A Newbie so please forgive me

[johniniraq 0]

I am sure you tire of seeing so many of us, but I simply don't know where to start. If I could get responses, directions, links I would be very appreciative.

I am a U.S. contractor working in Iraq. I am married to a Jordanian citizen living and working in Amman. I will be here another year. My questions are:

Am I able to start the visa process for her here somehow?

What kind of timeline might I be looking at?

Which visa would you recommend to be able to get her to the U.S. once my time is up here?

In the interim, I would like to be able to take her to the States for a vacation. What do I need to do?

Thank you very much for your patience.

[johniniraq 0]

I forgot to ask. I assume most use an attorney. Are there any recommendations?

[sarah and hicham 3]

I believe you can file from Iraq. On the forms they say where to send the petition if you are outside of the US.

We didn't use an attorney. Our case was straightforward and all we had to do was sign some forms and gather some documents. If you have time to do so I would reccomend doing it yourself unless you don't have time or your case is complicated or if you prefer to use an attorney.

You should check the "guides" section and that will help you read through what is needed and give you a list of things that you need to file. There are also example forms and timelines towards the top of the page as well.

Good luck!

ps. In the Middle East/North Africa forum there are several people who have filed through Jordan and that might be helpful for you.

Sarah

[sarah and hicham 3]

You can file either a K-3 visa or a CR1/IR1 visa since you are married. There are descriptions of each in the guides section along with flowcharts, timelines etc.

You probably should start now if you want her to return with you as I know that Amman schedules interviews for about 9 months ahead which is a long wait. Like I said you can send the paperwork from Iraq to get the ball rolling. Even though they do schedule them so far ahead most of the interview dates get moved up about 3 months in the end.

[riblet 0]

We are pretty much all either foreign spouses or USC's (U.S. Citizens) trying to get their spouse to the U.S. ... so we don't really get tired of seeing other people like us, that's how this site works

Most of us do not use attorneys, but someone may be able to suggest one for you.

I've seen many USC's petition for a spouse while they were out of the country, your main issue that I could think of would be showing that you have domicile in the U.S., I'm not sure how working overseas will be a factor in this... hopefully someone else could help with this.

Your first step would be to file an I130. Some people also choose to file an I129F as that leads to a K3 visa which is generally faster, but has limitations.

Read the guides on this site first to get an idea of what your options are

Good luck!

Oh - and as for visiting the U.S. that may be very difficult. In order to get a visa your wife will have to show that she doesn't plan on just staying in the U.S., and that can be difficult (although not impossible) to do.

[sarah and hicham 3]

As stated above it will be difficult to get her here on a tourist visa in the meantime, especially since you are married. She will have to show ties to her home country: work, bank accounts, property etc. They won't give her the visa if they think she is going to stay in the US on it hence having to show the ties to home.

[MPGGPM 0]

In the interim, I would like to be able to take her to the States for a vacation. What do I need to do?

Thank you very much for your patience.

Go to the US consulate and explain the situation in person to them. Your spouse will need a tourist visa to visit the United States. It seems like this would be an easy thing to do....to just have your spouse visit the USA etc......and have a nice vacation with you, but it is unfortunately more difficult than that. You will have to convince the US consulate to give her a tourist visa in the meantime while you process the paperwork to make her a USA citizen. The fist thing they will think is that you will come to the USA with her...never return.....and adjust her status here in the USA. They most likely will tell you to wait until she has the immigrant visa......to come to the USA.

So, if you intend to have her visit while you process the paperwork to make her a citizen, be prepared for the difficulties ahead in doing that. I can tell you that it is not as easy as it should be.......and as you probably think. But ....it can be done. You need to convince them that she will remain overseas...until she gets the immigrant visa. So, be prepared for that task.

Good luck.