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hello everybody

my fiance passed her interview in manila 12 business days ago and still her case on ceac is stuck on ready.

it's been 3 weeks now and still nothing from the embassy, no slips, no emails.

calling the embassy or emailing them doesn't yield any result.

how long did it take for you to get your passport back?

can you share anything that you think it might be useful for people waiting on their passport back?

thank you

I ve been a silent reader on forums for years and now that I finally have my green card in hand.. I wanted to give back by sharing my full journey. Hopefully this helps someone going through the same process, specially those from backlogged countries like India and China.

Background

Country of chargeability: India

Category: EB1A

Country of chargeability: India

Category: EB1A

Dependent applicant (father was the primary applicant, sports coach top 1% in his field)

Timeline

July 2021: Entered the US for the first time on an O1 dependent visa.

August 2021 March 2022: Began preparing EB1A petition through an attorney. Faced delays due to Police Clearance Certificate

March 3rd 2022: I-140 filed

Received RFE
Attorney responded within 1 month.

February 2023: I-140 approved

February 2024: Moved back to India as my dad received a better job opportunity there.
From this point onward, we continued the process from India and waited there until our case progressed.

From early 2023 to April 2025 there was almost 2 years of no movement in the visa bulletin for India.
Month after month of checking, hoping and being disappointed.

April 2025 Visa Bulletin: Finally moved by 15 days, (Feb 1 -> Feb 15) small progress. Me and our attorney were convinced that after this small progress, the October VB would bring in some good news.

October 2025 Visa Bulletin: No movement again. At this point I felt lost and anxiety was at its peak because I was also aging out. My attorney said I have until June 2026 under the CSPA.

November 2025 Visa Bulletin: Date jumped forward by a month and our priority date finally became current after more than a 2 year wait. I couldn t believe it to be honest relief is an understatement.

2 weeks later, NVC contacted us and scheduled interview at Mumbai Consulate.Before interview, we had to do our medical exam and renew our pcc s as the old ones had expired.

January 5 2026 Interview Day (Mumbai Consulate): Was extremely anxious going in but the experience was surprisingly smooth. Officer was very friendly and relaxed and the questions were pretty straightforward.Then the words you wait years to hear: Your visa has been approved

January 8, 2026: Received passports with immigrant visa stamped.

March 7 2026
Flew Delhi Shanghai LAX.

Travel experience was trouble free. At LAX, CBP officer was actually excited seeing an immigrant visa packet lol. Didn t question us but just confirmed the mailing address for the green card.

April 13 2026: Received physical green card in hand. USCIS case tracker still shows card was mailed to me and tracker is unavailable.. so don t rely on the tracker.

Suggestions

Sign up for USPS informed delivery. It gives your real time updates for your green card.

Be mentally prepared for long periods of no movement. It s a sad reality.

Backlogs are brutal (specially India/China), but things can move suddenly.

Have a good attorney (ignore if self filing) it makes a difference during RFE stages.

Try to find distractions or hobbies during the wait.

Some days will feel overwhelming and that s normal.

Final Thoughts

If you re going through this process right now.. I genuinely hear you and feel you. The uncertainty is the most exhausting part. The part that slowly kills people from the inside. But, don t lose hope. Even when it feels like nothing is moving things can change quickly.

Huge thanks to communities like:

r/greencard

r/eb_1a

r/uscis

r/nationalvisacenter

and everyone who answered my anxiety driven questions along the way.

If you have any questions feel free to ask and I ll try my best to help.

I've got a friend that arrived in the US in January 2026 on an EB3 visa. She seems to have adjusted surprisingly well and already has her permanent resident card and just bought a new car. She is an RN. The issue is her work hours are insane. 16 hour days, and very, very busy. I am somewhat familiar with the outfit she works for, and they don't have a very good reputation. She would like to find employment elsewhere (still as a RN). She is aware she will have to buy her way out of her contract, which is 2 or 3 years (I don't remember which). I don't have a lot of other details. What are the immigration ramifications if she does this? Should she wait 6 months? A year? I don't think it would be smart for her to start asking her employer about a buyout just 3 months into her contract, but I want to help her understand her options.

Today I logged in to start my I-130 filing process and was kind of surprised to see that instead of going through the guided online process, I could just upload a completed I-130 pdf.

Ive never seen anyone mention you could do this. Every time someone mentions filing online they seem to mean the guided step-by-step method.

I know the guided method helps you along and "error-checks", but other than that is there any reason not to do the pdf upload? Is everything else the same, like upload directions for passport/marriage cert/I-130A, and then Additional Bonafide evidence? Do you still get the instant receipt?

Ive read about glitches in the guided system but ultimately chose to file online because I didnt like losing control of how things would look if I sent the paper version for scanning. Now that I see you can upload a completed I-130 pdf, I wonder why no one mentions it. Seems like the happy medium between paper filing and the full guided online system.

Thanks for any advice!

Hi everyone, I hope you re all doing well.

I m in a very confusing situation and would really appreciate any advice or insight.

We are living in the Middle East, and because of the war and the embassy shutdown, we asked the NVC if it would be possible to transfer our immigrant visa interview from Jordan to the U.S. Embassy in London. We explained that my spouse only has a tourist visa for the UK. The NVC accepted the transfer and scheduled the interview in London.

Since then, we have been trying to contact the London embassy to confirm whether they will actually process the case, since my spouse does not have permanent status in the UK and only holds a tourist visa. Their response has been that this decision will only be made at the interview and will depend on the consular officer.

This puts us in a very difficult position. We would need to travel to London, complete the medical exam there, and spend a lot of money without knowing whether the case will even be processed.

Has anyone been in a similar situation, or does anyone know what we can do? If the embassy in Jordan is still closed for immigrant visa processing, is it even possible to transfer the case back there? Right now, we feel stuck in a very uncertain situation.