MeliA

Hi all,

We just had a meeting with an immigration lawyer that was less than helpful in getting answers. I am coming here in hopes that someone already has experience and can speak to how this works.

1) Spouse arrived on CR-1 in June 2022. He doesn't have a green card yet (were told at airport this could take a year due to the backlog).Also told we need to file our I-751 within 90 days of our 2 year wedding anniversary (Nov 2022). 

This is different than I previously thought, I thought it was within 90 days of his 2 year anniversary ENTERING the country. As we don't have a card with an expiration...

Q1: What is the actual timeframe for filing?

2) Spouse is African. When we're there, he is known by his given name and father's name (last name). His legal name, however, and thus, on US documentation, he is given name, GRANDfather's name (father's name has become his middle name here). Lawyer said he wasn't sure, but probably to wait for the interview that will come with the I-751 and ask the officer if his name can be changed at that time to match his African identity (given name, father's name).

Q2: Has anyone changed their name for reasons other than marriage, and if so, how did you do it?

Any insights are appreciated!

17 minutes ago, Cammar said:

According to the two immigration attorneys  that I had paid consultation sessions with, waiting times were doubled because of COVID 19 plus trump policy. As you mentioned, it’s improving now and hopefully it will return to the normal level.

I am afraid that we are not eligible for K1 visa even though it is faster  so we have to go with IR1/CR1.

Yeah, I didn’t start yet. Our two main options are Addis Ababa and Ankara. I’m open for other options if the embassy waiting times are significantly shorter. I think that I don’t have to pick an embassy until our petition is approved by Uscis ( takes about 6 month after filling I-130 ) 

Thanks Melia. 
 

Unfortunately, you don't get to just pick an embassy because they have shorter wait times. You have to be a physical resident of that country (or have been in the past) to have a case transferred to another embassy.

BUT hopefully by the time you get some of this going, wait times will be down. There are a lot of embassies around the world who are pretty well caught up....so try to find out about Turkey.

38 minutes ago, Cammar said:

I’m based in Minnesota while my partner is based in Turkey as legal resident now. I’m trying to choose carefully which embassy should we go with ( your thoughts on this are appreciated). I’m about to start a petition so we can live together in the states.
I assumed you guys are under a similar process but it seems you are living together but not the states. 

Yeah, I’m aware that this process is long and stressful so I’m trying not to except quick outcomes.
I was going through your timeline though and all I can say is you are very very dedicated person. Hard work will pay off soon.  

In our case, we're very fortunate because we were able to expedite (although I don't know if medical reasons makes us fortunate, really...), so it is less than a year and half, which is very fast. Many people in ET have still been waiting 2 years to get an interview at the embassy. You profile shows Ethiopia, so is that the other option aside from Turkey? I don't know what the timing in Turkey has been due to COVID, but I would imagine better than here. However, by the time your paperwork is all approved by USCIS and NVC (it sounds like you haven't started yet?) maybe the timing in Ethiopia will have improved some. Either way, starting now and going through ET, expect it to take about 2 years for a CR-1/IR-1. K-1 is usually faster. Not sure what you're going for since you said "partner."

43 minutes ago, Cammar said:

Hi MeliA, Congrats. Finally, It’s the time to be united with your other significant. I imagine how excited you are. I’m about to start a similar process. Wish me the best. 

Actually, we've lived together the entire time, so....

What do you mean you're "about to start a similar process"? But really, good luck, the whole thing isn't easy.

On 3/19/2022 at 2:59 PM, MeliA said:

I’m not really sure which section to post this in, so I’m going with here.

 

We are in Ethiopia.

 

I got an email from NVC saying our expedite case was approved (finally!). It also said it could take up to 2 weeks for the file to be transferred.

 

We were planning a trip abroad for Easter in 3 weeks, but now I’m nervous about the timing of everything and wondering HOW QUICKLY they will schedule an interview from the time NVC sent the file. Do we need to cancel our trip or is it going to take something like 6 weeks or more?

In case anyone else happens to follow this thread....

The interview was scheduled within a week, and for about 5 days after they notified us, so about 2 weeks all together.

They saw my husband's other visa in his passport and let him keep his passport knowing he would need it as he still hasn't finished his medical check up. 

They said they would call him when they get his papers and be able to put the visa in his passport same day. I guess we'll see.....

12 hours ago, Tadu said:

Hello MeliA,

Congratulations on your visa approval. I also expedited mine for spousal visa case, but at the time the nvc  said the embassy there was not working and the nvc kept my request. Did you resubmitted yours or how did they accept it?

Again, congrats!

Yes, we resubmitted it after the embassy reopened.

I’m not really sure which section to post this in, so I’m going with here.

We are in Ethiopia.

I got an email from NVC saying our expedite case was approved (finally!). It also said it could take up to 2 weeks for the file to be transferred.

We were planning a trip abroad for Easter in 3 weeks, but now I’m nervous about the timing of everything and wondering HOW QUICKLY they will schedule an interview from the time NVC sent the file. Do we need to cancel our trip or is it going to take something like 6 weeks or more?

I actually spoke to real people today! I was told they are still only processing emergency cases, but people have, in fact, returned and maybe at some point (2 months from now, who knows?) things will return to normal processing. And by normal, of course, I mean that everything is still going to have an insane backlog.

2 hours ago, HYga said:

Is the insider information true? Is any activity happening in relation to visas issuance? Could you please share information regrading transferring to other embassies? I know some people got non immigrant visa from Djibouti.

I heard from a second source here in the city that they are embassy workers should have returned now. As far as when they are resuming services...that's a totally different question as officially, they are still claiming "services suspended."

As far as transferring, I never got anywhere with it. I contacted several embassies (including Djibouti) who all said they could not accept the case if we did not live there. NVC said the same, but also included that if the beneficiary had ever lived in another country, it might be possible to transfer there. That is all I know.

9 hours ago, Tadu said:

AddisIV@state.gov
emailed using the above address to the US embassy in Ethiopia, Adis Ababa. They said they haven’t received my expedite request from nvc that I requested back in November, 2021. The nvc also said that since the us embassy in Ethiopia suspended the visa processing, there’s no where to send my request 😭😭

I feel so terribly sad 😞. 

Oh, did someone actually respond to you at the email? I still haven't gotten one. But yes, NVC told me the same thing.

2 hours ago, milimelo said:

Don’t have a link - a friend is there (non-consular). 

Aha! Always great to have someone with an inside track. Thanks for sharing! I hope we will all start to see some movement in the near future!

10 hours ago, milimelo said:

It ended on Friday I think. Give them couple weeks to get back to normal. I think the norm is you have 7-10 days to get back to country you were ordered out from. 

Where did you read this (can you link it)? I still haven't seen anything.

1 hour ago, milimelo said:

You know they are/were on ordered departure for couple of months which means folks doing visas were probably sent away and they only had skeleton crew there.  

Yes, I'm sure that's true. The operator finally told me that there is no one there. The questions remain:

1) What are we supposed to do if there's no one there to help us (especially in expedited/necessary situations)?

2) Who knows when in the world this order will ever end?

1 hour ago, HYga said:

Is transferring to embassy’s in other country not possible?

If it is, tell me how! I've tried contacting a number of embassies, all of which said it's not possible unless we reside in the country. I also asked NVC, and they said the same (OR if the applicant has ever lived in another country, we could apply there). That doesn't work for us.

Other ideas?

Jake, so sorry to hear that. We actually did apply for an expedite (my health), but NVC said they can't do anything as the embassy is not accepting cases. That seems wrong to me...I can't understand how that's possible with no alternative options. I've still not been able to get anyone at the embassy neither by phone nor email (which is what they claim they will respond to), and that's more than 2 months now. 

If anybody is having any sort of success contacting anyone, it would be great to hear how!

Hi all,

Question about this whole thread...anyone know how to get a case transferred? As Ethiopia is also not processing cases, been trying to figure out how to take steps to get it somewhere else, but can't get any answers. Help?

Ah, yes! I've seen your case, and I keep thinking you guys have to be next! I'm so sorry for the anguish it must be for you guys! Are you in ET or separated?

Thanks for answering. Yes, I do know that. I did get an email response that said: "We have very limited ability to process IVs, but may be able to approve and process cases for immediate relatives of American citizens." This is somewhat reassuring, but also not, as the COVID backlog is already tremendous and now the war has reduced the ability to process anything.

So no, we do not have an interview scheduled yet. We have only been waiting 6 months, and I know there are people on here who soon will have been waiting 2 years for an interview....I am curious if any of those people have been able to get more information from the embassy about what is possible as they don't answer phones and emails are very, very delayed with little information.

We also applied for an expedite that I was told cannot be forwarded to the embassy as they have "suspended visa services." Not sure what the next move is meant to be when we're not in a great situation.

Hello to everyone waiting on Ethiopia,

I am wondering if anyone has had success in trying to talk to the embassy in Addis Ababa. I have been emailing and calling with very limited success. I did finally get one reply to an email, but ultimately not with a lot of information and none of my questions answered. It sounds like no visas are being processed....Has anyone found out anything about anything?

MoHanu,

Where did you find this information? I've been trying to look all over the place to see how quickly the embassy is doing on interviews, where can I see this?

It also looks like you guys have been waiting quite a long time with all the pandemic to get your interview...have you been able to talk to anyone or get any kind of information about when you might be scheduled?