Travel while petitioning

[Tara Wu]

Hello! My husband and I are applying for his mother to come to the USA from China. We plan to return to China for a visit as soon as possible. We want to go back to have our wedding there (we have married in America but wish to have a ceremony there for his family). I've read that the whole application process and interview take a year. We are really hoping to go there and come back with his mom, or at least come back with a couple of months at most before she can come here. Anyways, we petitioned in August and have been approved but we haven't heard anything else from the NVC or immigration department. We want to go to China asap....do we have to wait until her interview is scheduled to leave? Can we travel while the petition is being reviewed? If so, where in the process can we leave? We want to stay in China for 6 months.


Ps. We are in a rush because we want to have a baby in the next year or two. Thanks!

[Tara Wu]

Update

Hello! My husband and I are applying for his mother to come to the USA from China. We plan to return to China for a visit as soon as possible. We want to go back to have our wedding there (we have married in America but wish to have a ceremony there for his family). I've read that the whole application process and interview take a year. We are really hoping to go there and come back with his mom, or at least come back with a couple of months at most before she can come here. Anyways, we petitioned in August and have been approved but we haven't heard anything else from the NVC or immigration department. We want to go to China asap....do we have to wait until her interview is scheduled to leave? Can we travel while the petition is being reviewed? If so, where in the process can we leave? We want to stay in China for 6 months.


Ps. We are in a rush because we want to have a baby in the next year or two. Thanks!

I called USCIS and found out that we can travel, there are no holds. However, the processing time after receiving the receipt from the I-130 is longer than we anticipated--the lady on the phone said it would be no more than 5 months to receive anymore paperwork from the NVC! 😩 So I guess we cannot leave until at least April or so, after we've submitted all the required documentation. That's what my husband is guessing anyways...I personally think that it will be longer. I've read that the whole process takes a year for parents of us citizens (we have no priority date as visas are unlimited for this type of request). Is that average or is it shorter/longer?