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I don't understand what your situation is, maybe you can clarify and add more information so I can offer some help or advice.

What visa are you applying for? IR-1 or something else?

Are one of you already presently living in the USA?

Romaniac

My wife already lives in the US and is a US citizen. We met when she worked in Europe a number of years ago.

She had to return to the US for family reasons

l have applied to join her on a normal spousal visa using an I-131.

l am now awaiting a NVC interview

Once there l will apply for US citizenship

My wife already lives in the US and is a US citizen. We met when she worked in Europe a number of years ago.
She had to return to the US for family reasons
l have applied to join her on a normal spousal visa using an I-131.
l am now awaiting a NVC interview
Once there l will apply for US citizenship
-@baliniere

Ok, it sounds like you applied for a IR-1/CR-1 via a I-130 (not I-131, that is an application for a travel document).

Yes you will wait for the interview at your US embassy, it's not done by the NVC, they will simply forward your file to the embassy once it's Documentarily Qualified to schedule the interview.

At the interview, you will find out if the visa is approved. If it is, then you have 6 months to enter the USA. After you enter the USA at the airport, you will be issued the green card in about 2 weeks.

If you need to return to your country to finish off remaining loose ends you can do that, just don't spend a lot of time out of the USA and be prepared to explain your trip upon re-entry. It shouldn't be a problem.

You cannot apply for citizenship for a few years, so slow down, one step at a time!

Thanks for that.

l should have looked at the documentation before l replied, but it takes time to go through it and l was already replying.

You have clarified the issue for me nicely. The more you read the more confused it becomes. YouTube has so much stuff and again it can be contradictory .. Trying to get information from USCIS can also be time consuming and difficult..

l realise that citizenship will take a while l just wanted to add that that is my eventual aim.

l will be glad when it is sorted as my life is in limbo right now and it seems to be taking forever.

Thanks for your help.

Nick

Yes it can be a hard process.  It took 14 months to bring my wife over here.  It would have been a little shorter but the NVC neglected to forward the file to the embassy for about 2 months (their error).  Thankfully I had the embassy in Romania intervene and get the file expedited to them, then everything was on track.  She got her visa and a week later was flying over.  FYI, we did sell our home and purchase flight tickets beforehand because we knew the visa would be approved as we've already been married for many years and have kids.  We had a very easy open/shut kind of case.

My wife just last month applied for citizenship after 4 years of being in the USA, she will have her naturalization interview in about 7 months; she was told at USCIS near where we live.  It's a much easier process than the visa, but still it takes time....and money of course.

Romaniac

We have been married since 2017, but she had to return to the US when her mother died.

l was in the middle of a project in Europe so had to finish that before l could apply to join her.

l am hoping that the fact that we have been legally married (in Florida)  for more than five years will be in our favour.

Nick

We have been married since 2017, but she had to return to the US when her mother died.
l was in the middle of a project in Europe so had to finish that before l could apply to join her.
l am hoping that the fact that we have been legally married (in Florida) for more than five years will be in our favour.
Nick
-@baliniere

Being legally married is just a small part of it IMO.  If you've been living apart for a long time though, it can raise doubts and lead to a more in-depth interview or even an Administrative Processing status.  The evidence you submitted that proves the relationship (joint assets, visits to each other, etc) will be very important.

@wben3056

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