NVC processing time

[stirling 4]

Hi, everybody. Still waiting for NOA2, (Jun '22), but looking ahead to the next steps.

The estimated times in NVC stage after I-130 approval are all over the place, so I'm trying to understand what I'm missing.

 

VisaJourney says 193 days: 

 

 

While these two say about 16 days + 12 days for case creation:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/nvc-timeframes.html

https://visawhen.com/nvc

 

[Micam 32]

I've always put it down to a couple of different factors, but happy to stand corrected as these are assumptions:

 

- People purposefully delay the process at this stage so they are eligible to get the 10 year GC or for other personal reasons (work, study, etc.)

- NVC sometimes holds onto documents until your consulate is ready to accept them, so if your consulate is backlogged then they're likely to hold on to them longer.

- There are several documents needed to be submitted at this stage (police checks, tax documents) so if you're not prepared here then there may be a delay getting everything together.

[Chancy 6,241]

*** Moved from IR1/CR1 Progress Reports to the NVC forum ***

 

[top_secret 2,379]

The case creation plus review time represents how quickly someone who does everything immediately and correctly will become documentarily qualified. The timeframes are quite accurate.  Preparedness and accuracy are critical if one wants the fastest possible NVC experience.  After a case becomes documentarily qualified the wait time for an interview to be scheduled varies wildly for different embassies.  There are still some embassies with backlogs measured in years, and other embassies where one might get and interview within two weeks.  Only comparisons to others recent experiences at whatever particular Embassy ones case is at will give any clue as to how long it may take to get an interview scheduled.

 

The best thing anyone can do while waiting for an I-130 to be approved is get fully prepared and ready in advance for NVC.

 

[Sj33 1]

My spouse and I are going through the process in Lima and I can confirm that the NVC process is moving quickly if you have everything in order. We had to wait on some documents a couple months, but once we submitted everything to NVC it took ~3 weeks for NVC approval. Now we are just waiting to see how long it takes for the interview to be scheduled in Lima. 

[stirling 4]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. So it sounds like things can go pretty quickly after NOA2.

 

Sj33: Nice to meet you and good luck with the rest of your journey. How long have you been waiting for an interview so far? Which documents took a couple months?

 

I don’t see this documented anywhere, but I’m curious how far in advance we can get the police records and medical exam. I have my tax transcripts ready for I-864. Have to wait for I-130 approval before DS-260/1. Between the two of us we seem to have the other documents already. Just don’t know what else can be done at this stage to prepare for NVC.

 

And from the state dept website, it seems that the CR or IR determination is based on the date of US entry. That was another of my questions - at what point is the visa issuance date determined, (interview date, approval date, entry date). So it seems like if we wanted to get the IR green card we could just delay her US entry instead of delaying the NVC process or interview date.

[Sj33 1]

Thanks! We just received the notice from NVC that everything is in order yesterday, so we are just starting our wait time to the interview. It doesn’t look like there is a lot of info re time frame online, but hopefully it doesn’t take more than a 2-3 months. 
 

The docs that took time were mainly on my end with some of the tax records I needed to submit, but it sounds like you’re all set on that front. I’m not sure how long the police records are valid for, but it took less than 2 weeks to get them online and we did it after we received the USCIS approval so it shouldn’t hold things up if you wait until you get the formal USCIS approval. We did find out though that for Peru they require two extra certificates in addition to the police records. The three criminal record documents they require including the police record certificate are called: 1) Certificado de Antecedentes Policiales, 2) Certificado Judicial de Antecedentes Penales, and 3) Certificado de Antecedentes Judiciales a Nivel Nacional. This is the state department website that explains that they are needed for Peru:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country/Peru.html

 

We googled each form and there are instructions on how to get each online and it was pretty straightforward luckily. 

 

Lastly, I’m not sure I understand your final question, but I don’t think there’s a way to bypass the NVC processing and interview date if you’re applying from abroad. The visa isn’t issued until after the interview is completed based on what I know.

[Sj33 1]

On 3/21/2023 at 5:22 PM, stirling said:

I don’t see this documented anywhere, but I’m curious how far in advance we can get the police records and medical exam.

Sorry, I realized I didn’t respond to your question regarding the medical exam. Based on what we received from the NVC, you don’t schedule the medical exam until after you receive the interview date so we still haven’t done that yet. This is a link to a timeline that NVC included in an email that I found helpful in case you haven’t come across it yet: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-10-prepare-for-the-interview.html

[stirling 4]

 

12 hours ago, Sj33 said:

Lastly, I’m not sure I understand your final question, but I don’t think there’s a way to bypass the NVC processing and interview date if you’re applying from abroad. The visa isn’t issued until after the interview is completed based on what I know.

To clarify, my question was about getting the 10 year vs 2 year conditional visa. If we're married at least 2 years when the visa is issued, then she would receive the IR 10 year visa. If it's less than 2 years, then she would receive the CR 2 year visa. If the process is going to be close to the 2 year mark, then we might want to slightly delay things to avoid removal of conditions. But it was hard to find at what point in the process they determine the 2 year anniversary mark and 10 year or 2 year visa. Eventually I found that they use the date of US entry.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/family-immigration/immigrant-visa-for-spouse.html#12

[Lil bear 4,156]

11 minutes ago, stirling said:

 

To clarify, my question was about getting the 10 year vs 2 year conditional visa. If we're married at least 2 years when the visa is issued, then she would receive the IR 10 year visa. If it's less than 2 years, then she would receive the CR 2 year visa. If the process is going to be close to the 2 year mark, then we might want to slightly delay things to avoid removal of conditions. But it was hard to find at what point in the process they determine the 2 year anniversary mark and 10 year or 2 year visa. Eventually I found that they use the date of US entry.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/family-immigration/immigrant-visa-for-spouse.html#12

If the immigrant  enters the US after the 2nd anniversary of the marriage then the visa is endorsed for an IR1 LPR status.. unconditional 10 yr green card…  thus avoiding ROC. This happens even if the  Visa is issued before the 2nd anniversary as a CR1. Its the date of entry using  the visa that is the marker. She can delay entering until the second anniversary of needed.. as long v as the visa is unexpired and the medical still current… usually 6 months but can be shorter 

Edited March 23, 2023 by Lil bear