Scheduling Interviews in Abu Dhabi Embassy

[Riber 4]

20 hours ago, N&M E.B said:

How long did it take for NVC to review your documents? CR1 here for my husband and we submitted all documents in January. I was wondering how much longer I have to be stuck in UAE before I can return to America. Im hoping not much longer. Can anyone give me a timeline?

NVC takes about 3 months from submission, you can track it here: visawhen.com/nvc

And then it's another probably 6 months for the IL once you're DQ'd (assuming you're Abu Dhabi and a UAE resident), so sadly it's still a long wait

[Hanif 2]

19 hours ago, Riber said:

NVC takes about 3 months from submission, you can track it here: visawhen.com/nvc

And then it's another probably 6 months for the IL once you're DQ'd (assuming you're Abu Dhabi and a UAE resident), so sadly it's still a long wait

Question, based on what NVC officially says, consulates open up interview times and nvc fills them based on first come first serve. Is it just not true? Do they discriminate based on residency?

[N&M E.B 1]

On 2/19/2022 at 5:04 PM, Riber said:

NVC takes about 3 months from submission, you can track it here: visawhen.com/nvc

And then it's another probably 6 months for the IL once you're DQ'd (assuming you're Abu Dhabi and a UAE resident), so sadly it's still a long wait

Well my husband is a resident here and his residency just finished so I was wondering what I could do to help speed up the process. I am a US citizen here on a visitor visa because I wanted to be with my husband for his interview.

[Riber 4]

19 hours ago, Hanif said:

Question, based on what NVC officially says, consulates open up interview times and nvc fills them based on first come first serve. Is it just not true? Do they discriminate based on residency?

Just noticed your visa category, not sure about that one, the 6 months is for IR/CR1 which generally has the highest priority. 

Officially I don't think there's a difference, but if you see the times it actually takes, there seems to be a big difference in people applying from Iran/iraq/Afghanistan etc where there's no local processing of immigrant interviews  I recommend you join facebook groups such as NVC & USCIS group you can find other people in similar situation there and the admins are quite responsive as well.

 

8 hours ago, N&M E.B said:

Well my husband is a resident here and his residency just finished so I was wondering what I could do to help speed up the process. I am a US citizen here on a visitor visa because I wanted to be with my husband for his interview.

You could try to expedite the case, if he doesn't have anywhere else to go it might work. When did you get DQ'ed?

[N&M E.B 1]

10 hours ago, Riber said:

Just noticed your visa category, not sure about that one, the 6 months is for IR/CR1 which generally has the highest priority. 

Officially I don't think there's a difference, but if you see the times it actually takes, there seems to be a big difference in people applying from Iran/iraq/Afghanistan etc where there's no local processing of immigrant interviews  I recommend you join facebook groups such as NVC & USCIS group you can find other people in similar situation there and the admins are quite responsive as well.

 

You could try to expedite the case, if he doesn't have anywhere else to go it might work. When did you get DQ'ed?

I didn't get DQ'd yet. I submitted my documents just last month for review. Thats why I was wondering what the timeline was, I know that as a USC I dont have to wait for a visa to become available. just wondering about how much longer id have to stay in UAE is all.

[Riber 4]

23 minutes ago, N&M E.B said:

I didn't get DQ'd yet. I submitted my documents just last month for review. Thats why I was wondering what the timeline was, I know that as a USC I dont have to wait for a visa to become available. just wondering about how much longer id have to stay in UAE is all.

Ah okay, I understand. 

You've got quite a wait ahead of you. NVC currently takes 95 days to review (https://visawhen.com/nvc), so you're looking at 2 months for that, and then afterwards the best estimate is 3-6 months for interview (this is based on my lawyer's feedback, and what I've gathered from different forums on the internet. It's most likely closer to 6 months than to 3, but it's impossible to say. The interview step is the least transparent of them all :(

Hope this doesn't ruin your plans too much. I know how frustrating this process is!

[N&M E.B 1]

11 minutes ago, Riber said:

Ah okay, I understand. 

You've got quite a wait ahead of you. NVC currently takes 95 days to review (https://visawhen.com/nvc), so you're looking at 2 months for that, and then afterwards the best estimate is 3-6 months for interview (this is based on my lawyer's feedback, and what I've gathered from different forums on the internet. It's most likely closer to 6 months than to 3, but it's impossible to say. The interview step is the least transparent of them all

Hope this doesn't ruin your plans too much. I know how frustrating this process is!

Thank you for the advice. I was actually surprised at how quickly USCIS approved of our i130. Our service center was California and based on USCIS website it says that it'll take 14+ months for approval but we were approved in 7 months without an expedite. Its just so random I guess. Im hoping it'll be just as fast here too! crossing my fingers.

[Spikee 4]

I don't want to put anyone down, but my friend and I has been DQ'd for EB3 since June and July 2021 respectively and we still haven't got our IL, both of us are UAE residents. We only receive the every 60 days e-mail from NVC informing us that no appointments are available and that they will let us know once one is available. Also, on this group there are some IR1s and EB2s who's been DQ'd since 2020 ☹️

 

Nevertheless, I'm noticing that the interviews are starting to progress faster than 2021 but apparently Abu Dhabi embassy's backlog and queue is a long one that I'm starting to realize that a 24 months ID is becoming the norm for immigrant visas. I've also filed for expedite request since December,2021 with no response so far.

 

I hope it progresses much faster for everyone here & please keep updating us on DQ times, ILs & IDs for different visa categories whenever possible.

[Hanif 2]

27 minutes ago, Spikee said:

I don't want to put anyone down, but my friend and I has been DQ'd for EB3 since June and July 2021 respectively and we still haven't got our IL, both of us are UAE residents. We only receive the every 60 days e-mail from NVC informing us that no appointments are available and that they will let us know once one is available. Also, on this group there are some IR1s and EB2s who's been DQ'd since 2020 ☹️

 

Nevertheless, I'm noticing that the interviews are starting to progress faster than 2021 but apparently Abu Dhabi embassy's backlog and queue is a long one that I'm starting to realize that a 24 months ID is becoming the norm for immigrant visas. I've also filed for expedite request since December,2021 with no response so far.

 

I hope it progresses much faster for everyone here & please keep updating us on DQ times, ILs & IDs for different visa categories whenever possible.

Thanks for the update. It's strange. I crunched the numbers based monthly immigrant visa published in the past three years. Except for a month or two in the initial covid peak, eb issuance continued uninterrupted and my estimation of backlog based on pre pandemic average, was that it has been cleared back to it's normal value. (Following two graphs are issued visa and days behind based on pre pandemic average and is only meaningful post Feb 2020. Yellow is eb main applicant)

 

Why the long wait? Who were these eb cases issued especially eb3? Do you know the pre pandemic wait time for EB?

 

Edited February 22, 2022 by Hanif
Graphs addes

[Hanif 2]

Is it possible that it has been some kind of emergency medicine only eb situation and the regular eb has been backing up?

[Spikee 4]

5 hours ago, Hanif said:

Is it possible that it has been some kind of emergency medicine only eb situation and the regular eb has been backing up?

Not sure, but the numbers are low anyhow for EB as you see. As per my records EW (which is the EB3) category issued visas at Abu Dhabi in 2021 were 6 & for 2022 so far which starts in October 2021 it's bee 1.

[Hanif 2]

2 hours ago, Spikee said:

Not sure, but the numbers are low anyhow for EB as you see. As per my records EW (which is the EB3) category issued visas at Abu Dhabi in 2021 were 6 & for 2022 so far which starts in October 2021 it's bee 1.

Actually the numbers are not low. You have to compare it with itself pre pandemic not with other categories especially family based. The demand for eb consular processing has been always relatively low.

So you're record is based on people in this forum?

[EpicMufasa 0]

Hello everyone! I am new to this forum, and I had a question...

I applied to my wife's immigration visa from emirates to the US. Our documents were qualified by the NVC on October 27 2021, and we received an email from the NVC that Abu Dhabi us embassy will schedule an interview. I filed an expedite request on February due to my graduation ceremony and the fact that traveling is so expensive to the point where I can visit once a year. I heard back same week from Abu Dhabi that it's denied and that I have to wait for fairness with other applicants. Now of course, they don't give any info other than our documents are approved and in the NVC waiting for an interview date. I am have been looking at other cases on the website and it seemed to vary between cases. I've seen mostly closer to 6 months period, but some year or longer... Does anyone know what's the expected time?

Any recommendations? 

 

[Riber 4]

12 hours ago, EpicMufasa said:

Hello everyone! I am new to this forum, and I had a question...

I applied to my wife's immigration visa from emirates to the US. Our documents were qualified by the NVC on October 27 2021, and we received an email from the NVC that Abu Dhabi us embassy will schedule an interview. I filed an expedite request on February due to my graduation ceremony and the fact that traveling is so expensive to the point where I can visit once a year. I heard back same week from Abu Dhabi that it's denied and that I have to wait for fairness with other applicants. Now of course, they don't give any info other than our documents are approved and in the NVC waiting for an interview date. I am have been looking at other cases on the website and it seemed to vary between cases. I've seen mostly closer to 6 months period, but some year or longer... Does anyone know what's the expected time?

Any recommendations? 

 

It's a guessing game, but here's what I think:

There's different queues for residents and people applying from other countries that don't process immigration visas (Iran for instance). For residents the wait looks like around 6 months to interview. So you should get your IL soon if your wife is a UAE resident. 

This is based on what I've seen on various forums (we also have a telegram group chat of family based immigration from Abu Dhabi embassy, pm me if you want to join), and also from what my lawyer has gathered from other lawyers. But again, nobody really knows. Let us know if you hear anyything!

[EpicMufasa 0]

Thank you so much! I know it's just a guessing, but you just gave me a happiness boost hahaha! I don't mind the 6 months, it's just nerve recking to see some people waiting longer than a year....I will definitely keep you updated!