Uiyl

Got my social security card after 58days and green card after 90days since I arrived to the US (SFO).

Here’s some information and timeline for your reference, hoping it gives you some general ideas   CR1-
 
26 Sep USCIS status: Payment received
18 Oct  Date of Entry (SFO)
25 Nov Appointment at local social security 
15 Dec Got Social security card
11 Jan Ordered producing green card
14 Jan Mailed card
16 Jan Got green card 
 
** for my social security card, They didn’t send it to me within 3weeks, so I called and they asked me to fax an application form (SS-5) and my CR1 visa to them, later on they scheduled an appointment for me to apply it at the local social security office in person.
 
hoping the information would be helpful for you guys  
 
       

Not a problem.  That designation does not determine your Green Card expiration.  Green Card expiration will be determined from your records after entry into the US.  I would mention it to the officer at POE.  

Hi, so went to the interview and after I took the oath, I informed the consular officer that I would like to submit some corrections to the DS 260 form. She then asked me what were the corrections relating to and when I told her it was about my travel history of last five years which was missing from the form, she accepted the letter written by the lawyer along with the list. No further questions were asked and interview took only few minutes. Hope this helps. 

Hi, so went to the interview and after I took the oath, I informed the consular officer that I would like to submit some corrections to the DS 260 form. She then asked me what were the corrections relating to and when I told her it was about my travel history of last five years which was missing from the form, she accepted the letter written by the lawyer along with the list. No further questions were asked and interview took only few minutes. Hope this helps. 

Its been quite a journey from our initial DCF application (Mar 20) to finally receiving my Green Card (Jan 21).   Been reflecting on some of the issues which became obstacles when we arrived.   I thought it may be of use to some if these obsticles were aired, so here goes.   Banking - I had to get a bank account but at the time I didnt have any US Financial History or a permanent address. Chase were not interested and it was only after seeking advice from some who had arrived before, that I was advised to try Wells Fargo. I did approach them and managed to get a bank account in my name. An alternative maybe to open an account with a UK bank with US affiliations (Barclays?) Or maybe open a Joint Account at the bank used by your US Spouse. Not sure if a non US Citizen can do that.   Credit Score - again, with no US Financial history, my Credit Rating was zero. All UK scores dont apply. No Credit Score can cause problems getting a Tenancy and its a no-go trying to lease a car. Make sure your US Spouse is in a good place credit score wise. Do what you can to improve that score BEFORE you arrive.   Driving - after driving in UK for more than 40 years, my licence became void in Florida. As soon as you take employment, sign a Tenancy Agreement you are considered a resident of Florida. At that point I needed a Florida Driving Licence. I need to do both a Theory and Practical Test. Whilst you wait for your Visa or wait to travel, get online and do what ever practice you can for tge Theory. That way you are ready to do the Theory as soon as you arrive.   Education Qualifications - why not get your quals evaluated before you arrive. Suggestions     https://www.wes.org/ or https://www.naces.org   it saves time and hassle. Also DO NOT PACK YOUR QUALS CERTS in the stuff that is being shipped. You wont see them for weeks! (ask me how I know!!!🥴)   If I think of anything else I will update.   These were the main obsticales I recall when I arrived. I hope it gives some food for thought. 

Hi All,
 
I know there have been a few of you who are waiting for the Ethiopian Embassy to start interviews again. I just wanted to post an update saying my fiance had her interview today and she was approved!
 
Our documentation was spot on because of visa journey. Her interview was 10 minutes and the only real question of note asked was where did we meet? 
 
Our original interview date was March 19th if I remember correctly so we may have been at the front of the line for getting interviews. I just logged in one day and it said your interview is scheduled. 

Hello VJ family, happy to share that  my visa has been issued by U. S. Embassy Addisbaba today. Had the interview on Jan 12. Ceac account did not have any updates in between interview to issuance. Though I went to interview with two big bags packed with supporting documents, was only asked for passport, marriage and birth certificate, police clearance  only from Ethiopia ( our case was unfairly delayed at NVC coz we were asked to upload police records from two other countries where I lived for less than one year in each country), interview confirmation and ds-260 confirmation pages and copy of I-864 Affidavit of support form. I was not asked for copy of my j1 visa, paystubs or employment letters or vaccination records etc. It took only 5 working days for the visa to be printed. Cannot wait to collect my passport from DHL. I would like to thank everyone in this forum and thank God!!! Wishing each and everyone  of you all the very best and speedy approvals. 

Hello VJ family, happy to share that  my visa has been issued by U. S. Embassy Addisbaba today. Had the interview on Jan 12. Ceac account did not have any updates in between interview to issuance. Though I went to interview with two big bags packed with supporting documents, was only asked for passport, marriage and birth certificate, police clearance  only from Ethiopia ( our case was unfairly delayed at NVC coz we were asked to upload police records from two other countries where I lived for less than one year in each country), interview confirmation and ds-260 confirmation pages and copy of I-864 Affidavit of support form. I was not asked for copy of my j1 visa, paystubs or employment letters or vaccination records etc. It took only 5 working days for the visa to be printed. Cannot wait to collect my passport from DHL. I would like to thank everyone in this forum and thank God!!! Wishing each and everyone  of you all the very best and speedy approvals. 

Congrats, I'm very happy for you guys  Safe travels to the U.S!

Hello VJ family, happy to share that  my visa has been issued by U. S. Embassy Addisbaba today. Had the interview on Jan 12. Ceac account did not have any updates in between interview to issuance. Though I went to interview with two big bags packed with supporting documents, was only asked for passport, marriage and birth certificate, police clearance  only from Ethiopia ( our case was unfairly delayed at NVC coz we were asked to upload police records from two other countries where I lived for less than one year in each country), interview confirmation and ds-260 confirmation pages and copy of I-864 Affidavit of support form. I was not asked for copy of my j1 visa, paystubs or employment letters or vaccination records etc. It took only 5 working days for the visa to be printed. Cannot wait to collect my passport from DHL. I would like to thank everyone in this forum and thank God!!! Wishing each and everyone  of you all the very best and speedy approvals. 

Congratulations! 

Hello VJ family, happy to share that  my visa has been issued by U. S. Embassy Addisbaba today. Had the interview on Jan 12. Ceac account did not have any updates in between interview to issuance. Though I went to interview with two big bags packed with supporting documents, was only asked for passport, marriage and birth certificate, police clearance  only from Ethiopia ( our case was unfairly delayed at NVC coz we were asked to upload police records from two other countries where I lived for less than one year in each country), interview confirmation and ds-260 confirmation pages and copy of I-864 Affidavit of support form. I was not asked for copy of my j1 visa, paystubs or employment letters or vaccination records etc. It took only 5 working days for the visa to be printed. Cannot wait to collect my passport from DHL. I would like to thank everyone in this forum and thank God!!! Wishing each and everyone  of you all the very best and speedy approvals. 

That's what I was told during my medical too. At IOM, they didn't mention anything about vaccination even if  I took the copy of my vaccination records. Not only there, the Consulate also didn't ask for vaccination records during my interview even though I voluntarily showed the copy to the officer who verified my documents. May be the Consulate is aware of the fact that we were vaccinated as children. (in Ethiopia MMR, BCG etc were given to children at least since the 1980's)  Check with your husband if he still has the copy of his records. I had lost mine and that's why I took it again. I don't know why IOM isn't demanding that while the American medical center required every one to take the vaccine. If you ask me for my opinion, from my experience, some American universities require students to either show their vaccination records or to get vaccinated there( that happened to me in 2016 at FIU even if I went there for  a summer course) so it may not harm to get the vaccine if  your husband wants to go to college when he comes? 

I went to do my medical last week and found a lady who said she was given an expedite without an interview date and she said she was told she will be given a date once her medical records are sent to the embassy. I hope this helps
 

Yes, the payment is 6000+ they didn't mention anything about vaccination though I took my vaccination records with me since it is my second time doing the medical and I was vaccinated during the first round at American medical center. 

I went to do my medical last week and found a lady who said she was given an expedite without an interview date and she said she was told she will be given a date once her medical records are sent to the embassy. I hope this helps
 

Exactly! It's a do it yourself process. Now, taking advise from them on how to adress the errors  during the interview:) the paradox😊  I will let you know how my interview goes which is for next week. Thank you for best wishes. 

I feel your pain. Spending $3k and ending up with errors and anxiety over how to fix it... Grrr!
 
It was a do it yourself process, but my thick skull didn't want to run the risk of doing something wrong (which was done by a person supposed to be "competent").  My wife insisted we do it ourselves... Lesson learned!
 
Would be very interested in hearing how your interview goes; please come back to update how you addressed your errors at your interview! Best of luck to you!!!!! You're in the home stretch!

Just as an update: Spoke to another attorney. They said it's best to write down the mistakes and bring them to the interview. A DS-260 can't be reopened unfortunately. However, since reported on the I-130 correctly, they said it won't be a big deal since the correct information is already on record. I just don't know when my wife will find the time to tell them the mistakes, especially since everything goes fast! Probably at the begining. Fingers crossed!

Great news everyone I just talked to the embassy customer service representative and she told me that they just resumed all service and they are now working on people that had an appointment canceled so guess our turn is on it’s way 🙏

Always good to hear news about Embassies resuming operations, even if it doesn't directly benefit me.
 
Hope all your applications go smoothly!

There's been a couple people on VisaJourney too that have commented that they have interviews in Addis this month! Woohoo! My husband and I were only DQd in August so we have a while to wait still, but knowing that they're finally moving through the backlog makes us feel so much better than we did. We know we're probably at least 9 months away from an interview since we were DQd 9 months after the people interviewing this month, but before they resumed operations we were adding 2-6 months on to that time trying to account for the closure. It's been stressful! 

Thanks for opening yet another thread @dwheels76
May this month be better than last one! 

Thanks, I will do so. 

Thanks, I will do so.