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How long did he stay under the VWP previously and how long ago was his last trip?

There’s no waiting list but he can keep checking for cancellations and see if an earlier appointment pops up. But if his ESTA was denied I’d try and find out why first, as he’ll face the same issues for a B visa too. And if he applies for the B and is refused he’ll forever have to declare that denial. Did he tick yes to any questions like travel to certain countries, any criminal record etc? Has he ever overstayed?

Could you go and live with her instead? Did you not get a formal denial notice/letter?

I was hoping it would have more info than that. Did you get a proper letter specifying the misrepresentation/fraud after the interview? It still seems odd that it's only due to wedding photos. Unless as Boiler said, it's to do with the K1? But your lawyers should know more details and hopefully have put a really good case together for your waiver.

I wonder if somebody reported you. They wouldn’t usually give you a 5 year ban just based on a suspicion. Might be worth submitting a FOIA to get your case notes.

Did they have evidence of that? Emails/text messages etc? Which country are you from?

You can apply but it’s not likely to be granted, why the 5 year ban?

Can you post the denial notice (taking out any personal info)? It really doesn’t seem right that they haven’t just asked for more proof of a bonafide marriage.

It’s just an enquiry at this stage, you’ll submit all docs/proof later on. Your wife will need the written job offer with start date on it, to show they need her urgently. And ideally evidence of how she got the job (just to show it’s legit i.e. not a family member giving her a ‘job’). So job advert/emails about an internal transfer/contact from headhunter etc. Best of luck.

I agree, something isn’t adding up. Were you at the interview?

Yes, this form, is this what you've already submitted? https://uk.usembassy.gov/family-immigration-i-130-exceptional-circumstances-request-form/

Because there is no visa available anyway they don't rush to approve I-130's - most people want them to take as long as possible if there are dependents to consider. Even immediate relatives that filed in March 2024 are only just getting their approvals now, you are likely to still have a way to go. Good luck.

For processing times look at the USCIS website, that's usually pretty accurate. As you say it's currently 34 months for 80% of cases, so you aren't likely to hear anything until 2027 ish. If the waiver is granted, they'll then issue the visa. What was the issue with the wedding photos and what other evidence of it being a legitimate marriage did you provide?

You can filter by EB applicants only. By consulate. By country. Etc, etc. Sounds like you've not been utilising it correctly. There aren't enough EB timelines on the forum, but that's because people don't bother to complete theirs, despite me asking at every opportunity! If everybody took 5 minutes to fill their VJ timelines in, it would be an even better resource, and it's a great way to 'pay it forward' and give help back to the community that has helped us. Google sheets are only as good as the person hosting them, which means they are often out of date or forgotten about. If everybody that contributed their data to the Google sheet did the VJ timeline instead, that data would be useful forever.

That doesn't mean those with 2 year GC's can't file an I-90 if they lose it, it is just telling people they can't use that form to remove conditions (some people may think that's all they need to do to get the 10 year green card). But if you've removed conditions (I assume, as you say you're no longer a conditional PR?) and are about to get a 10 year GC then you'd don't need to replace your 2 year one.

On the monthly issuance page. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics/immigrant-visa-statistics/monthly-immigrant-visa-issuances.html They should always give immediate family priority over family preference and employment based, but if (for example) they have 5 times as many IR's in the line waiting for an interview, it will just take longer for them to get through them.

If you only applied in Feb 2024 then you've still got a long way to go. You may find others with similar cases, but you'd need to give more info - what were the reasons a waiver is needed?

Looking at last month's stats they issued several times as many visas for IR applicants than family preference, so they are definitely being given priority. But I'm guessing there will just be a lot less preference applicants who are DQ'ed and with a current PD, so they won't need to wait as long for an interview slot as there is less of a backlog.

What does her status say on CEAC?

AP can’t be expedited. AP varies hugely depending on the reason for it and the countries involved. It can only take a few days, or can be a year or even longer. Generally countries with poor record keeping (i.e. Pakistan) take much longer. So comparing your AP to others isn’t going to be terribly helpful as they’re all processed so differently unfortunately. It sounds as though your occupation may be on the TAL list? If so then with Russian nationality that will be two things for them to check, which may take a little longer. Best of luck.

You say Aug 2012 to Aug 2023 for processing time but that can’t be right if they were only DQ’ed in August 2023. The processing time that you subtract from his age only applies to the time it took to process the I-130, which is why we’ve asked you when that was approved. Without that detail nobody can help you, so you need to find that out.

I wouldn't worry at all if it's only been 60 days. It could be up to 120 (still officially 90 but recently people are being told 120 due to the backlog). The SSN is different, as @OldUser said they've changed that recently so now you often have to go on person to get one. Good luck.

You don't pick your appointment, it's just given to you. You usually get around 6-8 weeks from the interview letter date, and it'll be about a 3 month wait from when you are DQ'ed to when you get the interview letter, so maybe 6 months or so total from when you're DQ'ed as a very rough guide? The whole process is set out 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 Good luck.

Which posts?

OK, was just checking you weren't born in India (so your PD wouldn't be current if that were the case). Did you transfer it to London recently or has it always been a London case? Transfers generally add quite a bit of time. But I really wouldn't worry yet. It's odd if EB applicants DQ'ed in March have been getting IL's (the official tool, updated just today, says they are currently scheduling interviews for those DQ'ed in February - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/iv-wait-times.html) but perhaps they're just an anomaly. Are you sure they're employment based cases, and not family based? Immediate relatives (spouses etc) are given priority over employment applications. I'm sure it won't be long until you get yours too though. Good luck.