US Immigration from Canada

Hi.. I filed with a receipt date of July 5, 2016 for my brother and his wife. They are both over 21 and they are both in the UK. My parents were not citizens yet, and my mother has since died. My father did gain his citizenship in 2022 though. When I filed, I thought it was 7-9 years or so until processing was complete. Turns out I was wrong. In all my years of submitting paperwork for visas, I did not know about the visa bulletins (my K1, AOS and then citizenship and then my parents I-130 visas and father's citizenship )- I always came here for timeline discussions. Now I'm hearing that it takes more like 15-20 years. The bulletin that someone linked to, sates that as of September 2023, they are completing F4 I-130 petitions from April of 2007 - so a 16 year wait, which would mean that if all things stay the same, then my petition for my brother won't see the light of day until at least 2032.

Would it be better to have my father send in a new petition for my brother instead? Do I have to repeal my I-130 in order to do that or can I just change the category (F4 to F3)? And I don't mean to sound morbid, but what if my father dies before my brother's I-130 gets approved?

I can't seem to find processing times for any of these things on the USCIS processing times website/page. It all says "See Notes". And if I enter the receipt date on the USCIS processing times page under "When can I ask about my case?", the message that pops up is that I can't ask before July 14, 2029. So is that their anticipated processing date for the F4 I-130? I think that is a parent filing for a married child is a F3 visa. Are they really processing 14 years out as well? Heck! I don't even know if I'm reading the bulletin right! This is what I'm looking at. https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/family-preference-cut-off-dates/Cut-off_Dates_Worldwide_Online_FY23.pdf

Thanks for any help you guys can give. I thought I was a real pro at all of this stuff, lol, but so much time has passed that now I feel like a total newbie.

Hello,

I have a few questions. My wife is living in the US and I am in Canada. She filed the I-130 form in March 2024. Wondering if anyone filed shortly before that and has had their case approved and sent to NVC yet? Online status says we have a week left.

Secondly, Once the application is sent to the NVC what is the approximate turn around time from them receiving your application to the interview date in Canada? We would be getting them all their documents done as soon as possible.

And lastly, We travel back and forth to visit each other but due to my flexible work schedule I travel to visit her more often. I am coming close to the 180 days allowed in the US in a year and I know that exceeding that can be very detrimental for the application. Does anyone know if there is a legal way through the USCIS to exceed those 180 days without it effecting the application. Or is the best option for my wife to just visit me when she can in Canada?

Thank you for your insight.

Good evening, and congratulations for finding your partner in the US! I wanted to give you a heads-up as to how our immigration process has gone When we did our research we saw that the average processing time was 10-12 months. Our initial application was received by USCIS June 23, 2022 - yes, well over 2 years ago. At about the 14 month mark, we found out (by looking at the website) that we fell into the RFE category. Had to wait about 30 days waiting on a letter of what we were missing. It never showed up. Followed the procedure to find out what document we were missing and got a canned response of they (USCIS) have 30 days to acknowledge the email, and an additional 60 to process it. So we waited the time and still no response. At that time we reached out to a Congressman who assigned one of his staff to make an inquirey. Within 24 hours the staff member sent me an email showing literally they needed the last page of my divorce decree that states this page left intentionally blank. I sent it off the same day, and we wait again Finally we see that the application had been forwarded to the National Visa Center. They show this is a 60 day process. After about 75 days, we reached out to the Congressman, and again, within 24 hours it was headed to the next step. My fiancee found out that the only approved doctor for the medical exam was on the far west coast, then her interview was on the far east coast. At her interview (January 23, 2024) she was told she was approved and would receive her passport back with the Visa in about 7 days. February 14, 2024 she received an email requesting her to fill out the attached form, now known as the Dreaded DS-5535 . We are still baffled by why they requested this, but many immigrating from Canada are sent into this rabbit hole. There is a whole thread on here about that. She has been able to travel to the US with just the usual secondary inspection in customs due to us filing the K-1 Visa Application. According to the tread on here, the DS-5535 average approval time is 15-16 additional months (since the date she sent the email). So now we wait again. We reached out to a Senator this time (due to the previous politican going out of office) with a response of If we don t hear anything by October 8, 2024 to contact his office again. We are hopeful, but skeptical, so we shall see. Sorry for the long read, but just wanted to provide some information as to what you could potentially be up against during your immigration. Please feel free to ask me questions, or provide any advise you might have!

My 485 was denied today.. I married father of my child that s a usc few months before filing, I ve been in USA almost 2 years total, a year spent waiting on the decision, I had no money for a lawyer so filed myself, reason for denial was saying they need a co sponsor even though my husband made over 35k every year last 3 years. Also was my fault for assuming medical exam was my responsibility and not wait for a summons like with biometric . Question is everyone saying to refile and not appeal but at this point I m a year past expired visa, will this be a problem and I m guessing I can t go to Canada to visit my family and return cause they ll deny me

Hello all! My fiance and I are just starting the beginning of our own Visa journey. I am coming from Canada. I am still sorting through all of the information out there, but these are my initial questions that I haven't been able to find a great answer to yet:

1. I believe we have enough evidence to prove our relationship, but how different is it to prove a "bona fide marriage" vs. a real relationship? I have seen the list of evidence for a marriage (i.e. joint bank account, mortgage/lease etc.) but since I am still living in Canada (and would be until the Visa is approved), I wouldn't have any financial evidence. Is evidence to prove a legit relationship enough to prove a legit marriage?

2. Regarding a wedding - is this necessary? In Colorado, you don't need an officiant. You can (basically) apply for your marriage license, sign at the same time when you pick it up, and leave the office legally married. No pictures of a one knee proposal, no dress, no wedding, no tiny ceremony, no photos. If we go this route (which we would prefer tbh), would this cause issues with our application, especially when we won't have any of the financial evidence suggested to prove a "bona fide marriage"?

I very much appreciate any advice on these questions! Thank you so much in advance as I am sure I will have many more questions as we work our way through this process