appleblossom

Where is your mother now?

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.

OK, I know that there's a super long (more than a year - I think nearer 18 months) wait for EB immigrant visa apps at Montreal, but not sure on spousal - if you go to the consulate section of VJ there will be a timeline thread there for CR1 applicants I'd think. That should give you an idea of how long you'll wait for an interview once you've completed the NVC stage just so you can factor that in to your ideal timeline. You have a year to pay your fees and start the NVC process, so you don't need to worry, and you can delay the NVC process for a long time if needed. And for your timeline on here, please go to your profile and fill it out. That way it pays it forward to help others, but also means when you ask a question in the future people don't need to ask tons of questions to be able to help. Best of luck to you.

Ah, I thought you meant you'd only submitted the I-130 4 months ago so were still waiting for that approval. Please do fill out your timeline, it makes it so much easier for people to help you but also then helps others who follow. I think the consulate is still important though and understanding your preferred timeline - some consulates have a wait or 1 or even 2 years for interviews, so you may find you don't need to delay as the interview wait will take care of that for you. Or you may be at a super quick consulate and definitely need to delay things.

Your profile says F2A, is that right, spouse of a LPR and not a citizen?

When are you looking to delay until ideally, and which consulate? If you need to delay at the NVC stage (once the I-130 has been approved - which could still be a year away) then that's easy enough to do.

As above, it doesn't sound like you qualify for DCF, but you can always try. The Edinburgh consulate doesn't provide visa services anyway. London is the only consulate in the UK that processes visas for UK residents. Good luck.

What skills and education do you have? No employer is going to spend thousands of dollars on sponsoring a visa for you unless you have skills they really need. So don't bother applying for jobs that aren't likely to lead to a visa. Even if you do find a job offer tomorrow from an employer prepared to sponsor you, you're not going to get a visa before February. But once you do return to France, you can always apply for a new visa, just make sure you abide by the terms of your current one and don't overstay it. F1 as suggested above is probably the best option, if you have the funds for it. If not, then you may find that your only option is to return to France and then see how a long distance relationship with your bf goes, before going down the marriage visa route once you are both ready for it. Good luck.

Yes, but only if your sister is unmarried (if she's married then your mother can't petition for her as she's not a citizen yet - green card holders can only petition for unmarried children). You need to first work out if she'll count as legally married or not depending on the details of her marriage. And of course, if she's not married then she'll need to get married for her husband to be able to move as well. I would look very carefully at the various options and timings i.e. if she's unmarried and your mother sponsors her, then she gets married after green card, then brings husband over versus if she gets her marriage recognised now, and waits for your Mum to sponsor them once she's a citizen. You need to work out which may be quicker (with the caveat that things may have changed in a decade or so when she's actually at the point of a visa), but you might want to cost up the various options as well if money is tight, and see which would be cheaper. Either way, it's unlikely her children will all be able to accompany her, but you've not given their ages so hard for us to know. But she needs to be prepared to leave them behind and then sponsor them further down the line with being apart for quite a bit of time. So it's also worth having a conversation with her and seeing if she'd be prepared to do that - no point in paying the fees if not. Good luck.

Your Mum can’t petition for her until she’s a citizen, as I think her marriage will still count (which is good as otherwise her husband would have to be left in Ghana). So at the moment only you can do it, and sponsoring a sibling is a 20+ year wait. Once your Mum is a citizen she can sponsor her and that’s shorter wait but still a 10 year or so wait as a rough guide. So you petition for her now, as back up, then get your Mum to apply for citizenship asap and also apply once she has it. The Visa Bulletin is what you need to keep an eye on to see how processing times are moving - categories F4 and F1. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2024/visa-bulletin-for-january-2024.html One last thing to note - either way it’s not likely your sister will be able to bring all of her children, as at least some of them may ‘age out’ before she gets a visa. But it depends on how old they are and how long it takes, just something to be aware of anyway. If you don’t petition the kids and she leaves them, then she’ll have another long wait herself to bring them over (categories F2A/F2B on the VB). Good luck.

Can take up to a week after payment - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-1-submit-a-petition/step-3-pay-fees.html If you need to contact NVC then you do that here - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/ask-nvc.html Which consulate have you got listed?

I'd send him the link that I've given you above and ask him why that doesn't apply to you.

Yes, it's absolutely still applicable. You can't enter before the principal applicant, you must either enter at the same time or after them. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-10-prepare-for-the-interview/step-12-after-the-interview.html#:~:text=Entering the United States,derivative family members with visas. How long it will take will depend on various factors, ours was super quick and easy, maybe 10 minutes and just a handful of questions.

It isn't relevant now as you've already left the US, but for future ref you may be eligible to apply for expedited naturalisation as the spouse of a USC in the military - https://www.uscis.gov/military/citizenship-for-military-family-members

If you're a green card holder then you're years away from them getting a visa through you, even once the I-130 is approved - and in fact, you may want it to take as long as possible for them to be approved to try and stop them 'aging out' (depending on how old they are of course). Your husband's applications will get them visas much sooner, so keep an eye on his more closely, but completely ignore the online estimated times as they're notoriously inaccurate. Figure about a year for the I-130 as a rough guide. Good luck.

No problem. As you're benefitting from others timelines, it would be nice if you 'paid it forward' and completed yours, to help others in the future. 🙂

Yes, they're eligible to be sponsored for a green card if the company agrees and the person meets the criteria for it.

His social security card has nothing to do with him applying for a visa. Here's the guide you need -

Him having a SSN isn't relevant. Where are your husband and step son now? Note you need to petition both of them, you don't just file for your husband.

No way of knowing how long it will take as every case is different. But there’s a very long thread about it in the Canada forum so would suggest you read that for more info. Good luck.

if you know it’s been received then why do you think you need to send it again? It’s only been about 8 working days since it was delivered and there will be a backlog of applications to open after the Xmas shut down. I’d give it a while longer.

I’m confused - your previous thread says you’re already married? He can visit but can’t enter with the intention of staying, as that would be immigration fraud.

I'm sure they will, but you only asked 3 hours ago. As my mother would say 'patience is a virtue'. 😂

And what about the CBRA/citizenship that @JeanneAdil asked about? If your child isn't a citizen, then they need their own I-130.

OK, so I'm struggling to understand why you've wanted to move here for years to be honest if you've never been here. Don't get me wrong, America is a great place, but you need to look at the practicalities i.e. healthcare, high cost of living, lack of vacation time etc. Don't build it up to be like you see it on the tv because it really isn't! As with everywhere, there are downsides so I'd ask yourself what you want out of a country - you may find you would be better suited to somewhere else that is easier to move to, or even somewhere else in the UK. Best of luck to you.