Josh B K

@appleblossom Just this morning I came across two media articles to confirm the planned reductions in staff at the consulates. While Federal Firings Focus on Immigration Processing, Funding for Immigration Enforcement Expands, 6 March 2025, Immigration Impact, https://immigrationimpact.com/2025/03/06/federal-firings-immigration-processing-enforcement-expands/?utm_campaign=everyaction&utm_medium=email&utm_source=&emci=9f705f61-97fb-ef11-90cd-0022482a9fb7&emdi=c3639da6-eefc-ef11-90cd-0022482a9fb7&ceid=11628368 US embassies told to prepare for staff cuts as Trump overhauls diplomatic corps, sources say, 13 February 2025, Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-embassies-told-prepare-staff-cuts-trump-overhauls-diplomatic-corps-sources-2025-02-13/

@appleblossom I reviewed the timelines for all users with NOA2's since January 2024. I have contacted all those members asked for them to share their info. As you said, things are changing; so, my goal is to stay in touch with members who are recently scheduled or waiting. Have you seen any specific media or info about reductions of staff in the consulates?

I just received new data from a user with recent experience. data sheet

I want to unite Visa Journey members with approved I-130 IR-1/CR-1 petitions and are waiting for an interview in Ciudad Juarez. This thread is for you if: You have an approved I-130 IR-1/CR-1 Visa Petition You have completed your DS-260 and Affidavit of Support with NVC and are Documentarily Qualified (DQ'd) You are waiting for an interview in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico If this is you, please share the following information with the thread. Date you received notice from NVC that you are Documentarity Qualified (DQ'd) Date you received an interview assignment from NVC (if you have received one) Date of your interview (if you have received an interview assignment) Currently I have 4 members with up-to-date data points. I'd like to increase to 10 members. My goal is to provide a good up-to-date estimate for Ciudad Juarez Wait Times in the CR-1/IR-1 category.

@appleblossom Thanks you for your reply and willingness to help me clarify my post. I realized after I posed it that I got some terminology wrong. I don't see an option to edit my post; so, maybe I will delete it and repost it. I am looking for people with approved I-130 applications for Immediate Relatives of US Citizens - spouses and unmarried children under 21. I confused the family based preference category AND used the term FB-1 instead of F1. Do you think my headline should say "IR-1/CR-1 - Ciudad Juarez Interview Wait Times 2025" or "Immediate Relative - Ciudad Juarez Wait Times 2025". I think whether you are petitioning for a spouse or an unmarried child under 21 you are in the same waiting line. You are in a category that is not impacted by visa limits. I wanted to get info from people who are waiting for their interview in the consulate to understand the current wait times.

Using VisaJourney and reports from the I-130 Visa Server (Discord), The average time from the DQ'd date to get an appointment assignment in Ciudad Juarez for a CR-1/IR-1/F1 is 359 days, and the average time from the DQ'd date to the appointment is 408 days. I'd love more examples. Please share your dates with me if you are waiting for an appointment in Ciudad Juarez.

@k0nstantin thanks for your tips and ideas.

The goal of this thread is to form an up-to-date expectation for wait times for interview assignments at the US Consulate in Ciudad Juarez in 2025. I want to unite Visa Journey members with approved I-130 family based petitions in preference category 1 (FB-1) (US Citizen Petitioner). This thread is for you if: You have an approved I-130 FB-1 Visa Petition You have completed your DS-260 and Affidavit of Support with NVC and are Documentarily Qualified (DQ'd) You are waiting for an interview in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico If this is you, please share the following information with the thread. Date you received notice from NVC that you are Documentarity Qualified (DQ'd) Date you received an interview assignment from NVC (if you have received one) Date of your interview (if you have received an interview assignment) My hope is that this info will help you and the petitioners who come behind us. I will be organizing the info and sharing statistics here.

@R_Garnett thank you for being open to chat. We've established that we are both in the same situation - F1 spousal visa, DQ'd, and waiting for an interview date in Ciudad Juarez. You were DQ'd Nov. 25, 2024. I was DQ'd Feb. 12, 2025; so, we are about three months apart. Since being DQ'd you have currently been waiting 3 months with no word from NVC. Based on info from It will be great for us to stay in touch on this thread and keep each other informed. I'd love to know when you receive your interview letter so that I can gave a good idea of when to expect mine. Data So Far: <User>, <DQ'd Date>, <Interview Assigned>, <Interview Date> @Chaval , Jan 2, 2024, Dec 23, 2024, Feb 26, 2025 @R_Garnett, Nov 25, 2024, -, - @Josh B K, Feb 12, 2025, -, - Are you able to "edit" the title of this thread? Maybe we could title it "Ciudad Juarez Interview Wait Times 2025" and attract more visajourney.com members to share info specific to this consulate. Personal Stuff: I'm from Seattle, USA and my husband is from Mexico. Currently, I spend most of my time in Mexico, but I still have my main residence in Seattle. We met 3 years and 10 months ago and got married in Mexico after dating here for 2.5 years. My work was flexible; so, after we met, I put my Seattle condo on the rental market and came to be with Antonio in Mexico. I never dreamed this adventure would turn into nearly 4 years in Mexico. I go home regularly to check on my things and see friends, but enough time has passed that the arrangement has really changed things in life. On the positive side, my Spanish is excellent. My husband, Antonio, is from Veracruz. Currently, we live in Guadalajara, Jalisco.

Hello Friends. I'd like to connect with other members who are NVC DQ'd and waiting for an interview at Ciudad Juarez for a CR1. My spouse and I are in preference category 1 (US Citizen and Foreign Spouse). Please reply if you are in the same situation. I'd like to share notes on how long you waited or have been waiting for an interview. The last posts I see here say in 2023 it was about 12 to 16 months to get assigned an interview date. I'm wondering if it's still that long. Josh

@R_Garnett Thanks for the fast reply. Can I ask, are you guys doing a spousal visa in preference category F1? That's to ask, are one of you a US citizen? I'm just finding this thread. I'm a little saddened to see it might be a year before we get an interview. Gosh. Can I ask a few questions about your story? If you prefer, we can move to a private message here on Visa Journey.

@Cookie88, Sorry for my slow replies. I got DQ'd on Feb 12, 2025. I submitted documents on Feb 4, 2025; so, the time from submission to DQ'd was 8 days. Can you help me with a question? What is the best way to use VisaJourney to get hints on how long the wait for an interview in Ciudad Juarez is likely to take?

Hello @R_Garnett. I was reading this conversation because I'm waiting for an interview date in Ciudad Juarez, just like you and @Chaval. I'm curious to know if you are still waiting.

@emeditz congratulations!

@pushbrk, Thank you for your timely advice and input. The Visa Journey community is fortunate to have such an involved, dedicated, and knowledgable member.

@Cookie88 On the Monday morning after my post, the upload magically started working. After uploading many documents, here's what I discovered about the two errors. 1) Error: "Webservice unable to scan file" - If you receive this error, give up. It seems to indicate a system error. For this error, I just waited until the weekend was over and tried again on Monday morning. 2) Error: "Invalid Image Detected" - This error seems to be related to the specific file you are uploading. Usually, "printing to a PDF" and saving as a new file, resolves the problem, but not always. I am having error #2 again since yesterday, and "printing to PDF" doesn't resolve the problem. I sent a message to Ask NVC.

@pushbrk I did not document my assets in my I-864. Was that my mistake? I decided not to document them because the I-864 had some language about "if your income meets the requirements you should not document assets". This morning, I gathered all my documentation of assets and uploaded the proof. I also updated my I-864 to include my assets, re-printed it, re-signed it, re-scanned it, re-reduced it, re-saved it, and in the end, could not get the upload to complete. 😐 Finally, I just uploaded the updated page 7 of my I-864 and sent an "Ask NVC" request for help and advice on why I can't upload my new I-864. Do you think I've done the right steps? Thanks for your advice.

Hello Friends. After submitting my I-864, the CEAC website says civil documents were "ACCEPTED", and I received an email saying our application has been sent to the consulate. Unfortunately, I also received a cryptic message titled "Case FE Review Note". The gist of the note is: The income reported ... is insufficient to overcome the public charge grounds of inadmissibility for visa issuance. You must provide updated or additional evidence for the applicant to present at the time of their interview such as: Other income Assets Proof of current employment You can continue to upload documents to CEAC up until the date of your visa interview. I am retired. My yearly income is generated from interest on my investments. I provided three years of tax transcripts that indicate my yearly income from interest and dividends well exceeds the requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-864p). I assume my income from investments as shown on the income tax transcripts is not sufficient. What should I provide? Should I update my I-864 with all my asset information and upload it again along with documentation to prove my assets? Or do I just leave the I-864 as it is and send the asset documents with my spouse (applicant) to the interview?

Hello Friends. @Cody M. would you be willing to summarize what you learned and post it here? Joshua Kilpatrick

@emeditz I'm so sorry for the pain this process is causing. I 100% understand what you feel. When I calculate all the taxes I've paid over my lifetime (and I have explicitly done this), I feel infuriated. I understand that the political situation is very tricky right now, and it's very unlikely congress will do much to improve immigration law. I also know that many people much less fortunate than me are suffering more intense hardships, but I feel that citizens certainly have the right to expect that their government will serve their requests promptly and efficiently. I can't fathom any valid excuse for what we are experiencing. I suspect the reality is that these agencies are underfunded and under terribly uncreative leadership. Their perspective is likely that the pandemic shutdowns created a backlog, and at their current level of staffing, they can't catch up. I'm sure that is partially true, but I also hold the leadership at USCIS responsible for not updating their processes in the face of a historic backlog. It appears they are just attempting to keep following the same processes and hope they get more funding. I don't accept that approach. We deserve better. If they have honestly tried to improve efficiency and processes, I am stunned as to why they wouldn't have trumpeted it from the rooftops. Sadly, in the current environment, I don't think we can expect anything to get better soon, but I do hope this experience inspires us to become more active and to speak up about these concerns. Though I have finally received my USCIS approval, I still face an unknown process forward as I try to get an appointment at the US consulate in Mexico, and on top of this unknown I face the constant reality that even at the last minute they could reject our petition. It's maddening and emotionally draining. I think it is very important that we take the time to write down our experiences and opinions and share them with our representatives, family, and friends. Though I don't think one letter will matter, hundreds of thousands might.

Hello Friends. I've noticed that in Mexico now there is a new federal system to request the "Constancia de Antecedentes Penales Federales". The URL for the new Federal System is below. Does anyone know if this new federal form is accepted by NVC? https://constancias.oadprs.gob.mx/ The website says "Ahora puedes tramitar la Constancia de Antecedentes Penales Federales desde internet. Es válida impresa en hoja blanca tamaño carta ante cualquier gobierno y autoridad municipal, estatal y federal." Translation: Now you can request a Constancia de Antecedentes Penales Federales online. It is valid before any government authority (municipal, state, and federal) when printed on white paper.

Hello Friends. I am trying to upload documents to the CEAC site for my husband's visa. I can't get any files to upload correctly. I've verified my sizes are below 4 MB (the currently reported limit). I'm uploading PDF's. I have seen the following two errors: Affidavit of Support Document (I864): Invalid Image Detected Note: I was uploading a PDF when I received this message. Select FORM I-864 AFFIDAVIT OF SUPPORT: Webservice unable to scan file I've tried all the tricks I can see online - compressing, printing as PDF. Nothing is working. Is anyone else having this issue currently? Please reply. I want to get an idea of how many people are being impacts. Hello Friends. I am trying to upload documents to the CEAC site for my husband's visa. I can't get any files to upload correctly. I've verified my sizes are below 4 MB (the currently reported limit). I'm uploading PDF's. I have seen the following two errors: Affidavit of Support Document (I864): Invalid Image Detected Note: I was uploading a PDF when I received this message. Select FORM I-864 AFFIDAVIT OF SUPPORT: Webservice unable to scan file I've tried all the tricks I can see online - compressing, printing as PDF. Nothing is working. Is anyone else having this issue currently? Please reply. I want to get an idea of how many people are being impacts.

@emeditz and @Cookie88 I forgot to mention in my announcement that our case approval came from Nebraska; so, I assume I was transferred at some point in the process. I know it is very difficult to keep waiting and to feel that you don't have power to improve your situation. My thoughts are with you, and I hope you hear something any week now.

Hello Friends. I received my approval today after 16 months of waiting. NOA1: September 22, 2023 NOA2: January 14, 2025

Congratulations @team-joric and thank you for sharing with all of us. Congratulations.