(1) Waiting for the visa fee bill
Note: This step is not affected by the visa schedule.
Within 30 -60 days after I-526 is approved, the investor's file will be transferred from the US Immigration Service to the National Visa Center (NVC), and then NVC will issue a "visa fee payment form", and the applicant and his family members will each have to pay $345. There are two ways for ordinary investors to pay this fee, either directly accessing the Internet by themselves or giving the money together with the lawyer's fee to the lawyer, who will pay for it.
(2) Fill in the DS-260 form and prepare for translation and notarization.
Note: This step is not affected by the visa schedule.
After paying the fee to NVC, the lawyer or paralegal will collect information about you and other family members who immigrated together to fill in the DS-260 form. The information covers a wide range, even including your parents' birthdays, your old address, all your time in and out of the United States, educational information above high school and so on. Generally speaking, you need to fill in the information collection form provided by the lawyer, and the lawyer will personally fill out the DS-260 form online. At the same time, you need to provide a series of documents, mainly including birth certificate, marriage certificate, proof of parent-child relationship and so on. Most of these documents need translation and notarization. So this waiting time is hard to say, it all depends on the completeness of the materials at hand and the time to get the translation certificate.
(3) Waiting for an interview at the American Consulate in Guangzhou.
Note: This step is affected by the visa schedule.
You need to wait until your priority date (that is, the date when USCIS receives your I-526) is earlier than the date on the visa bulletin board before NVC will arrange an interview for you. At present, the date displayed on the bulletin board is 20 13 12 15. Let's assume that the time you wait for the approval of I-526 is 14 months, so you need to wait about 10 months to get the interview arrangement in Guangzhou.
After expecting 10 months, you finally received a notice from NVC, indicating the specific date of your face-to-face signing, which will usually be arranged after 1-2 months. The letter will also clearly list some documents that each family member needs to carry with him, especially some original documents. This is because all the documents submitted by lawyers to NVC are electronic, so you need to bring the original documents with you during the interview.
After receiving the notice from NVC, you need to do two more things:
The first is to go to a designated medical institution for physical examination. Only Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Fuzhou have immigration physical examination centers. Remember, never open the physical examination results without permission! This is for you when you land in the United States and enter the customs! If you go for an interview first and then go for a medical examination, the visa officer will wait until your medical examination report is issued before processing your visa;
The second is to make an appointment for an interview on the website of the American Embassy. In fact, you already have time for face-to-face interviews. Just check online and print out the bar code for each family member who goes to face-to-face interviews. This bar code and NVC notification letter are necessary to enter Guangzhou Consulate!
An important news interruption: the Immigration Visa Office of the US Consulate General in Guangzhou is located at No.43 Huajiu Road, Zhujiang New Town, Tianhe District, Guangzhou. Be sure to use the Guest Entrance of Consular Section on Huaxia Road (near the B 1 exit of Zhujiang New Town Station on Metro Line 3 and Line 5).
(4) get a visa and fly to a new home in the United States.
At this point, you can finally breathe a sigh of relief. At the same time, congratulations, your passport has been affixed with an American immigrant visa. Then you may find an address in America, rent it or buy it. It will take some time. Besides, I have to buy a plane ticket to America. Please note that if you need to transfer in the United States, for example, if you want to live in Philadelphia, I'm sorry, because there is no direct flight, you need to transfer in new york or Washington, and your transfer time should be more than 5 hours. Because it's your first time to enter the US Customs, it takes a long time for the customs to go through the formalities for you, which usually takes 2-3 hours. In addition, the big airport may need to shuttle between different terminals, so be sure to leave enough time for yourself and don't watch your plane fly away through the glass!
At the same time, as a new immigrant, you need to know about this country, its culture and government system. You should know your rights, responsibilities and obligations. You should know how the federal, state and local governments work, and learn American history. You can go to the public library or community college near your home to take all kinds of free or low-cost English courses. You can log on to Citizenship and Immigration Service (www.uscis.gov) and read the handbook "Welcome to America, A Guide for New Immigrants" published by Citizenship and Immigration Service, which can help you find your daily needs and organizations you need.