Tadu

Pleas advise. I got my cr1 visa issued, but my wife now wants us to go our seperate ways, as she complained I'm coming too soon, but I believe that's just an excuse she doesn't want me to come to her. But pleas can I still make entry into the USA?. Pleas advise how I can go about this.

How was your interview? Hope it ended  with great news!!

Hey guys, I had my interview today finally. F2A case. 

They have resumed operations, and sent out a batch of IR1/CR1 interview letters today, April 8, 2022 for interview dates in May (May 2, May 9, May 25). Those scheduled were DQ up to September 2, 2020.

For f categories (F2A, F2B, etc.) they sent out a batch of interview letters today that covered through June 6, 2020 DQ.
 
For IR categories (IR1, IR2, and IR5), they sent out the last round of interview letters March 13th which covered DQ through sometime in mid July 2020.

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?

Hi All,
 
This is my experience for anyone with an interview in the near future - I will also be adding a review on the office review section.
 
Interview 9am, March 2nd (Medical, 24th March - only 3 working days between these appointments)
 
Arrived at the embassy 8:50am and waited in a very long queue outside in the rain. First checkpoint looked at my DS-260 and passport. Approx wait was 30 minutes in the queue. Was told here not to queue again inside, but to head straight past everyone to the desk as I was waiting on an immigrant visa.
 
In to security, they checked my DS-260, then I had to open an app on my phone, take off jacket and belt etc, standard airport style security. This took a few minutes and I was through.
 
Inside the embassy I walked past the queue, as directed, and spoke to a lady at the desk, who again checked my DS-260, then printed a few stickers with my information on and directed me to the floor above, and was told to turn left, and left again to the waiting area.
 
As I left the elevator, 2 embassy workers beckoned me forward in to the crowded room and told me to sit down to the right hand side - I told them i'd been directed to turn left, to which they replied "Ah okay, yeah left and left again". Be careful here - I think they are working with an influx of J1 visas etc, so just expected me to be waiting for the same category.
 
Once round to the correct waiting area, I sat down and waited 45 minutes to be called up to the first window, at which point a man checked my passport, courier confirmation, DS-260, birth certificate, police certificate and asked me who my joint sponsor was (How I know them). He had all of the financial information on his screen, and asked about my joint sponsor by name, he also only looked at originals and made copies rather than using mine. He handed me a sheet about modern slavery etc, scanned my finger prints and asked me to take a seat again. Contrary to common reviews, this interaction was very friendly and easy, I was expecting someone moody from what i've read! (The few people before me seemed to spend ages at the window with multiple problems, luckily for me it was over in 5 minutes without any problems)
 
I waited 10 mins and was called forward for the final interview. The lady asked me to raise my right hand for an oath of truth, and then scanned my finger prints again. I was asked if I had received the sheet on modern slavery, and whether I had any questions about this. I was asked where I met my spouse, and where we are going to live, she handed my documents back to me that had been held from the first window, and then told me she was accepting the visa application and that I would receive my passport back in 1-2 weeks. Done!
 
Important points: I took, but did not need, all financial documents submitted to the NVC, passport copy for my spouse, photocopy of everything. It seems that the embassy specific instructions are out of date now, so they ask for much more than they need. At my medical they told me it would be a minimum of 5 working days to be sent to the embassy, so I expected to be rejected pending medical results, but to my surprise they had already received them!
 
The process, apart from the waiting, was very straightforward and simple to follow. I'm hugely relieved now it's over! Good luck to anyone with an interview coming up.

We are still waiting, When was your DQ? 

You'll have a long time to wait. They have to finish up backlog from 2020 and 2021 before they get to you. 

There is no definite shortest or longest timeframe for CR1/IR1 visa, specially after Covid and all the backlogs. Expect anything between 15 months to 36 months or more. (Saying this based on my experience. Our i130 took 949 days to get approved by USCIS. That too after we filed a WRIT!) Not to scare you or anything, but things can go well for you and you might be lucky so expect anywhere between 15 to 36 months (roughly).

Thank you for the information. A person who is working in the embassy  also told to a friend that they may start processing visas starting Next Week. But do not take my word as things are either not true or decision are changing frequently. Anyway, fingers crossed.

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!

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.