imbrad91

There's an on-going Reddit post about this as well, seems a bunch of people are getting their interview location switched, myself included:

Original poster of this thread had their location randomly changed from Bratislava to Frankfurt - and was told 'US Visa operations are being closed and case location automatically switched'.

@LangelBeanI also received the same mail as well for my wife who lives in AMSTERDAM with me currently, our interview location set as Amsterdam and randomly my case was switched to Frankfurt with no warning. I have just now sent NVC a public inquiry asking if this was a system error, or if US Embassy Amsterdam really are suspending Visa Operations. Either way, my newly assigned Frankfurt Case ID doesn't even work to log in.

@sweetspirit69 Perhaps yours is a bit different than this - maybe in your case, KYIV is re-opening operations again, and the NVC thinks because your spouse is Ukranian (Foreign State of Chargability) that they should 'automatically reassign them there'. As you can see from my examples, people are having their cases actually assigned TO Frankfurt Germany. Perhaps, if you can send NVC a public inquiry with an attachment proving that your spouse lives legally in Germany now (do they have a German Resident permit?? 'aufenthaltstitel' in German)? If your spouse has a German resident permit now, you can probably get the interview location switched back to Frankfurt. Worth a shot.

2 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

Those are really good ties.  I would take documentation in case she is questioned.  I hope you get a fast interview.....it all depends on how long the queue at NVC is for your country.  Good Luck.  

Thank you very much.

12 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

Visiting during the spousal visa process is allowed....providing she can convince the CBP that she will return to her country at the end of the visit.  She should be prepared to show strong ties.   A round trip ticket will not suffice since that is a requirement for ESTA travel.  Where did you get the "1-3 months" timeline?  That was pre-Covid.  

Thanks for the response - and I guess I'll be good on the strong ties area since she'll still have her job back in the country we reside currently, and still own our home here. 

1-3 months timeline; I guess was just what I decided to write based on this current Case Complete (DQ) to Interview thread from this forum for the current period 

Spreadsheet of people's experiences at the top of that thread seems to record an average time of 69 days from Case Complete to interview - with a few outliers, even seeing some with one month if they are lucky I guess. I know that COVID last year at least really slowed things down a lot, but from looking at a lot of people's recent experiences it seems to be speeding up again?

Of course, we are prepared for separation if waiting for her interview date does take longer than the 3 months she's given under VWP. We just want to minimize that separation as much as possible while complying with immigration law.

Hi all,

I (US Citizen petitioner) and my spouse whom I'm sponsoring currently live together in the Netherlands where I work now. Her case is currently at the NVC phase (i-130 done and approved) waiting for us to submit the I-864, IV application, and civil documents for 'Case Complete'. I might be getting a job offer back in the US soon which might require me to move at a short notice depending on if they let me start off fully remote or not. If I get the job offer on paper, I intend to at that point submit all of the documents for my wife's Case Complete and to wait for her interview date (either at the US embassy in Seoul in her home country, or Amsterdam where we currently reside) - which I understand might take somewhere between 1-3 months. 

Is it okay during this 'waiting period' for her to come with me to the US on ESTA (with a round trip ticket) and for me to explain to the border guard that I'm just simply having her in the US to support me emotionally and looking for things like our apartment together and being together whilst I start up my new job? Then, before her 3 months under the VWP is up, she will fly out to do her interview (or earlier if the interview date comes first). Would this pose any problems on her IV application and the interview?

Does any one have any experience doing this? I am terribly attached to my spouse and really wouldn't like to be away from her while i get myself set up alone in the US; i lack pretty much any other type of emotional support so if possible I'd like her to spend most of that waiting period with me physically under the VWP if possible.

22 minutes ago, JFH said:

*~*~*procedural question moved from “progress reports” to “process and procedures”*~*~*

 

But if you are applying to immigrate by filing the CR-1/IR-1 Visa then surely you are moving back to the US anyway and the overseas residency issue don’t come into play?

Just to clarify - we did the i-130 before I even got hired, but then found this job in Europe while waiting for the i-130 to be approved, which was a better choice career wise. Now, we have our case 'frozen' at the NVC until we are ready to pull the trigger essentially. Thought having naturalization through this 319(b) path would make things much smoother for us if say my company decides to suddenly move me back to the US after a year or two for example; since she'd already be naturalized. Instead of having to just scramble her IR-1 application together and such last minute if I were to have to move.

Just one of the requirements for the naturalization through 319(b) is that you have LPR status at the time the officer examines you (from what I understand). We haven't finished her IR-1 yet because we don't want to cause any harm with residence requirements (get her passport stamped, but still working abroad...and having to wrap things up in Europe and go back to the US definitely together within 6 months).

The reason I wanted to inquire about this is because I read this post here where someone posted their experiences where they were stamped with an i-551 in their passport and got naturalized right soon after through 319b - since they entered at point of entry and became an LPR at that time, they met the requirement for LPR at time of examination. I felt that I'm possibly qualified to apply for this, but no where have I found any standards of what companies/roles meet the bullet points I listed in my original post.

Hi all,

I know that Expeditious Naturalization through INA319b when the US spouse is a civilian employed abroad is already quite a rare case, but I believe that we might meet the requirements but wanted to clear up some ambiguity that exists around the "Qualifying Employment Abroad" requirement and time of employment abroad - source: https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-g-chapter-4; specifically referring to the following:

• American firm or corporation engaged in whole or in part in the development of foreign trade and commerce of the United States, or a subsidiary thereof
• Accordingly, the spouse of the U.S. citizen employed abroad may naturalize if his or her U.S. citizen’s qualifying employment abroad is scheduled to last for at least one year at the time of filing,

(POINT-1): In our case - my foreign spouse is currently living with me in Europe (she is a Korean citizen). I (US Citizen) am working for an American multi-national logistics company with it's main headquarters and registration in the US, listed on the New York Stock Exchange; and has been a component of the S&P500 for several decades. I don't want to say which company it is on a public forum, but it is one of those huge companies that every American immediately recognizes..and our operations serves nearly every country in the world minus a few 'no-go' countries.

I feel like this company would meet both of the requirements of the first bullet point above right? It is an American company, and our main operations is literally to move goods and services either within the US, or cross borders; so definitely should meet the requirements of developing foreign trade and commerce of the US. The issue is..how exactly do I prove it to the officers at USCIS in a N-400 application that my company meets this requirement. If one simply hears the name of my company; then they should ideally know it does. But do I need to provide proof via say..a 10-K (annual report)? Does someone in investor relations need to write a letter for me proving such? Of course, I assume I'll need my working contract as well.

(POINT-2): About the 'employment lasting for 1 year' requirement. In my case - I didn't get my job in the US directly and then move within the company to Europe. I finished graduate school in my spouse's home country, and applied directly to the company at their international headquarters in Europe and was hired directly here. Thus, I am not a W-2 employee, I have a local salary of the country I live in and my contract period is 'indefinite' (this means it is longer than 1 year in the country I work). My contract was also given to me by the local entity here in Europe, not the headquarters in the US (although - it is all owned by the US holding company anyways..)

Those of you who have any experience with the N-400 319(b) - do you feel that both of the points made above related to my situation satisfy the employment requirements from the USCIS website on this? I know 319(b) is pretty straightforward for military, other gov't employees, DoD contractors, etc; but not a lot of transparency around civilians employed for American firms. 

Of course - this is made with the assumption that we have her IR-1 in hand at time of application (I have significant evidence that domicile has been maintained in the US so shouldn't be a problem to get her green card), and that she meets the other requirements as well (pledges to re-join me abroad, pledges under good faith to return to the US with me after employment termination, etc).

Just now, givionte said:

The Seoul office is expected to close in September, so very very likely 60 days before that they will stop accepting DCF.  I would rush to get that appointment if I was you.

Been checking on the website everyday for the past week and there are no appointment days available. I'll have to try calling, is it normally this backed up? or is this a sign that they are slowly not accepting anymore petitions.

Yeah, i recently heard the news that all offices are closing internationally, Im calling them soon to make sure they still are accepting applications. Timing was really bad for this.

Thanks for the quick responses!

Hello, I'm preparing to go to the field office to submit my documents as soon as possible. But my wife (Korean) is temporarily out of the country for business. Does my wife have to be physically present with me at the office when I submit the initial petition in person? My apologies if this has been answered before, I searched and couldn't really find the information.