appleblossom

Quite normal. They’re usually only sent once a month and we’re only half way through.

Some categories may well have, but remember that immediate family get priority for interviews, then employment based, then it'll be family preference categories. There will also be a slow down in interviews with the summer with less staff and an increase in student visa processing to factor in. But hopefully not too much longer.

Not sure about the first one, but follow the instructions for the second one, it says just birth certificates for sibling petitions (if you both have the same mother and father). You may find DNA is requested at the consulate stage but that's decades away so no need to worry about that yet. Good luck.

Yep. Although even ILR would be lost after a while out of the UK, so the OP would need citizenship to be able to move freely between the two countries. That's not a bad plan though for a transatlantic couple if they can do it and have the funds to pay for two visa apps - move to the UK, spend enough time there to get citizenship then a year or two before citizenship get the US spousal visa process underway. Then move there, and the Brit get US citizenship so both are dual nationals and can come and go as they please!

I agree on the amount of money she'd need to earn (or have in savings) to be eligible to sponsor the OP, but it's usually pretty quick anyway even without priority service, only 12 weeks. And if they were in a rush and had the funds they could choose the priority service and then they'd have an answer within a week - far quicker than the US spousal visa route! He would also would be able to work once he has the visa?

I wouldn’t have them apply for citizenship then, too risky. My daughter does a similar pattern but she’s studying abroad and study is an allowed reason for her absences. I’d suggest they cut down their trips outside the US in the 3 years or so before applying. If they live with you what evidence of residency do they have? Are they filing taxes each year?

It will depend on the consulate. You will be sent a full checklist when the interview is scheduled, and can also find the interview instructions on the usual NVC website, just to go the country specific section for your consulate - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-10-prepare-for-the-interview.html If you could fill your timeline in that would be helpful.

Yes, lots of consulates with much longer waits - Dhaka for example, currently has a 4 year wait for EB applicants. Lagos is 2.5 years. Ditto Abu Dhabi. Montreal was a 2 year wait not long ago, so they're making progress in getting through the backlog.

What's your Priority Date?

Just to be clear, the I-130 is only the first part of the two stage process. That's the petition, and once the I-130 is approved, she'll then have to apply for the visa. Only once she has that will she be able to move and start work.

No issues at all, there's no deadline to pay, the GC just won't be underway until it's been paid. Bear in mind that it seems to be 120 days now that they're quoting people for green card to be delivered, so don't worry if you don't get it within 90 days.

When you say they visit you every 6 months, where is that? Are you in the US and they’re not living there (in which case they should NOT apply for citizenship, as it will be obvious they haven’t been genuine LPR’s), or are you outside the US and they only leave it briefly to visit you in another country? They can visit Canada or Mexico, I don’t understand your second question I’m afraid.

That’s not really the idea of DCF though. It’s for those who already have a valid job offer, as said above usually an urgent transfer with a current company, or possibly an amazing job they’ve been headhunted for out of the blue. You can try for it, but if neither of those scenarios apply to you then you may find a company just won’t be prepared to wait when they can hire somebody locally straight away. A lot of it will depend on how specialist your skills are. But if you aren’t prepared to move ahead of the rest of your family then you will need to be upfront with them from the start about your situation and possible wait for you to start. It would be far worse if you got an offer under false pretences and then they rescinded it and you had to start all over again. Maybe you could spend a month job hunting and if you don’t have any luck just file the I-130’s normally.

That’s standard for probably ~90% of consulates. 2-3 months is about the norm for those without a backlog. I’m guessing from @shkabaan’s profile that his parents will be interviewing in Saudi too. Which consulate will your parents be interviewing at? Please fill your timeline out, thx.

Usually pretty quick, you should have your passport back within a couple of weeks. If you have a good read of the link above and go to the Montreal specific page you'll find more details. What does your online status say now?

Assuming your sibling has sponsored you for an immigrant visa, the whole process is laid out step by step on this website - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-1-submit-a-petition.html Sounds like you're at Step 12, so follow it from there and read all the links. Good luck.

USC filing for spouse, via service centres, says 17 months??

Other countries/categories have moved quicker, but the Philippines has hundreds of thousands of people waiting (which is why it has its own category on the VB). Manila issues approx 30,000 immigrant visas each year, but give priority to immediate relatives, and even 30,000 doesn't touch the backlog really when it's so many people in line, with more joining all the time. Is there any other route to a visa for them - employment based maybe?

Unlikely, given the usual wait. Did you see my response to you above? Which country are you living/working in?

What 10 year visa - do you mean a B visa for the US? Or a Canadian visa? Do they live in Canada? That and the answers to the questions above will all have a bearing on it so please give more info and somebody will try and help.

**Thread moved to IR-1 /CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures as OP has petitioned their spouse**

What does your online status say when you check it? Your service centre should be on the receipt notice, bottom left. As @carmel34 said, you need to submit an enquiry once your case is outside normal processing times. According to the processing times page (scroll right down to find the tool) your case is processing normally now. 17 months is the norm (but only for 80% of cases - so 1 in 5 will take longer) and you can submit an enquiry on 18th Sept. https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/ Any sent before that wouldn’t usually be responded to, but wait a couple of months and if you haven’t had an approval by then you can enquire.

Not a clue! Just something I've noticed, particularly if it's from a country with a big backlog (as presumably the short staffing causing that backlog also means a delay in sending files over). If it's only been 2 months then you're still well within normal timescales even without a transfer - they're currently scheduling those DQ'ed in Feb. My guess is that you may need to wait until October, as I suspect the visa limit will be reached before you get your interview. But that is just a guess, nobody knows for sure. Good luck.

Not been released this month you mean? They are usually towards the end of the month so may just be too early. It's done by DQ date, but transfers seem to take a bit longer. Just in case you haven't found it yet, this shows you what month they're current scheduling for, it's those who were DQ'ed in Feb 2025 - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/iv-wait-times.html

Reviews are at the top of the page. And search by putting key words in to the search bar, making sure you go to 'advanced' and selecting all of those words. You can also look at the long running EB threads for info, you might find some there. But somebody else's experience isn't going to reflect yours anyway, so I really wouldn't worry about it if you can't find any. Whatever they were asked isn't likely to be the same for you, the officer will ask you specific questions based on your own application, not anybody else's. Good luck.