Musicsaves

btw I see Texas is currently approving April and May. I saw one June filer was approved so far at TX. So close!

I too have those panic mode days...the days where I check our case stauts for any change even though they give NO info, and when I pour through visa journey posts. I'm also wondering how soon to get the police report, and wondering how my husband will obtain any vaccine record in romania where these things were not done when he was born into a comminist leadership. Any advice from anyone is so appreciated 😊 Love and patience to all of us!

It’s impossible to navigate lol.
 
Here’s Texas below. It looks like they’re only approving April applications rn:
 
https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/monthly_filers.php?form=2&visa=3&scenter=3&option=2&sortby=2

Thank you to both of you. Every once in a while I go into panic mode. Last night was one of those nights. I am going to see my husband next week for Thanksgiving break so we will get his passport then. In D.R. I've been reading it only takes about three days for them to process and hand out the passport. I was thinking that there was a lot that needed to be submitted during the nvc stage but if it's basically tax return/earnings/employment information, then it shouldn't be too bad.
 
I spoke to my attorney/cousin and he believes a should wait a bit longer for the police clearance in order to have the most up to date one to submit. Any thoughts on this, Apelcina and carmel?
 
Also, Carmel. How do you plan on organizing the documents being sent at the NVC stage? Where would you add the documents for "side-loading?" And in terms of the vaccination records, should my husband have an official copy of this?
 
We don't want to spend any minute more apart than we have to either. Thanks for both of your quick replies.

OK. First, I'm going to suggest the guides, because they are genuinely useful and more informative than someone like me. You can see the "Guides" tab at the top of the VisaJourney page.
 
Next, looking at your timeline, you have filed your i130 and you are waiting for approval. You can prepare for the NVC stage now but certain things are only appropriate at certain stages... for example:
You submit evidence of a bonafide marriage with your i130 application. If not enough is provided USCIS will send you a letter asking for more, or other specific pieces of evidence. This is called an RFE (Request for Evidence). You can also bring more evidence to your interview but its not guaranteed that this will be looked at by the interviewing officer. At the NVC stage you will be informed what documents you need to submit and when to submit them. The IV and AOS package lists on the wiki link are pretty accurate and, yes, tax returns tend to be the key piece of evidence for the AOS, but letters from employers to prove salaries etc. can help. Police certificates vary by country. I'm still waiting to start my case at the NVC but I have got my police certificate because it is valid for one year, and I think that will be enough time to get past the NVC stage. Point is, check how long police certificates are valid in your country. Or you can check the average time to receive one after it is requested. I got mine very quickly and really it's something you can do when you actually get to the NVC stage. Not sure what you mean by applying for a passport.

I read through the link that was provided for the NVC Process: https://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/NVC_Process#Step_2_-_Submit_DS-261
 
But I still feel confused as to the exact documentation I need to have at this point and thereafter. Basically just tax returns and sponsor information if one is needed? Am I to submit additional evidence of bonafide marriage at the NVC stage? Also, at what point should my spouse apply for a passport and get the police clearance certificate? We want to have everything done prior to each stage.
 
I'm a worrier. Thank you to those who answer.

We spent last Christmas in Canada as well
Thank you for the info

https://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php?title=NVC_Process
 
Lots of useful information on this guide to NVC stage--the documents required and recommended are listed, as well as an explanation of the (very confusing) process.  We are preparing these documents now so that we will be ready to submit them as soon as we get NOA2--we don't want to slow this process down by even one day!  So sorry that your husband could not get a US tourist visa--we don't even bother applying after all the denial stories here on VJ.  We are planning spending a week in Canada in February--you might look into that, meeting somewhere closer to you where he could get a visa, like Canada or Mexico.  God bless you and all the couples struggling with the long wait.

It's tough... the waiting part of this process really sucks.  Some days I feel like quitting my job and moving to Brazil to be with my husband.  I can get a spousal visa to live there in about a month.  But we're going to stick this out and be patient.  I'm going to see him for 6 days for Thanksgiving, then again for Christmas for 9 days.  Lots of trips planned to ease the pain of being so far apart.  It's been almost 4 months since filing the petition, so lots more waiting to endure.   Hang in there everybody.  Thank God for technology so at least we can see and hear our spouses every day.  Prepare documents for NVC stage and stay positive!

Welcome!

I've been looking for a thread like this, thank you! I-130 received July 9th.

I've been looking for a thread like this, thank you! I-130 received July 9th.

You can check the statistics here, https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/diversity-visa-program-entry/diversity-visa-program-statistics.html . In 2018 there were 79,583 entrants from Romania and 516 were selected. This comes out to about a 0.65% (or 1 per 154) chance of winning.

My husband and I had many more so called red flags and we had no issues at any point during his visa/naturalization processes.

The chances vary based on region due to allocations and # of applicants. But typically it's a couple percentage points chance at most. I think itr's either New Zealand or Australia with the highest chance at around 6.x% or so?

There is a quota but it’s a maximum (max 7% of the total visas may go to one country), no minimum.  For last DV there were almost 14.5m entrants, rising to 22.5m if you include derivatives, and they select around 100000 and give visas to 50000 people (including derivatives). So you can see chances are minuscule just to be selected, and not everyone selected gets as far as actually getting a visa. Obviously, somebody has to win (I did), and you can’t win it if you don’t enter, but it’s definitely not something to expect to happen. FYI last year there were 430 people selected from Romania (including derivatives, so very rough rule of thumb is actual number of winning entries being about half of that).
(Btw none of the countries in DV are high immigration countries, that’s the criteria for countries being in there in the first place, so he doesn’t have any advantage over other entrants from that perspective)

It takes maybe 15 minutes, costs nothing and has no downside, only an (admittedly tiny probability of) upside. May as well do it.

No harm in trying.

No downside in doing so.

Good to know because I was considering it!

Not all countries do direct consular filing. We would have done that, but the embassy in Turkey does not offer that option.

It makes me angry that this would be seen as more acceptable for the man to be older...ridiculous. I don't think we look different in age and in our hearts we feel the same.

Hopefully not since I'm 13 years older than my husband 😕

Thank you so much missileman!

And also start reviewing the other things needed for NVC.