Dewald & Brittney

Ok that's a relief. Thank you all.

Hello everyone, I have a tough time making sense of all of this. My wife and I got married in August of 2021. I only received my CR1 in February of 2023 and moved to the US shortly after. Is the date to file 90 days before the second anniversary of your marriage (in my case 90 days before August 2023), or 90 days before the second anniversary of your arrival (90 days before February 2025)? I have not received my green card yet and my CR1 visa in my passport expires in July, so I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything. Thanks in advance. Dewald

Congratulations! I'm glad everything went well. It took me less than a week to get my passport back via Thai post. Good luck with the relocation!

Congratulations!

You are almost there. I've got my fingers crossed for you!

Final update: I received my passport and Immigrant Fee packet (was not given to me after the interview) on the 18th of February. It took 3 days from the interview to be delivered to where I live in the northern suburbs of Bangkok. Flying to the US next week. Finally getting to board one-way!

Update: APPROVED! I had my interview scheduled for 08:30, but the actual interview time was about 30 minutes off. Overall, the service was great and both the Thai lady who checked my documents and the CO were extremely welcoming and friendly. The CO asked me a few basic questions such as how my wife and I met, and where we plan living.

Congratulations! Keep us updated on when she gets it back. 2 years is a very long time. Hopefully she gets her passport faster than 7 days so she can take the next flight out.

@tstcman I'm wishing you luck for the interview tomorrow. Let us know how it goes and how long it takes for her passport to come back. You must be really excited at this point.

I'm so sorry you are going through this. Generally congress is the way to go, but as you said you have already tried that. We had pretty good luck with our representative in NY. Maybe try calling their office to follow up? I don't know much about using a lawyer, but as far as I've heard/read, they generally don't provide much use unless your case has exceptionalities such as criminal records etc. but that is just what I have heard so take it with a grain of salt.

I'm glad that you got your IL. I completely understand your frustration. My wife's birthday is in early February and we were hoping to spend that together along with Valentine's day. Last year, her visa in SA expired a few days before her birthday as well so this is 2 years in a row. On the bright side, after this there really shouldn't be any more missed holidays/birthdays. Fingers crossed for you!

I was in a similar situation. My wife (USC) and I met and got engaged in Thailand. We got married while I was back in South Africa and I applied for a tourist visa to the US to visit her before coming back to work in Thailand. When I went for the B1 interview I told the CO that I was going to visit my wife and gave him my wedding certificate and also showed proof that I was going back to work in Thailand. I got my B1 visa and have visited the US twice in 2022, once via JFK and the second time through LAX. Both of my entries were smooth. If she already has a visa then I don't think it will be an issue, assuming her record is pristine. In regard to applying for a B1 while having an I130 processing, I think your profession, ties and straightforwardness play a large role. I told my CO from the start that I want to visit my wife for a month while we are processing our I130, my profession is also in education so I think they know that it is basically impossible to land a teaching job on a tourist visa. It might have also helped that I showed him my work contract to return to Thailand after my visit to the US. Best of luck. Dewald

Thank you for sharing your experience, this is very valuable information. Keep us updated on your process, if we all share our experience here it can do a lot of good for the next group of people who are in the same boat. All the best, Dewald

Any news on your husband's interview? I hope all progressed well.

Seems like a lot of people have been getting these messages. I also received a insufficient income notice and was DQed a few seconds later. What was mentioned to me was that my wife's tax transcripts did not meet the requirement (we lived in Thailand from 2019 to 2021 so her income wasn't enough), but her current work pays more than enough to cover the requirement (we submitted a paystub and work contract to prove this). The advice that I was given is to bring her W2 to the interview once I am able to get my hands on it. Being DQed by NVC means that they will begin looking for an interview date. Just make sure your dad brings enough evidence to the interview that shows you meet the financial requirements. At the end of the day, the consulate has the final say. @pushbrk is the king of immigration information on here. Maybe he can help clarify this.

Did anyone else receive their medical package without being sealed from Bumrungrad hospital in Bangkok? All the immigration guides say that the packet has to be sealed, but they just placed it in an envelope and passed it on to me. Will this be a problem, or is it common practice in Bangkok? I might also consider just sealing the envelope myself. They also told me that they emailed my results to the consulate and that I just need to bring my packet to the interview in case they 'cannot find the email'.

I got DQed on December 9th and received my interview instruction on the 28th (If I recall correctly). Not sure what happened to you case, but as mentioned @Hmoobphajej you should definitely reach out to the embassy. If you are not getting answers from them or the NVC, try reaching out to your congressional representative instead of the senator's office. We reached out to our congressman for the I130 and it helped a lot as the representative informed us when our case was sent to an adjudicating officer a week before we were approved.

I'm so sorry to hear that. When I completed my B1 visa in South Africa I was also sent back to email them more documents. Fortunately they looked at my newly submitted docs within a week and then I got approved. Hopefully the same happens with your husband. If you don't mind, would you please share with us what the issues were to help any future interviewees maybe prepare for it? My interview is on the 15th of February and I'm trying to ensure a smooth process. TIA

Congratulations and good luck! Would you be so kind as to report back on how it went and how long it takes to get his passport back once he does? All the best!

Find out what the expiration is on police checks before you get them. From what I've read, most PCC's have a 6 month expiration time. She will also need to get a PCC from each country she has lived in for 6 months since turning 16 (not sure if this is relevant). In the case that she has lived in a different country and doesn't plan on returning to said country, you can try and get those beforehand as they will not expire for this purpose. If you are only getting PCC's from Japan, I would recommend getting them closer to the I130 approval estimate, or getting them once the I130 is approved and you are waiting for the NVC welcome letter.

Solved: I pressed the wrong button when registering my case. I didn't click on the "Address registration for NVC/KCC" prompt. Got the printable version now.

I have the DS-260 confirmation page ready for printing. What I can't find is the option to print from the CGI Federal website after entering my details. After I choose the prompt that says NVC will schedule my interview, it just returns tells me that I have to return to the dashboard. My address is entered into the system and has saved though.

Hi everyone, So I'm getting all my documents in order for the Bangkok consulate, and it mentions that I need to print a form to show where my passport is to be sent to after my interview. I have created an account on the CGI website (as mentioned on the consulates page on the USCIS website), and after entering all my info, including my address, there is no option for a printable form. Below is a screenshot of the dashboard where you can see there is nothing to click on in regard to my document return address. Screenshot: https://prnt.sc/csydVvILdUvZ Screenshot 2: https://prnt.sc/04YjsjJr-1qr This is the only page where I had to enter my address, but there is still no option for a printable form.

Update: Just got my interview email. I was DQ'd on the 9th of December, received the letter on the 30th, and my interview is scheduled on the 15th of February.