dabursot2

Apologies for the late response. The journey from Lagos embassy was quite interesting, my interview was postponed three times. Anyway, we finally had the interview on 10th January 2024. It took more than a year from DQ to the final interview day.
The interview itself was for just about 2 minutes (for me, took longer for some). The officer simply asked where I was going to land in the US and that was it. All 9 of us that interviewed for EB visas that day were successful.
Landed in the US at the end of March, quite late at DFW and whole process was easy. Just have your intended address at hand. 
The SSN number came in 2 weeks after landing, I didn't have to apply for it again after selecting it in the DS260 form. The actual greencard came in exactly 6 weeks after landing. 
I opened checking account just with the SSN and entry stamp.
Good luck to all the people still waiting in Nigeria, the process is slow but you will all smile at the end.
Thanks to everyone who posts on online forums such as this, gave me confidence boost and references throughout the entire process. Filled the petition by myself using posts and guidelines from people online. 

I have seen people on here say that after six months they had to do a new medical.  I've also seen people say that they had to be in the United States before the six month period is up...that's from the date of the medical, not the date of issue for your visa.  I made sure my mother-in-law entered the U.S. within six months of the date of her physical and had no issues.  (Her interview and visa issuance went quickly.)
 
An immigration attorney mentioned this last week on social media, and I went to look up the USCIS statement:
 
https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/alerts/uscis-announces-new-guidance-on-form-i-693-validity-period
 
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced (PDF, 317.28 KB) that any Form I-693, Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, that was properly completed and signed by a civil surgeon on or after Nov. 1, 2023, does not expire and can be used indefinitely as evidence to show that the applicant is not inadmissible on health-related grounds.
 
This policy was published at the start of April 2024, so it may be that not every IO is up to date on it.  That same article mentions that previous policy used a two-year or a three-year expiration date for I-693s.
 
My own experience is that if you're in the U.S. before your medical is more than six months old you're fine.
 
Regards,
Vicky's Mom

are you a UK citizen or did you transfer your case from somewhere else?

A point or two for clarification:
NVC did not, and never does, approve your case.  NVC is basically a paperwork clearinghouse -- they are checking that you have paperwork for all the required documents.  They do not evaluate the quality of the information nor your qualification for the visa.  The NVC "approval", i.e., stating that you've met the documentary requirements, means only that -- you have the documents you need to move forward. While it is the decision of the individual consular (not immigration) officer at the Embassy -- with his/her supervisor's concurrence -- that a case needs further administrative processing, it is a decision made within fairly strict parameters that limit the officer's choices.  This is especially true in some STEM areas -- basically, officers are told that when a case meets these conditions, you must send it for further processing/review, making it really not the officer's choice/decision. 

I think @dabursot2 means it's unusual for cases in London to go in to extended AP, additional screening/background checks aren't needed for most applicants. Whereas applicants in high risk countries like Pakistan or Nigeria will be much more likely to be put in to AP. 
 
With London it's usually triggered by being born in, being a citizen of, or previously living in another high risk country. Or occasionally it'll be the field of work that can be a factor. 
 
It doesn't mean you won't be issued your visa, it can just take a lot longer whilst those checks are completed. 

People have, but only spousal visas that I know of. Once you become current then you should get an IL in a month or so.
 
Unfortunately I don't see the VB moving much anytime soon, DoS did say there would be 'very little to no forward movement' for employment based categories in the coming months. Hopefully it will move 'very little' but just enough for you though! Good luck. 

Hey guys, finally my turn! Dq 6/jul/23 , interview scheduled for 20/may/24 Rio de Janeiro!

No problem. We opened UK Amex accounts 6 months before we moved, purely for that reason. Not sure on the job as I did have one, perhaps I'd have been given a lower credit limit without it? And we applied for them before we had our SSN's but I suspect it may make it easier if you did have it. 
 
Here's the info from the Amex website, make sure you use the 'I'm Already A Card Member' link on the application page when you do apply.
 
https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/support/global-card-relationship/other-countries

Hello All,
 
I checked visa status. It has just been issued. I would like to thank everyone for your help and suggestions throughout this Journey. Thank you.

no, not at all! But she attended just because I didn’t have anyone else to take care of her!

Hello everyone!

I updated my visa timeline
i had my interview on 02/26 everything went smoothly!
only related questions about my proposed endeavor and past visits to the US
I have a 5 year old that was born in the US with my tourist visa due to a complication in my pregnancy, so they asked about that time I stayed there but nothing further!
 
thank you for everything we’re all set with our Immigrant Visas!
 
good luck to you all

Everyone 

I had my interview today. It took less than 15 minutes and it was smooth, underwhelming smooth haha. The CO asked four questions about my study, where I lived before and if started applying to Jobs; then she told me it was approved. 

I spent two weeks prepping for scenarios and questions and had a second file full of documents that wasn't touched haha. Thanks for everyone in this thread for your support and help, especially @appleblossom, you were very helpful with queries from different users

I have read usually your network within the US is the best and most effective way to find a job.

After this try focused searches in linkedin, indeed and others, make sure you change your location to the place you want to find a job in or are likely to land first.

In summary your best bet is a local network that can help over in the US.

WOW congrats! So it probably means the Feb ILs are going out tomorrow??! 
What is your DQ date?
We got DQ on Jan 3 and CEAC still says ‘At NVC’ 😅 
It’s been a month since DQ so I was hoping we’d made the cutoff for Feb…

I've just checked my case in CEAC and it's been updated to in transit. I am so relieved. IL is on the way.  Have a great weekend everyone! 

Status in Ceac just changed to Issued yesterday from AP due to 1 missing medical report  and the CO asking for an additional doccument sent via email 8 days after interview.
 
 
Most likely passportd back with me this Friday.

No haha, but he played the younger Ned Stark in the flashbacks of the later seasons.

I just got out of my interview in London! EB1 category. It was all straight forward, she asked why I have the skills for this visa and started my little spiel, then was basically cut off after a few seconds and she seemed satisfied. The person ahead of me was an actor who had been in Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings so I was feeling a little intimidated being interviewed in the same category as him haha. 
 
But after asking a couple more Qs she then said it was approved and my passport should be back in 1-2 weeks.
 
Phew! 

Same here. Case showed ready, the next day I got the interview letter. Medical is early February, interview February 12th. Still shows ready on ceac. 
Any EB2-NIW interview experiences by the way? Don't seem to find much. Thanks

Nop that just means that your case is at the Embassy! It has nothing to do with medicals! My case is ready since Jan 10 and my medical is Feb 19th, my interview is Feb 26th! Hope this helps!

Me too got it for feb 23.

I got it too this Morning. 10 months wait came to an end 💙

Depends on the consulate, most don't send them out on a fixed day each month. London for instance, tends to send them a few days before the end of the month, but everywhere is different and they can change it for any reason (I was expecting mine at the end of May and then it came mid May!). Whatever date it is, your interview will probably be scheduled already now (assuming you're definitely getting an interview date in the next batch), so when you get the letter won't make much difference, the date will still be the same. Again it depends on the consulate, London tends to be about 6-8 weeks after the IL for the interview, but other consulates are longer/shorter. 
 
Good luck.

Iceland 

I had my medical today at VisaMedicals in London. Everything was as expected except a surprise that I needed a polio vaccine, there is some fine print in the vaccine sheet that says if you have been in certain countries including the US and the UK for 6mo then you need to have had a polio vaccine in the last 12mo. I totally missed it!
 
It was fine as they just gave me one there but if they didn’t have it in stock (for example they didn’t have the flu vaccine in stock) it would have delayed my results. It cost £55 extra.
 
Results should be sent to the embassy in a week and the interview is a week from this Friday.