filed for wife in November

[marvin here 0]

Hi I really can't figure out how to use the timelines here, etc .  So...I filed for my wife, a Mexican citizen in Mexico in November.  Can anyone give me a rough time until the interview in Juarez?  A lawyer told me two years!  I am not using the lawyer, but I asked her to review my i-130.   I am US citizen and it seems we have a super clean case.  I know there are several steps in between.  I know that doesn't help much in this current environment.

[designguy 1,179]

The consulate in CDJ is one with a long wait time. You could check out the link below to see some other people's experience. But it seems 2 years is about right. The last person to interview from Mexico received the NOA1 in February of 2018 just to give you an idea.

 

How "clean" your case is doesn't have an affect on your interview being booked. Its mostly first come first serve.

 

(https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/k1list.php?op6=All&op66=All&op7=Mexico&op1=3&op2=&dfile=No&op3=5&op4=1&op5=5)

[ohcoffeeeyes 120]

Trust me, when we find out the wait too we're somewhat shocked...

 

Look on your NOA1 and see what service centre it says, it'll give you an indication of when your i-130 will be approved, after that its NVC stage which isn't as long but it does feel like a drag and then the difficult part for you will be Juarez, which is easily a 6-8 month wait. It's the busiest consulate in the world, you'll be waiting a long time.

 

Best of luck.

[LilyJ 1,258]

Around 2 years seems to be in the right ballpark for Ciudad Juarez. It takes around 8-12 months for the I130 to be approved. Then, NVC stage adds at least another 2 or more months (depending how long it takes to get case number, how long it takes for you to upload your documents and pay fees, and how long it takes for them to review them, adding on time if they request you upload/reupload anything after reviewing, then you would have to wait for them to review again etc...). Finally, the interview stage. CDJ has a backlog of about 12 months right now. So once you get your documents approved at NVC, you'll have around a year of waiting time from that point just to your interview. It is one of the most backlogged consulates in the world. So sadly, the ~2 year estimate from your lawyer is correct, for someone petitioning for a spouse in Mexico

Edited December 18, 2019 by LilyJ

[marvin here 0]

1 minute ago, LilyJ said:

Around 2 years seems to be in the right ballpark for Ciudad Juarez. It takes around 8-12 months for the I130 to be approved. Then, NVC stage adds at least another 2 or more months (depending how long it takes to get case number, how long it takes for you to upload your documents and pay fees, and how long it takes for them to review them, adding on time if they request you upload/reupload anything after reviewing, then you would have to wait for them to review again etc...). Finally, the interview stage. CDJ has a backlog of about 12 months right now. So once you get your documents approved at NVC, you'll have around a year of waiting time from that point just to your interview. It is one of the most backlogged consulates in the world. So sadly, the ~2 year estimate from your lawyer is correct, for someone petitioning for a spouse in Mexico

thanks so much for everyone's answers.  I am correct that our only option was Juarez, since she is Mexican?  We filed the I-130 online, I wonder if that will make a difference since it just became available.  Why do they make the wait so long?  It seems a bit like a civil rights violation seasoned with racism.

[marvin here 0]

8 minutes ago, ohcoffeeeyes said:

Trust me, when we find out the wait too we're somewhat shocked...

 

Look on your NOA1 and see what service centre it says, it'll give you an indication of when your i-130 will be approved, after that its NVC stage which isn't as long but it does feel like a drag and then the difficult part for you will be Juarez, which is easily a 6-8 month wait. It's the busiest consulate in the world, you'll be waiting a long time.

 

Best of luck.

thank you for the response.  we filed online the i-130 so no service center-

[marvin here 0]

14 minutes ago, designguy said:

The consulate in CDJ is one with a long wait time. You could check out the link below to see some other people's experience. But it seems 2 years is about right. The last person to interview from Mexico received the NOA1 in February of 2018 just to give you an idea.

 

How "clean" your case is doesn't have an affect on your interview being booked. Its mostly first come first serve.

 

(https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/k1list.php?op6=All&op66=All&op7=Mexico&op1=3&op2=&dfile=No&op3=5&op4=1&op5=5)

thank you so much.  this is so hard emotionally and financially 

[LilyJ 1,258]

Just now, marvin here said:

thanks so much for everyone's answers.  I am correct that our only option was Juarez, since she is Mexican?  We filed the I-130 online, I wonder if that will make a difference since it just became available.  Why do they make the wait so long?  It seems a bit like a civil rights violation seasoned with racism.

Yes, CDJ is the only option. Online I130 is just as slow as paper I130, what service center is your petition at? If you received a NOA1 in the mail, it should tell you, either in the letter or on the envelope. They don't really "make" the wait so long on purpose; the wait is a product of the sheer mass of visa applicants from Mexico. So many applicants makes the backlog extremely long, since they can only give interviews to so many people in a day, week, month... Think of it like an amusement park. If the line has a lot of people, it will of course take a lot longer to get through than another line that has less people in it. That's why it is how it is at CDJ, a lot of people applying for visas, a lot of people waiting in line

[marvin here 0]

5 minutes ago, LilyJ said:

Yes, CDJ is the only option. Online I130 is just as slow as paper I130, what service center is your petition at? If you received a NOA1 in the mail, it should tell you, either in the letter or on the envelope. They don't really "make" the wait so long on purpose; the wait is a product of the sheer mass of visa applicants from Mexico. So many applicants makes the backlog extremely long, since they can only give interviews to so many people in a day, week, month... Think of it like an amusement park. If the line has a lot of people, it will of course take a lot longer to get through than another line that has less people in it. That's why it is how it is at CDJ, a lot of people applying for visas, a lot of people waiting in line

I see what you are saying, but it would seem in that case that they would add more staff.  Thanks for the info - as far as service center it says this:  It is being processed at our E-Filed Case Processing Section location.

 

[LilyJ 1,258]

1 minute ago, marvin here said:

I see what you are saying, but it would seem in that case that they would add more staff.  Thanks for the info - as far as service center it says this:  It is being processed at our E-Filed Case Processing Section location.

 

Yes, they could use more staff in many areas of the immigration process in all honesty. But, if you want my opinion, they don't really care. Take Potomac vs Nebraska: you have a service center with 6-7 months of processing time, and another with 12+. There is unfortunately a lot of issues with the immigration system that I don't think they particularly care to fix. Also, a building like a consulate can only hold so many people.. so even with an increase in staff, it couldn't be guaranteed that it would help much or allow to schedule many more additional interviews, if any at all. For all we know the consulate can already be fully staffed every day. The amount of applicants is just too much to handle in a timely manner

 

It won't tell you online what service center, you will have to check your paper NOA1 if you received one in the mail. If you haven't received a NOA1 in the mail I would ask USCIS to send another. If you do have it, the address on the envelope should tell you where it's at. As far as I've heard so far, every petition, even online, is assigned to a service center, even though it doesn't state it online. Everyone with IOE numbers has to check their paper NOA1 to see their service center

[marvin here 0]

1 minute ago, LilyJ said:

Yes, they could use more staff in many areas of the immigration process in all honesty. But, if you want my opinion, they don't really care. Take Potomac vs Nebraska: you have a service center with 6-7 months of processing time, and another with 12+. There is unfortunately a lot of issues with the immigration system that I don't think they particularly care to fix. Also, a building like a consulate can only hold so many people.. so even with an increase in staff, it couldn't be guaranteed that it would help much or allow to schedule many more additional interviews, if any at all. For all we know the consulate can already be fully staffed every day. The amount of applicants is just too much to handle in a timely manner

 

It won't tell you online what service center, you will have to check your paper NOA1 if you received one in the mail. If you haven't received a NOA1 in the mail I would ask USCIS to send another. If you do have it, the address on the envelope should tell you where it's at. As far as I've heard so far, every petition, even online, is assigned to a service center, even though it doesn't state it online. Everyone with IOE numbers has to check their paper NOA1 to see their service center

ok great! thank you so much!

[Juliet57 304]

The 2 years long is correct. 

 

We applied in March 2019 and only submitted documents to NVC a week ago.  

I'm guessing my interview will be around December 2020/January 2021 so one more year to go.

 

The only way I've found info about interview dates is through the facebook groups 'citados al consulado de juarez mexico' etc. 

In my experience not many mexicans use VJ so there isn't enough info to check in the timelines.

[HRQX 4,145]

21 hours ago, marvin here said:

We filed the I-130 online, I wonder if that will make a difference since it just became available.

Do you live in the US or Mexico? If in Mexico, then you can submit the I-130 in-person at USCIS Mexico City: https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-offices/mexico-uscis-mexico-city-field-office "Evidence of residency must be submitted with the petition. The evidence you submit must support a determination that you are a resident in Mexico."