Mellylamelle's US Immigration Timeline

Petitioner's Name: Mel Beneficiary's Name: Rob VJ Member: Mellylamelle Country: United Kingdom Last Updated: 2015-06-21 Add Comment to Timeline Register or log in to follow this timeline

Immigration Checklist for Mel & Rob:

USCIS I-130 Petition:       Dept of State IR-1/CR-1 Visa:     USCIS I-751 Petition:   USCIS N-400 Petition:

IR-1/CR-1 Visa Event Date Service Center : Nebraska Service Center Transferred? No Consulate : London, United Kingdom Marriage (if applicable): I-130 Sent : 2013-12-05 I-130 NOA1 : 2013-12-17 I-130 RFE : I-130 RFE Sent : I-130 Approved : 2014-10-11 NVC Received : 2014-11-10 Received DS-261 / AOS Bill : Pay AOS Bill : Receive I-864 Package : Send AOS Package : 2014-12-29 Submit DS-261 : Receive IV Bill : Pay IV Bill : Send IV Package : 2014-12-29 Receive Instruction and Interview appointment letter : Case Completed at NVC : 2015-04-23 NVC Left : Consulate Received : Packet 3 Received : Packet 3 Sent : Packet 4 Received : 2015-04-29 Interview Date : 2015-06-03 Interview Result : Approved Second Interview (If Required): Second Interview Result: Visa Received : US Entry : 2015-06-21 Comments : Processing Estimates/Stats : Your I-130 was approved in 298 days from your NOA1 date. Your interview took 533 days from your I-130 NOA1 date.

Member Reviews:

Consulate Review: London, United Kingdom Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Event Description Review Date : June 6, 2015 Embassy Review : Writing about spouse's interview, which took place on June 3, 2015. He arrived at just after 7am, as the letter we received said his interview was for 8:30am. There were about 20 other people there when he arrived. At about 7:30, security staff began sorting people into various queues. At this time, my husband was told to come back at 12:30pm. "They sent you an email about it," he was told. No, they did not - both my husband and I checked and neither one of us received an email about an interview time change. I was aware that it seemed most people were having their visa interviews at 12:30 but you're obviously going to turn up at the time indicated on your interview letter, aren't you? This caused us a great deal of stress because while the security staff did say my husband was on the list of visitors for the day, they could not confirm for certain whether or not his interview was at 12:30pm. We were both worried that if he left, he would lose his appointment. After much effort I managed to reach a person in the US Embassy by phone. The person I spoke to was nice but clearly aiming to get me off the phone as quickly as possible. She said that all visa appointments had been changed to 12:30pm but that there was "a glitch" in getting out the second letter in some cases, and that if my husband was on the list he should be fine. We booked a room via air bnb in central London for the night before the interview in order to be there in plenty of time for the appointment - a totally unnecessary expense given the interview time had changed! This also meant my husband had to sort leaving his luggage at his accommodation after checkout time, and because it was a private room he had to agree to waiting until 6pm to get his luggage back. Back to the interview: my husband returned at 11am because he had noplace to go. After waiting about an hour, he was this time let in to the embassy. Because he was so early he was second in the queue for immigration visas. Document check was fine, interview was extremely easy. They asked why he didn't do the interview in Abu Dhabi, where we have been living for 3.5 years. (Answer: we tried for 4.5 months to move the interview to AD to no avail.) They asked who "Erik" was, twice. (Answer: our joint sponsor.) I don't know if they asked anything else but as my husband and I have been together for 13 years it was all quite easy in that regard. So, all in all a very easy interview but I can't give a high mark because the lack of informing about the interview time change caused us a great deal of stress on the day. Rating : Poor

Local US CIS Office Review: Raleigh NC Review Topic: cis_topic Event Description Review Date : June 23, 2015 Embassy Review : POE - Raleigh Durham Airport This is where my husband had his POE for his IR1 spousal visa. I was with him, and it was on the whole a very pleasant experience. This is a pretty small airport, and we came in on the flight from London Heathrow. Because of RDU airport's size, they only have a few CBP officers working, and you have to wait for them to finish processing everyone else who came in on the flight with you before they can deal with your paperwork. When we got to the CBP gate, the official was very nice and congratulated my husband and me and such a special occasion, and then he directed us to a small waiting room, which is where we waited for about 45 minutes before they could process husband's IR1. There were a few other people waiting for customs issues; my husband was the only one waiting for immigration reasons. We let them deal with those folks first as they had connecting flights to catch. Once they got around to my husband, they were extremely pleasant. The same guy who'd sent us through to the waiting room came over and collected my husband's sealed packet, and while he was dealing with that, his boss asked both of us questions about our relationship and our future plans. We felt like he was asking us out of curiosity and friendliness; I don't know if it was part of another check. A few minutes after that, they waived my husband over, gave him is stamped visa and congratulated us and welcomed him to the US, and that was that! If you're looking for a nice laid-back POE, Raleigh Durham Airport is a good one, but you will have to wait a bit. Harassment Level : Very Good

Timeline Comments: None yet, be the first!



*Notice about estimates: The estimates are based off averages of other members recent experiences
(documented in their timelines) for the same benefit/petition/application at the same filing location.
Individual results may vary as every case is not always 'average'. Past performance does not necessarily
predict future results. The 'as early as date' may change over time based on current reported processing
times from members. There have historically been cases where a benefit/petition/application processing
briefly slows down or stops and this can not be predicted. Use these dates as reference only and do not
rely on them for planning. As always you should check the USCIS processing times to see if your application
is past due.

** Not all cases are transfered

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