Englishman undergoing Consular Processing in London

[Sailor1975 4]

Good afternoon everybody.

I'm in a bit of a unique situation in that I have just returned from the USA after being there for 3.5 years on a NATO-2 visa - I'm in the British military and was on exchange over there. Now I am back in England as I have to retire from the military (which will happen in July 2016).

My wife is a US citizen and lives in the US. Over a 2 year period, we procrastinated about getting married, finally doing it in February 2016 - just over a month before I had to return. As such, we didn't have the option to file I-130 and I-485 concurrently (as I had to return to the UK). Instead, we were advised to file only the I-130 and go for Consular Processing.

Thus far, the following has happened:

1 Mar 2016 - I-130 was posted in Express Mail.

4 Mar 2016 - Receipt from USCIS assigning a receipt number, saying Form I-797 will follow.

11 Mar 2016 - I-797C received in post. Priority Date - 2 Mar 2016. Notice Date - 4 Mar 2016.

The I-130 will be processed at the Potomac Service Center. Have they actually started processing I-130s, since they started having them transfered to that center?

Does anybody have a realistic timeline, based on anything similar to my circumstances, on how long the rest of the process will take? In the meantime, now I am back in England, will it potentially damage my application if I wish to go and see my wife for a couple of weeks at a time?

Any advice that anybody has to offer will be gratefully received; thank you in advance.

[Pitaya 2,577]

Welcome to the forum.

[teeak 224]

If you fill in your timeline, you should get an estimated approval date. Although, since the Potomac Center is fairly new, there aren't many data points to refer to.

Yes, you can continue to visit your wife on VWP while your petition is pending. Just remember to be truthful to CBP and carry evidence showing ties to home, just in case.

[Sailor1975 4]

Fill in what timeline, Teeak? Do they have a tool on here that gives estimations? If I go on the USCIS website, there is little mention of the PSC and absolutely no historical data on processing times (because it is new).

[Jack2107 46]

Well it will take around 5 months for the I-130 to be approved or you may get a letter requesting more evidence but hopefully not if you sent all required documents and evidence.

After that it takes around 2-3 weeks for the NVC to receive the petition and issue you with a case number and invoice number.

After you have been online and payed the fees it's take a few days to be updated in the system.

Sometimes only one fee is available to pay for straight away and you have to wait for the AOS fee to be opened in order to pay.

You will then receive in the mail your cover sheet with a list of documents to tick off the sheet.

You can then send all the documents the NVC require in one package and fill in the ds260 online.

After they have received the package it takes on average 30-45 days for your petition to be reviewed before it is accepted or not.

Then after case complete you will have to wait for your interview to be scheduled. This can take up to 60days but on average it's normally a few days to a few weeks.

After you get your interview date you will need to get your medical at least 4 days before the interview.

All in all its around 12 months turnaround from applying to interview.

Hope this helps?

I've just gone through it all and have my interview tomorrow. Fingers crossed it goes smooth.

[Sailor1975 4]

Jack, thank you for the information.

Twelve months?!?!?! Jesus! An Immigration attorney told me about 6, and 9 as a maximum. Did you go through consular processing also, or did you file your I-485 concurrently?

[Jack2107 46]

Yes a cr1 visa we are doing. 12 months is really the maximum. But you can make the NVC go slow or fast. If you have all the documents ready you don't have to wait for the cover sheet in the mail. You can print off a barcodes sheet on your case file online.

If you need any help just message me. Be more than happy.

You don't need to use an attorney either unless you got money to burn.

[teeak 224]

Fill in what timeline, Teeak? Do they have a tool on here that gives estimations? If I go on the USCIS website, there is little mention of the PSC and absolutely no historical data on processing times (because it is new).

Yep, if you go to your profile and click on 'Timeline' under Immigration Info and fill in your submission dates etc., it should give you an approximate date as to when you will receive an approval.

Also, Jack2107 is right. With consular processing, it usually takes around 1 year from filing the I130 to visa in hand. Sometimes more depending on if you receive requests for evidence (RFEs) or if NVC sends out checklists for missing documents.

Fiance visa is a bit quicker but, the boat has sailed on that one.

[Sailor1975 4]

Yes a cr1 visa we are doing. 12 months is really the maximum. But you can make the NVC go slow or fast. If you have all the documents ready you don't have to wait for the cover sheet in the mail. You can print off a barcodes sheet on your case file online.

If you need any help just message me. Be more than happy.

You don't need to use an attorney either unless you got money to burn.

We didn't use an attorney, as they only seemed to be paper-pushers (rather than actually being able to speed the process up) - I don't want to pay an attorney $2-3K to fill in paperwork I'm perfectly capable of doing myself.

I really appreciate your help.

[NewOrleansJerry 12]

We were just over a year with normal IR1 processing and one RFE from the National Visa Center. You can visit your spouse during that period, we traveled back and forth a few times.

[Jack2107 46]

We didn't use an attorney, as they only seemed to be paper-pushers (rather than actually being able to speed the process up) - I don't want to pay an attorney $2-3K to fill in paperwork I'm perfectly capable of doing myself.

I really appreciate your help.

Exactly and to be honest unless you have skeletons in your closet etc then a lawyer is pointless. Other than that it's just pointless.

The forms are petty self explanatory and easy to fill in.

Plus in the meantime you can visit your wife using the VWP just like we did and never had any issues at POE.

[Jack2107 46]

Just make sure that your wife meets the income requirements and if she's does not then find someone now to co sponsor so you don't get held up whilst finding one.

My case was held back for 3 months as my husband didn't meet the income requirements at the time the NVC needed the affidavit of support. So it took some time after one of his friends who met the requirements would co sponsor as he wanted to be filled educated on what it entailed.

[Sailor1975 4]

Just make sure that your wife meets the income requirements and if she's does not then find someone now to co sponsor so you don't get held up whilst finding one.

My case was held back for 3 months as my husband didn't meet the income requirements at the time the NVC needed the affidavit of support. So it took some time after one of his friends who met the requirements would co sponsor as he wanted to be filled educated on what it entailed.

Jack,

She is a Professor of Spanish and has tenure. We looked up the financial requirements and seeming as she has a household of 3 (this includes my two little step-children), she needs to be earning about $20000. She earns over that multiple times, so we should be good.

[Boiler 45,478]

About a year is as good a guess as any, adjusting in country would have been a better option but too late now.

Might be a delay due to your military history, more to check.

[Sailor1975 4]

About a year is as good a guess as any, adjusting in country would have been a better option but too late now.

Might be a delay due to your military history, more to check.

Really? I already have an SSN and Maryland Driving License, so I'm "in the system" in many respects.