appleblossom

In all honesty, I think you're overthinking it. You're likely to get asked a handful of questions at most (I got asked two IIRC) and they'll just be verifying what your application says. If you do get put in AP because of your country of birth (unfortunately, quite likely) then that's going to happen regardless. There really is no need to fear the interview or worry about what you'll be asked. As long as you can give genuine answers to questions about your research and skills, you'll be just fine. Best of luck.

The trouble is the amount of people that apply keeps increasing, hence why it moves so slowly and why you can't look at the PD of the people who are getting visas now and assume the same wait will apply to you - the line is just longer than when they applied 14 or so years ago. But all you can do is file asap so your brother gets his place in that line, and then as @Boiler said, essentially just forget about it for now. If the above is right, and your brother is from India, then it could well be even longer. Good luck.

Just checking, but you declared this on your ESTA application? How are you adjusting status, spouse sponsorship?

He doesn’t currently have those options. He may do when his PD is current, but he’d need to be in the US on another status in 20-30 years or so for that to be possible. So unless you can think of a way to keep him there that long, AOS won’t be an option for him.

Far longer than that. As I said above you can’t look at the dates in the VB and assume you’ll have the same wait as those who now have a visa available to them. Compare the VB above (this months) with an older one. For example, go back 2 years to Feb 2022. Currently the PD is April 2009 for F3 and May 2007 for F4. In February 2022 they were November 2008 and March 2007. Meaning that in 2 years they've only moved forward 5 months (F3) and 2 months (F4). So 20-30 years is probably a fair estimate.

Neither of those are an option. He's not eligible to adjust status.

So you haven't applied for AOS yet? That's why then. If you've ticked the box (question 16) on your I-485 form then it'll be sent automatically. Do get your AOS application in asap as you're out of status. Good luck.

@snm2212 was referring to the premium delivery for passport return, he didn't say anything about sending his passport. HTH.

Just to be really clear - you submitted two I-30's? One for your wife and another one for her daughter? Just checking!

Phew, at least he's not out of status, that's good. I would petition for him urgently, so at least that's underway and he's got a place in line. And then you need to see if you can work out another route for him to stay longer term - a student visa is a good idea if you have the funds, but will only buy him a few years and he'll still be a long way off being able to adjust status through you or his Mom at that point. So you may need to be prepared for him to return to your home country whilst he waits for his PD to become current. Best of luck to you.

You can check out the current wait times on the Visa Bulletin - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin.html Note I say 'current', as it's likely to be much longer for those filing now but it gives you an idea at least. Category F4 for you to petition him, and F3 for your mother to petition him once she's a citizen (there's no way for her to petition him as a LPR). Either way it's going to be a very long time so yes, it'll likely just be him and his wife.

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you've misunderstood. Your brothers I-485 was denied because there's no way for him to be included on your mother's application - parent sponsorship has no derivatives. He'll either need you to petition him (very long wait), or your mother will need to once she's a LPR (still a long wait, but not quite as long as if you do it). What is his current status in the US and when does it end?

Hope this helps -

It was about 12-18 months wait (most recent thread I could find - https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/745299-ciudad-juarez-interviews/page/30/#comments But that was in 2023, I don't know if they've managed to reduce the backlog a bit now, so may be less. Good luck.

Yeah, just spotted the thread title and realised that was the plan. Maybe her mother will change her mind on the Covid jab when she realises her daughter will have to be left behind if she doesn't have it. Good luck.

There's a whole section of the forum for info on waivers, I'd have a look there, but my understanding is that if you're going to claim a waiver for vaccines you don't have a great case if she's been given others. You've said fiancé so what stage is your application at? Do you have time to get your stepdaughter a waiver?

There's a waiver, adds about a year to the process I believe. Has she had other childhood vaccines though? https://www.uscis.gov/tools/designated-civil-surgeons/vaccination-requirements

Yes, he can petition for you, sounds like you may need a joint sponsor. I still wouldn't try to visit too soon regardless, so if I are you I'd still stay out for longer rather than risking being refused entry. When you do go, make sure you have plenty of proof that you'll return (job to go back to, lease on property, etc). Not sure what 180 days you mean?

It’s NVC that has that rule, not the consulate. And it makes sense really, there must be lots of people who no longer wish to get a visa when their time finally comes, so by giving them a year (which would be plenty of time for most), it frees up other resources if they’ve decided to no longer pursue the visa.

When does her B visa expire? Just be aware that (assuming it’s not cap exempt) the earliest she’s likely to get the visa would be May/June. So you may find she has to return to wait that out too, if she’s lucky enough to get one in the lottery (roughly 1 in 10 chance). And with a 20+ year ahead of her for the F3, that won’t allow her to stay in the US to wait the whole time out. H1-B is for max 6 years. You might want to look at other alternatives. If she’s qualified and has an interested employer that’s prepared to sponsor her visa, maybe an employment based green card instead? What does she do and what is her highest level qualification?

Sorry, can't help with that, they were existing contacts. If you're arguing that you being given an immigration visa is in the interests of the US, that your endeavour is of national importance, and that your knowledge/skills will 'substantially benefit' the US economy etc, I wonder how you'll do that if you don't already have relationships there? Maybe contact people who've asked you to speak at conferences there, or who've headhunted you for jobs? That kind of thing. I'd ask your lawyer what to do, if they've done lots of EB2's before then they'll know what to suggest and it's a question for them really if you can't think of anybody off the top of your head. Good luck.

You'll be sent a checklist for the medical, and for the interview you need to look here - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-10-prepare-for-the-interview/step-11-applicant-interview.html. No photos were required for the medical (they do take their own photos though, when you first arrive and check in for your appointment). 2 were required for the consulate. And on the letter from Visa Medicals it says payment can be made by card or cash. Not sure what you'd need to pay for at the consulate though? We didn't have to pay anything there. But if you are expecting to pay something then I'd check with them directly. HTH.

I didn’t - we didn’t need to reschedule ours so just went with the appointment we were given which was for all 4 of us.

Consultant or lawyer? I very much hope the latter, a ‘visa consultant’ for an EB2 isn’t a good idea! You need a really good lawyer with lots of experience of EB cases to put the best possible case forward. And yes, you do need letters of recommendation and they need to be from people who are very senior/well respected in your industry. You can’t get somebody at the same level as you (or lower) to write them. I applied EB1 (also business rather than academic). My lawyer said 3 letters, and crucially that at least 2 should be from people in the US, as the whole point of the application is to show that the US needs your skills. I put forward about 10 names of people in each country I’d be happy to ask to do the letters and gave their backgrounds, then the lawyers picked who they should be from. They knew who would be best received in the US. For example, for the UK I had several that are very well regarded in my field but maybe their reputation and qualifications wouldn’t be well known in the US - so they picked the guy that worked in the government, as they knew that a letter on headed paper from there would carry much more weight! So I had 2 letters from people who knew me in the US and 1 from the UK. Each letter was 6 or 7 pages long and very detailed. HTH.

You need to pay the fee per person - I paid x 4 for myself, spouse and children. Having separate interviews is very odd, never heard of that before!