I-601 approval and timeline (ADVICE)

[thislife&next 0]

I have been married to my beautiful wife for over 2 years now and we have been in the process for about one year now. We had our I-130 approved, we sent in the Ds-230 and affadavit of support and I finally had my CR-1 interview at the US Embassy in Kuwait last month. Everything went well at the interview, but a couple days later we received some bad news from the Embassy stating that : in order to move forward with my application I am required to fill out the I-601 waiver, because i voluntarily departed the states after being out of status for more than one year and thus I had a one year bar. We filed the I-601 waiver and we belive that we have a good chance that it will be granted due to the extreme hardship my wife has already suffered and will continue to suffer if the approval is not granted. I have a couple question and would appreciate any kind of advice from anyone who has gone through the same ordeal.

1) what is the average wait time for the I-601 to be granted/denied?

2) What is the next step after the waiver approval?

3) Anykind of timeline would be great since me and my wife are trying to decide whether or not she should move back to Kuwait because we are having a hard time dealing with life being so far away from each other. Me in Kuwait and her in the states.

4) Should she move back or is it not worth spending all the money on relocating just to have to move back to the states after the waiver is granted in a short while hopefully. Inshallah

Thanks to Everyone because i dont even know how I could handle this whole process without the advice and support of everyone here at Visajourney.com. You guys have all been like my life support.

[wellmux 3]

dear when did u had ur interview and why did not they tell u at interview time that u need to file I-601 because u was deported,

as u said that interview was fine, did they put u on Administrative Processing?

[momof1 205]

dear when did u had ur interview and why did not they tell u at interview time that u need to file I-601 because u was deported,

as u said that interview was fine, did they put u on Administrative Processing?

A 601 is not for deportation. The 212 is filed when someone is removed, but this person was given voluntary departure. He appears to have overstayed his visa for more than a year resulting in a TEN year bar. The 601 is to waive, among many other things, the inadmissibility for unlawful presence.

As for why they didn't tell him at the interview, I don't know. It could be that Kuwait doesn't deal with many inadmissibility cases and did not notice until after the interview. At my spouse's own IV interview in Algeria, the CO was unsure of what my husband's inadmissibility was. We already had the hardship packet prepared by our lawyer b4 the interview so we know what the deal was. It took them close to two hours to figure things out.

[momof1 205]

I have been married to my beautiful wife for over 2 years now and we have been in the process for about one year now. We had our I-130 approved, we sent in the Ds-230 and affadavit of support and I finally had my CR-1 interview at the US Embassy in Kuwait last month. Everything went well at the interview, but a couple days later we received some bad news from the Embassy stating that : in order to move forward with my application I am required to fill out the I-601 waiver, because i voluntarily departed the states after being out of status for more than one year and thus I had a one year bar. We filed the I-601 waiver and we belive that we have a good chance that it will be granted due to the extreme hardship my wife has already suffered and will continue to suffer if the approval is not granted. I have a couple question and would appreciate any kind of advice from anyone who has gone through the same ordeal.

1) what is the average wait time for the I-601 to be granted/denied?

2) What is the next step after the waiver approval?

3) Anykind of timeline would be great since me and my wife are trying to decide whether or not she should move back to Kuwait because we are having a hard time dealing with life being so far away from each other. Me in Kuwait and her in the states.

4) Should she move back or is it not worth spending all the money on relocating just to have to move back to the states after the waiver is granted in a short while hopefully. Inshallah

Thanks to Everyone because i dont even know how I could handle this whole process without the advice and support of everyone here at Visajourney.com. You guys have all been like my life support.

The wait time for a decision on a 601 varies from consulate to consulate. Waivers from Kuwait are adjudicated in Athens, and a rough estimate would be anywhere from 6 to 10 months. You can check the status of waivers in athens online now by your IV#. Their estimated processing time is currently 6 months. However, this is only an estimate and they are in no way bound to this timeframe. The good news is that one you are outside of their quoted proecssing time, you can begin to inquire on your case monthly.

After the waiver approval, the approval notiec and file will be sent back to Kuwait for visa issuance. Since you have been married for more than two years, you will receive a ten year GC. You may need to redo medical, fingerprints, or update the affidavit of support before the visa is isssued, but that depends on how long it takes for your waiver to be processed. Once the visa is issued, you can return to the US. A welcome letter, your SSN/card, and Green Card will arrive shortly thereafter by mail.

Our waivers were submitted in July 2008 and after some AP were received in Rome In Oct 2008. Waivers approved in April 2009, visa issued in June 2009, and home by July 2009. My husband was gone for a total of 27 months after his deportation.

I also wanted to add that one year or more of unlawful presence is a ten year bar.

I wish you lots of luck in these stressful times.

Edited November 12, 2009 by momof1

[thislife&next 0]

Thank you all for your advice. I hope that this process goes quickly. Im really getting tired of the waiting game.