appleblossom

Oh, totally different then!! So in answer to your first post, visa quotas/limits aren't relevant to you at all. They are only relevant to immigrant visas for other non-immediate family relatives (like F1!). Best of luck.

Ah, maybe! I just saw the original F1 mention and the question about visa quotas, if it’s K-1 then that’s very different.

It is a shame, could you have petitioned your son/daughter before or have you only recently moved to the US? How old is s/he? Any other quicker route to a visa for him/her? Employment based maybe?

Those people will be immediate relatives - spouses, minor children, or parents. There is no wait for immediate relatives. Every other category is subject to visa availability and because of the quota you asked about above, and far more applications being received each year for those categories, there is a big backlog. The Visa Bulletin is what you need to look at. It's released monthly, and tells you which Priority Date is now eligible to receive visas. Once yours is 'current' (i.e. earlier than the date on the Visa Bulletin) you'll be eligible for a visa, but not before that point. Here is this months, and as you can see the date for your category is 15 March 2016, so those who submitted I-130's prior to that are now getting interviews scheduled and receiving visas. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2025/visa-bulletin-for-may-2025.html So yes, ~10 years but realistically probably more, as the backlog tends to grow each year and it's not linear. If you go back and look at previous Visa Bulletins you'll see what I mean. For example if you look at the bulletin from May 2020 you'll see that the date back then was March 2014. So in 5 years, it's actually only moved forward 2 years. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2020/visa-bulletin-for-may-2020.html Are you the petitioner or applicant?

Current date on the Visa Bulletin for F1 is March 2016, so those who applied before that date are now eligible for visas. So maybe 10 years or so as a rough guess? Just bear in mind that if you or whoever you petitioned for marries then they move in to the F3 category which is an even longer wait.

Depends on their DQ date. It's done by that, so if they were DQ'ed first then yes.

What's more important is the category and Priority Date, that will give you a (very) rough idea of how long you may have to wait when you look at the Visa Bulletin, although wait times tend to grow with every year that passes. So assuming F1, what is the Priority Date and which country were you born in?

Forget ChatGPT, that's not a place to go to for immigration advice. Although they are actually right on the visa category, children of LPR's are never immediate relatives. He is F2A. Your brother's PD wasn't current in December 2023 (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2024/visa-bulletin-for-december-2023.html) so he couldn't have filed for AOS then, that lawyer isn't correct. And the other lawyer doesn't seem to have taken in to account that the time the I-130 takes to be processed gets added on to his age anyway. So even if the I-130 does take 3 years, that would mean he would still be eligible for a visa under F2A until he turns 24. But if your brother's PD is December 2023, then he can file for AOS right now, his PD date for filing is current and has been for a long time. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin/2025/visa-bulletin-for-may-2025.html https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/visa-availability-priority-dates/when-to-file-your-adjustment-of-status-application-for-family-sponsored-or-employment-based-112 https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/concurrent-filing-of-form-i-485 There still won't be a visa available to him until his PD is current on Table A of the Visa Bulletin though, but he can at least file for his AOS. Good luck.

Maybe they meant the green card fee? You don't pay it at the consulate, but they do give you a piece of paper with info about it, and you then pay it online once you have the visa. That may have been what they were thinking of.

You’ve already been told that consular processing is your best option in your other thread. But you’ve also not answered the question posed in that thread - are you the sibling of the USC, or a derivative applicant?

Did you maybe tick the 'yes' box to the question about them immigrating with you? Check the link above for what you need to provide and make sure the documents comply exactly. Maybe your birth certificate wasn't the long form version? No idea on military records I'm afraid, but the link above will tell you. What tax docs did you provide for your joint sponsor?

Did you maybe put your children on the DS-260 as derivatives? You said you've had a number of RFE's which is unusual. Just checking you're following this website? 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 Make sure you look at the country specific guide lines too - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country/UnitedKingdom.html

So has the I-130 been approved? I thought from your first post it hadn't been approved yet, and the consulate isn't relevant until you actually apply for a visa and the case is passed to them. So exactly what stage are you at? You might need to send it to NVC or the consulate or USCIS - but it will depend on whereabouts you are in the process.

I doubt it. You're just in a big line unfortunately, I don't see how a consular officer could help you jump to the front of it.

Ah, ok. I hope your lawyer didn't send the I-129f to the consulate then as that would be the wrong place! It goes to USCIS too. You can't get approved for any visa if you have a bar, and the I-212 won't be done by the time you have your K1 interview (approx 3 years processing time last time I checked - even if that speeds up it won't be as quick as the K-1 application). So it'll be a case of going to the K-1 interview and being refused, then waiting for the waiver. No idea on your approval chances as it will depend on the case your lawyer has put together and the grounds you have. But best of luck to you both.

So have you already got an approved I-129f, and you were refused at the visa interview at the consulate? If the bar started was a year ago then you won't be far off it ending anyway if current processing times remain as long.

"I would like to contact NVC to keep my immigrant case active. To keep your case active, do not let more than one year pass without contacting NVC. To do so, you can submit fees and/or documents through the Consular Electronic Application Center (CEAC), https://ceac.state.gov/iv. Each time you access your case in CEAC, your contact date will be updated. If one year passes from the last date of contact with NVC, all submitted fees, forms and documents will expire, and your case will begin the pre-termination process. You do not need to contact NVC to keep your case active if you have received notification your case is documentarily complete." From this page - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-1-submit-a-petition/step-2-begin-nvc-processing/helpful-hints-iv-processing.html

That's odd, you should have had it ages ago. What does the online status say? Have you contacted NVC to ask?

**Thread moved to Taxes & Finances sub forum, as it's not an AOS related issue.** You just need to give the reason she didn't have to file taxes. Being outside the US isn't relevant as LPR's (and USC's) must file taxes no matter where they live if they are required to, so just give whatever reason she didn't file i.e. earnings were too low.

You have to wait until you're contacted by NVC with the 'Welcome Letter' (which is actually an email). At that point you pay the fees and start the process to become DQ'ed. The whole process is set 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/step-2-begin-nvc-processing.html You're at step 2, waiting for your PD to become current. Once it's current on Table B on the Visa Bulletin (that date is currently August 2023 for your category, so a year ahead of you) you'll be contacted to start the NVC process. Best of luck and please do fill in your timeline to 'pay it forward' and help others in return. Thx.

And the travel insurance were made aware it wasn’t a vacation and she had moved with the plan of staying permanently? Normally they wouldn’t cover somebody in that scenario so that’s very unusual. Congrats on the interview, hope it goes ok.

You specifically said it asked you to list schools you've *attended*. Hence my response. But your call, I don't think it matters either way. But whatever you do, don't use Chat GPT for immigration info, it's utterly useless!

So if they ask you to list all the schools you attended, why is this college relevant? As you say, you didn't attend it! I agree with the above, just put HSD.

They'll be sent a full checklist when the interview is scheduled, but all of the info about required documents is on the usual website - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-10-prepare-for-the-interview.html Just make sure you look at the consulate specific page too. If your parents are interviewing in Lagos as per your timeline then they're a long way off the interview, so I'd wait until nearer the time in case any of the requirements change. Don't start gathering documents yet as they will likely need to be replaced/updated by the time the interview rolls around. Good luck.

Has she been filing her US tax returns?