Just got approved for I-130 AND I-129f... advice please

[newlyweds07 0]

Hi there,

I'm from Canada and my husband is from the US. We filed for the K-3 visa back in October 2007 although Vermont didnt receive it till January (stuck in backlog). We've finally gotten the approval for both our I-130 and our I-129f.

Our question now is... which one should we go for? We've heard that the I-129f can take from 5-6 months and you'll have to pay about $1000 once you get into the US to get permanent residency and that could take a year and that the I-130 can take 7-8 months right now but you get permanent residency right away (you just wait the extra few months in Canada). Can someone correct me if my facts are wrong? I feel like 5-8 MORE months is way longer than I thought it would take once we got approved. I thought MAYBE 4 at the most! Can anyone share with me their timeline if you've been through or in a similar situation as us? We'll be applying for our interview at Montreal if that helps...

Thanks in advance!

[jedinite 0]

Hi there,

I'm from Canada and my husband is from the US. We filed for the K-3 visa back in October 2007 although Vermont didnt receive it till January (stuck in backlog). We've finally gotten the approval for both our I-130 and our I-129f.

Our question now is... which one should we go for? We've heard that the I-129f can take from 5-6 months and you'll have to pay about $1000 once you get into the US to get permanent residency and that could take a year and that the I-130 can take 7-8 months right now but you get permanent residency right away (you just wait the extra few months in Canada). Can someone correct me if my facts are wrong? I feel like 5-8 MORE months is way longer than I thought it would take once we got approved. I thought MAYBE 4 at the most! Can anyone share with me their timeline if you've been through or in a similar situation as us? We'll be applying for our interview at Montreal if that helps...

Thanks in advance!

I'd recommend going for the CR-1 (I-130) because you'll have no restrictions once you move to the US. If you have a K-3 you have to apply for an additional visa to be able to travel and you have to apply for EAD to be able to work and this takes 90 days. So unless you can afford to sit around for 90 days in the US doing nothing then you're best off following through with the I-130. Since they are both approved there is virtually little time difference for getting them completed. The longest wait is usually between NOA1 and NOA2.