appleblossom

You're understanding correctly, that people who are eligible for visas now applied 19ish years ago. But you can't assume anybody applying now will have the same wait, as it's not linear. For example, if you go back 5 years and look at the November 2020 bulletin, you'll see the date was Sept 2006. Meaning it's only moved forward 2.5 years in 5 years. If you go back 10 years to the November 2014 bulletin, the date was March 2003, so it's only moved forwards 6 years in the past decade. Basically, the backlog is growing all the time, so it doesn't move forward a year for each year of waiting.

You are understanding it correctly, but the case can be sent to NVC when the PD is current on Table B (rather than Table A), so usually a few years before there is actually a visa available. The NVC side of things is usually only a month or so (assuming you upload docs promptly) but then you have to wait until the PD becomes current on Table A once DQ'ed. Then when that happens, it's a case of waiting for an interview, and that can be anywhere between 2 months and 2+ years depending on the consulate. I don't think 20 years is realistic given the backlog that's increasing all the time unfortunately. I'd estimate at least 25 years until PD is current, so assume that and then be pleasantly surprised if things speed up. Best of luck.

I totally agree. What ties do they have for a SB-1? Not likely many if they've been gone for 7 years. Have they filed taxes every year? I would suggest they get on a plane urgently. They can't be refused entry with a valid GC, they could be referred if there are doubts about their status, but they may just be allowed in as normal. And that would be less risky than a SB-1 application. Do they have Global Entry? If neither works, is there a USC child that can petition him/her again?

For a spouse visa, there's no adjustment either way for you. The spouse becomes a green card holder immediately upon entry, the only difference is that (as @Crazy Cat said above) it's either a 2 year or 10 year GC issued. If you went the K-1 route you'd have the extra cost and hassle of the adjustment of status, but not with a spouse visa. And with a K-1 you'd still have a 2 year GC rather than a 10 year one.

I agree that K2 makes much more sense. But as we've said above, the OP would petition the child as he's the stepparent and a USC, if they did need to go down the I-130 route, so there would be no AoS stage to consider.

It would have to be consular processing, so no AoS to consider.

It would be faster for the parents to come and then them petition the sister, but still 10-12 years and I’m assuming they couldn’t leave her. But is the cost of healthcare in the US feasible for them? That sounds like the kind of treatment that would easily run to six figures.

That’s just one inept DMV worker, but if he’d shown details from the government website it would have been fine. He was a LPR the moment he landed in the US on his visa, and the plastic green card is just proof of that status, not the status itself. An endorsed visa, or an ADIT stamp do exactly the same thing too, there’s no difference. But I do find it very odd that anybody hiring employees, or working in HR, isn’t well aware of the list of acceptable documents. You say ‘apparently some employers’ but is that actually your son’s experience, or just random stuff he’s heard somewhere?

If you have to go down the I-130 route and petition her daughter, then it would be around 18 months to 2 years (depending on consulate).

Surely her mother leaving would be more of a shock than moving with her mother and adjusting to a new school? Could you maybe do some research on the schools in the area whilst your fiancée waits for her visa? Just thinking it would be a lot less stress and upheaval for you all to do that.

They weren't when there were no visas available. Nobody can get a visa by law then, it's not a discretionary thing.

If the only reason to delay is for a school place that seems like a huge cost and hassle just for that? You just need a place in your school district of choice, you can always move later on if it's only a temporary place.

The annual quota was met, so no visas could be issued until the fiscal year reset on 1st October, and interviews aren't scheduled when a visa isn't available.

I find that hard to believe tbh, pretty much any employer should know that the documents listed on the I-9 list are acceptable. Just print that out and show it to them. From the official guidance "You must allow the employee to choose which documentation they will present from the Form I-9 Lists of Acceptable Documents and must accept documentation that reasonably appears to be genuine and relates to the person presenting it. You cannot specify which documentation an employee will present from the Form I-9 Lists of Acceptable Documents." Your son's endorsed I-551 is on the list of acceptable documents, so they cannot legally refuse it. Your son should report them if they do. Even after a year, he could just get an ADIT stamp, and that is also on the list. The plastic card is only evidence of his LPR status, exactly the same as the endorsed I-551 or ADIT stamp is, it's no different to either of them.

Right, and as explained above, his endorsed visa acts as a temporary green card for a year. So he just gives a copy of that to his employer, it does exactly the same thing. It's no. 3 on the list here - https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents

I don't see how it would either, I think all it will do is waste time and money personally. But it's an option to try if the OP wanted to.

Good suggestion. OP could also try for a SB-1, I think the chances are slim to none, but you never know. The problem is that applying for anything else (1-90, SB-1) is just likely to delay the inevitable of having to file the I-130. With a decade plus wait ahead of him/her, s/he may not want to waste time on things that aren't likely to be successful.

It depends on how old they are and if you've been back to the country since then. The criteria is clearly set out on the usual website - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-5-collect-financial-evidence-and-other-supporting-documents/step-7-collect-civil-documents.html What kind of case is this, are you being petitioned by a spouse?

There is no delay. If he entered on 18th August then he's still got several weeks to go until it would be considered delayed. And yes, he has to wait until that point to file a card not received, if he does it before it'll just be ignored. His online account won't tell him anything else, the online case checker does the same thing. Why is it such an issue if he doesn't have his card? It should make no difference to his day to day life. Frankly, it doesn't really matter if it never turns up!

You've missed things like the appointment letter. You'll get a document checklist with the interview notice, but you need to make sure you follow the instructions on the usual website really carefully and take everything specified on there (including the country specific guidelines) - 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 https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/list-of-posts.html As it's a high fraud consulate, make sure she takes plenty of evidence of your marriage and time together. Better to take way too much than not enough! Good luck.

That was unfortunately not a good decision. You've basically admitted that you don't consider yourself a permanent resident of the US anymore and are just a tourist.

Could be any amount of time, from a week to a year. No way of knowing unfortunately. What was the domicile issue, is your mother living in the US?

Oh. Then it sounds like that's your answer and you need to start from scratch. And you didn't apply for the re-entry permit before you left the US? Covid wouldn't have been a valid reason for not returning, green card holders could still enter the US then, and you should have been filing taxes. As @OldUser has asked above, how did you enter the US last year?

No, that's just the time for the petition. The second stage is a different thing, and that will largely depend on your consulate. Which one is it?

Only at the end of the process, once you receive the immigrant visa. As @OldUser said, you can't stay in the US whilst it's being processed unless you have another status allowing you to i.e. a work permit. The problem is, any non-immigrant visa (student, work permit, etc) isn't likely to be granted as you've already demonstrated immigrant intent.