bird&bear

Childless (not by choice) IR-1 person here. 
 
This is the path of life you chose. An overseas move takes a lot of planning and had you filed a year before you moved, when your plans were first put into place, the separation would have been considerably shorter. You surely didn’t wake up on a Monday and decide to return to the US on the Tuesday? 
 
We all chose this. We all knew that marrying someone from another country would involve time apart, a big move, expense, paperwork, and general disruption to our lives. My husband and I spent the first 2 years and 3 months of married life living on separate continents. I can assure you I don’t love him any less than you love your husband. We survived. I am sorry that your child will miss her father but it happens to thousands of children of military parents also. 
 
Vent all you like. But allow others to vent back. And don’t be surprised if not everyone agrees with you. 
 
And no need for the superiority attitude because you are an IR-1 and not a CR-1. You were a newly wed trying to stay together with your husband at some point too. As you have seen, USCIS doesn’t care how long you have been married or how many children you have - there is no queue-jumping. And rightfully so! You’d be outraged if you, like me, could not have children and found that others, who are more fortunate in that respect and have been able to have children, were considered by USCIS to have a more valid marriage and given priority over you. 

Here is another perspective: My wife and I are older than most on this forum.  When I submitted my I-130 in 2016, I was 63 and she was 58. We didn't have children immigrating and my children are grown.  Would it be fair to shove us back in line just because our life choices were later in life?  Can you imagine just how long it would have taken for my wife to immigrate if every couple who had a child was able to suddenly cut in line ahead of us?  Isn't separation from loved ones painful for EVERYONE?  
I think the current priority system is the most fair......after all, there is an avenue for expediting exceptional cases.........just my opinion.
 
Unfortunately, the current immigration process requires a great deal of knowledge, planning, time, patience, and money.......if anyone ever says that the process is fast or fun, then they are not truth tellers...good luck on your journey......every day is one day closer...

hey I'm sure there's plenty of people who get frustrated, I know I do. We all come close to losing our patience. It's only normal. This is a bloody hard process to deal with.  Long distance relationships are hard!! I get upset all the time. We have to go through so much just to be with the person we love. But it's worth it in the end. So just keep reminding yourself what's to come at the end of it.  Im currently apart from my husband and i had to go hospital yesterday because they thought I might have ruptured my waters, I'm only 19 weeks pregnant.  It was so scary going with out him. But Luckily baby's fine. I couldn't imagine how it would feel having to be apart and having the child go without seeing one of their parents not through choice. 😔 That just sucks!! But I'm just here showing some love, and hopefully you will be back with him soon. 🤞🏼💕

All you can do is make sure that all the forms and documents are in place so when you will get to the NVC stage, it will be possible for you to send off the required documents asap. As for your frustration, we all hear you because we all went through that in one way or the other. Your original post was perhaps phrased unfortunately but you won't find any sympathy from families who went through the same without feeling they should deserve a spot at the front part of the queue. Or primus inter paris - the first among equals. It just doesn't work that way unless your husband had tons of money to invest in the US economy and set up his business there. So I guess there is a platinum status after all. Just kidding.
 
Anyway, the process is frustrating. We all had some form of hardship and struggle. And the only thing you can do is making sure you have everything ready for the various upcoming deadlines. We went through the process in 12 months but could have done it in 10.5 months if not for a request for further evidence which was our mistake (RFE). I was separated from my children for similar reasons and one thing I do appreciate after all those months is that my kids and I learned to communicate so much better than before.
 
Nevertheless, some of us go through this a lot faster than others and I wish you and your family a speedy process.

Isnt that because, for an LPR, you dont get a case number from NVC until its available? But for USC, its immediate. I think thats what it is.

We were Texas too. USC spouse. Applied June 29 2018, we got our approval letter Dec 10, 2018

Just a small piece of advice:
Your life doesn't start at I-130 approval or NVC completion. You already are living a good life, make the most out of it while waiting for processing. I know this is easily said, but definitely doable. If you're away from your spouse, perhaps this is a great opportunity to visit other places together. Learn the language of your spouse in the meantime if you don't share the same. If you're the immigrant, start polishing your career prior to moving stateside so as to waste no time upon arrival. If you plan to study there, start looking at pre-requisites for admission or research opportunities. If you're a professional, maybe start considering professional certifications. Starting a business? great! Start studying the market in the vicinity where you intend to move, learn about rules and regulations, etc. Whatever you plan, get a head start.  And don't give your timeline much thought. It's important, but don't sweat it. Subscribe to email/text notifications and when it updates, it updates.  "A watched pot never boils" ~ Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1732-1758.
 
One more keypoint: If you pass the 2-year mark prior to receiving your greencard, you're given a 10-year greencard, not a conditional one. This will spare you the removal-of-conditions process. So the current wait isn't so bad afterall!
 
And this is coming from a Nebraska filer 😁

As others have stated, you can always keep a bit of money in your Canadian savings accounts. This can be especially handy when/if you go back to visit.
 
For transferring money over (for both the initial move and for paying off debt), as missileman has said, bank to bank wire transfer may be the most straightforward option, depending on your bank. When I moved back to the US from New Zealand last year, I used a service called TransferWise, as they had the best rates I could find at the time (better than my bank). There are other services that do transfers, like CurrencyFair and Curexe, but I haven't used them and so can't vouch for them. I'd check out a few different options, figure out which has the best conversion rate AND transfer fees, and go with whatever is simplest for you.  (Alas, more research!)

I was approved. Got my notification in my email but online status still remain the same. Good luck to every one of us who are still waiting for their approval

What a coincidence! Congratulations! 

I could not find a general forum for all the Texas Service Center filers to come together and share their progress. This will give us TSC filers a general idea of what dates they are currently working on. My timeline is in my signature. Good luck to everyone, keep us up to date on your progress!

I have done the initial comparisons, and the questions and procedures appear to be identical to the 2017 edition.
 

Welcome to the thread! We're all going through this together and it's great to have people to talk to about this.
 
I'm sorry to hear your petition ended up in Nebraska, but you never know what could happen! The processing time estimates seem to be changing all the time (Texas went from "6-8 months" to "7-9 months" recently... >_>) so the most we can all do is kick up our boots and wait it out... Good luck, and it's good to have you here!

omg are you me?  I'm exactly the same--checking VJ all the time, adding to my notes constantly...
 
In other news, you were totally right--it's been a day since they charged my card, and I just got the text! Yay! Texas Service Center, if this place is right. Now to settle in for the long wait.

Thanks. We have a life and family here in Canada, so that at least makes things easier. For anyone reading the thread, we submitted a G-1145 but never received a notification that our file was received. We only received the physical letter in the mail. So, don't stress if you never receive any electronic notifications. It seems to be a pretty hit or miss thing with USCIS.

I wouldn't worry much at all if i were you!
I married my wife in 2012, and i became a US citizen in 2013. However, i didn't move to Egypt until mid 2015. During the period 2013-2015, my wife applied for 2 different non-immigrant visas (B2 and J visas) and mentioned in both applications that she's married to a US citizen, and mentioned my US address as the address she intends to stay. And she visited me numerous times, one of which we entered together from the visitors line, so it was super clear to the CBP officer.
 
So no need to worry. You filed for I-130 from overseas. If you did have the intention to enter the US and overstay your VWP duration and apply for Adjustment of Status (AoS), you would have done that from the first place. I think that's enough evidence

Not to worry, I will finish before coming 😂 Thank you so much for the kind words! Same to you 😊
Finland is a VWP country too, I really hope that helps. That is a great idea! I do have an advisor of sorts,  who approved my 'personal study plan', I will try to ask them for a letter too. Thank you so so much, it would not have crossed my mind ☺️
Wow, you've been waiting for long for NOA2! Which service center? Is it still inside normal processing times? True words, a lot of patience is needed in this process 😅 

I was hoping to get potomac but it seems like Californias arent so lucky and we are sent to Texas (SRC). Hopefully they speed things up like potomac.

Ooh! That's interesting! And I try to keep in mind that the processing times change, for example, TSC just updated the estimated processing times and it moved (for USC filing for a spouse) from being between 6.5 and 8 to 7 and 9. I hope next month and the months after they'll be picking up the pace... 😊
 
Yay!! ☺️ That's good news, I am happy for you! Yes, if it says SRC it is Texas! 

omg are you me?  I'm exactly the same--checking VJ all the time, adding to my notes constantly...
 
In other news, you were totally right--it's been a day since they charged my card, and I just got the text! Yay! Texas Service Center, if this place is right. Now to settle in for the long wait.

During today's oath taking ceremony (3/14/2019), USCIS gave each one of us a packet that include, among things, a manila envelope that says 'Message from the President of the United States'. You can sense the stance of the current administration regarding immigration by the congratulatory letter that was in it. Thank you for the letter, President Obama!

Thank you so much! It sounds like we have the same set-up for our package, so fingers crossed I receive a text today or Monday!
 
Logically I know it's a whole lot of waiting either way, but I'm dying to know which service center we'll be processed at... I'm a naturally anxious person and this process is my worst nightmare lol (I've got spreadsheets and spreadsheets of checklists, timelines, etc... They both help and worsen my anxiety hahaha). I know it sucks for all of us, but at the same time it's so comforting to know that I'm not alone and we're along for the same ride!
 
Thank you both for your kind words. ❤️ I'll do my best to breathe and be patient!

Thank you so much! It sounds like we have the same set-up for our package, so fingers crossed I receive a text today or Monday!
 
Logically I know it's a whole lot of waiting either way, but I'm dying to know which service center we'll be processed at... I'm a naturally anxious person and this process is my worst nightmare lol (I've got spreadsheets and spreadsheets of checklists, timelines, etc... They both help and worsen my anxiety hahaha). I know it sucks for all of us, but at the same time it's so comforting to know that I'm not alone and we're along for the same ride!
 
Thank you both for your kind words. ❤️ I'll do my best to breathe and be patient!

Looking at the guides again, you're absolutely right! Agh, I'm a doofus (the g1145 itself said it should be placed on top of "the first page of your immigration forms" which I presumed to mean the i-130 form itself!). Definitely going to ask the community here to check all my next steps, as I could have sworn I had the order right... It's such a shame that a tiny switch makes such a huge difference. 😣
 
Wellp, the wait continues! 

Looking at the guides again, you're absolutely right! Agh, I'm a doofus (the g1145 itself said it should be placed on top of "the first page of your immigration forms" which I presumed to mean the i-130 form itself!). Definitely going to ask the community here to check all my next steps, as I could have sworn I had the order right... It's such a shame that a tiny switch makes such a huge difference. 😣
 
Wellp, the wait continues!