, and risk the off-chance of getting stuck in some BS administrative processing black hole, separated the whole time for an indeterminate period of time.
 
I belong to another country-specific immigration forum, and it's almost unbelievable to so see what members went through up to 2016. For example a K1 visa used to take 4-6 months, AOS would be 4-6 months, ROC 6-8 months, CR1/IR1s 10-12 months, and so on.

Note: This is not a political discussion, just a policy one. 
 
I have been reading the papers and reputable sources online that really tend to frankly, scare me, about the administration's plan for either slowing down, changing, or upping denials of legal spousal visas. I am now on month 9 just about (Nebraska center) for my Filipina wife's spousal petition. With one NOA so far. I am now second guessing myself as if I should have filed in 2015 or 2016. Is anyone else nervous about the news articles, proposals, etc? Again, this is not a discussion to inflame politics. And yes, I am aware that USCIS states the Nebraska center is 9.5 to 13 months, but is that for both NOA? I am confused.

Atlanta POE was swift and we home in Texas with my baby....now waiting for my conditions to be removed then onto citizenship....good luck and best wishes to all those awaiting....

Hello, 
this is completely normal. The file remains at NVC until the time that the NVC schedules the interview with your embassy at which time the status will change to in transit. hope that helps. 

You’re very welcome. I didn’t want to pay for an attorney. Plus I’ve seen a lot of people pay for one and then the attorney makes a lot of mistakes and delays then for weeks or months. 
 
But it if you have a unique immigration situation, a good attorney, can afford it, and it gives you peace of mind then keep him or her. 
 
Ive been learning by trial and error and from others on VJ. My husband and I had a month stuck in NVC but we finally got CC on April 15. 

I don't think you're getting the whole story here from your brother in law.  The CO determining that the applicant doesn't speak good enough English to be an English teacher does not lead to a lifetime ban...

Something is not right here. A lifetime ban is given for a material misrepresentation. Now, whilst lying about your profession (whether he lied or not is another matter, neither you nor I were present at his interview so we don’t know for certain what was said) is a misrepresentation, a lie, it’s not a material misrepresentation as this only applies where the information given changed the outcome of the application or the eligibility for the visa. So, if a grocery clerk or a cleaner claimed to be a teacher for a tourist visa application this wouldn’t be material misrepresentation as clerks and cleaners are eligible for tourist visas just as teachers are. Material misrep would be claiming to be unmarried for a fiancé visa when you are married, or denying a criminal record, etc. 

Then there's nothing to worry about 
Unless asked by the consul,  your fiance need not mention anything about it in her interview 

The only question the OP asked s of anybody has been in AP longer, and the answer is yes.

Do it yourself. I was going to use them too but I'm cheap and its cheaper to do it yourself. Get familiar with the forms. I printed out a copy and wrote it in so I could make corrections before I typed and printed. Its not hard at all. It just seems a little intimidating. I sent loads of pics. Please send more than 10.  I printed out the first middle and last pages of our text for each month which was at the time was 6 months worth. I printed pics of screenshots if us on video calls I printed out call logs. All this is 6 months worth of info at the time I was filing. I sent copies of my tickets. my stamp ins and outs from my passport. We dont have a joint bank yet but I sent in financials of what I send showing family support. I sent 2 affidavits from my daughter and a friend. I sent in marriage license and divorced decree. Wedding invitation. With a cover letter stating all the evidence I submitted. After all that it was a pretty tall stack. I mailed it with the cheapest fastest mail delivery by the second day after mailing I recieved my text and email that they have received my petition. And now ive been waiting 11 months for a noa2. You can do this leave nothing unsigned reading over the application many many times before u send it. 

Before this process, I didn't know jack diddly squat about immigration. However, there is plenty of info on VJ and the internet in general about how to navigate through this process and with these resources I managed to successfully file the I-130, have it approved, get through the NVC stage and get my husband's interview, in which he was just approved for his visa last week (entire process took exactly 364 days from start to finish).
 
As others have said if you have a simple case with no criminal legal matters involved, you can do it yourself. Save the money. This process is already expensive enough without paying unnecessary fees for lawyers or visa services who can't speed up the process in anyway. 
 
Good luck on your visa journey!

You find the list of panel physicians authorized to do the exam for that consulate/embassy and call and make an appointment with them. You can only schedule an appointment once you have gotten an interview date. The medical exam report is valid for 6 months.

i would recommend he takes all available documents. its better to be prepared than delayed because of  one document.
 

While I filed for a K1, I did it all with help from the good folks here.  To be honest, if you take your time and thoroughly read through the guides and/or use the search on here, you probably won't have many questions.  There will be others that had/have the same questions as you.  Just do a search on your question, chances are you will find several threads related to the question you have. 
 
We did use a service in Thailand for assistance as my wife doesn't have a PC or laptop.  We paid around $100 to have them fill out the paperwork for my then fiance and submit it for us.  The woman there that my wife was working with commented that everything I sent to them from here was well prepared.  I set up a Google drive for file sharing, and etc.

Visa Journey. My husband and I had many so called "red flags" and we did the petition on our own with no help of VJ. I did a lot of research and made sure to check and quadruple check the petition. After my husband's petition was received at the NVC and was stuck there for no apparent reason, I found VJ. After that when I needed advice I always came here to ask for advice when needed, everyone always answered my questions with total accuracy. My husband has been a citizen and never at any point in our journey from filing the petition, up to and including naturalization, he never even received a RFE. Save your money and stress and use VJ, you won't regret it. There are many senior and knowledgeable members on this site who will never steer you wrong. Good luck!

Before this process, I didn't know jack diddly squat about immigration. However, there is plenty of info on VJ and the internet in general about how to navigate through this process and with these resources I managed to successfully file the I-130, have it approved, get through the NVC stage and get my husband's interview, in which he was just approved for his visa last week (entire process took exactly 364 days from start to finish).
 
As others have said if you have a simple case with no criminal legal matters involved, you can do it yourself. Save the money. This process is already expensive enough without paying unnecessary fees for lawyers or visa services who can't speed up the process in anyway. 
 
Good luck on your visa journey!

Update: My fiancé arrived in the US on Sunday night! We some trouble with customs when he got here and luggage. I'm going to write a blog post about it soon and I will post it here for anyone who is interested, but I just wanted to give you all an update. Thanks to everyone for their support. 

Thanks to everyone for helping me stay calm. Our CEAC status today was changed to "issued," so now we're just hoping to get the actual passport back in the next few days. 

Sending an update...my fiancé from Egypt did get a DS-5535 and after 60 days in AP I contacted my senator even though everyone said it wouldn’t help.  My senator contacted the embassy, received a response back the same week, then two weeks later the embassy called my fiancé and told him the visa would be issued this month (May).  The website updated and is no longer in AP and he’ll have it in a week.
 
Don’t lose hope! Praying for peace to you 🙏🏼

They can help a lot actually. I know two other cases where a simple phone call from a senator’s office resulted in the respective embassies reviewing the cases and completing the processing. It’s not an intervention, it simply redirects attention to your case. Best of luck!

Given conventional wisdom on VJ is that lawyers are useless, I will be following this. 
 
I wish I could offer any words of wisdom to help you OP.  I think hiring the lawyer beats waiting around indefinitely.  
 
This is yet another data point on why it can be a bad idea to get married  and go for CR-1 versus waiting and going for a K-1. 

I think the main outlayer in your situation is obviously that at some point (erroneously or not) someone told you that your visa was issued. That person , whoever it was, should be held accountable for that response and should be made to explain to you why they responded in that way.  Even if they were to just tell you sorry, we made a mistake. Our lines got crossed. We were looking at the wrong case number. Anything. You just want, and frankly, deserve a response and some accountability on that specific response that you received. 
 
As far as the general AP? 6 months isn't the abnormal part. People have been in AP that long before. But, when you take into account the above, one begins to question why no updates are made past that one that was erroneous or incorrect. It makes one believe something is honestly wrong, and I don't blame you for feeling the need to get to the bottom of it. I hope your lawyer can get to the bottom of it and get you some response. The whole of your situation is not normal, even if the length of time for AP is not unheard of in and of itself.