I-130 Questions

[jkf2112 0]

My husband submitted I130s for myself and my four children earlier this month. We put each set of papers into a separate envelope and filled out the payment forms for each of the five petitions but then parcelled all of the envelopes up into once parcel so as to ensure they were clearly seen to be one group. We had to contact the London Embassy because they had missed one of the payments but we had it confirmed then that they will be treated as one case. Our situation is a little different in that my husband (the USC) is the father of all four of our children. You will probably have to evidence that the father of your future wife's children is not a block to them relocating to another country. I obviously have not experience of that I'm afraid but I am still pretty confident that the USCIS will bundle the children's I130s in with their mother's one. Incidentally, I am pretty sure that my children will have to attend the interview with me so I think you should work on that assumption.

Best wishes

Laura

Thanks Laura. Can you also answer this for me: will we then have to file 3 DS-230's and have 3 medical exams and have 3 I-864's since the visa are not derivative? If the answer to this is YES, then I think (from what I understand) it would actually be less expensive to do the K-1 visa because the K-2 visa's would be derivative and the fees to change status would, realistically, almost be less than spending the extra fees for each CR-1 visa for the children (I think). Can you, or anyone else provide clarity on this?

Thanks,

J

[LauraDP 10]

Thanks Laura. Can you also answer this for me: will we then have to file 3 DS-230's and have 3 medical exams and have 3 I-864's since the visa are not derivative? If the answer to this is YES, then I think (from what I understand) it would actually be less expensive to do the K-1 visa because the K-2 visa's would be derivative and the fees to change status would, realistically, almost be less than spending the extra fees for each CR-1 visa for the children (I think). Can you, or anyone else provide clarity on this?

Thanks,

J

I am very much not an expert on immigration visas as I am on here to learn from the wisdom and experience of others as I try to wend my way through the process. I cannot, therefore, answer any of your queries about comparative costs as the only visa route I have investigated is the one relevant to my own family. However, the beneficiaries do absolutely have to have separate medicals incurring their own separate fees (with one adult and four kids that is one of our biggest expenses) and the paperwork for the I864s has to be duplicated - from what I understand anyway - even though you are essentially replicating the information from one form to another. I do not yet know about the DS230s as I am still trying to determine that for myself. I would be interested to know if you get to the bottom of that. I am basically working on the assumption that - even though we are all one "case" - the visas remain one per person and, therefore, all the information has to be duplicated accordingly. Worst case scenario is that someone at the field office bins four of our copies because they only ever needed one but that to me is preferable than a delay because we should have submitted everything x5.

Best wishes

Laura

[jkf2112 0]

I am very much not an expert on immigration visas as I am on here to learn from the wisdom and experience of others as I try to wend my way through the process. I cannot, therefore, answer any of your queries about comparative costs as the only visa route I have investigated is the one relevant to my own family. However, the beneficiaries do absolutely have to have separate medicals incurring their own separate fees (with one adult and four kids that is one of our biggest expenses) and the paperwork for the I864s has to be duplicated - from what I understand anyway - even though you are essentially replicating the information from one form to another. I do not yet know about the DS230s as I am still trying to determine that for myself. I would be interested to know if you get to the bottom of that. I am basically working on the assumption that - even though we are all one "case" - the visas remain one per person and, therefore, all the information has to be duplicated accordingly. Worst case scenario is that someone at the field office bins four of our copies because they only ever needed one but that to me is preferable than a delay because we should have submitted everything x5.

Best wishes

Laura

Laura, I will definitely let you know if I determine the exact answer. It seems to me that filing separate 230s and 864s would get very expensive (I think). I agree with you, though, about filing multiple copies and letting the field office worry about whether they were required or not. I am just attempting, for my situation, to ascertain what the actual best scenario is for us. As to your situation, I am wondering why you have to file I-130s for your children if your children are yours+your husbands...birth abroad affords citizenship and passport rights I do believe and that would mean you wouldn't have to have a visa for them. That's what I was going to ask you at least.