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Other way round, case review is only about 2 weeks, the June date is for case creation.

That is a very good point! Hadn't thought of that, I feel a bit less guilty now. 😁

Thank you, that's a very comprehensive response…..just need to look at it tomorrow when I'm not tired and try and work it all out! 😂

Because if immigration officers responded to every inquiry, that would add a lot of time to everybody else's cases, there just isn't the resources for that usually. If they did answer you, I bet they'd just say they're waiting for something from a third party, because that's what 95% of the time is for background checks, whoever is dealing with your case will be sitting around waiting for a response from other agencies/companies/people that are incredibly slow. I know it's utterly frustrating, but you can't compare somebody that got a visitor visa in a few days to somebody applying for an immigrant visa, the background checks for an immigrant visa will be much more detailed unfortunately. You have my sympathy, I can't imagine how tough it is for you to have waited 4 years and still not have an answer, it is appalling. But it's equally frustrating for those working at the consulate I'm sure, please don't blame them for others ineptitude. Hopefully as time goes on and electronic records become easier to access, and less paper records, it will get easier for anybody from a similar country. I really hope you get some good news very soon. Best of luck to you.

That's a good point. I wonder what the total number of employment based visas (EB 'green cards', as well as all the temp work visas that can also use PP i.e. L1/H1's) would be, versus family based applications. Presumably a lot more family than employment, so that may well be a reason.

It's $2500 now, but yes, probably worth it for most people. UK spousal sponsorship is a heck of a lot quicker than going the other way, that's for sure. I think there's even a 'same day decision' you can pay for if you wish.

It's only just retrogressed though, has been current for years previously. But yes, no point in paying for PP if there's no visa available anyway. Still doesn't make sense to me why immediate relatives don't have the option of PP. 🤷‍♀️

It was (5.5 months) but it's the I-130/I-140/I-129 decision that is what I'm looking at, and why one group can apply using PP but another can't. All work visas can get a quick decision by paying extra, so why can't a spouse/child/parent? Perhaps you're right, and I'm just trying to apply logic where there isn't any! I just wondered if there was a logical reason for it, but perhaps not.

I don't think it does tbh, as most employment based visas (even temporary ones) can apply using Premium Processing, including EB2. Obviously that does mean only those with either a generous employer, or the funds themselves to pay for it, can apply via PP and those that don't have that option will take much longer. But it's still possible for any employment based visa to get a decision within 15 business days, unlike family cases.

I often lurk around the forums reading threads from spouses/children/parents etc of US citizens, and feel slightly guilty that my (employment based) immigrant visa application has taken so much less time than theirs. I'm struggling to understand the logic of why I can apply and get approval within 8 days, but somebody married to a US citizen has to wait a year or potentially even longer for that decision. Anybody know why? Just intrigued really as to how the applications are treated so differently, and I almost feel it should be the other way around. I'm sure there is some brilliantly logical explanation that I'm missing, but I've no idea what it could be. Apologies if this is the wrong place mods, please feel free to move…...😊

All good. Lots of waiting around but the actual interview was only 2 questions! Had the interview last Monday and passport delivered back on Thursday so super quick. We leave on Saturday. 😁

Yes, of course. Processing takes much longer for many people, some consulates have 2 years + wait just for an interview so even if their category was current they wouldn’t have got a visa before it retrogressed. As for why, it tells you that in the VB - "In the April 2023 Visa Bulletin, it was necessary to establish a final action date in the F2A category and Item D of the July 2023 Visa Bulletin warned of the strong possibility of retrogression as early as August. Number use has remained steady, and it has become necessary to retrogress the final action date to keep number use within the FY-2023 annual limit." Hopefully it will move in October, good luck.

Possibly - I've no idea as I'm an EB1 applicant. But you didn't say you were specifically referring to the IR1/CRI procedure in your first post, so was just clarifying for anybody reading. I'm not sure the procedure or any change in it would really make much of a difference anyway tbh. It's about number of applicants, Covid backlogs and how they've been dealt with more than anything. Some consulates still have a 2+ year wait for an interview because of the backlogs.

Sorry, I misread your post, I thought you were DQ’ed before him and wondering why he’d jumped ahead. But same answer really. It takes so long because it’s not linear, Lagos normally only processes a handful of FB1’s each month and prioritises other visa classes i.e. spouses. So it will move forward really slowly. Here’s last months visa issuance stats for info - https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Immigrant-Statistics/MonthlyIVIssuances/JUNE 2023 - IV Issuances by Post and Visa Class.pdf

With regard to 2, that’s still the process for many. All EB applicants have to mail their documents and cannot upload them via CEAC.

No way of knowing unfortunately, it may go back to the date that was in July’s bulletin when October rolls around. But unlike other categories (EB-1) the August bulletin doesn’t specifically say it expects that to happen in Oct.

I think that's really optimistic unfortunately. It's only moved a month in the past couple of years, so at that rate it'll be a lot longer than 3-4 years.

Is this for India? You can check on the Visa Bulletin - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2023/visa-bulletin-for-july-2023.html Still a long way to go if only filed in 2013, if it is India then currently they're at Dec 2008.

Is he the same category or a different one? Certain categories (i.e. spouses) are given priority usually.

Do you have a printer at home? If so just take a photo on your phone, size it using a free app/website, and buy glossy paper to print them on. That’s what we did for both our visa apps and it worked fine.

CEAC status would update from ‘in transit’ to ‘ready’.

Yes, it very much depends on the consulate. Some are only a couple of months from DQ to interview, others are a couple of years. You can search the forum to see what Mexico’s current wait is. Edit: found a thread which may be useful - Good luck.

Final update from me, visas/passports received this morning. Good luck to everybody still waiting.

Further update: passports received this morning, so again a Monday interview and Thursday visa delivery, same as NasUK. Received in plenty of time for our planned flight in 10 days. It's all been incredibly quick, thought we'd be waiting much longer for our visas but London is on fire at the mo! Good luck to anybody still waiting.

I've no idea I'm afraid, mine is an employment based IV app, so completely different requirements. I was just pointing out that the passport doesn't work for proof of residency, @JeanneAdil said you need that so hopefully s/he can expand on the documentation needed at this stage. Good luck.