I wanted to clarify whether I understand the order of steps correctly. If the I-140 approval is received before June 22, does that effectively mean I can already fill out the DS-260 and then just wait for the US consulate to schedule the interview? Or is there something else that needs to be done between these steps?
If the I-140 is already approved — yes, the next step is the DS-260 (that’s for those outside the U.S.). But between filing the DS-260 and scheduling the interview there’s another step: the NVC (National Visa Center) receives the case, gathers documents from your side, reviews them, and only then forwards it to the consulate. There are no set timelines.
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Oh, I somehow missed the part about the NVC — I thought after the DS-260 it goes straight to the interview. Can I start preparing the NVC documents in advance, or do I have to wait until they request my case?
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First you get a welcome letter from the NVC — I waited a month after the I-140 was approved. Only after that does the portal where you submit the DS-260 open. The documents they later request — birth certificate, police clearance certificates from every country you lived in, an affidavit from the sponsor — can be gathered right now; they’re standard and don’t depend on what stage the case is at.
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After submitting the DS-260 — the status is tracked on the CEAC portal; there’s no separate “forms accepted” letter, you just see that the case is moving. I checked with my attorney — and in the end, when the visa is approved at the interview, you simply enter the US and the green card arrives by mail.
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PD current is the second requirement in addition to an approved I-140. My attorney explained that the DS-260 at the NVC won’t become available until both conditions are met simultaneously. So it’s worth checking the Visa Bulletin every month in parallel.
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The medical exam hasn’t been mentioned yet. I had mine in Almaty a week before the interview; the consulate provides a list of approved doctors. If you’re planning the timing in advance, factor this step in too — appointments aren’t always immediate.
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One more point that wasn’t mentioned here — you don’t book the consular interview yourself; you wait to be summoned by the specific consulate listed on the I-140. If you want, you can try to transfer to another country, but that’s a separate process. And regarding the risks of the consular route — denials there are rare, but they can’t be appealed. Unlike with the I-485, where a denial can be challenged in court. So the difference between these routes is significant if you have a choice.
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About the consulate, by the way — for an immigrant visa you don’t have the free choice you do with a nonimmigrant one. The consulate is already specified in the I-140, and the NVC then forwards the case there. If a consulate, for some reason, refuses to accept citizens of a certain country, Russian citizens are tied to Warsaw in that respect — Warsaw can’t refuse.
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About the one-year timeframe - there’s no strict deadline, the NVC won’t close the case; it just waits until you submit the documents. But police certificates (certificates of no criminal record) do have a validity period - for the Warsaw consulate they must be no older than one year at the time of the interview. If you get them too far in advance, they might not be valid by the interview date and you’ll have to reorder them.
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Entry on an immigrant visa is a bit different from a regular entry. The consulate issues a sealed envelope — you hand it to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer when you arrive; you must not open it yourself. After inspection they place an I-551 stamp in your passport; this is temporary proof of status for one year while the physical green card is mailed to you.
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