IR1 New Zealand Success

[Lonney 0]

Figured I should share after reading a lot of information on VJ

Had our IR1 interview yesterday at the US consulate here in Auckland, it must have been a quiet day, as there were only two other people there. Whole process took less than an hour, the staff were very polite and friendly. Forgot the courier bag, no problem to go-to the post shop on ground floor to get one and take it up after the interview.

The whole process from start to finish took just over 4 months.

This is how we did our IR1 - we were aiming for a DCF, but they changed all that in August of 2011, now you have to file/send the I-130 to the lock-box in Chicago. We used international tracked document courier bags to send everything, these are not cheap, but they take about a week to get to the US, and are tracked.

My Wife - the sponsor came back to New Zealand with me after I spent a year in Canada and the US. She got a working holiday visa for NZ (no problem was approved with-in days of applying for it) so she could stay here for up-to a year and work.

We filed the I-130 in the last week of December 2011 one month after getting married here in New Zealand. Things got delayed maybe 3 or 4 weeks because of a simple mistake on our forms - we both double and triple checked everything, but it still slipped through - just the dates of places I had lived and worked as there are a few, and I mixed one of the dates up with out noticing it. So I guess always be sure you check everything over several times to avoid delays. And we didn't send in originals of some documents - so we had to resend those - birth certificates and marriage certificate which we got back at the interview.

I did the medical at CityMed, again it was fairly quick and efficient, minimal waiting. They have blood-testing place and X-Ray's in the same building and you can pay the whole amount for everything at reception, not sure if I struck a quiet day here as well, but no waiting for the blood-test or X-Ray. Overall the medical was no major, the doctor was nice, friendly, and got through it pretty quick.

That's it, seems pretty simple now, though everything did seem to go quite quickly with out any problems for us.

Any questions feel free to ask.

L

[AandJ 3]

Awesome! Congrats!

[cup1981 5]

Awesome! We are at the medical and interview phase here in Indonesia. I certainly hope it's a breeze like yours. I avoided sending my docs to the U.S. by submitting my I-130 before August 15th and they pended it for a year. We just restarted it a few days ago and it all seems smooth sailing so far .

[Ryan H 3,821]

Moved from Process & Procedures to Progress Reports.

This is how we did our IR1 -

Since you have been married for less than 2 years, you will be issued a CR-1 visa. The green card you will receive when you enter the US will be valid for two years. Within 90 days prior to the expiration of that green card, you will need to file to remove conditions on residency. Once that process is complete, you will be issued the green card that is valid for 10 years.

[Lonney 0]

Moved from Process & Procedures to Progress Reports.

Since you have been married for less than 2 years, you will be issued a CR-1 visa. The green card you will receive when you enter the US will be valid for two years. Within 90 days prior to the expiration of that green card, you will need to file to remove conditions on residency. Once that process is complete, you will be issued the green card that is valid for 10 years.

Correct, I couldn't remember if which one it was, thought it was IR-1 for some reason.