Info on an i130 application.

él statutorio

Hi folks,

I'm looking for a bit of a steer here. My wife (a US citizen) submitted an application for an i130 back at the start of January.

We're trying to get an update as to where the application is in the system as when we applied the government sites estimate was 5 months.

I have tried calling the embassy here in Dublin for some info but it just seems to be an endless soul destroying loop of automated answering systems.

The email we got today (after requesting a status update) from the Dept of Homeland Security was pretty useless as it basically said "pending adjudication. We regret that we are unable to provide you with a completion date at this time."

Has anyone any ideas?

iusedtoknow

It can be pending for as long as it is pending

have you checked https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/Dashboard/CaseStatus.do

It will give you a bit of insight into where it is in process

él statutorio

is it a "how long is a piece of string" situation?

silja

You are looking at about a year from submitting the first paperwork to interview- 5- 6 months at USCIS, 2-3 months at NVC, and then 2-3 months to get the paperwork to the embassy and them to schedule your interview.

él statutorio

Thanks for that silja, I was under the impression it took less time. Am I correct in saying that I can get a temporary work visa while the i130 is being processed?

silja

No, you cannot move to the US or live or work there until you have the spousal visa.
You CAN use the visa waiver program to visit for Christmas, or to attend job interviews, but you cannot work till you have the visa (visa gives you automatic greencard upon entry to the USA).

spideog7

Harsh... I got the whole process completed in under 3 months from sending in the application to getting the green card in the post. I was doing an adjustment of status along with the I130 though.

muff03

spideog7 wrote: »

Harsh... I got the whole process completed in under 3 months from sending in the application to getting the green card in the post. I was doing an adjustment of status along with the I130 though.

Whoa, we were hit with the government shutdown. We're a year and a half down the road and still not finished!

él statutorio

silja wrote: »

No, you cannot move to the US or live or work there until you have the spousal visa.
You CAN use the visa waiver program to visit for Christmas, or to attend job interviews, but you cannot work till you have the visa (visa gives you automatic greencard upon entry to the USA).

A K3 visa would count as a spousal visa though wouldn't it?

silja

The K3 visa is obsolete, as it takes as long as the CR-1 nowadays. Plus with the K3 you have to do AOS after you arrive in the USA, so it actually takes longer until you can work.

él statutorio

balls!

Not the answer that I wanted

I wish I could find out what the hold up is, so bloody frustrating.

To top it off I've actually been offered a job over there too but I can't even give them an estimate of a start date.

spideog7

muff03 wrote: »

Whoa, we were hit with the government shutdown. We're a year and a half down the road and still not finished!

I actually had my interview right in the middle of the shutdown. USCIS didn't shut down as it isn't federally funded it's self funded, paid for by applicants like me and you.

silja

él statutorio wrote: »

balls!
I wish I could find out what the hold up is, so bloody frustrating.

It isn't really a hold up, it is just how long it takes because of the amount of petitions they get.

DaisyD2

A US family member was over 2yrs married before his overseas wife was allowed join him & I believe they tried Fiance visa prior to marriage - just celebrated 10yrs.

System is not designed to provide you with information on where you are in the queue, its a waiting game but I would seriously caution anyone about even looking for employment during the process because imo it is seriously frowned upon

él statutorio

DaisyD2 wrote: »

A US family member was over 2yrs married before his overseas wife was allowed join him & I believe they tried Fiance visa prior to marriage - just celebrated 10yrs.

System is not designed to provide you with information on where you are in the queue, its a waiting game but I would seriously caution anyone about even looking for employment during the process because imo it is seriously frowned upon

2years, oh dear. We were married in 2011 over there and we have a 2 year old child (born here but has both passports).

Incidentally,I didn't actually go job hunting, I met someone socially which inadvertently led to a fantastic job offer.

ProudDUB

él statutorio wrote: »

balls!

Not the answer that I wanted

I wish I could find out what the hold up is, so bloody frustrating.

To top it off I've actually been offered a job over there too but I can't even give them an estimate of a start date.

OP, are you and your wife here in Dublin? As your wife is a US citizen, she can go to the US Embassy, walk straight into it and talk to someone about any issues she may have. As a US citizen, she doesn't have to make an appointment in advance in order to speak to the staff there. I don't know how much information a staffer in the Embassy here, will be able to give her about the application, especially if it is being processed back in the US. But they may be able to tell her something.

DaisyD2

él statutorio wrote: »

Incidentally,I didn't actually go job hunting, I met someone socially which inadvertently led to a fantastic job offer.

Didn't mean to imply you had,

Hopefully you won't be waiting too long & offer will still be there

él statutorio

ProudDUB wrote: »

OP, are you and your wife here in Dublin? As your wife is a US citizen, she can go to the US Embassy, walk straight into it and talk to someone about any issues she may have. As a US citizen, she doesn't have to make an appointment in advance in order to speak to the staff there. I don't know how much information a staffer in the Embassy here, will be able to give her about the application, especially if it is being processed back in the US. But they may be able to tell her something.

Yeah we live in Dublin, I didn't know that, I thought we needed an appointment in advance. I'll be calling her now!

Thank you!

*edit* turns out she needs an appointment. She went up there today

ProudDUB

Did she really? Surprised to hear that. The two times I needed to speak to someone there, I was able to just walk straight in. I had to take a ticket and wait in the waiting area until someone was free to speak to me. Both times, I was in and out in under a hour.

Was it because she was asking about a visa application? Maybe they have so many of them, they have a set system in place to deal with them. (I was only asking boring questions about filing my taxes from Ireland. So maybe they don't get a lot of people walking in off the street to ask about that.) Was she at least able to make an appointment.

él statutorio

OK, back to this again.

Here's my current status.

As of last Friday, my I 130 petition has been approved by USCIS.

As I understand it, my application is now with the NVC, they will then process it (presumably) and then pass the details to the embassy in Dublin.
Assuming this is correct, does anyone know how long it might take the NVC to do whatever they have to do and pass it along to Dublin?

Once it gets to Dublin I believe it take up to 6 weeks for them process the application (according to the Information Unit in the Dublin Embassy) and at this point I do an interview and medical and presumably get a work Visa?

Does this all sound correct or am I missing some steps?

silja

Wait, a work visa? I thought you are being petitioned for a spousal visa?
NVC is where your wife will send in the I-864 affadavit of support and those docs. Usually takes no longer than 2 months.

él statutorio

silja wrote: »

Wait, a work visa? I thought you are being petitioned for a spousal visa?
NVC is where your wife will send in the I-864 affadavit of support and those docs. Usually takes no longer than 2 months.

Sorry Silja,

I'm confusing myself at this stage From being told it was a simple speedy process initially, the whole thing is a pain in the swiss....

You're right, I'm applying for a spousal visa. I am hoping to work over there once the visa arrives though.

silja

Yeah the working bit is no probs- the spousal visa leads to greencard upon entry (you will get a stamp in your passport that acts as temp green card until the physical card arrives a couple of months later), so you can work the day you arrive if you can find a job.

él statutorio

silja wrote: »

Yeah the working bit is no probs- the spousal visa leads to greencard upon entry (you will get a stamp in your passport that acts as temp green card until the physical card arrives a couple of months later), so you can work the day you arrive if you can find a job.

Well that's something.

The irritating bit is that I've got an excellent job offer over there but I don't think I can get them to keep the position open past the end of August.

I've gotta hope it gets done by then

My wife and daughter are moving over in about 3 weeks and I intend to follow them in mid August (on an ESTA til the visa gets sorted, I know I can't work).

I'm wondering if it'd be better to leave the application with me applying from this side and fly home for the interview or if it'd be faster if I changed it to me applying from the US?

silja

You can't apply from the USA. It is visa fraud to use the visa waiver to enter the USA with the intent of staying, you could face a lifetime ban for that.
What you *could* do is ask for an expedite based on financial loss- you have a job offer that may be withdrawn. Usually expedites are only granted for military service of emergent health reasons, but it's worth a try, especially at the embassy level if you can be flexible and basically show up for the interview at short notice if they have a cancelation.

él statutorio

I was speaking to the NVC about expediting it last night, i didn't think about financial loss tbh, it's certainly worth a try. I'll be as flexible as the embassy needs me to be, I can be out there at 45 mins notice!

Thanks so much for your advice on this.

jjbrien

You might want to now start prepairing for your medical. I gathered up my vaccination records etc a while before the medical needed to be done. So id advise you to contact your local health centre to get your records now.

él statutorio

jjbrien wrote: »

You might want to now start prepairing for your medical. I gathered up my vaccination records etc a while before the medical needed to be done. So id advise you to contact your local health centre to get your records now.

Good thinking, I never realised I'd have to start digging up vaccination records. IS that something that my regular GP would have or am I looking at contacting the local health board? (or possibly the local health board where i grew up?)

silja

Yeah your GP from childhood, if still practiising or if another took over his office, should have it.

crapmanjoe

I had no records at all of any vaccines but my doc ran a blood test (was like a 100 bucks extra) and it showed all the vaccines still present so I had no issues!

él statutorio

crapmanjoe wrote: »

I had no records at all of any vaccines but my doc ran a blood test (was like a 100 bucks extra) and it showed all the vaccines still present so I had no issues!

That might be the best option, my GP from childhood is long dead and I don't know who took over from him.