Scandinavians Part 2

[Pininfarina 74]

15 minutes ago, bcrew13 said:

Hey everyone,

 

My wife is Swedish, I'm from the US. I had a question on how long you think Covid-19 might delay processing time? We applied in November, and was hoping to move to the US around Jan-Mar, but my job offer post-graduation has now been rescinded and I will most likely have to return to the states in August upon completion of my MBA. If February were to be ~14 months, should we expect 3 months of additional waiting time? Any other ways for us to move together considering we could be looking at 8 months of being apart? 😕

 

It took us 18 months to receive visa in hand, one day before they closed the embassy due to COVID-19. 

 

As USCIS and NVC are currently staffed to bare minimum I’d say be more patient. 

[bcrew13 3]

Just now, Pininfarina said:

 

It took us 18 months to receive visa in hand, one day before they closed the embassy due to COVID-19. 

 

As USCIS and NVC are currently staffed to bare minimum I’d say be more patient. 

When I say Jan-Mar I do mean 2021, not 2020. That would be 12.5 - 14.5 months which I thought was the norm for the most part. 18 months is longer than I anticipated though. Is there anyways she could apply for an F-1 while the green card is being processed, or is the fact that F-1 is non-immigration visa she would be denied?

[Pininfarina 74]

7 minutes ago, bcrew13 said:

When I say Jan-Mar I do mean 2021, not 2020. That would be 12.5 - 14.5 months which I thought was the norm for the most part. 18 months is longer than I anticipated though. Is there anyways she could apply for an F-1 while the green card is being processed, or is the fact that F-1 is non-immigration visa she would be denied?

 

What visa class are you applying for? If you are already married she can visit you under ESTA,  she would be exempt under the presidential proclamation of the novel Coronavirus. 

 

 I don’t think your should file F1 just to speed things up. More headache and paperwork later.

[bcrew13 3]

Just now, Pininfarina said:

 

What visa class are you applying for? If you are already married she can visit you under ESTA,  she would be exempt under the presidential proclamation of the novel Coronavirus. 

 

 I don’t think your should file F1 just to speed things up. More headache and paperwork later.

We'll have applied for a CR-1 because we've only been married for a year. Okay, so we can at least break up the time by up to 90 days. 

 

I don't think the F1 would be just to speed things up as she has expressed interest in completing a degree once we move as well, but we figured we could have done that once we got the green card, now we are wondering whether that could be a means to accomplish two things.

[Scandi 4,166]

@Simone Jakobsenn

 

If the link doesn't work, the list is at the bottom of page 77 in this thread 

Edited April 6, 2020 by Scandi

[LilyJ 1,258]

Adjustment of status is not an option if she comes on ESTA... preconceived intent to adjust status on ESTA will be visa fraud and she can be banned from the US permanently and her ESTA revoked

 

On 4/6/2020 at 4:04 AM, bcrew13 said:

We'll have applied for a CR-1 because we've only been married for a year. Okay, so we can at least break up the time by up to 90 days. 

 

I don't think the F1 would be just to speed things up as she has expressed interest in completing a degree once we move as well, but we figured we could have done that once we got the green card, now we are wondering whether that could be a means to accomplish two things.

She won't be eligible for an F1 visa, it's not dual intent so she will have to be able to prove she plans on moving back to Sweden after her education in the US is over, which will be impossible to do with a current pending CR1 and the fact she is married to a US citizen. Also, she will have to prove she has the means herself to pay for everything out of pocket, since she won't be eligible for any government benefits for schooling from the US. This is a huge inconvenience in comparison to if she goes to school as a permanent resident after getting a CR1 visa, since as a green card holder she'd be able to apply for things such as financial aid..

Edited April 7, 2020 by Ryan H
Reason for edit: to remove quote of removed content.

[Ryan H 3,812]

***Posts violating the TOS (advocating visa fraud) removed along with quotes of said post.***

[Jon & Ygritte 178]

Wondering how many Scandinavians that are waiting for the Stockholm embassy to open. We got DQ on March 16th, but are still at NVC and no interview letter in sight.

[OrihimeandIchigo 216]

1 hour ago, Jon & Ygritte said:

Wondering how many Scandinavians that are waiting for the Stockholm embassy to open. We got DQ on March 16th, but are still at NVC and no interview letter in sight.

Congratulations. And I'm still at the NVC stage also and I've been checking the US Embassy in Stockholm website like every day because I know that the longer there closed the longer it is to get a interview date. So hopefully it opens up soon. 

[Jon & Ygritte 178]

16 hours ago, OrihimeandIchigo said:

Congratulations. And I'm still at the NVC stage also and I've been checking the US Embassy in Stockholm website like every day because I know that the longer there closed the longer it is to get a interview date. So hopefully it opens up soon. 

Which date did you get DQ?

[OrihimeandIchigo 216]

6 hours ago, Jon & Ygritte said:

Which date did you get DQ?

I'm not yet. I'm still waiting on some documents to be scanned. Which is frustrating. But I read on the website today that the US Embassy in Stockholm May Visa interviews are canceled but so far they are still doing June interviews until they say differently.

[Simone Jakobsen 8]

Hi guys! 
I’m sure I’m not the only one thinking this time is awfully hard and heartbreaking. All I want is to be with my fiancé and the not knowing is slowing killing me and making me sad every day.

 

Our petition was approved on March 25th and I’m not really sure what the next step is? I’m reading that I should get in touch with the NVC to get a new car number but I’m not sure why? 
Anyone knows anything about this? 
 

Thank you! 

[snowdog 153]

21 hours ago, Simone Jakobsen said:

Hi guys! 
I’m sure I’m not the only one thinking this time is awfully hard and heartbreaking. All I want is to be with my fiancé and the not knowing is slowing killing me and making me sad every day.

 

Our petition was approved on March 25th and I’m not really sure what the next step is? I’m reading that I should get in touch with the NVC to get a new car number but I’m not sure why? 
Anyone knows anything about this? 
 

Thank you! 

NVC will contact you with a case number and instructions for the next step, usually within two months of your petition approval, but who knows with this virus anymore. 

[Kl30morg 7]

Hi everyone,

Not a question for me but for a friend; American petitioner with Norwegian fiance going through K-1 with their NOA2 being Feb 22. Does anyone know if they are automatically extending the 4 month NOA2 to interview window since the embassy was closed for 6 weeks? Or will this couple have to request an extension.

 

I ask because the Norwegian fiance went to his Swedish cabin last week to clean it and had to "sign in" when crossing the border to make sure he wasn't spending the night in Sweden. It'd be a lot of trouble trying to make the interview into a day trip since he lives in Oslo. Apparently Norway is the one making citizens sign in and out, not Sweden. We're also having a hard time getting the NOA2 hardcopy (we were told it was sent twice but received nothing) so I'm worried they won't be able to schedule the interview in time between that and the Embassy backlog they'll have now.

 

Luckily I went through this process without a pandemic so I have no answers for my friend. Thanks in advance!

 

 

[Scandi 4,166]

3 hours ago, Kl30morg said:

Hi everyone,

Not a question for me but for a friend; American petitioner with Norwegian fiance going through K-1 with their NOA2 being Feb 22. Does anyone know if they are automatically extending the 4 month NOA2 to interview window since the embassy was closed for 6 weeks? Or will this couple have to request an extension.

 

I ask because the Norwegian fiance went to his Swedish cabin last week to clean it and had to "sign in" when crossing the border to make sure he wasn't spending the night in Sweden. It'd be a lot of trouble trying to make the interview into a day trip since he lives in Oslo. Apparently Norway is the one making citizens sign in and out, not Sweden. We're also having a hard time getting the NOA2 hardcopy (we were told it was sent twice but received nothing) so I'm worried they won't be able to schedule the interview in time between that and the Embassy backlog they'll have now.

 

Luckily I went through this process without a pandemic so I have no answers for my friend. Thanks in advance!

 

 

The embassy should extend the validity of the i-129f approval automatically (especially in times like these). But just to be on the safe side, if it was me, I would send the embassy an email or two requesting to have it extended. Then at least there is some kind of "paper trail" proving that they didn't just abandon their petition, but actually asked to have it extended. Maybe someone is working at the embassy and actually receives the emails too, who knows. All we know for sure is that they don't conduct interviews at this point.

 

This is the email I used back in 2016, likely they're still using the same one. stkivinfo@state.gov