Minkybear

Mine took about a month, ordered beginning of July and came beginning of Aug.

It took 150 days from filing to USCIS approval, but this is abnormally fast. I think the average seems to be about 1 year at this stage, and from what I gather, the beneficiary's country has no influence on this stage. My interview is scheduled for November, so it would be 269 days start to finish. How fast the NVC/Consulate part goes really depends on how quickly you get all your documents together, how fast the NVC are taking to look at them and whether they request more evidence (that only took us 9 days, which is super fast), and how backlogged your consulate is (luckily London is fast, but I hear some have years worth of backlog). Hoping for a smooth process for you when the time comes 🤞

Same! It's on my birthday too haha 🥳 We are so close everyone!

My husband and I did this, we were approved at the UCSIS stage in July. Just posting our experience: we actually filed the form while I was still visiting and present in the US on my ESTA, and I left a couple of weeks after that. We answered 46a. with WT as that is what was written in my passport, we left 46b. blank (as we didn't know where to get the I-94 information from), and then we answered 46c with my date of entry, and 46d with the end date of the ESTA visit that was stamped in my passport. We had no issues with giving these answers and were approved without an RFE. We also uploaded unsolicited evidence after filing with my boarding pass to show I had returned, and my husband's boarding passes from when he visited me in the UK a few months later and for our honeymoon together (I don't know if this helped, but we wanted to prove that I had returned before my ESTA had run out).

Wonder if interview letters will go out this week... the pattern seems to be last week of the month or early the following month... we shall see! 😊

That's lovely to hear. It's nice to see others finally reach that stage! Right now I'm getting really worked up and nervous about the upcoming medical exam . But we must all keep our eyes on the "prize" of being together with our loved ones again.

I was just wondering if your CEAC account ever changed the "Your case is currently at" to London after you were DQ'd and before your IL? Ours still says NVC and I was wondering whether it even gets updated?

After lurking for a while trying to get an idea of timelines, I can now join in the thread 😄 we were DQ'd today Sep 6th. I'm guessing we have missed the cutoff for an October interview, so fingers crossed all goes to plan for a November one, and my first New York Christmas with my hubby and family 🎄

I am on Universal Credit and it has not affected our process at all.

Thank you for the reply! That makes a lot of sense when you put it in those terms. Perhaps we are overthinking things!

Hi We are currently filling out form I-864. My husband is employed by the NYC DOE, and works as a substitute teacher, while he goes to college at night to become a qualified teacher. He made well over the poverty guideline for our household size (2) for the previous two tax years in a permanent position at the same school. However this year is a little different. Prior to the summer break, he has made just under the guideline amount as a permanent sub. The second half of this year is tricky as he will be student teaching a lot, and doesn't know how much paid work as a substitute he will be able to get. We would be able to comfortably use assets to make up the difference. 1. What should he put as his current annual income, since we don't know exactly what it will be? 2. Due to our change in circumstances this year, and his work no longer being "guaranteed", can we go it alone, or are we going to need a joint sponsor? Thanks!

Thank you everyone. Panic over then. We will continue being patient and take it as a trial run for the day we get the real notification 😄

Hi We filed for a K1 in August 2022, but decided to marry and refile for a CR1 in January 2023. We sent a withdrawal letter shortly after, but received no acknowledgement, and two days ago USCIS just approved our K1... Do we need to contact USCIS about this? Or just carry on and let the K1 "die"? We really don't understand how ours was pulled out of line from August when they are working on Feb/March cases (with cases prior to that still pending!), and we feel terrible about it!!! 😔 we have never expedited or contacted them about it. We are worried that someone else expedited, but they pulled ours by mistake? Has this happened before? Thanks

Hi! Quick question in case anybody has done the same? My husband & I got married last month in the US and have just filed the i-130. I was wondering if anybody had any experience with changing their surname on their British passport, since I can't really find an answer anywhere online... Do I need to get the extended form of the marriage certificate, notarised and with apostille in order to change my surname when I return to the UK? Will they accept the short form? Or just the extended certificate without all the other steps involved? Thanks!

Ah that's interesting. Thanks for the info. I must have interpreted it wrong then, as I understood that he would need to get a marriage visa in order to give notice, because without it they would inform the Home Office who could block it if we tried to get married without one? And that it was only good for one entry. He's coming next week to visit though so we could look into it. Thank you for this, we will for sure get hold of you if we decide on a Vegas trip 😄

Thank you everyone for your feedback! We really appreciate it 😃 We are now so much more confident of what to do 🤩

Hi My fiance (USC) and I (beneficiary, UK citizen) filed for a K1 and got our NOA1 in August 2022. We are looking to withdraw the K1, get married and file for a CR1 instead (we admittedly hurried into the K1 and were given inaccurate information about it being faster). At this point, we are no longer concerned with "the fastest route". CR1 is just admittedly better for us and our circumstances, and we want to switch before we get too far into the K1 process for it to be worth it. I already have an ESTA. It is not possible for us to marry in the UK, as he will have to be here for a minimum of 29 days due to marriage laws here (can't take that much time off due to his job). My questions are: Is it legal to come to the US to visit my fiance using my ESTA, get married and I return to the UK? Or would this be fraudulent? Especially with the K1 having existed? Again, fully intend on returning and living in the UK while we wait it out. If the above is not okay, we are also considering a Utah zoom marriage. We know that it is recognised by the USCIS if we prove we have met in person before filing for the CR1. And we will of course see one another when we can between filing and interview, so will be able to give proof of a real married relationship. If we go the Utah route, are there extra steps to consider to make sure the marriage is legal? We filed for the K1 without a lawyer. If we switch, should we lawyer up just to be safe? We just want to get this right. Thanks in advance for your info!