Tokyo to HNL - IR1 Visa for my spouse

[TokyoHNL 25]

Hi - I'm an American that lived abroad in Japan for 17 years. While there I met my wife of now 15 years (2 kids) - in January 2015 I moved back to the US to get ready for my children to attend school here in Honolulu.

I moved here for a job so I started working from the start. The plan was my Son would start school in July and the remainder of my family (Wife and daughter) would join me in the late 2015. The wife, daughter and Son visited honolulu for 6 weeks in the summer and my son started school as planned. My wife and daughter went back to Tokyo to finish school in Tokyo.

I started the application process in October 2015. Here is a timeline:

1. I-130 filed with the USCIS Phoenix lockbox on 10/2

2. Received electronic notic that my case would be assigned to USCIS Nebraska on 10/26 via a I-797C

3. My priority date is 10/22/2015

4. USCIS notified me that my case was approved on April 12th 2016 via the I-797

5. NVC ( New Hampshire) received welcome letter on May 2nd, 2016

6. Paid my AOS fee on May 2nd 2016

7. Change of Agent (DS-261) filed on May 2nd 2016

8. DS-260 submitted on 13 May 2016

9. NVC sent a letter on June 23rd 2016 stating a few items were not included in my packet but only 1 item had a 'X' so I prepared to send that item

10. Wrote to NVC in mid august via email and received reply on 8/24 pointing to the missing item identified in the June letter.

11. August 28th I Wrote email to NVC stating they should have all items that were requested

12. NVC wrote to me on 9/1 stating that I should NOT send any documents to NVC but that I should send them to the principal applicant (in Tokyo)

13. NVC confirmed that items I sent were received and needed 6 weeks to review items

Since that last communication I write to the NVC once a week to check on the status of my case but I always receive the email stating that they are busy and need 6 weeks to confirm documents.

It is now 10/17 and I have no idea what I should be doing ? Do I keep waiting for the notification that the case was sent to the US Embassy in Tokyo ? Can I do anything to speed them up? Should I in fact send the only remaining item (Japan Police Certificate) to the NVC or should I just make sure my wife has it for the interview (referring to 9/1 email advice from NVC)... I'm confused now, I'd really like to have the remaining part of my family here soon at least by January so my daughter can start school at the start of the 3rd term.

Any advice / input is welcome.

Thank you.

Geno

[JFH 12,191]

You are about the same stage as us. NVC received all our documents on September 1 and we are still waiting for the review to be completed (it's been more than 6 weeks now). A lot of people are waiting more than six months now. All we can do is wait. It's very frustrating. I was hoping to be with my husband for Christmas but that's looking unlikely now.

Edited October 18, 2016 by JFH

[NesCes 0]

Just an to help the anxiety. I sent my package for NVC on July 15, 2016 and I didn't get any update until September 12, 2016. That almost 8 week. Both of you are going 7 weeks right now but its almost there. There is nothing you can do but wait and the feeling of waiting for answers does suck. I called almost everyday when our case entered that 5 week. What they are doing in this staged and why they take so long is making an interview appointment for you in the Embassy. Once the appointment for interview has been made then they will notify you. This is exactly what happen to my wife case in Singapore.

[TokyoHNL 25]

Thanks everyone for your input - good luck on your respective cases.

[TokyoHNL 25]

Ok, I'm getting more frustrated because I can see that many couples are getting through this process 2-3 times faster than I am. If you see the timeline in my first post, there is VERY little time in between a request from USCIS or NVC before I respond with the appropriate document.

At the advice of the NVC I'm not sending any additional documents because that will delay my case (even further) but it hasn't moved since June 2016. I email NVC at least once a week asking for a status and with a question of what else do I need to provide to move my case along.

I've also written to the US embassy in Japan hoping that they could help me move my case further along but they cannot and generally close my request in 1-2 days. '

The worst response I got was essentially be patient we will tell you when we are done and can move the case to the Embassy. what kind of Govt keeps their citizen away from their spouse for so long.......

Argh....