My wife and I married in January 2025. I filed the spousal petition as soon as I could. The petition was approved. Then came the National Visa Center stage, and then more waiting.
I cannot turn our case into a universal timetable. I can only give ours.
We received the visa in early spring 2026, just under fifteen months after our wedding. By then, I had spent about a year in Kenya with her.
The costs beyond money
The application fees were only the visible part. The wait meant a pregnancy in Nairobi rather than in America. It meant managing medical appointments across two healthcare systems and making plans that had to be remade whenever the expected timeline shifted.
The deeper cost was psychological. The institution held the calendar; we carried the consequences. Pregnancy continued. Work continued. Parents still had health needs. Decisions could not remain suspended simply because our case was still in a queue.
Make a waiting plan
If you are preparing for this process, do not make only an application plan. Make a plan for the waiting period.
Decide which country you will wait in and why. Decide what you will do if the process takes longer than you expect. Think through medical care, work, travel and family obligations before they become emergencies.
Do not assume the queue will rearrange itself around a pregnancy, a parent’s health or a job offer. Your life will keep moving even when the file does not. Plan accordingly.
That is what a year of waiting costs: not only money, but ordinary timing. A wedding happens. A pregnancy advances. Work and family needs continue. The file moves when it moves.
Gabriel Mahia writes from the intersection of U.S. federal infrastructure and East African operational reality. This essay is part of the Year in Kenya series, based on twelve months in Nairobi from April 2025 to April 2026. The full reading order is available on the Year in Kenya series page.