Lemoore, CA Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

Congratulations on the approval of your I-130. That's great news but the USCIS processing is really the easy part. The hard part of the process, and the part of the process where a majority of cases that are denied fail is ahead of you so it is important that you get this right or you'll be right back where you started or worse. The total amount of time it will take for the visa to be issued after USCIS approval of the I-130 depends on a number of factors including: 1.) How quickly you submit all of the required forms and supporting documentation to the National Visa Center; 2.) Whether there are delays at the NVC because what you submit is improper or incomplete; 3.) Current NVC processing times; 4.) Current wait times for an interview appointment at the processing post; 5.) Whether or not the consular officer requests additional evidence after the initial consular interview; 6.) Processing times to obtain certain required documents such as the police certificate which you will need to submit to the NVC; and 7.) The processing post's turn around time for producing and delivering the physical visa after approval. In general, with the cases that I handle, it normally takes about 3-4 weeks for the NVC to receive the approved I-130 from the USCIS. Once the NVC receives the approved I-130 they should send you some information that will include a fee bill for the visa and affidavit of support fees within 2-3 weeks. If you work diligently in providing all of the required documents and correct forms, NVC processing can normally be completed in 2-3 months. In some cases it takes less time and in some cases it takes more. After that, the time it takes to complete the process depends on how long of a wait there is for a visa interview appointment in Bogota. I have no idea what the current wait times are at this post and they are not published anywhere that I am aware of. When a new prospective client comes to me with an I-130 case for an immediate relative (where there is no waiting period for a visa number) I generally tell them that the total estimated processing time from the date of USCIS filing until the visa is issued is 10-12 months. USCIS processing is normally about 5-6 months which means from the point you are at in the processing now it could take an additional 5-6 months before the visa is actually issued. (If your case is not for an immediate relative there could be a significant additional delay while you wait for a visa number to become available. If you are a U.S. citizen then it is an immediate relative case and this is not an issue.) The only thing that you can do to impact this and improve the processing time is to make sure you submit all of the correct required supporting documents and forms the first time and that you do it as quickly as possible. There is no available expedited processing service or similar.

Assuming you were on properly H1B for the first employer, it is possible to file another H1B from a separate employer. Additionally, you should properly enter the RFE.

If he has a deportation, you will have to get the deportation case reopened by filing a joint motion to reopen with the government. Once government agrees to reopen the case then you can file for his adjustment of status with the USCIS. This could take some time. If the government does not agree to jointly reopen the deportation case then he cannot file for Green Card.