oldgreg

DQ April 3 at NVC. Interview scheduled today. A week. Freaky fast.

16 months for i130. Got approved for that in March.

Just got our interview date for the embassy in Costa Rica, June 26. Went from absolutely nothing happening for 16 months to things flying now. We are super excited. Best of luck to all of you waiting.

Just checked documents, approved. Best part is I am down in Costa Rica with the wife. Ecstatic.

Email this morning, we have taken action on your case. USCIS website says it is being actively reviewed as of March 4th now, not November anymore. Something might actually be happening. Holy cow.

Yes

I was going through old emails. There was one from March of last year from visa journey and it said estimated approval, Oct 14th. The email they sent yesterday said February 16th. VJ is about as accurate as the USCIS website.

I went years without coverage and survived. She is 34, knock on wood, if something happened in this period, I would have to open up the check book.

One can only hope. I asked Santa for an approval and not a RFE. Hope he delivers. Lol

We had open enrollment and I called and inquired about signing my wife up. I figured I had to get her insurance during this period but I was wrong. They said when she gets here, call them and they will be able to add her to my policy. Saves me from paying for her for a few months.

Nov '23 filer. Case is at CSC and crickets still.

Let's go!!!!!!

We started ours in November, a month before you. We went in thinking 18 months. Have patience, it is tough. It will be worth it.

Good luck. I am dealing with the IRS now. Submitted taxes and had my wife down with my last name. After a long process they rejected everything. Come to find out because the passport has her maiden name on it and we put my last name on the taxes. Just a heads up. Not sure if they have it out for me or this is SOP. We are resubmitting everything with her maiden name.

Waiting and keep getting the emails from VJ with the estimated approval times creeping back. Not very reassuring.

It was at one of those centers. The lady made mention that if my wife was there, she could help. I told her I wish my wife was here but the gov't will not allow her. I do not understand the difference, my thoughts were that this appointment was to merely verify the passport. What difference does it make if my wife is present or not? Anyway, I sent the passport in, cancelled the honeymoon, ate the non-refundable airline tickets and now sit here angrily typing. C'est la vie

After scheduling an appointment with the IRS, I booked a flight to see the wife. Drove two hours to Atlanta to hop on a "quick" flight to Costa Rica to get my wife's passport. Spent a day down there and returned. Went to my appointment in Huntsville to present her passport to get this squared away. The lady says we can't help you. I said ma'am you are asking for her passport, I have it. Sorry Austin needs to deal with this. I asked if she could take a copy or let Austin know this is legit. She told me sorry. Great. I asked her turn around time to get passport back, minimum 8 weeks. I am supposed to go to Argentina with my wife for our delayed honeymoon in September, 8 weeks doesn't work. Sorry once again. So wasted another day there. Called the airlines to see if the tickets were refundable and to give them a sob story. Sadly nope, 200$ each to change and price differences. Cancelled that trip, had to eat 1800$ in plane tickets. I called the wife and said let's just wait til all the dust settles and do our Honeymoon another time. The government is frustrating, this whole thing is frustrating and I haven't even had the fun of dealing with USCIS.

https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-7 I filed taxes jointly using this. Get a lot more money vs filing separately or single.

Got a letter today from the IRS saying they need a certified copy or original passport by July 18th. Problem is that I don't have a trip planned to Costa Rica to see her til end of July. The difference in taxes married jointly and separately is almost $5500. She is looking into getting a certified copy. If not I will fly down to get her passport because I do not trust their postal system, nor ours as a matter of fact. That becomes problematic, as we have a trip planned in Sept. Question is this. I saw the returned timeline you posted above, thanks. Anyone else have a timeline on the IRS? Secondly, how hard is it to get a certified copy of one? I imagine each country is different. Thanks, Greg

We submitted ours on Nov 7. It had a few months countdown which ended in April. To which we received the, "taken longer than usual" response. Now it says 4 weeks. After reading everything, we are planning for 18 months after all is said and done. Anything shorter would be amazing.

I filed in November and it said it will be ready in April. Right now it says two months. I will keep you posted but highly doubt this will be the truth. It is nice to dream.

We are prepared for 18 months. I am hoping it is sooner.

Good morning all. I am fairly new to this and got my I-130 submitted on Nov 6. According to the USCIS website it is saying case is under review and estimated approval is 4 months. This is making me cautiously optimistic. Everything else that I read says it is a 10 month wait for approval. Could it be possible that we will be approved in April? My bride is in Costa Rica if that matters. What is y'all's experience with the accuracy of the USCIS website estimate? Thank you, Greg