Will Marry a Mexican, Have Many Questions

[nomanches 0]

I will be getting married in Mexico in June.

Should I go ahead and file the I-129F now? Or should I wait until I am married and then file the I-129F and I-130 at the same time, maybe from Mexico?

I want my wife to be able to come to the States asap after we get married. Where can I go to check current wait times on approvals for the I-129F and I-130?

[denali_1963 0]

Go to immigration timelines up top then under statistics click for k3 visa and then go to visa timelines and click k-3 visa expanded. It should give you some time frames there. Good luck.

[desert_fox 32]

I will be getting married in Mexico in June.

Should I go ahead and file the I-129F now? Or should I wait until I am married and then file the I-129F and I-130 at the same time, maybe from Mexico?

I want my wife to be able to come to the States asap after we get married. Where can I go to check current wait times on approvals for the I-129F and I-130?

You cant file anything until you are married if filing for a K3.

[nomanches 0]

I am not currently employed (full time college student) and have never really been employed in a full time job making any decent wage. Will that hurt me much going through this whole process?

I have sponsors when I get to the AOS process. Thats all I will need right? Or do I have to show some evidence that I have a job myself when I go to any of the interviews or anything? (Like in CJ for example?)

[meauxna 15]

I am not currently employed (full time college student) and have never really been employed in a full time job making any decent wage. Will that hurt me much going through this whole process?

I have sponsors when I get to the AOS process. Thats all I will need right? Or do I have to show some evidence that I have a job myself when I go to any of the interviews or anything? (Like in CJ for example?)

Here are links to two threads you wil like--they are full of Mexico-specific information (including your question, which is very CJ-specific).

US & Mexican Couples - K-3/CR-1/IR-1 Group, Juarez experiences, comments

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=87

(look inside for the 2nd link)

[butuan 0]

you need a co sponsor for the K-3 after you are married

[nomanches 0]

OK so here is the plan as it stands now.

I get married in June, then a few days later I send the I-130 from Mexico to the Texas center.

When I get back to the States in August my NOA should be there waiting for me. So I take that and fill out a I-129F and put a copy of the NOA in with it and send that off.

Then I just sit around and wait til I get a notice of when my wife goes for her interview in Juarez right? (Several months I am guessing.) And I'm assuming they are gonna send me a package that says what all she needs to take with her when she goes?

Doesnt anyone else ever get worried about sending their young wife alone to Ciudad Juarez, what with all the murders and drugs that abound there? I am really not looking forward to that part...

Another question, since she already has her tourist visa, can she use that to enter the country and stay for some time with me while we wait out the process? I mean, she wouldnt stay any longer than the 6 months or anything like that. Just come for vacations and stuff. Or is that not possible when you are waiting for the K-3?

[David&Erin_Owens 0]

OK so here is the plan as it stands now.

I get married in June, then a few days later I send the I-130 from Mexico to the Texas center.

When I get back to the States in August my NOA should be there waiting for me. So I take that and fill out a I-129F and put a copy of the NOA in with it and send that off.

Then I just sit around and wait til I get a notice of when my wife goes for her interview in Juarez right? (Several months I am guessing.) And I'm assuming they are gonna send me a package that says what all she needs to take with her when she goes?

Doesnt anyone else ever get worried about sending their young wife alone to Ciudad Juarez, what with all the murders and drugs that abound there? I am really not looking forward to that part...

Another question, since she already has her tourist visa, can she use that to enter the country and stay for some time with me while we wait out the process? I mean, she wouldnt stay any longer than the 6 months or anything like that. Just come for vacations and stuff. Or is that not possible when you are waiting for the K-3?

It's usually difficult to enter the country when you have a K3 in process. The immigration officers at the POE tend to look at it as a risk or illegal immigration. If she wants to come visit, she needs to bring LOTS of evidence to show she has STRONG ties to Mexico and will be going back. Examples are letters from employers, schools that she is attending, etc....

[nomanches 0]

It's usually difficult to enter the country when you have a K3 in process. The immigration officers at the POE tend to look at it as a risk or illegal immigration. If she wants to come visit, she needs to bring LOTS of evidence to show she has STRONG ties to Mexico and will be going back. Examples are letters from employers, schools that she is attending, etc....

#######. She wont have any of that, because she will be finished with school by that time. Guess she'll have to wait it out in Mexico the whole time.

I hope the K-3 process doesnt take an inordinant amount of time. Around 6 months or so sounds about the limit. Any more than that and I may have to get her to swim across.

[AlmostMex 0]

I would check on the 6 month timeframe and not count on that. I know that its taking a long time for people to get interviews in Juarez, plus the K3 processing time. Sorry I don't have more details, but I have a feeling 6 months is the very least wait time you're going to have. Hopefully others waiting for their interviews at Juarez can give you better up-to-date facts on how long the wait will take. We went last April, and we got our interview within 3 months of the packet arriving at Juarez, but right afterwards a lot of others had a much longer wait. Just wanted to warn you to be ready for a longer wait.

Also wanted to ask if you haven't considered not getting married right now, and going for a K1 visa. This is a lot faster process in Juarez because you don't have to wait for them to assign you an interview date for K1s. Once you get the packet, you just go to the embassy on the day you choose (and some people have had success not even waiting for the packet and just going to the information window). It might be rather late to take this route since you're a month away from your wedding, but I thought it worth suggesting.

[meauxna 15]

Guess she'll have to wait it out in Mexico the whole time.

If that's a problem for you I encourage you to do more research on the topic. There is no law barring her from visiting just because she has a petition pending and many people do visit, even without traditional ties to home.

[nomanches 0]

New plan. I think its quicker to get a K1 in Mexico than it is to get a K3, so I think we'll just do a religious wedding in Mexico this summer (not legally binding) and then file for a K1 to bring her to the US and get legally married here when she comes.

Supposedly if you do a K3 through Juarez you have to wait a long time for them to schedule you an interview, but if you do a K1 you can show up for the interview anytime you want anytime after you are approved.

[noviademexicano 0]

For a K-1, once you get approval and the petition is received by CDJ you can go to the interview with all your documentation. It depends what service center you file from also, I know for us it was out of Nebraska and it took about 3-4 months to get to the consulate. I don't know how fast Texas and California are moving on the K-1s but I think they have gotten faster as well. Vermont is definately faster, I know at that time people were getting there NOA2s within a few weeks.

Edited April 25, 2006 by yzuniga

[David&Erin_Owens 0]

A religious ceremony in Mexico isn't legally binding? That's odd.

[noviademexicano 0]

I read about that somewhere, too. I think that if the priest will marry you without a license it is not legal if you can find a priest that will do that. If you file for a marriage permit and then you have a religious ceremony than you are legally married. I was looking into it, because I would like to do the ceremony thing over in Mexico as well and then just come back here whenever they decide on giving him the visa and doing it legally through a justice of the peace. Let me know, on this matter because I am interested, I really rather have the religious ceremony over there because his family wants to be involved and it will be his first wedding. I believe it would be much more special and romantic to have the ceremony in Mexico for both of us.