Helene S

Update : -it took a month for the address change to be processed - got a letter for a biometric appointment 3 weeks later - after appointment, the online status immediately changed to « actively being reviewed » (after a year saying « fee paid ») - called the USCIS today and was told the card has been put in the queue for production, no timescale given - the agent made a request for me to get an appointment for a « new stamp », this takes up to 30days for a call back. The agent said the card will likely arrive before I get a call back. My passport stamp expires in 5days… Does anyone knows how long it takes for the card to be produced and sent?

Update : I got hold of someone on the USCIS phone line. They told me that there was no address registered in my account. That’s why the card wasn’t sent. The agent at the border when I entered the country 10 months ago asked me for the address to send the card to but apparently didn’t put it in the system. I wasn’t notified that the adress was missing. I had to submit a change of adress request on my uscis account. Now waiting for anything to happen…

Hi, My IR1 visa was approved in June 2023. I paid the USCIS fee before entering the US and have been living and working here since then. It has been 10months and my case status still indicates that the fee has been paid and the production of the Permanent Resident Card is being processed. I have raised a I90 request two months ago and got a biometrics appointment which I went to. The case status says that this request now takes 14months to be processed (!) The mention in my visa (in my passport) indicates that it’s valid for 12months upon endorsement. It has been 10months already. The website and phone line (AI only) isn’t getting me anywhere. Any advice? Thank you!

Outcome : my visa got validated! As per everyone's recommendations on this forum I went for option 1 : enter the USA before the expiry date on my visa. Here is what happened, in case it can help someone else in the future. I travelled with my husband (USC) and presented ourselves together at the Border counter. We entered in NYC, at JFK airport. This is not the location or state where we intend to establish domicile and all our documentation in our visa process stated San Diego. We had a return journey booked for 3 days later. We were advised to join the queue for tourists and "all visas". The wait was 1h30. The agent asked me if it was my first entry, to which I replied yes. He said I would need to go to "secondary". He asked me for the adress to send the Green Card to. I gave him a document showing the same adress I had given at the Embassy interview for this purpose, which is of a family member in NYC (as we don't have yet a permanent adress in the US). He asked me to confirm in which city is this adress. He asked me to confirm this is not in San Diego. (At this point we were extremely stressed and were bracing ourselves for a refusal.) He closed his counter and asked my husband to proceed past the Border area and wait on the other side. At this point he was kind and reassured us saying we would see each other soon. (He saw we said goodbye and were clearly very stressed!) He escorted me to the "secondary" room less than a minute away. He then reassured me and another man that no one is going to send us away. He asked me to take a seat in the waiting area, he put my passport in a folder and left it for his colleagues to pick up. Another agent picked my document, entered some details on his computer and called my name to his desk. He handed me my passport and said "you're done". And that's it! It was a very stressful experience (in our heads) but in reality we got asked no questions. I had a medical mention in my Visa "Class B req attention of USPHS at POE" but this wasn't mentionned. When talking through the chain of events afterwards we realised that the first agent had already stamped and signed my passport before heading to "secondary". Tips : -I would recommend anyone to have their document ready and at hand shall they be required. A lady in front of us, also Visa holder, had a hard time digging up a document in her suitcase, in front of many, and it was an extremely stressful situation for her. -Do not forget your suitcase at "secondary" because you are so overwelmed and relieved to have your visa! It happens to be very hard to retrieve after! Thank you to everyone who helped us on this topic @pushbrk @Crazy Cat @Boiler @Dashinka @powerpuff @Mike E and @etrangais ! We are happy and very much looking forward to our move to the US!

@etrangais it is complicated and painful for everyone. This is not a particularily helpful remark, please keep your frustration and judgements to yourself as each situation is different. Thank you for giving your view on option 1.

Thank you @Crazy Cat @Boiler @Dashinka @pushbrk and @powerpuff. The “important information” paper I was issued with my passport states : You cannot travel to the US before your petitioner has travelled to establish residence. Tou must travel at the same time or after them. Can we face an issue at POE because he is not actually taking up residence at this point? We will both have a return ticket. Does it help if he travels a day or two before me or it makes no difference?

My IR1 visa was (finally) approved, hurrah. For various reasons I end up with a visa that expires in less than two months, at the expiry date of my medical exam, which is 3.5 months before our intended date of immigration. We will both my husband and I relocate at the same time. When submitting additional documents, I did submit a letter stating that I won't be able to travel before my medical exam expire and asked if the Visa could be on hold until I can book a new exam. This of course was ignored but it was worth a shot... So from what I have read in this forum, I seem to have two options : - Enter the US together before the expiry date to validate the VISA, come back to the UK then move together for real at the date we want Will I be asked questions at the port of entry and can my entry be refused if we both clearly are coming temporarily ? Do I have to enter in the city/state that I have stated as my place of immigration ? - Let the visa expire and make a written request to the Embassy for a new visa (and a new medical exam) What is the real prospect of this being accepted? The reason for not being able to travel until X date is due to ongoing medical treatment until that date, and notice due to my work place. I see risks in both scenarios but if anyone has been through one of these I would be happy to hear In addition to this, if anyone has experience of questions asked at port of entry when your visa is marked Class B req. ATTN at of USPHS at POW, I welcome this too.

Hi, it might not be fully relevant to your case but I can share what happened at my interview in London. My husband (USC) income was from a UK company, paid in £ on a UK bank account. Despite being well above the threshold, his income didn't meet the criteria to be a sponsor. The officer told me at the interview that income earnt in the UK can't be used for sponsor, only income from the US. We didn't have the assets so we had to have a joint sponsor. Based on this and if your income is from the UK, you might be only assessed on your assets anyway, in which case your missing transcripts might not be an issue.

UPDATE : my Visa got approved! We have followed the advice from @Redro. The key was to show that my husband IS moving to the US on date X, with or without me, rather than " we will sort everything and move together once the visa is approved". For proof of intention to establish domicile we submitted the following additional documents : - letter from my husband (USC) explaining our plan and testifying that he intends to move concurrently on X date with me, and listing all the documents submitted to prove it - IRS tax returns for the last 3 years and FBAR for the last 6 years - Single flight ticket for my husband (USC) on date X - Temporary accomodation rental for 3 weeks upon arrival, with correspondance (air bnb) - Car rental for 2 weeks upon arrival - Booking and proof of deposit for the moving of our pets for date X, with extensive correspondance with the agent -Additional correspondance with my husband potential future employer - Correspondance with an agent for an appartment community envisaged as permanent housing (2 emails with no commitment) This is in addition to what we previously submitted : - US bank account (online Wise account) - Voting register - Seeking employment correspondance This was processed by the Embassy in London UK. They were very responsive by email to helpi us upload the documents on CEAC and once uploaded the VISA was issued the following day (!) and the passport shiped one day later.

Thank you, your reply is extremely helpful and makes sense. Regarding the medical, you are right, I will need to do a new one in order to be valid for our departure date. Do you know if I have to do it now before resubmitting evidence or if it’s something the Embassy might ask me to update after reviewing our additional info (and seeing our new planned departure date)? It has a big price tag so ideally I would redo it after confirmation that our additional information was approved.

Thank you. For the sponsor question we have a joint sponsor in the US. Any advice on how to prove intention to establish domicile in order for us to move together in 5months time? We can’t secure a lease so much in advance.

Thank you, I have just read the thread you linked and it was a useful read. We intend to move in 5months time so hard to quit his job so much ahead. We had : correspondence and interviews with potential employers (no formal offer as we didn’t want to commit before knowing if I could go) + US voting register + US bank account (but just online banking). Now we are adding : letter explaining our plan + US tax filing records + further correspondence with one employer who is waiting on my husband (USC) to confirm our date of departure + quotes to move pets. We are wondering if we should add : letter from a friend who can host us (in reality we intend to lease from the start but we can’t secure a lease 5months in advance!) + buy a flight ticket for my husband (USC). Thoughts?

Thank you. We need to establish the US domicile of my husband (USC), the petitioner and MAIN sponsor, who lives in the UK with me. We need to prove he is taking concrete steps to establish domicile in the US at the same time as me. But we intend to look for a house in the US after getting the visa as we want to move in a few months only. Any advice on this?

After the interview at the London embassy we were asked (green paper ticked 221g) to provide additional evidence to support the Affidavit of Support : add a joint sponsor and provide evidence of petitioner’s domicile in the US. We have sorted the joint sponsor part and are gathering evidence to justify “concrete steps to establish domicile in the US” as we both live in the UK and intend to move to the US at the same time. Our first question : do we have several attempts for submitting additional evidence? If our evidence is not satisfactory at this point, will they ask for additional proof again or will we simply be denied the visa? Our second question : has anyone sucessfully justified of “concrete steps to establish domicile” without having a US house secured signed? What evidence did you submit? The guidance is to not quit my job and buy tickets but on the other hand we are expected to have a lease signed or bought a property in the US, so we are at loss. Any help welcome! We have been on this journey on our own since March 2021 and the interview was a hard hit! Many thanks!