What is considered beneficiary Country for us?

[hari9400 0]

Hi All I need some help understanding this. 

 

My wife and I have a unique situation. My wife is a indian citizen, I am a US citizen. My wife currently lives in Uganda and has been there since she was 2 years old. Our interview location is Nairobi, Kenya since they US embassy in Uganda does not conduct IR1/CR1 interviews. 

Can someone clarify what the Beneficiary country would be for us? Would it be the country of her citizenship or current residency? 

Thank You!

[Chancy 6,243]

10 minutes ago, hari9400 said:

Can someone clarify what the Beneficiary country would be for us? Would it be the country of her citizenship or current residency? 

 

If you're talking about the I-130 form question on part 4, item 62 re: embassy/consulate, then it should be the country of the interviewing consulate.  In your case, Kenya.

 

If you mean your VJ profile country, either Uganda or Kenya is fine.

 

Edited September 4, 2021 by Chancy
clarification

[HRQX 4,145]

8 minutes ago, hari9400 said:

Can someone clarify what the Beneficiary country would be for us?

On which form? Can you copy the exact question as it appears on the form?

[hari9400 0]

1 minute ago, HRQX said:

On which form? Can you copy the exact question as it appears on the form?

So its not about the form. I am just trying to understand because I am trying to determine how long it will take for us to get an interview. 

Our NOA1(Petition Received by USCIS): January 17, 2020, NOA2(Petition approved by USCIS): June, 30 2020. So I am trying to understand where we stand with our interview and when we should expect to hear from NVC. 

Do you guys have any idea on when we should expect it? I am looking at this page https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/irstats.php?history=360

and determining that we should hear back before october 22, 2021. 

6 minutes ago, Chancy said:

 

If you're talking about the I-130 form question, then it should be the country of the interviewing consulate.  In your case, Kenya.

 

If you mean your VJ profile country, either Uganda or Kenya is fine.

Our NOA1(Petition Received by USCIS): January 17, 2020, NOA2(Petition approved by USCIS): June, 30 2020. So I am trying to understand where we stand with our interview and when we should expect to hear from NVC. 

Do you know/are able to estimate when we would get our interview? 

 

6 minutes ago, Chancy said:

 

Got it thank you!

[Chancy 6,243]

3 minutes ago, hari9400 said:

Our NOA1(Petition Received by USCIS): January 17, 2020, NOA2(Petition approved by USCIS): June, 30 2020. So I am trying to understand where we stand with our interview and when we should expect to hear from NVC. 

 

What is your case DQ date?  For IR1/CR1 visa, it is your DQ date that matters most in getting in line for interview.

 

As for wait time estimates, check the thread below for updates from others who are DQ and waiting for interview at the US embassy in Kenya.  The most recent IR1/CR1 update is this May 2020 DQ case, got interview letter in July 2021 --

 

 

[Chancy 6,243]

*** Moved from IR1/CR1 Process & Procedures to IR1/CR1 Progress Reports -- OP's actual concern is about wait time for interview, not a procedural question ***

 

[hari9400 0]

44 minutes ago, Chancy said:

 

What is your case DQ date?  For IR1/CR1 visa, it is your DQ date that matters most in getting in line for interview.

 

As for wait time estimates, check the thread below for updates from others who are DQ and waiting for interview at the US embassy in Kenya.  The most recent IR1/CR1 update is this May 2020 DQ case, got interview letter in July 2021 --

 

 

Chancy my DQ was October 7th 2020. Ok I will check. Thanks

[From_CAN_2_US 1,106]

11 hours ago, hari9400 said:

Chancy my DQ was October 7th 2020. Ok I will check. Thanks

Log into your Cesc account. It would show the consulate the case is assigned to.

 

By default, it is normally the country of residence. However, you do have the option of requesting for a transfer to the consulate in the country of the beneficiary’s citizenship, which in your case is Mumbai, India.

 

FYI Mumbai is currently interviewing IR1/CR1 cases who DQ’d in November 2020, so they appear to be ahead of Kenya (if it is true they are only interviewing cases DQ’d in May 2020).

Edited September 4, 2021 by From_CAN_2_US

[hari9400 0]

1 hour ago, From_CAN_2_US said:

Log into your Cesc account. It would show the consulate the case is assigned to.

 

By default, it is normally the country of residence. However, you do have the option of requesting for a transfer to the consulate in the country of the beneficiary’s citizenship, which in your case is Mumbai, India.

 

FYI Mumbai is currently interviewing IR1/CR1 cases who DQ’d in November 2020, so they appear to be ahead of Kenya (if it is true they are only interviewing cases DQ’d in May 2020).

Got it. Thank you. I was told on the Kenya thread that they are currently processing August Dq is that not true? We are hoping to hear back soon, but also if we were to transfer how long would it take for the transfer to go through and would there be any issues? 

[From_CAN_2_US 1,106]

49 minutes ago, hari9400 said:

Got it. Thank you. I was told on the Kenya thread that they are currently processing August Dq is that not true? We are hoping to hear back soon, but also if we were to transfer how long would it take for the transfer to go through and would there be any issues? 

I don’t know much about the Kenya consulate or where they are at.

 

From what I understand transferring doesn’t take too long. Just a few weeks. You would get an interview at the first available date after the transfer is complete.

 

What I do not know is whether you would be requiring to submit a police certificate from India (for the applicant) and how you would do that. Logistically, there are other issues to consider - the médicals would need to be done in India. So it would involve you flying in a few weeks before the interview. Consider the cost of hotel stay in India and time away from work etc. Also keep in mind the COVID situation in India. It’s pretty volatile. A lot of countries have flight bans for flights from India, so going in and leaving might be difficult.

 

Lastly, India is on the list of high-fraud country, so expect more scrutiny there than if the consulate were in a Low-fraud country. I don’t know about the consulate in Kenya, but for Montreal (Canada), for example, relationship proof is not needed to be presented during the interview, but in India it is. Montreal has never refused a CR1/IR1 visa that I know of, but Mumbai rejects them on a regular basis.

 

Take all of this into consideration when making your decision of whether to transfer.

[HRQX 4,145]

20 minutes ago, From_CAN_2_US said:

What I do not know is whether you would be requiring to submit a police certificate from India (for the applicant) and how you would do that.

It's needed if she has lived in India "for more than 6 months at any time in" her life. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-5-collect-financial-evidence-and-other-supporting-documents/step-7-collect-civil-documents.html

 

Per OP's initial post it looks like it may be needed, but it can be applied for at an Indian embassy/consulate: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country/India.html "Indian passport holders residing outside India – The local Indian Embassy, Consulate, High Commission, or Deputy High Commission."

Edited September 4, 2021 by HRQX

[From_CAN_2_US 1,106]

2 hours ago, HRQX said:

It's needed if she has lived in India "for more than 6 months at any time in" her life. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-5-collect-financial-evidence-and-other-supporting-documents/step-7-collect-civil-documents.html

 

Per OP's initial post it looks like it may be needed, but it can be applied for at an Indian embassy/consulate: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country/India.html "Indian passport holders residing outside India – The local Indian Embassy, Consulate, High Commission, or Deputy High Commission."

Yes, and in that case they would have already submitted one. However, the police certificate provided by consulates to non-resident Indians is different from police certificates provided to resident Indians. (Not sure which one the  consulate in India would expect from a person interviewing there.) The latter is to be obtained by going to the police station in India (apparently a simple instantaneous process for someone with strong ties in India). Both are VERY hard to obtain for those with no or few ties in India (you need to provide address proof); saying this as an Indian citizen who had a tough time obtaining police clearance for India from the consulate in Toronto, and would not be able obtain the local police clearance having no direct address proof in India.

 

These are challenges OP would need to clarify and ensure they can overcome before deciding to switch consulates.

 

 

Edited September 4, 2021 by From_CAN_2_US