apnzz

We are at NVC stage and we have a visit planned! UK to USA - using the ESTA. Flight: October 19th 2024 Documents I am taking with me: Copy of NOA2 - I-797 Notice of Action: Approval Notice (showing the petition was approved on August 23rd 2024) Proof of Employment: copy of initial contract showing job position, other info like salary, when position began etc. Proof of Time Off: correspondence from my boss/supervisor at my job stating that they have approved my requested time off/PTO including the date in which I am scheduled to return back to work, proving I am coming back to the UK Proof of Medical Appointments to support returning to the UK Return flight proof - ticket already booked and ready to show if requested Recent Proof of Address: to show I have a residence in the UK and that I will be returning to said residence Via mobile: bank statements and related bank info if requested Will edit/update after I have flown out!

What SalishSea and Yareth said is correct - just because USCIS has not updated your status acknowledging the withdrawal request, does not mean it won't be withdrawn. Many people experience significant delays in this update/acknowledgement; even several months. A withdrawal request cannot be taken back after it has been submitted. Withdrawals are irrevocable.

Hey - every k1 approval has an initial validity period of 4 months on the notice. After that, the consulate can extend them in 4 month increments for up to 1 year. They recommend bringing updated letters of intent to reaffirm that both individuals are still intending to marry. Generally it is a short amount of time to arrange everything but unfortunately that is how it is, it kinda tends to snowball after the initial approval/noa2. Thankfully the wait between each stage gives you a chance to keep up and organise. Until the interview and medical exam are booked you can't make travel arrangements for those appointments anyway, so this time can be used to familiarise yourself with the next steps and what is required, and start gathering the documents you can get - police certiciate etc. Hope that helps!

You would have to wait for the case status to be updated as "case was sent to the department of state". Currently this is taking anywhere from 6-8 weeks on average. Some people even longer. For reference, I got approved Aug 23rd, my case was finally updated as "case was sent to the department of state" on October 7th. It took 6 weeks and 3 days. 2 weeks from the day that your case status has updated as "case was sent to the department of state" you can do the NVC public inquiry to see if they have your case. To get your case number, you would wait for case to be sent to DOS, 2 weeks later do the Public Inquiry, after that people tend to do the PI once per week until NVC to tell you they've received it, then you would be sent your case number soon after that. Essentially after the case gets sent to DOS, USCIS has no involvement, it goes to NVC then to your embassy in the beneficiary country. This will automatically be extended, but providing updated letters of intent to the beneficiary when they go to their interview is recommended. Congrats on your approval! 🎉

Your timeline shows you filed in June, I understand the waiting is frustrating and the process, at times, makes no sense.. but that is just how things are. Petitions filed before yours, generally should get processed before yours. I'm assuming from the OP that you're using some sort of app like TMVN - which uses estimates; they aren't always accurate and isn't affiliated with USCIS - they should be viewed with a grain of salt. That's why the USCIS official estimations state up to 10 months currently. Some get lucky, some don't. I know first hand how frustrating it is; I filed 4 March 2024, I watched people in April, May and even June filers get approved before I did. I finally got my approval August 23rd. I even see people from the same filing date as me, still waiting. Over 7 months. There's no way to really know when your exact approval will be. It's hard to do, but you shouldn't compare your case to others, first hand experience of doing that and all I can say is it makes the wait more painful. Hang in there! We've all been in your position, it gets better!

Just be prepared for a potentially longer wait. I got approved on Aug 23rd and my case only got sent to the department of state (NVC) yesterday - the 7th Oct. It took 6 and a half weeks for me. Others are waiting longer. It could be faster, but just be aware of that potential delay! After your case actually updates as "case sent to the department of state" it could be several weeks, however, after 2 weeks from the day it updates you can contact NVC by the Public Inquiry Form on their website, to inquire and see if they have received your case. People recently have said that this is also taking a little longer - around 3-5 weeks. Shortly after that, perhaps just a matter of days, they will provide your case number. Good luck!

There's no way to know for sure obviously. I've known very close friends who did the same via the ESTA and then recently went to the US on the k1, the only thing they asked her was what she's entering on (she responded stating she is entering on the k1), then they asked her fiancé's address and when she's getting married, they then told her "welcome home". Obviously everyone is different, but as long as you have explanations for everything and you answer the questions truthfully and sufficiently there shouldn't be an issue (in theory). Most likely the questions will be directed to ensuring his intent on the k1 is that of what the k1 requires; intent to marry within the provided timeframe, checking they know address and that the relationship is real. Again, no one can know for sure, and everyone is different.

I'm so sorry I hope you get the news soon - have you tried contacting a congressman? I've heard from others that this can be helpful, I am not sure personally though.

Update: OCT 7, Case Sent to the Department of State!! Exactly 6 weeks and 3 days!!

Update: as of 5th Oct 2024, we are still waiting to get sent to the Department of State. It has been 43 days. (6 weeks 1 day)

Thank you, you too!! Definitely depends on interview availability. According to VJ data for Mozambique people had around 2 months from consulate received to interview date but there isn't much recent info from what it shows. Good luck!

Agree with everyone here, if you already identify that you have some red flags; age gap, high risk country.. then don't add to it. Marrying on the first time you meet in person is only going to add to that. Establish some time together first, a few visits etc. Regardless of the visa process, marrying someone you've never met in person a single time is a bit of a red flag. You have no idea what being with that person is like but you're gonna marry. If people here agree that is a red flag, you can only imagine what USCIS think and their job is to investigate and scrutinise a relationship to determine its authenticity.

Not with my visa, no not in our situation. I already have a visit planned for thanksgiving because thanksgiving falls on my birthday this year so I have a flight then to spend it with my fiancé. With how slow things are going I would guess / estimate perhaps my case being Ready at embassy in mid November. Then UK interviews are around 4 weeks wait. So if I skipped / missed my trip for thanksgiving then sure I'd perhaps have a chance at being there before Christmas. But since I've never had a birthday where we are physically together, it's always been long distance, we don't want to skip that. So given our circumstances I doubt I'd have enough time to go back after thanksgiving, do medical and interview and get my visa delivered before Christmas. Since it is going so slowly, and we have that birthday visit planned,our plan is to do the interview after Christmas. Probably get the visa in Jan.

Notice date and case sent to the Department of State date are 2 different things. I got my noa2 on August 23 and I'm still waiting. 6 weeks tomorrow. The dates on the NVC website where they are working on are cases that have been received by them. They won't have received it if USCIS hasn't even sent it yet. Currently it's around 5 weeks after approval date to actually get sent to department of state. 2 weeks from the day your case updates as "case sent to state" you can do PI and see if they have it.

Congrats!!!! Hope mine is today then

Mine wasn't too bad, I applied for it within 24hrs of being approved as I knew it would take a while Iirc; filed /submitted ACRO on 23 August Email saying they received it: 24th August saying they received it on 23rd August Arrived in mail: September 7th

Yes, it's reasonable to assume they would put some sort of reason or info about said denial. If the officer thinks he is lying then that is most likely reflected in their records. At the end of the day it doesn't matter what any of us think or if you think he was "falsely accused", the officer who refused him had reason to come to the conclusion that he is lying and therefore that impacted the decision & unfortunately, nothing can be done to change that. Can this potentially impact future visa attempts? Yes. It is possible. Will it completely ruin/doom the attempt? No, of course not. There's no way to really know for sure. It's all about the evidence and information you provide in each/every visa process taken. As others have previously mentioned; misrepresentation and lack of ties to home country are very common reasons for tourist visa denials.

Okay well no, this is not normal and no one can really help or comment because there's no context to the case at hand. Regardless of the case details, being stuck for this long isn't normal & it doesn't seem like you want to answer any questions about the case so I would suggest choose one of the following options; Your options are to wait, file Writ of Mandamus (expensive, long, likely to require a lawyer, doesn't guarantee approval), call/email a US congressman or senator for your area and see if they can provide assistance or pursue another visa route. So sorry you're going through this.

Like the above comment said, WoM or pursue other options.. Just curious why you haven't considered alternative routes? I understand the covid period really delayed a lot of processes for people. But how long has it been like that at CEAC? When was your interview? Or is there more to the timeline? Have you been in AP for that long? Or did you have other issues, rfe etc? Definitely recommend looking at a different path. Sorry you're having this experience

Congratulations! But no, you do not need the ESTA. You'd be entering on the K1 visa.

Congratulations! Hopefully mine will be soon. I was approved 2 days after you and still waiting

I'd steer clear, a lot of these services consider themselves "experts" but realistically you can get the same information anywhere, it's all accessible to you. If you really want/feel the need to have some actual aid, then go full lawyer instead of an immigration agency - or use the one TBone recommended as it's trusted and safe. (not that I am recommending this nor do I think it is needed). I did see the same discussion on the k1 discord though; they also mentioned the test on the website, even if you answer all the questions as the best options, they still say refusal is possible, and the truth is it is. Every single case does. But what you can do is, research, prepare and familiarise yourself with as much of the process as possible and that's all anyone can do really. Immigration services (not all, but in general) often add time, money and more effort to the process imo.

I still agree with smilingstone, it's still too soon; your OP states the evidence was sent on 20th Sept, that isn't even a week ago. This doesn't mean your case is approved, the approval status was most likely an admin error on their behalf, if they requested evidence they'll need time to process that accordingly. It could take several weeks or even longer for them to even acknowledge/ officially update the status as "received" evidence. It is usually within a month, but can take longer, there is no way to know. Then, potentially even longer for them to process and assess that along with your case. It varies from case to case and there is no way to specify or narrow that down; unfortunately you just have to wait. As smilingstone said, it can also depend on the nature of the RFE.

I've seen people wait anywhere from a few days to several months for approval after an rfe. Most recent I've seen was about a week ago and they waited 76 days from evidence being sent to uscis, to approval. It is also not uncommon for cases to say approved then get an rfe. No way to know for sure, every case is different.

I Hope you guys can figure that out, like the person commented before, the way they worded things was so perfectly and respectful and I think a lot of us here shared the same concerns about the wording of the "dragging" his feet. Sometimes it can just be a case of, once you get into it all a little, it will become more familiar and then not so intimidating, paperwork wise. My fiancé was exactly the same, I read stuff to him and he tends to shy away from paperwork, but as soon as we decided on the k1 process, he knew it is just one of those necessities in life, and we thought 'aw better dive in and get used to it now because the adjustment of Status paperwork will only be more intense / bigger responsibility'. I think you might find comfort in knowing that generally there's always one person who is more organised than the other in most relationships, and that person tends to "lead the way" more haha. An app I have found extremely helpful is called Notion, and Notion Calendar, ( 2 apps) but you can link it across multiple devices and share the same account so your partner can see it all too, got check boxes etc. It has been a life saver for us in communication and understand what docs we both need and tasks etc, and we can each tick off as we progress. It helps my fiancé to see things clearly outlined in a list. Perhaps you guys might find it helpful too. Hope you feel better after seeing the responses here :) you are not alone!