doraemon

2 hours ago, karalis said:

Hi,

 

My green card application just got approved today and I was in the same situation, in Italy.

 

My wife (the american citizen) got a job offer in the US for a new role with her company so we have to move back to the US (I had a green card years ago).

 

We emailed the Consulate in Naples (NOTE: THIS IS THE ONLY CONSULATE IN ITALY THAT HANDLES DIRECT CONSULAR FILINGS, and I believe the only one that handles immigrant visa applications) explaining the situation and attaching the offer letter in November and a few days later we were told the request was approved and we got an interview appointment. 

 

We then went to the interview and directly filed our form I130 and brought evidence of bona fide marriage.

 

After 2 weeks we got an email saying that our application was approved and that we could schedule my final interview (in this case the american citizen is already supposed to be in the US by the time of the final interview). 

 

I scheduled my interview at the end of February but there were pleanty of earlier dates available.

 

At the final interview i had to bring my i864, proof of income and my italian rep sheets. 

 

The process was very smooth and i was approved in less then 2 hours.

 

It was also WAY easier than a lot of the stuff I've read on this forum.

 

Hope this helps!

Thank you so much for sharing. This really helps.

I am Italy, I am not sure about the consulate, maybe Naples?

I am a US citizen living abroad. I would like to relocate back to the US, but my wife is not a citizen (nor does a green card) so we are soon going to start the paperwork for her. At the moment the processing times don't look too good as we all know, but I recently read that there are ways to expedite the process under specific circumstances. From: Policy Manual Volume 6 - Immigrants Part B - Family-Based Immigrants Chapter 3 - Filing: "Short notice of position relocation – A U.S. citizen petitioner, living and working abroad, has received a job offer in or reassignment to the United States with little notice for the required start date."

Has anybody ever tried this route? Does it actually work in practice? or the adjudication is a difficult thing to obtain?

I don't have a job offer at the moment but I would definitely want to have one before moving back.

Thanks

Thank you all. We want to do things properly and we are just exploring options. Given that the TN visa is so special, I am also worried about using it without even thinking/considering the green card. I bet if you are married to a US citizen, you automatically end up in some easy-to-flag category when trying to use a non-immigrant visa.
It just seems ridiculous to me that the processing times for spouses are this long (they have been this bad since the beginning of COVID... and getting worse, I know). We've been married almost 6 years and have a child - also US citizen - together.  It makes no sense to me that one has to either split a family or plan a move years ahead. No flexibility whatsoever. Anyway, sorry for the rant and thanks again.

54 minutes ago, Boiler said:

What you could do is use the TN to bridge the time it takes to interview in Canada.

 

That would be VJ ToS compliant.

So you are saying:

- start consular processing in Canada

- get a TN visa and move to US

- go back to Canada for the interview

Would there be any problem at the border if they realize that you have a pending green card application? I think they will want to know where you are staying... Is "I'm staying with my (American) spouse" an acceptable answer?

I am a Canadian citizen Married to USC. Since green card processing times are really long at the moment, I am thinking of using a TN visa to move to the US with my spouse. Is it possible? Eventually I would like to apply for a green card but I am wondering if this type of visa combination can cause problems.

Thanks