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It sounds to me that the priest wants to get your marriage situation rectified/convalidated before you join RCIA - it is important to remember that annulments are not foregone conclusions.

By waiting a year before joining RCIA, the situation with your annulments should be clearer, and then (Please God!) you will be able to formally begin the process of entering the Church without any impediment to partaking fully in the sacramental life.

In the meantime it sounds like you already desire full membership of the Church and so you need have no fear of untimely demise.

Although the process may seem interminable and frustrating while you are in the middle of it, you will appreciate having had things done in the right order in your years ahead.

We received two women into the Church last year who only disclosed their "marital irregularities" after joining the RCIA process. Unfortunately neither situation could be regularised. Both decided to continue and become Catholics at the Easter vigil, but neither has been able to receive Holy Communion so far - we can only hope that their respective (ex)husbands shuffle off this mortal coil before they do!