K3 vs IR1

[Mystique 0]

I just sent my I-130 petition and received NOA1 after t10 days (Vermont Service Center & Beneficiary is from Mumbai, India)

Looking at the timeliness it seems it takes about same time for both to be approved.

questions I have are:

1. Is K3 worth it? ($1010 is a lot for AOS )

2. If she comes to this country on K3 visa, do I need to wait to get her AOS approved before I can apply for SSN?

3. Can I put her on my tax return if she doenst have an SSN and comes to this country on K3 (I.e. non immigrant visa)?

If yes, than I guess its worth it as she might be able to come here in 2008 and I can file her as dependent on TAX return.

I130 Sent: April 19th 2008

I130 NOA1: April 29th 2008

[pushbrk 12,884]

I just sent my I-130 petition and received NOA1 after t10 days (Vermont Service Center & Beneficiary is from Mumbai, India)

Looking at the timeliness it seems it takes about same time for both to be approved.

questions I have are:

1. Is K3 worth it? ($1010 is a lot for AOS )

2. If she comes to this country on K3 visa, do I need to wait to get her AOS approved before I can apply for SSN?

3. Can I put her on my tax return if she doenst have an SSN and comes to this country on K3 (I.e. non immigrant visa)?

If yes, than I guess its worth it as she might be able to come here in 2008 and I can file her as dependent on TAX return.

I130 Sent: April 19th 2008

I130 NOA1: April 29th 2008

1. Judgment call that is all yours.

2. You would need to wait for EAD portion or AOS (about three months) of if filing taxes is the issue, just use a W7 and get an ITIN.

3. See 2. above.

[ELW 5]

Due to the similar Timelines lately, a lot of people are deciding that no the K3 is NOT worth it, and they are going for the CR1/IR1 visa. But of course, each couple has to make the decision best for them.

[Steve Y Jessica 1]

Yes, timelines are similar for recieving the NOA2, but after that the K3 will arrive in the US 2 to 3 months sooner. So you have to decide what is most important to you and read all of the information to make an informed decision. But yes, you will spend more money after she is in the US, but you will be together.

[rin and john 71]

I just sent my I-130 petition and received NOA1 after t10 days (Vermont Service Center & Beneficiary is from Mumbai, India)

Looking at the timeliness it seems it takes about same time for both to be approved.

questions I have are:

1. Is K3 worth it? ($1010 is a lot for AOS )

2. If she comes to this country on K3 visa, do I need to wait to get her AOS approved before I can apply for SSN?

3. Can I put her on my tax return if she doenst have an SSN and comes to this country on K3 (I.e. non immigrant visa)?

If yes, than I guess its worth it as she might be able to come here in 2008 and I can file her as dependent on TAX return.

I130 Sent: April 19th 2008

I130 NOA1: April 29th 2008

1. Agree with Pushbrk. A K3 costs $355 for the I-130 plus $100 for the visa (at the embassy); $455 total. The IR-1/CR-1 costs $355 for I-130 plus $70 for AOS bill plus $400 for IV bill (best I could figure, someone correct me if I am wrong) plus $100 for the visa (at the embassy); $925 total. With the latter your spouse can get a SSN and work upon arrival in the USA. With a K3, no SSN or EAD. To get them, you would have to file AOS, $1,010 cost. However, if your spouse will not work, then the costs between the two are virtually the same. My wife stays home with the children, so we have not filed AOS yet (her K3 visa is valid for two years). When we reach our second anniversary (in October) she will have been in the USA for 1 1/2 years. At that time we will file AOS. It will be $1,010 but will result in a ten year GC. Our total, start to 10 yr GC will be $1,465. If we had filed for IR-1/CR-1, then two years after her arrival we would have filed I-751 to lift conditions, cost of $545. Total cost from start to 10 yr GC would have been $1,470. If the K3 route is chosen plus AOS upon arrival (to get SSN and EAD) then the total would be $455 plus $1,010 plus $545 (for lifting conditions); a total of $2,010.

2. No SSN without work authorization (EAD). We filed for ITIN for Rin, no problems, just took an extra 8 - 10 weeks to get our refund.

3. She can be put on your tax return as a spouse whether she is present in the US or not. She cannot be listed as a dependent. You would need to get an ITIN and file "married filed jointly". Her worldwide income would have to be included with yours as taxable income with a certain amount "exempt" from US taxation. She does not have to be present in the USA for this to happen. If you were married as of December 31, 2007 then you can file married filing jointly for 2007 (Rin and I married October 2006, she arrived in USA in April 2007, but I still filed "married filing jointly". Had to get a notarized copy of her passport - done at US Embassy in Bangkok - and file for an ITIN, plus have a letter signed by Rin stating declaring herself as a "resident" alien for tax purposes). www.irs.gov has several publications regarding foreigners and taxes.

John

[kman 0]

The difference between K3 and IR1 used to be few months but now with the online payment system, the difference is down to maybe 4-5 weeks in my opinion.

[pushbrk 12,884]

The difference between K3 and IR1 used to be few months but now with the online payment system, the difference is down to maybe 4-5 weeks in my opinion.

This would vary by country but I hope you're right about cutting NVC time to 4 or 5 weeks. Mailing time can become a big issue when the DS 3032 has to take the slow boat overseas so I would think certain pro-active steps need to be taken in order to keep the NVC time short.

[kman 0]

The difference between K3 and IR1 used to be few months but now with the online payment system, the difference is down to maybe 4-5 weeks in my opinion.

This would vary by country but I hope you're right about cutting NVC time to 4 or 5 weeks. Mailing time can become a big issue when the DS 3032 has to take the slow boat overseas so I would think certain pro-active steps need to be taken in order to keep the NVC time short.

yes I was refering to NVC time and in turn total time keeping in mind that Mumbai, India doesn't treat K3 and IR differently for scheduling interviews. So for this filer, it should really come to 4-5 week difference if the person is proactive in getting DS3032 in the system quickly, using the online payment system, and having all the document ready since Mumbai is now an appointment post.

[pushbrk 12,884]

The difference between K3 and IR1 used to be few months but now with the online payment system, the difference is down to maybe 4-5 weeks in my opinion.

This would vary by country but I hope you're right about cutting NVC time to 4 or 5 weeks. Mailing time can become a big issue when the DS 3032 has to take the slow boat overseas so I would think certain pro-active steps need to be taken in order to keep the NVC time short.

yes I was refering to NVC time and in turn total time keeping in mind that Mumbai, India doesn't treat K3 and IR differently for scheduling interviews. So for this filer, it should really come to 4-5 week difference if the person is proactive in getting DS3032 in the system quickly, using the online payment system, and having all the document ready since Mumbai is now an appointment post.

So then it would have been more accurate to say that for an appointment post like Mumbai and a pro-active DS 3032 notification, the time difference can be as little as 4 or 5 weeks, than to say "is down to maybe 4 or 5 weeks".

I know you had no intention of misleading anyone but if one is not pro-active in providing context, they are often misconstrued to the ultimate severe heartache for he/she who misunderstood.

[kman 0]

The difference between K3 and IR1 used to be few months but now with the online payment system, the difference is down to maybe 4-5 weeks in my opinion.

This would vary by country but I hope you're right about cutting NVC time to 4 or 5 weeks. Mailing time can become a big issue when the DS 3032 has to take the slow boat overseas so I would think certain pro-active steps need to be taken in order to keep the NVC time short.

yes I was refering to NVC time and in turn total time keeping in mind that Mumbai, India doesn't treat K3 and IR differently for scheduling interviews. So for this filer, it should really come to 4-5 week difference if the person is proactive in getting DS3032 in the system quickly, using the online payment system, and having all the document ready since Mumbai is now an appointment post.

So then it would have been more accurate to say that for an appointment post like Mumbai and a pro-active DS 3032 notification, the time difference can be as little as 4 or 5 weeks, than to say "is down to maybe 4 or 5 weeks".

I know you had no intention of misleading anyone but if one is not pro-active in providing context, they are often misconstrued to the ultimate severe heartache for he/she who misunderstood.

sure. I also think the user should defintely do their own research before they make their decision.

[Mystique 0]

The difference between K3 and IR1 used to be few months but now with the online payment system, the difference is down to maybe 4-5 weeks in my opinion.

This would vary by country but I hope you're right about cutting NVC time to 4 or 5 weeks. Mailing time can become a big issue when the DS 3032 has to take the slow boat overseas so I would think certain pro-active steps need to be taken in order to keep the NVC time short.

yes I was refering to NVC time and in turn total time keeping in mind that Mumbai, India doesn't treat K3 and IR differently for scheduling interviews. So for this filer, it should really come to 4-5 week difference if the person is proactive in getting DS3032 in the system quickly, using the online payment system, and having all the document ready since Mumbai is now an appointment post.

So then it would have been more accurate to say that for an appointment post like Mumbai and a pro-active DS 3032 notification, the time difference can be as little as 4 or 5 weeks, than to say "is down to maybe 4 or 5 weeks".

I know you had no intention of misleading anyone but if one is not pro-active in providing context, they are often misconstrued to the ultimate severe heartache for he/she who misunderstood.

sure. I also think the user should defintely do their own research before they make their decision.

Thanks guys I understand the steps for being proactive i.e. not waiting for DS 2032 and emailing them choice of agent etc but usually isnt the fact that Immigrant route takes long time b/c of the bottleneck at NVC and that increases based on # of applications. I'm not sure but based on what I've seen it takes 4-5 months for your I130 to process at NVC - Is there any place other than this site whre real stats for applications are posted i.e. I130 processing time at NVC?

[kman 0]

This site is really your best source for info. I haven't seen 4-5 month average at NVC. It was more like 3-4 months average before people started using online system and reported good results if you are able to obtain the IIN and pay online.

[pushbrk 12,884]

This site is really your best source for info. I haven't seen 4-5 month average at NVC. It was more like 3-4 months average before people started using online system and reported good results if you are able to obtain the IIN and pay online.

The VJ average is scewed by the fact that many used James's shortcuts. The conventional process using slow overseas mail and the immigrant or an attorney as agent of choice is far more common overall. With that criteria, six months NVC in to NVC out was not uncommon.

If you're going to compare something, I think it's best to be clear about what is being compared.