Goodmorning CO,many thank you for acknowledging the receipt of our contact sheets.I would like to ask you 3 questions.

1.My wife who is an healthcare worker was recently told again by her employer that she risk the chance of losing her job if she travels to Africa or being put on hold for many weeks before resuming work until she is certified of being free of ebola.For this reason we thought it best to meet in Mexico & spend 3 weeks together since she lives in New Mexico just a few hours from the US-Mexico border.My questions here are:Can i be issued a US transit since there isn't direct flight from Nigeria to Mexico & the cheapest flight to Mexico for the period we consider for this trip is by a US airliner?And I hope my intent to meet my wife close to the US border will not affect in any adverse way my current AP or any decision to be taken with regard to my immigrant visa case?

I was among the winners of the US constitutional essay contest organised by VOA sometime in 2006/2007.In my essay i praised the founding fathers of the US Constitution for their clairvoyance.As a country of immigrants,i appreciate her love for diversity & her wanting to knit family together which is reflected in her constitution.It is sad that today the application of the spirit of her Constitution is no longer what it was.It makes me bitter to see family reunion being treated the way it is.This isn't
healthy for the US society.My question is:Does the US consulate lagos give married couple more priority when it comes to timing?This i asked because the bulk of completed investigations by your field officers which have led to visa issuance are for k1 & most Cr1/IR1 are made to wait much longer.Please i mean no offense,its just how i feel.My kind regards.-Akinduro Sunday.

@All

Please let's leave this thread for Q & A between you and VO only.

No side comments.

Thank you.

lissagal:
Hello VO,
Nice job,we can't bt say may the good God of Nigerians bless u richly
Seems the consulate operates independent of nvc,the new 60days wait at nvc to get reviewed is heart accelerating though the workload seems way higher than available manpower. Can the journey from NVC to the consulate be made shorter and easier? The whole visa journey is enough to give one hypertension from missing ur spouse too much to palpitation of not knowing when u wud get a response. I have new addiction of checking visa case status at ceac hoping I see the good news. This long distance is killing me. But how long Does CR1 visa take from NVC to interview for nigeria consulate.

Usually a little more than two months ahead of time, NVC contacts posts and asks us what our monthly schedule will be. For instance, in the last week of October, they ask how many cases we can handle in January. Then, a few weeks later, they will either tell us all January cases have been scheduled, or ask us if we can take more cases than planned. (We always tell them that yes, we can take the extra cases.) So it seems like the wait time from when a case is documentarily complete at NVC to when it can be scheduled for an interview is around two months or less.

printemps:
Goodmorning CO,many thank you for acknowledging the receipt of our contact sheets.I would like to ask you 3 questions.

1.My wife who is an healthcare worker was recently told again by her employer that she risk the chance of losing her job if she travels to Africa or being put on hold for many weeks before resuming work until she is certified of being free of ebola.For this reason we thought it best to meet in Mexico & spend 3 weeks together since she lives in New Mexico just a few hours from the US-Mexico border.My questions here are:Can i be issued a US transit since there isn't direct flight from Nigeria to Mexico & the cheapest flight to Mexico for the period we consider for this trip is by a US airliner?And I hope my intent to meet my wife close to the US border will not affect in any adverse way my current AP or any decision to be taken with regard to my immigrant visa case?

I was among the winners of the US constitutional essay contest organised by VOA sometime in 2006/2007.In my essay i praised the founding fathers of the US Constitution for their clairvoyance.As a country of immigrants,i appreciate her love for diversity & her wanting to knit family together which is reflected in her constitution.It is sad that today the application of the spirit of her Constitution is no longer what it was.It makes me bitter to see family reunion being treated the way it is.This isn't
healthy for the US society.My question is:Does the US consulate lagos give married couple more priority when it comes to timing?This i asked because the bulk of completed investigations by your field officers which have led to visa issuance are for k1 & most Cr1/IR1 are made to wait much longer.Please i mean no offense,its just how i feel.My kind regards.-Akinduro Sunday.

Actually, I don't know much about transit visas. Have you asked on the other thread? Visiting your wife would absolutely not affect your pending IV case negatively in any way.

No offense taken. It's natural to be angry and frustrated when these processes take longer than expected. We do actually give precedence to CR1 / IR1 cases over K1s because there's an actual spouse involved in CR1/IR1 cases; can I ask where the impression that we make CR1/IR1s wait comes from? (I'm asking so I can figure out how to fix the problem.) Again, no offense taken, it's okay to have strong feelings about this.

(For those of you with K1s, we do try to finish all our adminstrative processing quickly no matter what type of case it is.)

Hey VO,

Say my sister inlaw's husbands applies for CR1 3 months after marriage say march/april next year.

1. How long approx do you think it will take from the day of application to interview?

2. Also does the location of the relative determine when he or she will get an interview date? For example I am guessing that there are many applicants from Nigeria so there might be a little bit of delay with scheduling interviews(I am only assuming here).

Or

Is it the same waiting time for everyone

jennykadry:
Hey VO,

Say my sister inlaw's husbands applies for CR1 3 months after marriage say march/april next year.

1. How long approx do you think it will take from the day of application to interview?

2. Also does the location of the relative determine when he or she will get an interview date? For example I am guessing that there are many applicants from Nigeria so there might be a little bit of delay with scheduling interviews(I am only assuming here).

Or

Is it the same waiting time for everyone

Hey there!

1. It depends if the application is complete and ready to go when it's filed, or if NVC has to keep asking for documents / evidence. In the very best case scenario, it could have an interview date four months after the petition is filed. That's rare, though. Six to eight months is more realistic.

2. No, location doesn't really affect the scheduling of interviews. There are more applicants from Nigeria than from most other countries in Africa, but that's why we have a larger staff here.

Thanks VO.

I am curious, where are you from?

VisaOfficer:


Actually, I don't know much about transit visas. Have you asked on the other thread?

No offense taken. It's natural to be angry and frustrated when these processes take longer than expected. We do actually give precedence to CR1 / IR1 cases over K1s because there's an actual spouse involved in CR1/IR1 cases; can I ask where the impression that we make CR1/IR1s wait comes from? (I'm asking so I can figure out how to fix the problem.) Again, no offense taken, it's okay to have strong feelings about this.

No,I have not asked from the non-immigrant forum.



Please,my reason for asking if more preferencial treatment is given to K1 compared to CR1/IR1 is because on some sites like visajourney.com & other sites & forums set up by immigration attys i read of more K1 on AP cases being resolved quickly than CR1/IR1.Most CRI/IR1 are still pending,some after 1 year or more,which make me wonder why.

I can recall you saying somewhere in this forum that visa cases on AP & beneficiaries living around Lagos can expect to have their cases resolved faster.I hope this applies to me cause i reside here in Surulere Lagos which is a 15/20 minutes drive from the US Consulate,so do most of my other contacts.Grand Merci Monsieur/Madame Consulaire.-Akinduro Sunday.

Hi VO please is there any option to pick up the visa if I don't have a national id or a drivers license? Lost all my ids during NYSC and I can't seem to get one in time now.

Good day VO,

Attended my K1 interview on the 16th of October and was approved by a lady on Window 16. She said to pick up my visa in "one week" at DHL Muri Okunola. I was there yesterday which marks one week and my passport wasn't ready. Before I went, I did track my status at the CEAC website and it read "issued". It further said my case was opened on the 17th of October and updated on 21st Oct.

I wonder what the issue is and why my passport is not yet available for pick up.

Kolawole Oluwabiyi.

Hi C.O..

Thanks for your great assistance , though I'm not very active on here but i always follow the discussions and its been spot on...

Please advise on this: I already have a sibling I-130 petition approved but i believe it'll still take some years before I'm called for interview, but now my girlfriend (american citizen) wants to file a fiance K1 petition for me because we've both agreed to get married soon.. we've been dating for quite some time, she spends time with and around my family over there in the US and she'll be spending this xmas with me too in africa... Now the question is, before she puts in any petition for me do we need to call uscis to cancel my already approved sibling i-130 petition or it'll be automatically cancelled if/when the fiance K1 is approved and we got married? I just want to know if it affects each other or not? Also how long does it take for the fiance K1 to be approved ?


I hope to read from you soon and thanks xoxoxo

Hi !

I'm going to California as an exchange student for 6 months in january. To this extent I'm about to apply for a J-1 Visa. In the DS-160 form I'm asked "Has anyone ever filed an immigrant petition on your behalf with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services? ".

I'm also about to apply for the diversity lottery 2016, so should I answer YES or NO to this ? I'm confused.

Thank you in advance for your help !!

Lena.

jennykadry:
Thanks VO.

I am curious, where are you from?

As a child and young adult, I lived in various towns all over the eastern coast and midwest of the U.S., mostly in farming areas. Due to my family's many moves and now to my job, I've spent more time in eastern Europe than in any one place in the States. These days "home" is defined as "wherever my books are" -- so, for now, I'm from Lagos.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CVLVaBECuc

printemps:


No,I have not asked from the non-immigrant forum.

Please,my reason for asking if more preferencial treatment is given to K1 compared to CR1/IR1 is because on some sites like visajourney.com & other sites & forums set up by immigration attys i read of more K1 on AP cases being resolved quickly than CR1/IR1.Most CRI/IR1 are still pending,some after 1 year or more,which make me wonder why.

I can recall you saying somewhere in this forum that visa cases on AP & beneficiaries living around Lagos can expect to have their cases resolved faster.I hope this applies to me cause i reside here in Surulere Lagos which is a 15/20 minutes drive from the US Consulate,so do most of my other contacts.Grand Merci Monsieur/Madame Consulaire.-Akinduro Sunday.

visajourney.com is not always an entirely reliable source. For instance, they keep presenting outdated contact information for our panel physicians, and we're not sure how to get them to stop. Also, keep in mind that the people who post there tend to be people who are having problems with their cases, so it's not a representative sample of ALL cases.

islet:
Hi VO please is there any option to pick up the visa if I don't have a national id or a drivers license? Lost all my ids during NYSC and I can't seem to get one in time now.

Hmmmm well, you could authorize someone else who does have ID to pick the visa up for you.

CrispyMentalist:
Good day VO,

Attended my K1 interview on the 16th of October and was approved by a lady on Window 16. She said to pick up my visa in "one week" at DHL Muri Okunola. I was there yesterday which marks one week and my passport wasn't ready. Before I went, I did track my status at the CEAC website and it read "issued". It further said my case was opened on the 17th of October and updated on 21st Oct.

I wonder what the issue is and why my passport is not yet available for pick up.

Kolawole Oluwabiyi.

We usually tell K applicants two weeks, because printing K visas is a longer process than any other kind of immigrant visas. I see that your visa was sent to the collection center on Oct. 24, so it should be ready for you Monday.

K visas are technically non-immigrant visas, but they're processed by the Immigrant Visa Unit. We have to approve them in the immigrant visa computer system, then transfer them to the non-immigrant computer system and approve them again before printing. Our computer systems will eventually be upgraded to get rid of this redundancy, but, in the meantime, they take a few days more than other types of visa.

godfather007:
Hi C.O..

Thanks for your great assistance , though I'm not very active on here but i always follow the discussions and its been spot on...

Please advise on this: I already have a sibling I-130 petition approved but i believe it'll still take some years before I'm called for interview, but now my girlfriend (american citizen) wants to file a fiance K1 petition for me because we've both agreed to get married soon.. we've been dating for quite some time, she spends time with and around my family over there in the US and she'll be spending this xmas with me too in africa... Now the question is, before she puts in any petition for me do we need to call uscis to cancel my already approved sibling i-130 petition or it'll be automatically cancelled if/when the fiance K1 is approved and we got married? I just want to know if it affects each other or not? Also how long does it take for the fiance K1 to be approved ?

I hope to read from you soon and thanks xoxoxo

You can have two petitions outstanding at the same time -- no wahala. They won't affect each other. If your fiance visa is approved, after you adjust status in the U.S. you could contact USCIS as a courtesy and let them know they can close the sibling petition.

If the fiance petition is documentarily complete when it's filed with USCIS, it should be processed and approved in around 60 days. At that point, the case is shipped to us (in a batch) and we contact petitioners to say "Hey, your beneficiary can make an appointment online now." That's why K visas are somewhat quicker than other types of immigrant visas: Beneficiaries can make their own appointments online as soon as their petitions arrive at post, whereas other types of immigrant visas are scheduled all at once, in batches, by the National Visa Center.

lineonstrike:
Hi !

I'm going to California as an exchange student for 6 months in january. To this extent I'm about to apply for a J-1 Visa. In the DS-160 form I'm asked "Has anyone ever filed an immigrant petition on your behalf with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services? ".

I'm also about to apply for the diversity lottery 2016, so should I answer YES or NO to this ? I'm confused.

Thank you in advance for your help !!

Lena.

Hi Lena,

This is technically a non-immigrant visa question, but I know the answer, so here it is. You can answer NO. You haven't applied for the DV program yet, and even if you had, the DV program doesn't require the filing of a petition. So, technically, you're in the clear.

Good day mam, hope u are enjoying ur weekend? Just curious ahead of my K1 approval... I wanna know if Saturdays are viable among dates that one can fix his/her interview ma?

stevewale:
Good day mam, hope u are enjoying ur weekend? Just curious ahead of my K1 approval... I wanna know if Saturdays are viable among dates that one can fix his/her interview ma?

No, we're a Monday-through-Friday operation. We very occasionally have Saturday openings for non-immigrant visas, but K1 visas and immigrant visas are handled during the normal work week.

printemps:
Mon epouse et moi vous remercient pour votre reponse et vous souhaitent un bon week-end.

Très belle image!

Dear VO
Am very frustrated as i type,have been to the embassy three times for interview,av bin asked one tin or the other,d last Interview I was asked to (A)bring my parents original marriage certificate and (B)more recent photos with my petitioner which is my dad,it was listed out this way,and was also asked to schedule my appointment wen i av dem ready.My question now is i av just 5 recent photos of me and my dad,is dat okay?

We have been on dis case since january,Also my medical examination expired in august ,if at the end of this process am eligible for my visa,will i still be told to first go and get another medicals before even droppin my passport for the visa issuance,or can i go tru anoda medIcal exam in advance.Thanks in advance

[quote author=VisaOfficer post=27448289]

Très belle image![/quote



Je m'excuse d'avoir mal conjugué mes verbes,mais quand même nous vous remercions pour votre compréhension et votre bonne remarque sur la photo.-A S Rufus.

VisaOfficer:

You can have two petitions outstanding at the same time -- no wahala. They won't affect each other. If your fiance visa is approved, after you adjust status in the U.S. you could contact USCIS as a courtesy and let them know they can close the sibling petition.
If the fiance petition is documentarily complete when it's filed with USCIS, it should be processed and approved in around 60 days. At that point, the case is shipped to us (in a batch) and we contact petitioners to say "Hey, your beneficiary can make an appointment online now." That's why K visas are somewhat quicker than other types of immigrant visas: Beneficiaries can make their own appointments online as soon as their petitions arrive at post, whereas other types of immigrant visas are scheduled all at once, in batches, by the National Visa Center.

This is very helpful.. Thank you and I'll come to you again when due lol...

Please I just want to ask during filling the application form, I filled another state but I later remembered that I have to visit New York too for sight seeing before heading to my destination and returning back home is there any hope the immigration will not ask that why am I coming through New York and not the state I filled in my ds 160 form please will this have an implication?

VisaOfficer:


The only real answer I can give you is a clarification: USCIS usually doesn't contact petitioners in K1 cases that are returned for possible revocation. That's because I-129Fs are only valid for four months; once they've expired, USCIS usually closes the cases. Sorry about the miscommunication. We officers discussed USCIS and Ks in light of your question and are back on the same page now.

@VisaOfficer

Thanks for writing.I'm left wondering now why the officer at the consul told me they'd send a recommendation to have our approval revoked and thus USCIS will contact my Fiancee' the petitioner.In the meantime like I thought- she's started again with her rants and this time she's coming to Lagos.

Also, I don't believe my approval may be expired already, If I remember correctly it's been approved for about 2 years now. I think sometime in February 2013 (but I will have to check to be sure). I had the case transferred from the consulate in London to Lagos initially and it took US a bit to find a suitable sponsor for the Affidavit of Support form plus other personal delays not related to this case at all.

What do you reckon be done now if for Instance the USCIS doesn't contact her? Guys I'm honestly in a fix now especially because I can't sleep at nights because of her phone calls & messages on Whatsapp.I believe I may have spoken to at least 30% of the lawyers in the Chicago area already because she keeps sending references, none of them however has a solid Idea on how to proceed in this equation except for requesting some sort of a retainer in the meantime which I think is standard lawyer "WAYO" worldwide.

Can we write USCIS, or perhaps the consulate to request a written reason why the Visa was denied or petition returned for revocation.

I honestly need help, I hate being in a situation that I cannot explain, I wish I had asked more questions at the consulate that day but I was being considerate of the other people who had waited at least 4 hours with me to see an officer.

I wish that I could communicate pertinent Information to you so as to enable you look into your data and advice what should or could be done without breaching any laid down work ethic. Please advice if this is a possibility in any case, then I will have to send you all required Information privately solely because of my business & personal Image.

tobiloba05:
Dear VO
Am very frustrated as i type,have been to the embassy three times for interview,av bin asked one tin or the other,d last Interview I was asked to (A)bring my parents original marriage certificate and (B)more recent photos with my petitioner which is my dad,it was listed out this way,and was also asked to schedule my appointment wen i av dem ready.My question now is i av just 5 recent photos of me and my dad,is dat okay?

It's best if you can provide photos of yourself and your father at different times of your life -- not just from one occasion.

You asked about your medical exam; you'll need a valid medical exam to be issued a visa. I'd wait until we ask you to get a new one, just in case your case remains in administrative processing for a long time.

Jacob96:
Please I just want to ask during filling the application form, I filled another state but I later remembered that I have to visit New York too for sight seeing before heading to my destination and returning back home is there any hope the immigration will not ask that why am I coming through New York and not the state I filled in my ds 160 form please will this have an implication?

This is a question for my non-immigrant visa colleagues at https://www.nairaland.com/1792662/u.s-non-immigrant-visas-listening .