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UK. Please look at my timeline - and please fill yours out to help others, thx.

That’s EB1-C, not EB1-A. Hence the confusion, you’ve said you’re applying under EB1-A which doesn’t require tax returns. So which is it?

As long as that wasn’t one of the criteria you used to apply that won’t be an issue though. It’s only if that was one of your three qualifying criteria that it would be a problem. So they’re presumably just doing deeper background checks.

I’m guessing Manila - the country specific guidelines for the Philippines mention a blue NBI cert being required. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country/Philippines.html

Where does it show they require tax returns for EB1A? I certainly didn’t provide them! Sounds like they doubt your employment history, or possibly your high earnings if that was one of the criteria you used to qualify for the visa? But hopefully now they have them they can easily check that.

I would do. At some point somebody should realise you never submitted the police certs that you should have done. Tax returns is a very odd request for an EB1. Have you ever worked in the US?

Too late for you now but just for the sake of anybody else reading in the future it would have been a much better idea for your wife to have slowed down her own application so that your sons could catch up and they could have moved together. As @Dashinka said you can request an expedite, worth a try. Just ignore the utterly useless ‘My Progress’ thing, it’s inaccurate. If you only applied in April 2024 then his I-130 should be approved around July 2025 (unless the new administration causes longer processing times). Then the next step will depend on the consulate and how long the wait for an interview is, but you can ask again for an expedite when he’s at the NVC stage. Good luck.

That makes no difference, he’s applying for his own immigrant visa so still needed to supply all police certs as per the document checklist. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Supplements/Supplements_by_Post/MTL-Montreal.html#pre_interview_checklist The only reason a Nigerian one wouldn’t be needed is if he left Nigeria before he reached 6 months of age. So if he should have supplied one then personally I’d be getting it in preparation (yours too) as at some point somebody may ask for them and you don’t want to add to the wait. Did you not provide them for NVC? I’m amazed nobody noticed them missing then and you were DQ’ed without them.

Yes, you can, follow the instructions here and provide evidence of residency in the U.K. to do it - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/national-visa-center/immigrant-visas-processing-general-faqs.html#ivp13 What consulate did you put on your I-140? It’s sent via email, and comes from NVC, not the consulate.

Immediate relatives are prioritised, and there is always a summer slowdown so it's normal. And there's no way to expedite most preference categories anyway when a visa isn't available to them. So personally I don't think that's the case.

OK, so your cousin is a USC and it's his mother that we're talking about? If she wants to move back then a visitor visa doesn't help, seems her son should petition her but she'll have to renounce her PR status first. And just make sure that she's aware that she can visit Sierra Leone occasionally, but must make the US her permanent home to avoid this happening again.

Yep, it's standard - staff leave coupled with an increase in certain other visa applications (student visas etc), and also the September deadline for DV visas.

That's not the official requirement though. The official info specifically says NOT to book anything that is non-refundable. Seems you can either ignore the official advice, pay for the tour and risk losing all that money, or just go to the interview without it and take proof of it being non-refundable. I know what I'd do, but you seem to have your mind made up. Best of luck.

When you say the husband is a USC, is that the mother-in-law's husband, or your cousin's husband? It's not clear and makes a big difference. And it's not clear if she wants to just visit or move back permanently?

You're misunderstanding. Nobody has suggested you book 'fictitious' hotel reservations, people were suggesting you did that instead of the tour. Or just did a tour that is refundable. But if you really want to do that specific tour, then just book the flight and nothing else - tick no to the accommodation question and explain why. Your wife can even take proof of it not being refundable if she's worried about it. Afraid I have no idea of the Schengen visa for GC holders likelihood, I'd think pretty good chances though - if you google you'll see the refusal rate was only 17% worldwide last year overall. Some countries have super low refusal rates in case you wanted to rethink your choice of tour starting point, for example Iceland was only a 2% refusal rate! And most people won't book anything for their trip until they have the visa in hand.

It gives you the option to tick 'no' and not provide any evidence of hotels, flight etc. But it also specifically says to only make reservations you can cancel if you do. As above, it tells you not to book anything that can't be cancelled in case the visa is refused - so you're not lying, you're following their advice!

If your lawyer felt EB2 was safer then it may mean you don't meet the criteria for O1 (which is very similar to EB1A), but chat with them and see what they say. Best of uck.

O1 could work, although if you're eligible for O1 then why didn't you apply for EB1A instead of EB2 NIW?

Not automatically, it could mean that but probably just means he's been put in to AP so they give it back to him whilst they do their checks.

That's easy enough to do, just go on to Booking.com or a similar site and choose one that you can cancel for a full refund. But where does it say you need all this to apply for the visa?

Final action dates. The filing dates are for submitting your docs to NVC, paying fees, completing the DS-260 etc - and you've already done that to become DQ'ed. So now you're waiting for your date to become current on Table A. H1B isn't likely to help you either as unless it's a cap exempt role then even if you get lucky in the annual lottery, you can't start the job until October. So TN is probably the only option for an August start date if the job is eligible? But your employer should help you and supply the lawyer to see what may be feasible.

No, they don't give interviews for people who aren't eligible for a visa. It says it on this page, scroll down to 'Documentarily Complete' and there it says "Please keep in mind, applicants in a numerically limited (preference) visa category can receive an appointment, their priority date must also be current". Once your PD is current you'll then be added to the line for an interview. Good luck.

OK, so make sure you stay unmarried, but sounds like you've got at least a couple of years before an interview. Good luck.

Was he given a piece of paper and if so, what did it say? Sounds like he's being put in to AP, there are a few issues they need to check out.

So your PD wasn't current until May, you weren't added to the line for an interview until then. Still far too early for Ghana then I'd say, particularly given the info from @nastra30. Just to confirm, you've not got married since your I-130 was submitted?