spousalsponsor

We just crossed by land this evening and paid the fee online earlier today, which was pretty easy following the link on the paper that came back with my husband's passport. They say you can pay it anytime between receiving the visa and activating it (or after if you don't mind delays receiving the green card).

They contacted the consulate via email.

Today we picked up my husband's passport with IR1 visa inside. We did not receive tracking until today. This morning we saw on the AIS site and via donotreply@usvisa-info.com that the documents were "ready for pickup." Sharing our full timeline with updates for reference: Married: June 2021 Filed I-130: May 25, 2022 Case approved by USCIS: June 7, 2023 DQ: August 15, 2023 Interview & DS-5535 requested: Jan 18, 2024 DS-5535 sent: Jan 19, 2024 Unsolicited updates: Jan 26, Jan 31, Feb 5, Feb 7, Feb 21, March 6, March 7, April 8, August 13 Medical, passport, & photo request: Sept 6, 2024 Medical delivered: Sept 18, 2024 *delay on our side to renew passport and submit L1 visa application* Passport & photos sent: October 29, 2024 Passport and photos delivered (courier tracking): October 30, 2024 Passport and photos officially received: November 20, 2024 Unsolicited update: November 26, 2024 CEAC status changed to “issued”: December 27, 2024 Picked up visa after learning that morning it was ready: January 9, 2025 Sharing these details from the visa itself in case they are interesting: - "clearance received 30 July 2024" (we only received word September 6, 2024 that AP was cleared) - issue date listed as 8 January 2025 (vs December 27 2024 on CEAC) - expiry date is 11 March 2025 (6 months after the most recent medical, as expected) Also to note: my Senator's office reached out to the consulate yesterday (8 January) to ask when the visa would be ready. I didn't think it related to the timing of receiving the visa in hand, though seeing the IV issue date as yesterday makes me wonder a little... Anyway, it seems they are working on moving these visas along! Hoping there are more issued and received in the coming days.

Congratulations!! Great news. We received "issued" status for my husband on December 27 and have not yet received tracking information. Hopefully soon 🤞🏼

Sharing happy news: we finally received the coveted "ISSUED" status for my husband's IR-1 immigrant visa! On a Friday between Christmas and New Years, no less. Our timeline is below for reference: Married: June 2021 Filed I-130: May 25, 2022 Case approved by USCIS: June 7, 2023 DQ: August 15, 2023 Interview & DS-5535 requested: Jan 18, 2024 DS-5535 sent: Jan 19, 2024 Unsolicited updates: Jan 26, Jan 31, Feb 5, Feb 7, Feb 21, March 6, March 7, April 8, August 13 Medical, passport, & photo request: Sept 6, 2024 Medical delivered: Sept 18, 2024 *delay on our side to renew passport and submit L1 visa application* Passport & photos sent: October 29, 2024 Passport and photos delivered (courier tracking): October 30, 2024 Passport and photos officially received: November 20, 2024 Unsolicited update: November 26 Status changed to “issued”: December 27, 2024 We will update the thread when we receive documents in hand. Some notes: - For those waiting for news after submitting the passport/medical, it DOES seem like they are working through the files, but it is truly at a snail's pace. The wait is awful, especially the delay between the tracking saying it was delivered and accepted by Steve (😅) and the Consulate actually acknowledging receipt many weeks later. - We've been in touch with my Senator who has followed up with the Consulate at various points during the last couple of years. I'm not convinced it made a difference, but it definitely didn't hurt. The last time they reached out was before American Thanksgiving, so it didn't correlate with the visa being issued. - We applied for an L1 visa as well earlier this year. That was approved December 12. We are now still waiting for documents for BOTH visas to arrive by post. We will likely activate the L1 first and then once health care is established in the USA I will officially move with our baby to join my husband. Luckily we are moving 20 minutes south of the border so we can easily go back and forth by car.

Hope it's two years! 🤞🏼 My husband's second police certificate was issued January 2024, so if it's just one year we may have to do it for a third time...

It seems there is a lot of variation, but ours was confirmed as reaching the visa unit November 20 after it was received October 30 (we sent it October 29). This is ~15 business days from the offsite processing facility to the visa unit. (Sample size =1 but hopefully helpful!)

Not yet. It seems the time to "issued" is variable, so we're trying to give it some time. Will definitely share when it changes. Let us know when your passport is officially received!

We experienced a similar delay in receiving acknowledgement of my husband's passport delivery. This is our timeline: October 29: Brought passport & photos to courier BLS Montreal, who uses Purolator October 30: Tracking via Purolator showed delivery and signature from "Steve" November 5 & 13: Multiple solicited emails to us and my senator with the exact language you quoted regarding the offsite mail processing November 22: Email via my senator's office indicating that the passport & photos had been received November 20 I feel like if your has been signed for, it must be true that it's in a pile somewhere and someone WILL touch it soon and connect it to your spouse's case. I hope soon 🤞🏼

We're in the same situation -- sent my husband's renewed passport along with the old one which is now invalid, explaining in an email what we were doing. Your response is reassuring that this shouldn't cause additional delays! 🙏🏼

Hope it goes quickly. When you say it arrived, is that just from tracking or did you get an email too? (We saw my husband's passport was delivered Oct 30, but as of a few days ago the consulate told us they still didn't have it.)

It's truly so bizarre. Are you in Montreal too?

Montreal-IV-DV@state.gov They don't respond right away but will eventually.

Curious if this is the BLS Montreal courier office or one in a different location? We sent my husband's passport and photos on October 29 from BLS Montreal (literal STEPS from the Consulate), and see through the Purolator tracking that it was signed for and delivered the next day, October 30. However, as of November 13, the consulate is telling us they still have not received it (they suggest delays via their offsite mail processing...). So, it was "delivered" after we sent with BLS Montreal but somehow it hasn't been "received." 😅

Same with us -- my husband (Canadian with pending IR-1 visa after 5535) and I (American living in Canada until visa comes) and our baby (dual) cross frequently by land to spend time with my family and stay at our second home. There has never been a question about his pending visa application. The only consideration we have is the number of days he's present in the US as a visitor and the fact that he doesn't have permission to work there, so we're always prepared to answer questions about that and make sure we state when he's going back to Canada. They sometimes ask why we cross so frequently but visiting family and friends has never raised any eyebrows. Otherwise just normal customs stuff.