Dewald & Brittney

Ok that's a relief. Thank you all.

Hello everyone, I have a tough time making sense of all of this. My wife and I got married in August of 2021. I only received my CR1 in February of 2023 and moved to the US shortly after. Is the date to file 90 days before the second anniversary of your marriage (in my case 90 days before August 2023), or 90 days before the second anniversary of your arrival (90 days before February 2025)? I have not received my green card yet and my CR1 visa in my passport expires in July, so I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything. Thanks in advance. Dewald

Congratulations! I'm glad everything went well. It took me less than a week to get my passport back via Thai post. Good luck with the relocation!

Congratulations!

You are almost there. I've got my fingers crossed for you!

Final update: I received my passport and Immigrant Fee packet (was not given to me after the interview) on the 18th of February. It took 3 days from the interview to be delivered to where I live in the northern suburbs of Bangkok. Flying to the US next week. Finally getting to board one-way!

Update: APPROVED! I had my interview scheduled for 08:30, but the actual interview time was about 30 minutes off. Overall, the service was great and both the Thai lady who checked my documents and the CO were extremely welcoming and friendly. The CO asked me a few basic questions such as how my wife and I met, and where we plan living.

Congratulations! Keep us updated on when she gets it back. 2 years is a very long time. Hopefully she gets her passport faster than 7 days so she can take the next flight out.

@tstcman I'm wishing you luck for the interview tomorrow. Let us know how it goes and how long it takes for her passport to come back. You must be really excited at this point.

I'm so sorry you are going through this. Generally congress is the way to go, but as you said you have already tried that. We had pretty good luck with our representative in NY. Maybe try calling their office to follow up? I don't know much about using a lawyer, but as far as I've heard/read, they generally don't provide much use unless your case has exceptionalities such as criminal records etc. but that is just what I have heard so take it with a grain of salt.

I'm glad that you got your IL. I completely understand your frustration. My wife's birthday is in early February and we were hoping to spend that together along with Valentine's day. Last year, her visa in SA expired a few days before her birthday as well so this is 2 years in a row. On the bright side, after this there really shouldn't be any more missed holidays/birthdays. Fingers crossed for you!

I was in a similar situation. My wife (USC) and I met and got engaged in Thailand. We got married while I was back in South Africa and I applied for a tourist visa to the US to visit her before coming back to work in Thailand. When I went for the B1 interview I told the CO that I was going to visit my wife and gave him my wedding certificate and also showed proof that I was going back to work in Thailand. I got my B1 visa and have visited the US twice in 2022, once via JFK and the second time through LAX. Both of my entries were smooth. If she already has a visa then I don't think it will be an issue, assuming her record is pristine. In regard to applying for a B1 while having an I130 processing, I think your profession, ties and straightforwardness play a large role. I told my CO from the start that I want to visit my wife for a month while we are processing our I130, my profession is also in education so I think they know that it is basically impossible to land a teaching job on a tourist visa. It might have also helped that I showed him my work contract to return to Thailand after my visit to the US. Best of luck. Dewald

Thank you for sharing your experience, this is very valuable information. Keep us updated on your process, if we all share our experience here it can do a lot of good for the next group of people who are in the same boat. All the best, Dewald

Any news on your husband's interview? I hope all progressed well.