carpfan

Just now, jmcl10 said:

she didn’t use any professional photo studio? 

nope!

1 minute ago, jmcl10 said:

congratulations! where did she got her passport photos taken?

3days away from my interview

FamilyMart, lol.

Good luck!

29 minutes ago, TaKane said:

Congratulations! 
 

How was the interview like? Smooth? 

Thanks!

She said it was incredibly easy. They just asked simple questions like where did you meet your husband, what's his name, date of birth, do you have any kids together. 

She brought a ton of supplemental evidence but they never asked for anything.

Wife had her interview this morning. Approved! Finally!

On 8/6/2020 at 4:42 AM, Milka & Chris said:

Hi everyone

Today is exactly 6 months since we're waiting for an approval from the USCIS.

Yesterday my Husband called them to ask about our case and how long it would take them. They told him it takes 12 and half months for right now but it could change every month. but when I go on the wedside and check how long texas USCIS needs to process a case it stays 4 and half to 7 months. So it's really confusing and I really hope we don't have to wait another half year for an approval. It's starts getting really frustating and I wanted to hear from you guys what your experience was with the timeline and how long it really took for you to get approved. Thank you. 

Sure can, that's exactly how long it took mine to get approved, though we applied in November 2018 initially.

4 hours ago, 攀弥旺 said:

I'm pleased to update you guys, our visa has been approved! @TaKane @jmcl10

Congrats! Our appointment is on the 17th, really happy to see things are moving along again.

19 minutes ago, JGG5 said:

Hi there. I'm currently in the US and my wife is in Japan. She's been checking some kind of sms/blog where local Japanese are discussing their experiences with the embassy. Especially here recently. What she's hearing is that recent policy is preventing (221/admin processing) the embassy from issuing visas but they are still expecting applicants to leave their visa and the self addressed envelope. But other than that it sounds like the officers are waiting on guidance from above. The strange thing is that embassies in other countries seem to be issuing visas. This is also contradictory to what my wife has seen online. Apparently the embassy is saying the delay is global but there isn't much discussion on VJ about it. Nor Facebook. 

 

The embassies are so far behind as is and I just can't see how they can afford to waste anymore time. 

Got a link to that blog by any chance? 

Has the embassy been asking for the DS-5540 public charge questionnaire at the interview?

3 hours ago, dancingorca said:

I had CR1 interview this week at embassy Tokyo and it's approved!

There were only 4-5 groups waiting inside but still took about 2hrs total.

Wow! Congrats! What was the interview like?

4 minutes ago, jmcl10 said:

actual dq date please

May 20. It looks like Tokyo assigned a bunch of interview dates on one day, so hopefully they'll get to you in the next batch.

Just now, Ncornejo7 said:

Did you apply for expedite?

No, regular processing

7 hours ago, Jellyfishn said:

We were also DQ’d in mid May and received an interview date this morning for August! Normal case, no expedite. Hopefully this means that they are thinking the embassy will be open by then! 

Same here, DQ'd late May, interview Aug 17.

On 7/11/2020 at 2:22 AM, Nathan B said:

Hey everyone! I have been a VJ member for awhile now, but just found this thread. My wife's CR1 was DQ in early June and she is currently waiting on an interview at the embassy in Tokyo. I went ahead and submitted an expedite request to NVC based on forced separation due to COVID-19 (I have seen several other members post on VJ that this has worked for them). I had to cut my 3 year work assignment in Japan short and return to America at the end of March. I doubt it will work, but we are willing to try anything at this point.

Let us know how this goes!

Was at the Tokyo embassy today on unrelated business. The visa area was completely empty, no interviews taking place. Seemed like not a great sign. Any other people hear about interviews recently? Still waiting to hear back, DQ in late May.

13 hours ago, dancingorca said:

I received interview date email from NVC.

My case was DQed in end of April and I had been waiting to get my interview appointment set.

 

Sharing with you all in case there's others like me out there waiting for the same email

Wow! Great news! Patiently waiting, we got our DQ at the end of May. Finally this gives me some hope!

6 minutes ago, Punisher said:

Then you missed the point I was making. You can't apply your "own" situation when you applied Dec 2018. 

 

Since March 2020 the timeline for CR1/IR1 filer has changed considerably. I -130 takes most time in the timeline and currently these would take just a few months to be done (as opposed to 1-1,5 years). Also embassies are reopening now and by the time OP files and gets I-130 approved all backlog at embassies would be a history. 

 

As such, for the OP asking about applying in very near future, 1 year (maybe less) is a good starting point for any discussion. Of course barring any special circumstances (RFE, RE, AP etc)

I didn't miss your point -- whether some people have received faster processing in recent months doesn't change the fact that the process for applying for a green card comes with a substantial degree of uncertainty regarding timing and someone applying today or in a few months from now cannot reasonably rely on the unusual experience of people who applied earlier this year carrying on, particularly with the pandemic and political uncertainty persisting. If I-130's continue to be processed faster than in recent history it is only a pleasant surprise. Once the filer gets to the NVC stage they are largely in control of how fast things go, the case won't be closed unless they don't contact NVC within a year, thus my advice still stands, get the process started as soon as possible. 

7 minutes ago, Punisher said:

Are you pre or past I-130 approval?

Past. I-130 approval in Dec 2019, DQ at NVC in May this year. Waiting for Tokyo embassy to start scheduling interviews.

1 hour ago, Punisher said:

what kind of category are you applying for? CR1/IR1?

 

OP might have special circumstances, perhaps he doesn't need it to be "as soon as possible".

Yes IR1. Point being if it could take two years or more, it's hard for anyone to predict their circumstances that far into the future so better to get things rolling. If I-130 approval comes faster than expected, you can always drag things out at the NVC stage if you need more time.

A couple people in the spousal visa progress thread have said they have received interview dates for Singapore in July

7 hours ago, trusttheprocess said:

Hi,

 

Nobody will be able to answer you with 100% certainty, but I would say at this rate it will be a minimum of 24 months. People that applied in Dec 2018 are still waiting for their interviews...

 

Hope this helps

November 2018 here! Still waiting ,. . . 

OP, I'd advise your brother to get the application in as soon as he can.

Start immediately. I began in November 2018 when living in Singapore and am still waiting for my wife to have her interview scheduled after finally clearing NVC stage in May. I never imagined it would take this long. Get on the clock as soon as possible, do not wait until you have concrete plans to move back. You will have ample time to figure that all out. 

2 minutes ago, JapanResident said:

We were DQ'd on 4/30 and are now hoping for Tokyo to come through soon, too! When were you DQ'd? And have you heard of any Japan filers getting interview appointments recently?

DQ'd 5/20, have heard nothing from Japan filers, unfortunately. Seems like a good candidate to get things started soon though, so fingers crossed.

Really happy to see so many interviews scheduled. Come on Tokyo! You can do it!

28 minutes ago, 2Ps said:

Hi Carpfan,

Thank you! Thank you! I called NVC May 20^th to ask about my status and they said they were working on Feb 14^th as of last week. I told them I only had to resubmit my 1 doc and it wasn’t fair they put it on the bottom of the pile again, to which she told me to email because she didn’t have an answer. She was very polite.

 

On 22^nd, I got my document qualified and I cannot thank you enough. We told our lawyer about what happened and this time he said it doesn’t go in the bottom of the pile if you resubmit. Last time he had said that with this whole corona, he can’t predict NVC timeline. Anyways longstory short, thank you carpfan. Now just patiently waiting for the damn consulates to open 😊 .

Congratulations! Very happy for you. Fingers crossed for the embassies/consulates to open soon!