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**Thread Moved To AOS forum as OP’s Parents Are Adjusting Status**

Assume this is Manila from your profile? If so, it's one of the quickest consulates, only about 3 months - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/iv-wait-times.html

In Fiscal Year 2024 the average for all I-129f's was 8.4 months, I think your case must have been an outlier. Interestingly, the average for I-129's was 2.2 months due to the aforementioned Premium Processing - as I said above, I think it's crazy that that's an option for employment based only! Your friends can see the current published processing time - they're still within that so would have no reason to expect an update or need to reach out unless they go sailing past that (hopefully they'll have a decision before that though!). Good luck to them. Agreed.

As above, it depends. That kind of RFE is going to take longer as it isn’t as simple as a missing document that can just be ticked off. What evidence did you submit?

You absolutely need to file asap given the current administration. S/he is at risk of deportation - tell her to keep his/her head down and stay at home as much as possible. Make sure your spouse is ok with not being able to work or leave the US for many months. If s/he isn't, then consular processing may be a better idea. And double check with your spouse to see what s/he said when entering the US. As long as s/he told the truth (and could evidence the intent to return if pushed, i.e. showing s/he had a job they were expected back at, had a property they hadn't given up, etc), then you should be fine. Follow the guide at the top of the page, good luck -

Ah, I see. That makes more sense. Hopefully the comparison list above helps you work out which would be best for you, personally I can't see why anybody would ever choose the K-1, but everybody is different. A key thing for me at the moment would be the current administration, who (as mentioned in the comparison list) could add India to the list of banned countries at a moment's notice, which would mean the K-1 would be rendered useless and you'd have to start from scratch. Too risky for me personally. It should be less than 2 years for CR-1 if you're prompt with the NVC stage though, it's quicker than it was a while back. Good luck.

You are supposed to take it to both - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Supplements/Supplements_by_Post/MNL-Manila.html

But you said above you're 'getting married to US citizen this month'. So CR-1 is your only option. How much time will there be between meeting for the first time and marrying?

As @OldUser has said, depends on what you're asking about - initial docs to NVC, or a RFE, or following an interview, etc? Please fill in your timeline so that we have a better idea of what stage you're at.

Definitely nowhere near enough for an E-2. A business can't be marginal for an E-2, you'd need premises (not just a van) and to be hiring USC's. Sorry, but that's not realistic for $25-30k. I'm also struggling to see how a student visa will help, as said previously. You can't stay a student for 10 years, so all it's going to do is take a lot of money (far more than $30k for international tuition rates), and then just delay you leaving by 4 years or so. Possibly if you did a masters you could stretch it to 6 years, but again you'd likely still have to leave before you could adjust status anyway. Plus both visa routes are not dual intent, so quite likely to be refused as you have a father in the US and clearly want to stay. Has your father petitioned you yet? If not, that should be your first priority IMO.

Yep, and dependent children as well - although realistically they may age out by the time a visa becomes available. Exactly that. And yes, as @Crazy Cat said, the two petitions go along together. The mother's petition would get them a visa first, but the other is just there as back up in case something happens to her. Good luck.

I can't speak to AOS as I haven't been through that process, but for my immigrant visa it was incredibly transparent. Every single bit of the process is laid out step by step on the website, with detailed instructions and guides, and each processing time is regularly updated i.e. the NVC stage, the USCIS stage, etc. I honestly never felt that I needed to ask anybody anything, and that included our lawyers, as I knew what was coming up at each stage and what they'd need of us ahead of time. But perhaps the AOS process is very different, in which case they should bring it in line with other routes, to make it clear to all.

Which would mean longer wait times (as staff have to pause work on cases to deal with the endless enquiries they’d get), or higher fees again (hiring more staff to deal with the enquiries). Given the NVC has millions of enquiries every year, if people could contact field offices directly it would drown them IMO.

That’s going to bring in very little IMO. Wealthy individuals already have the EB5 option available to them, so I’m not sure many people will choose to pay $100k more for essentially exactly the same thing. But it’s always struck me as very odd that immediate family members don’t have a premium processing option, when pretty much every other visa category does. It was ridiculous to me that I got my immigrant visa in 5 months and yet a spouse of a US citizen would have had to wait 4 times that.

Another vote for both. It'll be quicker for the mother to file (maybe 12 years ish as a rough guide - longer if they get married in the interim), but if your wife files as well then they'd have another petition as back up just in case something happens to the mother. Good luck.

I think it's a tax professional he's after. @Beeptweet I could recommend our tax advisor, but he costs more than that. You could end up owing thousands (even tens of thousands) of tax to the US once you've become a LPR, so it would be a worthwhile investment IMO.

Mine took less than a week, but that was a couple of years ago. Recently they've stopped sending them out automatically for some categories, EB are still supposed to get them but it'####### and miss. Officially they say you should have it within 3 weeks, after that point you would go to an office and apply in person.

Very much pie in the sky but assuming you were born in the UK, haven’t transferred to London from another consulate, and EB1 doesn’t retrogress between now and then my guess would be around January. But that is very much a guess! They now have a backlog to catch up on after EB interviews being paused (plus usual summer slowdown/DV applicants being prioritised etc), so it depends on how long it takes them to get through that.

It would depend on what he sent and whether the docs supported you having a valid reason for not meeting the deadline.

Ah, I see. Do you know what your lawyer sent that he didn’t get a response to? That he sent to NVC? (Anything sent to the consulate isn’t relevant, as it’s the visa application stage that is crucial, not after that). Sounds like your lawyer has completely messed this up for you. I hope he’s refunded you!

Then it’s not a green card, it’s an immigrant visa. So F1 category, but why is age 18 relevant? Derivatives are under 21, not 18. So you’re a derivative of the main applicant? What’s the Priority Date, how long did the I-130 take to approve and how old are you now? You say the lawyer submitted the application late so is the issue that you didn’t seek to acquire the visa within a year of one becoming available? Or that you’ve aged out? What documents did you provide? Sorry for all of the questions but it isn’t making a lot of sense so far, so we need more info to help you.

OK, thanks for confirming. How has she contacted USCIS and provided the divorce cert? Has she got an online account, or did she mail it? If she mailed it, did it go to the office processing her case? What does her case status say?

Set out step by step here - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-1-submit-a-petition/step-2-begin-nvc-processing.html

Just to be clear, it's not a case of informing authorities that you no longer intend to immigrate. The moment you 'land' and activate your visa, you become a LPR of the US, with all the obligations that entails as mentioned above. You would need to formally renounce your status, but would then potentially be subject to exit tax and it could have other tax implications. Not saying you can't do it of course, but unfortunately it's not as simple as just informing somebody! If you're on the fence, I'd still take professional tax advice before December, so you can be made aware of what tax obligations you'll have from that point on.

Then as @Crazy Cat said, you need to marry and file the AoS package urgently. You're currently subject to deportation at any time, so given the current administration I'd keep your head down, stay at home, and file asap. Good luck.