doraemon

It's been hectic in the past few months but I thought I should give an update on the FINAL timeline, since we eventually succeeded in this process:

Fri, May 10    Job Offer
Sun, May 12    Letter to Embassy
Tue, May 14    Embassy accepted case and sent list of required documents
Fri, Jun 7    I-130 interview in Naples
Tue, Jun 11    I-130 acceptance letter from Consulate

[ Documentation gathering was problematic and took more than a month...]
Mon, Jul 15    Booked appointment for September 3rd (earliest available)
Thu, Jul 18    Requested expedited processing
Mon, Jul 22   Got expedited appointment date
Tue, Jul 23    Medicals in Naples
Wed, Jul 24   DS260 Interview in Naples
Thu, Aug 1    Received passport with Visa, traveling as a family!!!
 

Some additional details:

- Despite the immigrant had lived in the USA in the past and already accrued Social Security benefit, we had to fill the affidavit of support at the last minute, after the DS260 interview

- The immigrant did not have a valid COVID vaccination and being in the middle of summer, it was literally impossible to obtain one. We managed to get the waiver eventually but it was a close call!

- On the morning on Aug 1st, we hadn't heard back from the embassy. The citizen was basically ready to head to the airport on their own, with the family planning to join as soon as the visa arrived. On the craziest turn of events, we got notified that the passport with the stamp was ready to be picked up at a DHL office NEXT TO THE DEPARTURE AIRPORT!!! At the last minute the whole family headed to the airport and moved to the US together! I still can't believe how this happened but it's all good in the end

Thanks everybody for your responses and for sharing your experiences.

Thanks. The only worry is that we've trying hard to fly out as a family on august 1st but it looks like we won't make it in the end. The citizen having to leave spouse and child behind while the household is already on the way is not ideal but I guess we have to deal with it. It could have been months .. it might be only a couple of weeks difference 

Updated timeline after requesting expedited processing!!!

Unfortunately after the interview we haven't heard anything. Are we supposed to get an approval notice and the tracking number for the passport shipment? so far... silence. Should we get in touch with the consulate? starting to freak out a little bit here :)

Fri, May 10    Job Offer
Sun, May 12  Letter to Embassy
Tue, May 14  Embassy accepted case and sent list of required documents
Fri, Jun 7       I-130 interview
Tue, Jun 11    I-130 acceptance letter from Consulate

Tue, July 23  Medicals

Wed, July 24    Visa Interview!!!!

Hello,

we were able to move on with DCF after the american citizen received the job offer. Here is our timeline so far:

Fri, May 10    Job Offer
Sun, May 12  Letter to Embassy
Tue, May 14  Embassy accepted case and sent list of required documents
Fri, Jun 7       I-130 interview
Tue, Jun 11    I-130 acceptance letter from Consulate

Unfortunately, because the applicant lived in Canada and UK after the age of 16, we've been struggling with the police records (mostly Canada!!!! so painful!!!). Now that we are almost ready with the documents, we tried to book an appointment for the medicals and the final interview and the first available is around September 6th   The american citizen will need to show up at their job on August 5th!!!! we are moving our entire household on July 31st and we have a 5 years old daughter that we were going to try to put in school asap... and now will most likely be separated from one parent for more than a month!

I believe that it's not recommended (or even possibly?) for the applicant to travel on a tourist visa and then maybe fly back for the interview, what do you guys think? I am considering writing a letter to the consulate to basically 'beg' them to help us, but I am not sure it that is going to help or make things worse. Any experience with this matter?

thanks again for all the precious information!

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