Rainbow Aligator

FYI If someone is a UK citizen you don’t need proof of residency - I am a UK citizen but had been living on the US on temp work visas but the UK accepted me for an appointment as I am a citizen.

They took my passport on Friday 19th, it was listed as Issued on Monday 22, picked up Wednesday 24, all very quick.

It's finally over!!!!!!! I landed in Newark on Saturday and lined up in the "citizens & permanent residents" line and got in smoothly. The officer took me to the back room where someone opened my envelope that I had to carry from the UK and looked at the contents and stamped my passport, it took about 5 mins. Now I wait for the green card in the mail. I am sooooo happy this is over! I had been living and working in the US for 5 years on the Australian E3 visa when I applied. It took just over a year from me first contacting my New York-based lawyers to me entering as a permanent resident on Saturday. The category was EB-1, I work in the creative industries, current priority date, and premium processing, I was relatively surprised when my I-140 was approved within one week, one little hiccup with a submitted document for the DS-260, but otherwise very smooth. Me not being a UK resident wasn't a problem. Table updated below: VJ User Category Priority Date (MM/DD/YYYY) DQ Status (MM/DD/YYYY) Interview Letter (MM/DD/YYYY) Interview date (MM/DD/YYYY) Interview location @dolibash EB2 07/22/22 04/12/23 Waiting Riyadh @snm2212 EB2 09/29/22 04/21/23 Waiting London @Ernie73 EB2 09/19/22 05/04/23 01/10/2024 02/14/2024 Iceland @Hithere222 EB1 05/16/22 04/25/23 Waiting Kathmandu @Kw1097 EB2 02/22/22 04/04/23 08/27/23 09/20/23 Doha @Kashraz EB1 06/30/22 04/04/23 Waiting @Damiores EB2 11/18/22 04/05/23 Waiting Ankara @W Herrera EB2 12/14/21 06/08/23 08/02/23 09/13/23 Georgetown, Guyana @Kalied EB2 05/09/22 05/04/23 Waiting @CMingo EB2 05/02/22 03/21/23 09/01/23 10/27/23 London @Appleblossom EB1 02/08/23 04/21/23 05/20/23 07/17/23 London @Luis M EB2 06/10/22 07/27/23 09/01/23 10/30/23 changed by me to 08/01/24 London @whitewizard EB1 01/20/23 03/31/23 08/02/23 09/20/23 Mumbai @nodisplay EB1 04/17/23 Waiting Montreal @jimmy2k EB2 02/01/11 Waiting Waiting Montreal @dabursot2 EB2 01/20/23 08/15/23 Waiting London @azzz EB1 03/27/23 05/17/23 10/05/23 11/21/23 Almaty @MalaYoon EB2 03/24/22 03/10/23 07/31/23 Kuala Lumpur @Ayobami EB2 01/10/22 03/22/23 Waiting Johannesburg @dtbaby EB2 03/02/22 12/02/22 Waiting Lagos @Aya2538 EB2 08/30/21 04/18/23 Waiting Ankara @Rocha3 EB2 05/10/21 07/10/23 Waiting Rio de Janeiro @nothin2C EB2 01/XX/22 08/24/23 08/28/23 10/28/23 Paris @whereisme EB2 01/03/23 8/26/23 Waiting Argentina @Rainbow Aligator EB1 06/20/23 11/16/23 12/13/2023 01/19/2024 London @Eren EB2 03/09/22 05/10/23 08/03/23 (took a while due to PD not being current) 09/29/23 London @chy8 EB2 09/27/22 07/18/23 @mohamedaali2 EB2 07/01/21 08/04/23 Waiting Waiting Cairo @Laulau Eb2 10/20/2022 11/03/2023 waiting Waiting Bogota @Aanuoluwa EB2 07/27/2023 11/07/2023 Waiting Johannesburg

Good to know! And that was with a public holiday on the Monday too I think. I’m expecting / hoping for next Thursday.

No haha, but he played the younger Ned Stark in the flashbacks of the later seasons.

Not really at all, she asked me one question about my skillset, that all gets done with the I-140 really. She just was making sure I had all the right paperwork in terms of police checks and my medical which got in just in the nick of time.

Did my green card interview in London today! They said 1-2 weeks for the passport to get back. Has anyone had theirs back recently and can shed some light on the turnaround time? Really hoping it’s 1 week and not 2 😅

I just got out of my interview in London! EB1 category. It was all straight forward, she asked why I have the skills for this visa and started my little spiel, then was basically cut off after a few seconds and she seemed satisfied. The person ahead of me was an actor who had been in Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings so I was feeling a little intimidated being interviewed in the same category as him haha. But after asking a couple more Qs she then said it was approved and my passport should be back in 1-2 weeks. Phew!

Random CEAC question - my status changed to “Ready” on Jan 10. I’m not sure if that means they’ve received my medical results? I doubt it as my medical was on the morning of Jan 9, but otherwise there’s no way to tell if the embassy has received or will receive my medical docs before my interview this Friday 19 Jan - except just hope 😅 I’m in London

It was Wed Dec 13th the last date of ILs being sent out, so maybe early next week...

I had my medical on Tuesday in London. It was quite relaxed, I have had generalized anxiety disorder and ADHD for a number of years and am currently on medication for it still. It is mentioned in my medical summary (which came from my US doctor as I don't normally live in the UK) and the meds were listed in my current medications, but was not a point of interest really for the doctor and they only asked the standard questions about suicidal thoughts and harm to others etc. I think it's pretty normal to have some kind of mental health struggles and they are especially open about it in the US. Doctors can tell if someone comes across as having more severe mental health issues than stated in the medical summary.

I had my medical today at VisaMedicals in London. Everything was as expected except a surprise that I needed a polio vaccine, there is some fine print in the vaccine sheet that says if you have been in certain countries including the US and the UK for 6mo then you need to have had a polio vaccine in the last 12mo. I totally missed it! It was fine as they just gave me one there but if they didn’t have it in stock (for example they didn’t have the flu vaccine in stock) it would have delayed my results. It cost £55 extra. Results should be sent to the embassy in a week and the interview is a week from this Friday.

Seems like everything is running a little late, not sure if that is because of all the holidays recently. I was DQd Nov 16 which should have just made the cut for the letter sent out end of Nov, but instead the ILs came for everyone on Dec 13th... so by past dates you should get an IL by end of Jan but based on recent dates it may come mid feb.

Sorry for late reply, yes I did for Jan 19! Phew Set up my medical for Jan 9, on the home stretch now!

VisaMedicals said the medical needs to be ideally 10 days before the appointment, 5 days for them to send it over, and 5 for the embassy to process it. Does this sound right? I thought a week before would be enough. Only asking because I have to book my flights in and out of the UK as im not there right now

Finally yay! I can sleep normally again! DQd Nov 16, interview Jan 19

I’m really not sure why it’s taking so long - confusing because last year people who were DQ’d Nov 16 got a letter Nov 30 for Jan 10 interview. Trying not to stress but I’m honestly losing sleep with this wait 😅😅😅

Someone who had to reschedule theirs was able to do so recently for Jan 8 so there are interviews happening…. Maybe just rescheduled ones

Still no ILs?! What’s going on 😩

Yes that's right, sorry I should have been clear my situation is a little different, I'm not in the UK at the moment and I am waiting for my IL so I can book my medical and therefore my flights!

The Thanksgiving holidays I imagine.... should hopefully come by Wed this week. But they're not giving us much time to schedule the medical....

hopefully tomorrow... so we don't have to wait all weekend

I haven't, but I'm on the cusp, DQ'd Nov 16. However I imagine with Thanksgiving, it might come a bit later this week.

Interesting, I wonder if dates for London have gone out yet or you are first because you're being rescheduled? Congrats! What a relief.

Damn, that's disappointing. Hopefully it's just a short wait